THE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
and to fraternize. The evils resulting from the ex
istence of such organizations may be greatly lessened
by a judicious exercise of good sense on the part of
both the "ins" and the "outs," and therefore we do
not anticipate any serious trouble in this institution.
It is customary with college editors, when entering
upon their duties, to give an outline of the policy
they intend to pursue. They tell how successful
they intend to make the paper while under their con
trol, what improvements in the method of teaching
they intend to advocate, and how they intend to
deal with the Board of Regents and the Faculty.
Our policy will be to remind the students, as fre
quently as may be necessary, that a college paper
ought to be for the students and by the students.
We intend to lay particular emphasis on the phrase
"by the students" because the paper should not be
produced by two or three unfortunates who have been
made the sin offering for the rest, and who often
possess no qualifications for editorship beyond their
willingness to practice, like young doctors, on their
fellowbeings. It requires little less than' the genius
of an Addison to produce readable copy to order.
Ordinary people must wait until the spirit moves
before they can write. Recognizing this principle
the faculty gives from two to three months in which
to prepare our essays, forensics and orations. Even
that length of time is often found to be insufficient:
witness the Sophomore class, ever member of which
failed to receive the inspiration necessary to complete
his rhetoricals. College paper articles are proverb
ially dry reading, simply because they are almost in
variably written by those who "think because they
must write, and do not write because they think."
Let us then as students feel a personal interest in
our college paper, and contribute occasionally to its
columns.
Judging from the attendance, few students are
aware that thereare two debating clubs, meeting every
Saturday evening in the society halls. These clubs
were formed especially for the younger members of
the societies and are intended to afford drill in ex
temporaneous speaking. The large audiences of
Friday evenings often have a very peculiar effect on
young debators, Avho, as soon as they take the floor,
experience a shaking of the knees. The hands and
feet become superfluous, and are constantly in the
way. The mouth becomes parched, and the power'of
speech is an unattainable luxury. These dire calami
ties have by some been attributed to the co-eds, be
cause upon every occasion in which a debator was
thus affected, several co-eds were known to be in the
room. This, however, may be only a coincidence,
but be that as it may, new students may speak with
perfect freedom in the debating clubs, with none to
molest or make them afraid. We hope that here
after these debates will be well attended, and that
every one will come prepared to take an active" part.
Nothing can be more erroneons than the idea some
students seem to have, that to become good extem
poraneous speakers they should speak on questions
to which they have given no study. Only those be
come good extemporaneous-speakers who never come
to a debate without preparation. It seems to be the
sole ambition of some debators to learn how to kill
time with a torrent of words. Although careful prep
aration, even to the order of the argument and illus
trations should always be made, yet we do not ap
prove of writing out and committing the argument to
memory, because while it is beneficial in the same
way that essay writing is, it gives no practice in the
art of impromptu speaking.
There are a larger number of students attending
the medical department this fall than had been ex
pected by most of those connected with the school.
For years we have had a department that taught the
theory and'practice of agriculture, but no large num
ber of students rushed in to this seductive course.
It must seem strange to those who have orated so
often and so long at the farmers, institutes, and the
county and state fairs, that so few should wish to pre
pare themselves by six years study for the healthful,
independent and remunerative work of farming. It
seems, however, to be a fact that the young men of
the state prefer to learn how to amputate limbs rath
er than how to trim grape vines; and more of them
care to watch the medical faculty treat cases at the
Home of the Friendless than desire to see the indus
trial faculty treat sick hogs on the college farm. The
reason of this is that the brain work forms a greater
proportion ot the whole amount of labor required in
the medical profession than in the other. There is
also more of a chance for the gratification of the am
bition by studying medicine than by studying agri
culture. All must recognize that it is' a nobler
work to cure a stubborn disease than to raise a fat pig,
and one will surely be more respected by the com
munity if he neatly sets a bone than if he has only
reared a healthy crop of onions. Yet the fact re
mains that it is not only silly but criminal to be a
poor doctor, while it is merely uncomfortable to be
a poor farmer. The real reason that so many study
medicine is that few young persons have the penetra
tion to see that they are "scrubs," and hence they
are absolutely unconscious of the sinfulness of their
attempting to practice the healing art, while at the
same time they are led on by the hope of the imposs
ible. Let us trust that the graduates from here will
do as much good and as little harm as may be.
aimiwii
a