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One of my favorite stories about my Purdue years I heard second hand, but it involved the late Adelbert Knevel and his dry sense of humor. During the late 80's he gave a MDCH 310 lecture all 3rd years had to attend in the pharmacy building which was immediately followed by an anatomy lecture that all the 3rd years had to attend in the Lilly building with just 10 minutes to get there. The professor who taught the anatomy lecture did not take kindly to the fact the pharmacy students were not arriving on time and let the pharmacy students know it. This displeasure got back to Professor Knevel. One day when his lecture ended he decided to make the walk with the pharmacy students most 40 years his junior. He arrived at the Lilly building huffing and puffing and walked up to the anatomy professor and saying nothing gave her a hot sweaty hug, turned around, and left. The anatomy teacher didn't say another word about students coming in late after that.
As far as my favorite class it had to be law. Since I was going into retail I learned more practical knowledge from Tom Wilson than anyone. Plus he was a riot. I wonder if he is still so funny. I must also give a nod to Nick Popovich as another professor I liked. He seemed like such a good decent man, and he always remembered everybody's name.
Matt Ubelhor P '91
1947 was my freshman year (we still wore the beanie) and the largest enrollment the University had enjoyed to that point, some 15,000 on campus. The population was swelled by the many GI's taking advantage of the new GI Bill. I entered the School of Pharmacy that fall in a class that contained several female students, some nuns in their habits, and a few from India, mostly women, wearing the traditional sari and the caste mark. They all stayed for advanced degrees after graduation.
You may find it interesting that student registration was done in the Armory and you moved from table to table signing up for particular classes. The end result was what was dubbed a "Railroad Ticket", a series of small cards joined together and folded much like a wallet card holder.
My professors and instructors included Glenn Sperandio (whom I liked very much). He was then working on his Doctorate. Bob Evanson was a grad student teaching Drug Store Management. I remember Drs. DeKay and Zufall ( whom we quietly referred to as "The one armed bandit"). Dr. Zufall had lost his right arm but still drove his pre-war Nash with ease, shifting with his left hand. He taught Pharmacognosy (roots and rhizomes) and we were tested by examining and sniffing the samples laid out on the laboratory counters and identifying them.
I enjoyed Organic Chemistry because of the laboratory testing we did in those days. We demonstrated the effects of strychnine, for instance, by injecting a chicken with the drug then noting the reaction of the chicken to a loud noise. We demonstrated anaphylactic shock by injecting a guinea pig with histamine and, in post mortem, noting the typical "butterfly wing" lungs when the chest is opened. I also enjoyed Manufacturing, perhaps my favorite class. We manufactured many items used in the Student Health Service. Things like ETH/C, APC tablets, ASA/Cod tablets. A diarrhea mixture containing bismuth and paregoric, calamine lotion and others I have forgotten. We learned to make powder papers and to do it correctly, with no leaks, by using charcoal. The instructor then noted the mess that was left. Penicillin was the panacea off it's day, the cure-all, and we turned out a throat lozenge containing 500 U and treated anyone who complained of a sore throat with a handful of them. We made toothpaste, lipsticks of various colors (including the "kiss proof" kind), face makeup, suppositories and ointments of all kinds. We filled collapsible tubes for these and the toothpaste. I had worked in a drug store since I was 15 and was way ahead of some of my classmates in this setting.
I graduated in 1951 with a class much smaller than the one that started. One of our best and smartest students was Angelo Carnaghi. Angelo played center on the football team. He made All Big Ten his senior year.
Interestingly one of the drug store chains was recruiting that year for pharmacists to go to Fairbanks Alaska, still a territory of course. I did not even interview as I had already been drafted.
Robert E. Smith, R.Ph. Purdue '51
In the spring of 1967, the fifth-year senior class had 3 classes on Friday of the spring semester. The classes were a 9:30, 10:30, and 1:30. The 1:30 class was a management class taught by Professor Bob Evanson.
During the course of the semester, a bunch of us started going down to the Pig and Whistle (aka Root and Toot) on the levee for lunch, which usually consisted of free peanuts and a cold beverage of our choice.
The "lunch period" on that last Friday was rather festive. When it came time for all of us to go back for our 1:30, everyone loaded up our pockets with peanuts. We all settled in the lecture hall (Room 311), of the old Pharmacy Building, waiting for Prof. Evanson to give us our last lecture.
Prof. Evanson was several minutes late. By this time, the peanuts were flying from front to back and wall to wall. When Prof. Evanson finally stuck his head in the door, his first words were "What the hell is going on here?"
After he finally made his way up to the front of the lecture hall, we all calmed down and waited to see/hear his reaction. His words were to the effect that if he had not taught us anything in the previous three years, he didn't think he could do anything during this last class. He congratulated us all on being a rather tight-knit class, wished us luck in our careers, and sent us on our way.
It took us approximately two minutes to clear the building. We don't know how long the peanuts stayed.
Sincerely,
Joseph H. Rohlfer P '67
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