The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-10-01
COLLEGE Al?PoDRoM.NG.
The Show Business Carried to an Ex-
 treme by University Students.

The Show Business Carried to an Ex-
 treme by University Students.
 There is sentiment rapidly spread ing and taking root in the minds of the alumni of the different universities of this country antagonistic to the exces- sive amount of show business in which the students of American institutions of learning are permitted to indulge. The feeling, says the Buffalo Conner cial, is growing that the only legitimate field for the exercise and exhibition of the physical, intellectual and musical accomplishments of these young men is to be found in the university athletic grounds, the university theaters and society halls. In other words, the alumni and large body of thoughtful people not directly connected with the various seats of learning are coming to an agreement that the college youth is altogether too much in evidence outside of the college yards, either for his own good or the legitimate prestige of his particular alma mater.
 Of course, the conditions under which the rowing matches are held make the selection on somewhat retired and neutral course like that at New London fit and proper; but the football, like the baseball matches, should be con fined to college grounds, with the avowed intention of reducing the mum Der and improving the character of the spectators, reducing the expenses and minimizing the publicity and spectacu- lar features Of the competitions. Another desira ble result of this policy would be the elimination of most of the gambling and very dcmoralizing sport ing" elements tt inevitable gather around events ike the great football matches that fill the columns of the newspapers for several weeks every autumn. Certainly the students them selves would undergo less excitement and buffer less distraction from their legitimate college work if the scale on which their athletic rivalries are tested were effectively reduced. When these rivalries become matters of national concern they naturally tend to become dangerously intense and injurious to health and morals
 We think this policy of restraint should also be applied to the practice that has now become universal among the colleges of sending out troupes of young men organized as glee, banjo and mandolin clubs to give public per formances for money in the leading cities during the holiday recess. These lads travel about the country in special cars, give ten or fifteen concerts in pub lie halls and undergo succession of "social attentions" calculated to inn pair the constitutions of seasoned men, to say nothing of immature youths who are supposed to be resting and recuper- ating from the strain of three months of hard work at their lessons and lcc- lures. Essentially their performances are not to be distinguished from the professional shows, and when they be- come an annual affair they are as tire some as they are surely tax on the good nature of the local alumni, be- sides being an unwholesome experience to those who take part in them.
 We have heard that the authorities glee and banjoclubs of that university that their present tour is to be the last one. It is to be hoped that the report is we'll founded, and that the example will be followed elsewhere, as it de- serves to be. Let tile college youth at tend their colleges and be required to attend more exclusively to their regu. lar college business.