Composite “Lordly Senior” Endorses Commentator; Would Immediately Resign if Proffered Deanship (Vol. 1, Issue 18)

If, indeed, in unity there is virtue, the present Senior class certainly has plenty of it, for a more homogeneous set of opinions than the answers to this year’s questionnaire you never saw.

And they’re a strong-willed lot, too. Your composite senior, for instance, pronounces himself squarely behind the policies of the Commentator; in fact, he makes no bones about his decided opinion that, were he Dean of Yeshiva College, he would promptly resign. True, there were the usual variations in expression, which in this case ranged from a lone old-guarder’s answer, “Fight” to the possibly captious ‘reply, “I'd get me a blonde”. But all the rest, with the precision of a Greek chorus, chimed; “Quit”.

The personalities of the class were also adequately dealt with. The appellation of “Class Nudnick” was fondly bestowed upon Philip Tatz, and in no uncertain terms, at that. Featured most in the balloting was the name of Feuerstein, who was variously voted most popular, most likely to succeed, and as having done most for Yeshiva. Nor was that all. His culminating triumph was his overwhelming election to the title “Biggest Politician.”

Runner-up for the position of most popular was Bill Kaufman, who trailed by a single vote. He also tallied in the choice of newspaper writers, where he polled one vote as favorite columnist. 

The title “Most Naive” split the Seniors wide open. Willy Post and Dave Schmerler tallied about equally for the distinction.

Leaving the realm of credulity for the more practical world of fashion, the seniors decided that most punctilious in the niceties of dress was Dembowitz. Only five tallied behind him on the scale of sartorial excellence was Greenberg. 

Personalities on the faculty were not forgotten. Three questions were included. The most popular member of the faculty was voted to be Dr. Alexander Litman. Dr. Leo Jung was named the most respected, and Dr. Nathan Savitsky was considered most humorous. Interesting to note, Dr. Theodore Abel was the runner-up in all three categories.

The questionnaire demonstrated conclusively that if there is a course in Yeshiva that is considered too tough, it is chemistry. Both elementary chemistry and quantitative analysis, like the famous arab of Leigh Hunt’s dream, led all the rest. In the case of French, a distinction was made between the courses of Drs. Rhodes and Polinger, the former being considered the harder. 

Turning their attention from local affairs to matters of wider scope, the men of ‘36 next considered political problems. A query as to their support of a Farmer-Labor Party brought to light a surprising number of adherents. There were twice as many votes for the party as opposing it. 

On the question of a presidential choice, the seniors were even more unanimous. A distinct reversal of the 1935 position was evidenced by the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt polled all but five of the votes. One went to Earl Browder, and four to Norman Thomas. Last year the lead of Roosevelt over Norman Thomas was a bare six to five.

Lest they be interpreted as being completely satisfied with things as they are, the seniors made it clear in a decisive vote, that they are strongly for government ownership of the means of production. 

Considering the question of civil liberties, the class specifically denounced Hearst as the “greatest menace to American liberty. The R.O.T.C. was upheld by only three members of the group. The rest voted total abolition. Another evidence of the social trend of the group was the large vote that “Modern Times” polled in the motion picture ballot.