Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-02-21
WORKING FOR KNOWLEDGE.

mat the college man OF tOdayslS a
pampered, petted individual, whose
expenses are all paid by his father,
who has never earned dollar in his
life and who goes to college for the
social advantages more than for an ed
ucation is popular view which many
people have taken. The result is that
despite the wrong done to the major
ity of college men, those not ac-
quainted with conditions as they really
exist, are prejudiced against young
man with college education, when he
leaves school and faces the world in
a battle for existence.
In view of these facts it is we'll that
colleges are beginning to pay attention
to the ideas held by their critics and
to combat them. The officials of the
Northwestern university, one of the
largest institutions in the west and
among those whose students pay the
most attention to athletics and social
affairs, have made public the report of
a canvass among their students, made
during the last few weeks The re-
port is summarized as follows:
Number of men interviewed. -. 200
Average cost of board per week. .$3.40
Average cost of room per month $5.40
Percentage earning all or part of
expenses. -. -. ... 40
Average earnings per week. !. $685.
Average earnings in summer vaca-
tlon. 49, ST .25
The figures, however, do not indicate
half the interesting facts discovered
by the canvassers. While the average
cost Of board is $3.4O, some men are
getting their meals for much lower
rate. Two men were found who board
for 1925 a week each, though they
prepare at least some of their own
meals. Others board in clubs for
$2.75 or So a week. Many were found
whose weekly board bill runs over 81
or possibly SIS week. s
Likewise. the average cost of rooms
which is listed in the table. does not
furnish an indication of the extreme
cheapness with which many of the
men secure rooms. While the average
cost of double room for each Of the
two renters is $5.4O month, two men
were found who rent double room
for 81, or $3.50 each. Others pay 81 or
$3.50 for half of double room, with
heat and light furnished, while many
pay no more than SIS. One young man
was found who pays SIS for single
room lighted by gas and heated by a
furnace. Others, it is true, pay as high
as 81 or So a month.
The census takers did not ask any
of the 200 men interviewed how they
were earning all or part of their ex-
penses, as no statistics were desired
on that point, but those who have been
connected with the university COM
munity for several years tell many in
teresting stories Of the devices re-
sorted to by students who desire to
earn few dollars.
The price for taking care of a fur
mace averages SIS and Sc a month,
though in some cases it may run over
this. During the winter months many
students earn enough this way to pay
their monthly room rent, while some
earn enough to pay their rent two or
three times over One student in the
university earns $50 month, and
most of this sum is the result of taking
care of furnaces.
Perhaps the most popular method
Of earning money is waiting on table
in boarding school. In some clubs
the student walters are required to
wait on table three times day for
their meals Other students, who are
fortunate enough to secure positions as
walters in established restaurants or
private boarding-h houses, often earn all
their meals by waiting on table but
twice a day. Other students earn their
board by washing dishes.
The college Y. M. G.. A. maintains
free employment bureau, and many
Evanstonians have formed the habit Of
applying to that agency whenever they
want a student to do any work. At
housekeeping time in the fall and
spring the students reap a harvest.
The snow shovelers have been reap
ng harvest in the last four weeks.
A few earn enough to pay their board
by working in the college library, and
some earn a considerable sum by work
ing in the university offices.
THE GEAR is NEXT.
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