THE HESPERIAN
grooe havo, of Into, beon bo recklessly con
ferred that they nro beginning, in tho esti
mation of tho public, to lmvo far loss value.
It is safe to say that thoro is not one caso in
a thousand where a degreo may bo safely or
conscientiously conferred, excopt for work
actually done. This subject is ono of such
general interest that legislation prohibiting
this reckless bestowing of degrees would not
be out of order.
Before tho Hesperian appears again tho
State oratorical contest will have boon hold.
Wo cannot all do much in that event it is
true, for our orator must boar tho greater
part of the burden, and upon him will do
volvo most of tho work of tho contest. Our
hopes aro centered in him, however, and it
behooves all of us to encourage him in every
possiblo manner. Tho contest will bo hold
in the Lansing, and although tho State Uni
versity does not entertain this year in name,
yet it can do much towards aiding tho other
universities in taking care of tho visitors
who will bo in tho city to attend this
contest.
The charter day address by President Seth
Low was listened to by as cultured an audi
ence as over met in Lincoln. President Low
was very deliberate in his style of delivery,
almost too much so for a western audience.
Ho treated of tho American University in a
masterly manner, and the University is to
be congratulated on securing such a promi
nent man,
On account of oratorical associations and
various other things that have been happen
ing of late, we have had to cut down tho do
partments in the Hesperian in order to
make room for tho winning orations. Wo
expect now, since the orators have ceased
to soar, to carry our regular departments
and make them as interesting as possiblo.
A Sophomore's Diary During Examina
tion Weel.
While looking over somo papers, that had
boon misplaced for somo time, I came upon
an account of a certain Sophomore's experi
ences during examination week. Tho con
tents of tho paper impressed mo as being
somewhat interesting, so 1 repeat horo a
portion of what I found. This Sophomore's
principle objection to examinations, was
that thoy did no real good, that thoy furn
ished little but perplexity to tho student and
made tho professors hard-hearted and cruel.
After closo examination of tho paper, I
must confess, that I doubt the veracity of
its contents, sometimes it oven merges into
nonsense ; but nonsense often has more
charm to a student than Bense.
What' I havo written of what this student
wrote is a reproduction of his diary during
ono examination week, no matter when, no
matter where.
This is tho way it commences :
Monday First Day of the Reign of
Terror. Wasn't it a anap? There sat the
dear old professor, reading a treatise on tho
unregenerate man! How venerable ho
looked! His gray locks formed a canopy
over his Platonic brow. His oars were deaf
to tho audible Rounds of turning leaves. I
sat there upon that seat which faced his
back. On tho board were tho questions. I
had that exam, perfect before I left the
room. It corresponded exactly with the
book. Oh! mister! but to-morrow will bo
a terror!
I can't get over tho fact that I have made
tho ton strike of tho season in passing that
trig. exam. Who couldn't prove that, if
tho cosine of an angle squared were super
imposed upon tho reciprocal of the square
root of tho secant of half that angle, that
there would be something remaining. There
wasn't ono in tho class who hadn't a largo
stock of secants to fall back upon in caso of
need. I'd liko to superimpose tho standing
I know I'll get In trig, upon the one I'll get
This title should be on the cover instead of "Ana
lytics of Literature."
