The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-09-06
yEWs PROVIDENCE r. l. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 6. 1900


TO a stranger visiting our campus one
of the most obvious needs Is a new bio
logical laboratory. No other building
that We possess Is so III suited 10 It's
work as Ia Rhode Leland hall. No other
building Is so crowded. from attic TO cell
lar, with apparatus, specimens and work.
ers. The conditions would be ludicrous,
II they were not pathetic.
"A new chemical laboratory has long
been desideratum. The impending
change In the rear of the present build
ing may assist the department some
what. but the need remains. The appli-
cations of chemistry In modern Industry
are every year becoming more various
and important. and new laboratory
would be OF great value 10 the entire
community as well as 10 the university.
I'VE need chapel, 10 be reserved Tor
distinctively religious service We also
need building for our Y. M. G. A. ana
other religious societies. Such build
ing would do much 10 give character
and strength 10 the religious life or the
students. We need pipe-organ 70 lead
our music at chapel and az All pupnc
university functions. Any friend of the
university by the gift of an organ couiu
at comparatively small expense add I'M
pressiyeness and power TO every puphc
service and az the same time develop
often forgotten today.
..The gymnasium Is loudly calling Tor
the completion OF the swimmlng-pooi'
We have now simply hole In the
ground where We ought 10 have a pool
that would minister to the pleasure
health and manhood OF hundreds OF stu
dents Five thousand dollars expended
In turning the present yawning cavern
into a limpid lake would probably do
more for the physical and moral health
OF our students than any other possible
expenditure of the same amount.
.'The one great need which Is most
keenly felt by all departments Is
larger library building. Our present
building always attractive, was Thought
at the time of its erection TO be sum-
cient for a half-century at least But
in twenty years IL has been out-srown
IL is crammed with books, and very Sc
rious Is the problem we now face.
PURITY OF ATHLETICS.
"All the friends OF the university who
have any interest I'm athletic sports
have sympathized with she firm atu-
tude we have taken I'm regard 10 the
purity OF athletics. Whatever the past
may have been--and on that there Is
room for difference OF opinion-at pres
ent there Is no college I'm this country
whose sport is cleaner than ours. Pro-
will not be tolerated by the faculty. IT
is not desired by the students. More
over no man can represent the univer-
sity on any team unless he stands well
In his classes Again and again men
have been dropped from the teams Just
before critical games. for the reason that
they had failed to maintain their aca-
demic standing. We feared That the re-
suit of this determined stand would
In IN
legiate contests. But just the contrary
has proved TO be true. Our men have felt
themselves stronger for every contest
because they knew that every man with
whom they were associated was scholar
and gentleman as well as athlete.
All the colleges of New England, with
two important exceptions, now admit
students from some schools by certin-
cate instead OF by examination. To OBJ
viate the evils of the old examination
system the method OF admitting pupils
by certificate from approved or "sc-
credited schools was introduced. and
has steadily spread through the col
leRes and universities of the United
states College authorities have always
required certificates as To moral char-
acter: they have now extended the re-
auirement to include intellectual pro-
ficiency and advancement. But the GER
tificate method has proved to have evils
of it's own The different standards OF
scholarship I'm different schools, the
changes in management by which a
school that is of high standing this year
may three years later become weak and
inefficient the pressure put upon reluc-
tant principals by fond parents, the dis
agreeable consequences, social and finan-
cial. which a principal must face " ne
refuses "A certificate 10 student OF du-
bious preparation--all these things are
sources of weakness in the present
method AS a leading American teach
er has said: 'The certificate system
would be the best In the world. IL 1t
were a system, but now IL Is a chaos.
Brown University is revising the list
with utmost care. Hereafter each school
will be granted the privilege of certin-
cation for definite period varying from
one to five years. according TO the age
and standing OF the school. At the ex-
piration of this period the school must
again submit statement of it's cur
riculum teaching stan. Libraries, APP
paratus, etc. and the privilege of certi-
fication may then be renewed. Each
school is TO receive an annual report
of the progress or the failure of its
graduates with suggestions as to the
cause No student Is fully matriculated
until the close OF the first term OF the
college year, when he mas demonstrated
the presence or the absence OF ability
to profit by college course.
In addition to these safeguards the de-
partment of English is calling for an
entrance examination In English, since
certification In that subject has been
almost always unsatisfactory.
II Is the general opinion of the faculty
that the elective system of college stud
les needs TO be surrounded with certain
safeguards. They find constant ten
tency so TO specialize as to convert the
university into a professional school. and
give TO technical training the years
which should be dedicated TO breadth
OF culture and enrichment OF spirit.
These dangers can be partially over
come by personal counsel. but they
should also be minimlzed by a grouping
OF studies and regard for their natural
sequence Because the old traditional
curriculum was of cast-iron Il does not
follow that the new one should be a
rope or sand. Because tho old course
of study was determined by the domi-
nation OF scholastic methods. II does
not follow that the modern course
should be determined solely by the ca
price of adolescence
Each Freshman on entering college
will be placed in charge OF some one
p,aY,,har of tho faculty who will servo