T HE i r II S PERI AX.
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drill is necessary for the physical well-being of the
students. Military pomp should be recognized, at
best, as a necessary evil. If it is the object of the
regents to make our university of preparatory school
for West Point, then we have mistaken the object of
our institution. If we 1 ave, .then let us forget that
this school was founded that men and women of
this state might here receive a liberal education with
out joining the regular army for three years. Let us
even forget that time and money means anything to
the students. So far as we are personally concerned
we are glad to say that we finished our military
career here in the good old times when the cadet
had as many individual rights as the janitor ot uni
versity hall. But our heart goes out for the poor
prep. Down with the linen regulations. The
world needs civilians, not soldiers.
Why is there so little college spirit in the Uni
versity of Nebraska? This is a question we have
been thinking about for some time. The university
students seem to be asleep. We meet our professors
day after day in the class room. Some of us attend
a social now and then. But the majority of the stud
ents do nothing but dig into their books.
Out of the seven hundred students, there are
about four hundred young gentlemen. During the
foot ball season, only twenty-five or thirty could be
induced to play enough to give the first eleven what
little practice they needed to keep them in training.
.Frequently our first eleven assembled on the grounds
for practice, and found only five or six to oppose
them. It was seldom that even all of the first eleven
could be kept on the foot ball grounds an hour at a
time. 'Is it any wonder that the university eleven
met with several defeats?
During the fall term, an attempt was made to
organize a base ball team. Several different days
were set for practice, but only a few men responded
to the call. Consequently, little progress was made.
The foot ball committee had only about thirty from
which to select players for the first nine. It may be
that the best material in the college has been chosen.
Yet it docs not seem probable, for surely there are
men among the other three hundred and fifty thai
would make good players, if they would only romc
out and practice.
At the first meeting of the local oratorical associ
ation, there was not a quorum present. We had to
adjourn without transacting any business. The next
meeting was for the election of officers. Only seven
teen students attended this meeting. The election
of officers is the most important work the association
has 'to do. Notwithstanding this, the university let
that responsibility rest upon two percent of the stud
ent body. Is this not one reason why the univer
sity has never sent an orator to a stale contest that
could win the honor of representing Nedraska in an
interstate contest?
Why do the students have so little college spirit?
Is it the fault of the faculty, or is it a lack of patriot
ism on the part of the students? The Hesperian
thinks that it is a little of both. However, wc arc
inclined to throw most of the blame on the students.
In the first place, the students do too much class
work. They load themselves down with too many hours
of study. They carry so much work that if it is done
properly, no time is left for anything outside of the
class room. Too many of us are inclined to carry
all the work the rules will allow. It seems as though
we think the only good there is in a college course
is found in books. This is a gross mistake. Let us
remember that when we get out into the world, a
book cannot be found that will tell us how to meet
the trials of life. We cannot turn to our Greek text
book and find how to tell whether certain men will
cheat us out of a few dollars every time we make a
trade with them. No, this can be found only by
dealing with men. Why not begin to study the
ways and customs of those within our college
walls Many college bred men fail in life because
they attended too closely to books, and paid too lit
tle attention to the ways of the world. They are
too "bookish to cope with men that know how to
brave the storms of life. Let us remember that
op)ortunities for studying human nature, that will
never come again, present themselves in college.
Here we come in contact with people of all descrip
tions. Almost every type of humanity is repre
sented. All of us are in sympathy with each other.
We have the same trials, and, to a certain degree,
the same temptations. Let us open our eyes, and
see how our class-mates overcome these obstacles of
college life.
We should not forget that we are here to lay the
foundation for our future. We all expect to make a
mark of some kind in the world. Each has his
own ambition. While we are fitting ourselves for
the part that we hope to Jake in the world's drama,
let m remember that a strong constitution is the first
thing to be sought. Without it all our efforts will
be useless. One of the most admirable things that
goes with a brilliant intellect is a fine physique.
However, even the latter is of little value unless we
have good health. We cannot be too consideiate
of our physical warns.
It is the duty of every student to take a certain
amount of exercise. Now that wc have a well
equipped gymnasium, we should make use of it
during the winter months. Here wc should train our
selves for the outdoor sports that will come wit-,
spring, uur gymnasium receives too little patronage.
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