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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1886)
8 THE HESPERIAN EXCHANGEBRIC-A-BRA C. Wc arc glad to place the Simpsonian on our exchange list. Oberlin got away with the honors in the Ohio state oratori cal contest. The botanical collection of Columbia numbers nearly 75, 000 specimens. Students of Leavenworth chartered a special car to take them to Topcka. Every Senior of Trinity has to write a poem of 1 00 lines before graduation. Enoch Pratt, has recently donated to the city of Baltimore a library costing $1,145,000 Two Seniors of the University of Pennsylvania gave $500 each to the new gymnasium. The dividend declared by the oratorical association of Kan sas was one dollar and thirty cents. At Illinois College a recent ruling of the faculty freed all students having a term grade of 85 or over from examination. A Yale Senior has invented a surveying instrument by which the height and distance of objects can be read off without the usual tedious process. The University of Pennsylvania has opened its gymnasium. Four trainers have been employed and numerous prize cups and medals are already ofTered. We have some curiosity to know how long that oldest stu dent on record in the Vermont University is going to con tinue to be eighty-three years old. The York Collegian takes quite a parental interest in us and kindly pleads with us to stop using slang. Thanks Collegian, but can you give any really valid reason why college slang should not be used? Freshmen tried to have their pictures taken at Yale on Washington's Birthday but the cruel Sophomores persisted in throwing fire- crackers among them and the expression of their faces was not satisfactory At Wabash College the Seniors have originated a scheme for founding a chair of history. The beginning is small one dollar or more from each graduate but the fund is ex pected to grow till it reaches $30,000. In a late Vidette-Reporter a writer endeavours to show that the northern and southern elements in our national character have been instrumental in making it a distinct character. He draws some interesting comparisons. The State Unn'crsity of Iowa seems to find some most bit ter opposition. When it is not one thing it is another This time it is charged that Catholcism is discriminated against and Catholic students insulted by the University professors. The last Vidette-Reporter & up and tears its hair over the charges that have been made. Wc learn that Professor Neward of the Univeisity of Indi ana has conceived the idea of having his class write a history of the United States from 1760 to the present time by divid ing the work into periods and assigning the periods to com -mittees chosen fiom the class. Humph! Good for the class; for the history, murder most foul. We should like to have the Kansas University explain why it is that their most august faculty sits on evening meetings of the literary societies of that institution. . We do not wish to incite rebellion or anything of that kind but it is our opinion that if wo wanted to have a literary society in the evening the representative of The Hespeuian would be there every imc The Berkleyan doubts the truth of the assertion of The Hesperian that the intcr-collcgiate oratorical association is being worked up in California on the ground that there are not enough colleges in that state. In reply wc would say that one college is enough for an oratorical association. The Neb raska oratorical association consists at present of only one col lege why not elsewhere? The Press and Badger of March 19th prints in full the de bate between the two societies of the University of Wisconsin, for the championship of the University. The question was, "Is universal suffrage, as it exists in the United States detri mental to the best interests of the nation?" The debate was long but interesting, and the extra size needed of the Press and Badger shows a commendable amount of energy in its managers. The College Rambler excuses itself for continually saying 'Subscribe for the Rambler" by comparing itself with Cato Major who finished every speech with but every body knows the rest The Hesperian would suggest that Cato Major with his little speech did not accomplish so much as Scipio with his army. So the true policy of any paper is to get a business manager who is alive and awake. There will then be no need for appeal or apology. The Pacific Pharos is a consolidation of two college papers, but scarcely sustains its position as the equal of the two. The editorials are on topics that have grown old in the service and Pharos would better shorten its editorial columns if it can find writing of current interest upon which to remark. Then again, reprints of society productions detract from the stabil ity which should characterize Pharos and make it impossible that it can stand in the front rank of college papers. The Academiea, according to its usual custom, does up its exchanges but inadvertantly oversteps the boundaries of dig nity and common sense in a late issue. The old quotation about setting up a man of straw to knock it down again applies to the Academiea. When any college paper tries to prove that the Notre Dame Scholastic is not a good college paper the ef fort is wasted for everybody knows it without proof. The Scholastic is so seldom good that instead of sarcasm, denun ciation and ridicule kind charity should prompt to commend ation of everv praiseworthy feature. We are the recipients of a small sheet which seems to be trying to play the role of college paper and, at the same time partakes largely of the character of an ordinary country news paper. Wc have examined it. The first page is a reprint of the ordinay slush with the heading "Ked Ears and Kisses" and throughout the paper we have been unable to find the slightest resemblance to a college paper. It rejoices our souls to exchange with local papers of our own state, no matter how much of the afore-mentioned slush they may contain, but when it comes to "Red Ears and Kisses" from the Empire State wc don't want any in ours; no, thank you, It becomes moreandraorcewdent that Nebraska is hard and stony soil in which to sow the seeds of oratorical associations. The oratorical assocation now at Crete, which is both state and college association, appears to be tottering to its fall. The last Owl contains premonitions of this. The faculty of that institution yearn to take the said association under their protecting care in order to prolong its feeble existence. It seems to us, however, that the ground must have factor prep aration before an oratorical association can be made to flour ish in this state and our Doane friends are undertaking an im possible task when they attempt to run an oratorical association all by themselves