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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1882)
THE HESPERIAN STUDENT. ing more of a student than ever before, il i equally tnto Hint the students demand more of their teachers. The easy-going wisdom that ben inert from 11 professor's clinir thirl, or even half that number of j cars ngo is no longer sufllctcnt to retain tlio confidence anil respect of the nvemgo college student of lo-dayt. For n professor to mnU e it a rule or to so reguluto his habit that it shall seem to the students that he has mnde il a rule never to answer a question but in such a manner as wi'l leavo him son.e loophole through which a mollification or total denial can change his reply, is to inevitably leavo his pupils no o'her alternative than the conclusion that he is tinceitnin of the ground he stands on and not so thoughly versed in what he is pretending to tench, ns to lie able to make a more dclinite and decided a statement. Tub last number of the Studknt con. tiiiiiert mi article on ''Senior Studies," by Gale, 'flic writer makes a few mislead ing statements Evidently he is a classi cal student, ns he makes that course absorb all the others. For Instance, he aju down the proposition that "the studies of the Senior year are for the most part ol a different ntvture frun those of previous years, the piincipui study being that of philosophy." In the next sentence he asks, "Ihit why limit it (philosophy) to mental and moml? Instend of translating dc Inched portions of Greek and Latin text would it not bo better to spend the time studying tne lileinture and philosophy of those people?" Now, the Literary Seniors nro not required to study philos ophy atall. If they take it, it is ns nu elective. The Scientific students trans late no detached portions of Latin and Greek. The rciunrks can apply to Classical Seniors only. The nrguinent whv thev should study the philosophy and literntuie of the Greeks nnd Romans lather than translate a few pages of their writings, is to the point. It is the cxpres. sion of many a one in the Classlcul course. The second paragraph begins with this assertion : "The present course requires at least six ill Heron t lines of thought." We take it for granted that this applies only to the Senior year. Here again the wi iter is in error. By the Innguago used, the impression is conveyed that six studies Is the minimum required by the present course while the maximum may bo ono, two or three more. The Classical Seniors have three required studies or seven hours, mid are re quired to elect six hours, two three hour studies or three two-hour ones. In the former case Ihey would carry Ave studies and in the latter six. The Literary and Scientific Seniors have two prescribed studies, or six hours, nnd are required to elect seven h mis. Two two-hour studies and o.io three-hour sludv answer tho demand. Thus we see that six studies is the maximum rather than the minimum of the work required of thrs Seniors by the present elective system. In conclusion Gale advocates, (1) thai less number of subjects be pursued at the same time, (2) that more time be nllolted to each, and (3) that the recitations be con sccutive. Taking the second to mean that the number of four and five hours a-wcek studies be increased, we proceed to con. Mdcr it in connection with the third. Sup- nose we have onlv four and fb'o hours-a- week studies nnd, of couise, they won d be heard on consecutive days. Now the question arises, what cfloet will tins have upon the elective system. "None what ever," we hear many reply. Hut con s'der the mat'er. By the present tystem the studies nre divided into two divisions, thotc reciting on Mondnyp, Wednesdays and Fridays, and others l ceiling on Tues day., Thursdays and Snturdays. The proscribed studies of ench student arc meant to fall in ono of these divisions. The result is that he can elect any study in the other division Now what will be the effect if tliisarrnngement is destroyed and wo have fewer studies at a time and they are heard consecutively? Simply this: There can be no elective system without increasing our coips of professors. The libel ly which is imw given students In the choice of studies will bo denied. The elective system may exist on i apcr, but in active operation it will bo a farce. To prove this let us tnko the Freshmnn year of the Classical course under the present arrangement. Three four-hour studies are prescribed. Four hours are to be elected. On paper ono-rourlh of the hours are elective. In truth there is nothing elective about it. They can choose one study and only one, viz., Structural Botany. It might as wen oc presunuuu as far ns freedom of choice is giyen the student. This is but a fair example of what would be in all the classes il ni..a vIpws arc carried out. This could only bo prevented by classes reciting in the ntternoons, or, as we uuiuic "'j increasing our corps of professors. To the proposition that there be a less num. her of subjects pursued at the same time wo givo our hearty concurrence. But let this evil be remedied without destroying ,l,o very vital principle of the elective system itself. $xc1imQC Qric-H'brHC. In all probability the University will observe Arbor Day acco.ding to Governor Nance's proclamation. If io ulty establish the precedent of adjourning tntions on that day to plant trees in University Square, it will result in a keep the campus ever In handsome shape. Works on temperance arc being intro duccd into the curriculum of a few col leges. The- latest outrage committed at Prince ton by students was greasing tlio rails of the nearest railroad. Thirteen Williams College Freshmen havo been suspended for five weeks for fraudulently scourinc ndvauco sheets of questions and making their examinations from tlicm. Tuition fees, per year: Syracuse $00, Cornell $75, Bowdoin and Rochester the same, Dartmouth $80, Brown $85, Wil. liams $00, Ann Arbor $30, John Hopkins $80, Vassar $100, Yale $150, Harvard 150. Amherst $300. Nebraska University free. A change of form and arrangement would greatly improve the Vidette-Be-porter, the organ of Iowa University. The contents nro sensible nnd rendable, but the paper is mado up in such miser. able taste that one glance Is enough to cause a headache. Oil. when will Freshmen change from green To some other brilliant line? Oh when will Sophomores cease to tell Professors what to do? Oh, when will Juniors quit the girls And net like little men? Oh, when will Seniors nil ngrco On class elections? When? Ex. IIobaH Herald believes "colleges row dyism" to be much less of nn evil than is generally supposed, and that "hazing in moderation is a benefit and not nn Injury to n majority of Freshmen who receive it." Such Ideas nre not often advanced by colleno papers, yet there is some truth among the fallacies and misrepresenta tions in Ihe IleraUVs discussion of the matter. The Oornellian, of Cornell Collego, Ml . Vernon, Iowa, reprints from the Student the correspondence relating to Lieut Webster's detail at Nebraska, and adds: "Lieut. Webster spent three of the "six years" at Cornell, and his many friends will be chid to know that ho still main- tains those manly characteristics and soldierly attributes which so endeared him to the students of tho department over which ho had control and made so com plcle a snecess." The Albany Argus calls for reform in our universities and colleges. The col leges of tho United States," it says, "should be divided into two classes. Ono should comprise univcisitics, in which nil undergraduate work should bo abol lshcd The other should comprise such work exclusively." It thinks tho time bns come for the establishment of a dis tinctively American university for post gr. dilates, nnd asks Harvard and Culum bin to give practical shape to this idea. ?rc J
