Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-07
The Normal School.

The Normal School.
The twentieth biennial report of
the State Normal School is a public
document which should be carefully
scanned by every legislator of the
state. 1t is an embodiment Of estab-
lished facts that no logic based upon
speculative theory can set aside. 1t
effectually disposes of the recommen-
dalton in the message of Governor
Shaw for four additional normal
schools in the state for no other reas-
on than that the legislature failed to
provide for one additional normal
school. One of the essential requisites
of au educational institution is the
library connected herewith. The
establishment of four additional nor
NAL schools would call for four addit-
ional libraries, or the crippling the
usefulness Of the institution because
of their omission. This feature should
not be overlooked by any intelligent
legislator who desires the best posi-
BILE good to result from the expendi-
ture Of public money. The attend
ance for the past year has been over
two thousand and with appropriate
facilities may be increased Indefinite
ly. These should be granted, not Mig
gardly, but adequately as required by
its growth and its educational impor-
tance 10 the state. A large enroll
ment of students justities renewed en-
ergies in behalf of increased efficiency
in the individual members of the
Faculty, and the employment of the
best talent the country affords for
every department. An increased
number of small normal schools would
mean largely increased expenditure
for instructors or lowering the grade
OF qualification. With the diversi-
fed railroad system of the state the
school at Cedar Falls is accessible and
is represented by pupils from each of
its ninety-nine counties.
The following brief statement Of
facts copied from the report should
command the attention of legislators:
"That, while the Normal school is
now favored by an enrolment thatex-
ceeds any other Iowa school, it can
easily be established that the morals
Of its students, the work of its Stu
dents, the spirit of its students, the
influence of the Faculty upon the stu
dents, the control of the students in
all matters of government and man.
agement, the success of its students
when they go away to enter work, are
not below par in any particular, and
that the department., the character,
and the spiritof the students are such
as may be successfully compared, with
credit to the Normal school, with any
other educational institution in the
country. There is, therefore, no argu-
ment for large university or for a
large college or large work of any
kind that does not equally apply to a
large state Normal school. There are
also many advantages that are posi-
BILE with large school that are en-
tirely impossible with smaller school.
The great results attained at Cedar
Falls-tirst by Offering the whole pro-
gram of studies every term; second, by
the large number and kind of musical
societies organized and maintained;
tnird, by the extensive and successful
lecture and entertainment courses
that may be supported; fourth, by the
division OF labor among the Faculty
SO that more students and more recit-
ations can be successfully handled by
q single teacher, since a teacher s
work is limited to one or two branch
es; fifth, by the opportunity thus
granted to offer many elective lines of
study with large differentiations to
suit all varieties of students; sixth, by
allowing classes to graduate four
times year, thus providing for many
mfsfortuneS that are sure to happen
during the pursuance of several years
of study ALI Of these excellent priyi-
leges could not at all exist were 1T not
for the large and varied student body
that the large attendance provides. I"
Speaker Henderson, not having the