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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1890)
w THE HESPERIAN. Diligent inquiry from him failed to reveal anything about her. He had entirely overlooked her in the throng of pretty co eds which is always to be found in that hall. I was disappointed. I went to bed. I could not sleep. My thoughts were of her, the one unknown to me. I resolved to meet her if it look all winter. I changed Sabbath schools every Sunday in my search for the fair damsel who had captivated my heart. At last I found her. I became a member of a class. I went to church both morning and evening, to Sabbath school, to young people's meeting, prayer-meeting, and all the other meetings, led on by the hope that I might get one sweet glance from her. At last my heart's desire has been grati fied. A young people's society social furnished the occasion. I met her, and such a meeting. Where before all was anxi cty, now all was happiness. Wc found a pleasant corner unmolested. I had a time that night. I am today a happy Freshman. I intend, if her mamma docs not object, to make our acquaintance a pleasant one. Watch for us. "There arc only a few of us left." From a Freshman's Diary. It is strange that so many college students arc so selfish in praising the institutions which they attend. I have heard stud ents from Doanc, from Bcllcvue, and even from the new Wcs leyan contend that those institutions were superior to the State University. During my recent trip to the coast I had occasion to visit the University of Washington and the Uni versity of California. While inquiring as to where I might find a friend of mine who was attending school at the Uni versity of Washington, I took occasion to ask a student some general questions about their school. He tried to make me believe that it was the best institution of the kind on the coast. At Berkeley, I was impressed by a student with the fact that their school was the best in the country. And so it goes everywhere. It is all wrong. Students should b taught to appreciate the advantage and superiority of other colleges and not attempt to belittle them. The University of Nebraska ranks high with other colleges, but wc do not" pre sume to say that because of this our students should attempt to create the impression that it is the only institution in the country that amounts to anything. It is the same foolish idea that prompts many students taking different courses to at tempt to read all the other courses out of existence. Learn to recognize the merit in all the courses and give each college credit for what it is doing. Now that the year 1890 has finally opened up and the festive politician has begun laying wires for the important of fices to be filled at the coming state election, it is time for the students to bestir themselves. The greatest need here at present is a library building. More room is absolutely nc ccssary. The work cannot be properly carried on unless more room is provided. Let us go to work now for a library building and work until our demand is satisfied by the next legislature. And let us work for an appropriation sufficiently large to erect at least one respectable building on our camp us. Let us work for a building that will be a thing of beauty from an artistic point of view. Wc have at present four buildings on our campus in which the work of instruction is carried on. Such buildings! They arc large and commodi ous, to be sure, but from the outside, and judged from an ar tistic view, they are very poor. The new library building should be one in which ample provision ought to be made for a library of 1 00,000 volumes, besides providing room for an art gallery and reading room. In the art department of the University and in the departments of Greek and Latin, we have a nucleus for an art collection. Provision should be made for this. While Wisconsin and Minnesota universities arc spending such vast sums for new libraiy biddings Nebraska should not be in the rear. By the time the next university appropriation is available it will have reached a much larger amount than ever before, owing to the failure to secure all the university fund last winter. Let us go to work now to secure it and insist that a sum sufficiently large be appropri ated to build us a library building that will be a piide to our state and University. Work for this when you go home. Make the acquaintance of prospective legislators from your districts, and use your influence and that of your friends to awaken them on this question. Do not leave this for some one else. The united efforts of the students can produce wonderful results in this line. The fraternity clement in our institution seems to consid er that the open literary societies arc here to be used as a field in which they can work for converts. Accordingly they follow out some such plan as this: A student enters the pre paratory department of the University. He may be from the country or from some small town. In most cases the boys are backward about making acquaintances; and when it comes to meeting young ladies it is possible for a long time to get them to even look at a co-ed. Gradually this feeling is worn away and by the encouragement of the older society members these boys begin a social development. They learn how to carry themselves in the presence of ladies, they learn the requisite qualities of a gentleman and they strive to attain them. Along with this, and the most important factor in drawing hem out, is the society program and the debating club. Through these mediums they acquire a literary training; they learn how to express their opinions clearly on subjects under discussion and in this way arc taught a feeling of individual ity. Through these great mediums the social and literary ad vantages of the open society, our prep or even Freshman gradually develops into a cultured young man. To be sure, it is not the culture of the most fashionable society if, indeed, ihcir affectation may be called culture. But it is a culture and a spirit which teaches a man to recognize true worthwhen he sec it; to extend the hand of friendship to the newjtudent whether he dresses as finely as some other or not; that teaches him a broad and liberal feeling of charity to all who deserve sympathy or aid in any matter. But when our student has been thus developed and his good qualities brought out by the open society, the fraternity clement steps in and claims him. He is treated in royal style by those who scorned him when he entered the institu tion. The glorious principle of right and justice which should be the corner stone of every secret society can never be hon estly claimed by the fraternity. But 111 place of this they fol low a policy of dishonor, a policy which shows that the fra ternity clement have no right to the respect of the represent atives of the literary societies. It is true wc may have friends in fraternities. If we have let us endeavor to con vince them to cease that unholy policy. As barbarians wc are perfectly willing to discuss this question with the fraternity people. But they will never discuss it in public. The only way they will talk to a new student is to take him ofT in pri vate, stuff him with a lot of stock fraternity arguments, prob ably one half of which are lics,and insist that he promise not to mention to anybody what they told him. Then they will hang around him until they get him and prevent if possible a single barb from speaking to him on the question. Many of the dear frats who borrow this issue of The Hesperian and read this article cannot deny that this is exactly the way they were raked in. They never heard the barb side of the ques- ? 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