Grand Forks daily herald., 1916-02-01
CURRENT KNOWLEDGE,

A list of questions on current
events. chiefly those relating to the
war, was submitted to the students of
an eastern college. The answers re-
cefved showed what seems to be an
amazing unfamiliarity with some of
the most conspicuous events of the
day. events which have attracted at
tention all over the world, and which
have been recorded conspicuously
from day to day in the newspapers.
The quiz and its results have provok-
ed much comment. Most of the critics
have expressed the opinion that there
must be something wrong with a sys-
! tenn Of education in which it is pos
sfble for students Of college age, and
with sufficient previous knowledge and
training to permit them to be admit
bed to a modern college, to be so UNI
informed concerning what is going on
around them. Some others see no
reason why these students should
possess this knowledge, and maintain
|. that the time of students is necessar-
lily occupied in other ways, namely,
; in the acquisition of standard aca-
den1ic education.
1t is not easy to decide just how
familiar the student should be with
current events. Necessarily, much Of
what transpires from day to day is Of
. only passing interest. and whether or
not it is remembered tomor is of
little moment. But if the student can
see no relation between the life
around him and the. studies of his
class room, he is missing the most
important part Of his education. And
he cannot perceive that relation un-
less he understands something of
what the world is doing today
Many men are today handicapped
In the struggle for their own advance
ment and in their effort to be of real
service to their fellows because they
have received their early training in
school rooms from which everything
pertaining to the real life of the pres
ent has been excluded. They have
acquired book knowledge of the
things that are dealt with in books.
They know all about the siege of
Troy, but nothing about what brought
the first settlers into their own Sec
ton of the country. They can repeat
passages from Demosthenes, but they
do not understand what Demosthenes
meant, because human life is to them
sealed book. and it was to that life
that the orator addressed himself two
thousand years ago. Hence they ap-
proach the problems of life a little
later on with artificial Standards and
without understanding of what the
present demands.
The education of the youth differs
in no principle from that OF the adult.
Each must be expanding and progress
sive. If the mans education is to be
Of service, it must not be an cduca-
tion which excludes modern life from
its consideration. but rather one
which recognizes life. modern and
ancient as a, whole. which links ND
our dim and fragmentary knowledge
of the past with an intimate knowl-
edge OF the present, and thus makes
Aeach clearer and more understand
able. And If the student in college
is permitted to dwell in an atmos-
phere Of the past. and to exclude from
his consideration the things Of TODAY.
trivial though many of them are. he
Is creating habits of thought which
Will be difficult for him to break later
on, and which, if not broken, will
make him visionary, impra ctical
pedant instead of II useful member or
society.