The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-02-03
Local News Events Of the Past Week. SPORT toes HE'S GIVEN

purposes or INSTRUCTION. at O. -
we're the rooms on the fourth ana
fifth floors. Yet from the basement
to the fifth floor, every particle OF
room is in use. The students arc
comDelled to cIumb from the pase-
ment to the fifth floor-one huhuLeu
dangerous in case of fire. The pase-
Tnent rooms are a positive menace 20
the health of the students. Inc toiie'
roous in the basement adJoln the de-
nartnent of domestic science, ana
! there is no other place to put thelh-
Most of the original recitation rooms,
| ORIGINALLY large and airy, have peeH
divided into tWo-rooms.
In former days the class room 1n-
struction was all given prior TO L
O'clock Under this arrangeneht' Inc
students and professors had an unln-
| +errnnted afternoon for the work OF
| nrenaratfon or for work in the labor
! atorv. But with the multiplication Oh
! students and classes ana DIVISIONS u
classes, this system became lnpossiDle
| for lack of room; so that now CLASS
room work continues practically thru-
ont the working day, and students and
professors are kept on the hill all the
| time except during the evenings. rms
/ would not be so bad If there were
rooms provided where the students
| could study without interruption anu
if each instructor had small private
!
SPACE for student study rooms; ana IN
! a nun, her of instances twelve and
| fifteen instructors occupy the same
small study or office room. Doubtless
the state is getting the utmost use out
of Fraser hall, but if the institution
continues to grow, more room VIII
have to be provided, or else the stu
dents and instructors Will nave 10 De
divided into day and night shifts
While the present arrangement may
| be efficient SO lar as getting the ut
most use out of Fraser hail IS con-
! cerned. it is extremely wasteful of the
precious time of the students and IN
structors, so that upon the whole the
system is extremely inefficient After
all, the institution exists, not for the
efficient employment of floor space,
| but for the efficient employment of the
time of the students. This committee
does not believe in the all-day use of
| the class rooms. With the students
| housed in dormitories on the campus
i so that after each lecture the student
! could go to his own private room and
do his work without interruption, the
condition would be different. At Law
renee the students rooms are, for the
most part, a quarter of a mile to two
miles away from the campus.
Inadequate Facilities.
Special emphasis ought to be placed
upon the necessity for adequate pri-
vate office rooms for the instructors.
The institution exists. in our view,
quite as much for the average student
and the dull student as it does for the
occasional genius. Every instructor
should have his small private office
for the purpose of personal consulta-
ton with individual students, and for
his own work of preparation. Very
many students need individual help
and advice and real personal ac
quaintance with the professors.
Fraser hall was never properly ven
tilated. Subdivision of the original
rooms has increased the evil of bad
ventilation. We believe the city of
Topeka has not a school building in
any ward which is not superior to
Fraser hall in point of ventilation,
sanitation, interior beauty and general
fitness.
The committee is not asking the
abandonment of Fraser hall or the
expenditure of money in refitting and
redecorating. 1t is merely asking for
relief from the intolerable congestion
by the erection of the main part of
the administration building, the foun-
dalton of which has already been laid.
For this additional room there is GER
tainly profound need; and when we
say profound need" we are speaking
from the standpoint of the student
body.
Needs of Young Women.
We wish further to comment at
this time upon the need at the univer-
sity for dormitories for the young
women students. The founders of the
university were pioneers in the mat
I ter of co-education. They believed
that in the economy of a great state
the mothers of the voters were of
quite as much Importance as the vot-
ers themselves; and that there was no
very profound difference between the
mind and soul of the daughter and the
mind and soul of the son of the same
parents; and that the state owed as
much to the daughter as to the son.
Kansas has recently emphasized its
confidence in this proposition by en-
franchising the daughter as well as
the son. While the son and the
I daughter are now granted complete
: and entire equality, and while intel
lectually and morally they are, in q
| broad sense, identical, they are not. of
course, entirely so. They do not face
entirely the same problems and have
not entirely the same gifts nor entire
! ly the same educational needs. There
are many educators of great respecta-
( bility who believe in the separat ion
OF the sexes during the college years
Two state universities, one for men
and the other for women, would be
necessary to meet the view of such edu-
Gators. Such an arrangement would be
lmpracticable in the state of Kansas
on account of the increased expense,
even if the citizens had a preference
for such separation. But it is believed
! that while such separation is not
needed and is not desirable still some
special provision should be made at
the state schools to meet the special
needs of the women students, and
among these special provisions are
dormitories
II the young women of Kansas are
to be given equal opportunities with
the young men, and if they are to be
induced to avail themselves of those