The Carlisle independent., 1920-12-02
ARE THE SCHOOLS EDUcATING2.


 ter. as exhibited in dispatch from Chicago, which appeared in our Issue of Saturday. The occasion WAS the meeting of the Ma ,ional Ccureii Of Teachers of Eng.sb, which .was ad- dressed by nurs9er 4 leae' ag edu- cators, including a meir Der of liar wards faculty, who came el!ant.y and effectively to the defense of the "press gang" We make our very best bow, as members of the fraternity, 10 Prof. Charles Swann Thomas for the justice he was pleased to display to- wards newspapers and the encourage ment they will receive from his words.
 But the sensational feature of the meeting was supplied by Prof. Rollow Walter Brown of Carnegie College, Northfield, Minn., whose quoted words are these:
 .'I have come to the conclusion that any student, to receive attention from the faculty of the average college, must be to a certain extent morally and mentally deficient.
 "In the last ten years 1 have visited many colleges and 1 have attended a number of faculty meetings, and while I have found that considerable time has been devoted to such questions as the number of fraternity dances to be given during season, what hour at night the fudge kitchens in the girls dormitories shall remain open, and what size paddle may be used during the initiation of freshmen, never have heard five minutes devoted to the question of the exceptional student destined to be leader in whatever line of endeavor he shall follow.
 And the account proceeds thus:
 Prof. Brown said the average col lege student was not exceptionally brilliant, but that it was the fault of the college, inasmuch as the school, through it's athletics, fraternity dances and similar attractions, gets just the class of students to which such things appeal"
 There can be little doubt that the emphasis placed upon social diversions and athletics in modem schools is a foe to the main business of those in stitutions, which have been founded by individuals, churches and govern ments for the mental and moral cul- ture of the generations as they come crowding upon the stage of life. But we think this is very far from being the worst evil with which they are af- fflcted. and the teaching of English supplies very good example of what we have in mind
 It would seem that the structure of the English language, it's history and development, illustrated by the mas terpieces which adorn it's great record, and the correct use of it's parts of speech afford ample exercise for the talents of instructors in English and comprise the true object aimed at in establishing the subject as a part of the curriculum. Far from it! The teacher of English now has "a mis- sion". And it is to conduct an al- legged philosophical discussion of ev- cry subject of importance found in the English language, with scant respect for anything, however sacred.
 And the same system prevails to a greater or less degree in other branches of education as it is now pre- sented. Immature minds are grave ly informed that such and such gov ernmental program is correct, how ever widely the general public, com posed of the parents of those youths, may at the moment differ concerning it, and despite the fact that men of recognized ability and long experi- ence regard it as pernicious.
 Another crying evil of the modern educational program is the growing custom of welcoming propagandists of all forms of uplift and other re- fOrmatory proposals to the platforms <xE o1r %l,n4 t~< said about this practice is that it is diverting. We believe it to be much more than this. The propagandists are wise in their generation; they know how easy it is to get an audi ence at school, and they are under the necessity of making a showing to the organizations that are supply ing the easy money with which their pockets are lined, and of which they are not unnaturally fond.
 A sweeping reform is unquestiona- ply needed at the point indicated by Prof. Brown, but of far greater inn portance is the need to strip the edu- cational programme of wild-eyed propaganda in classroom and lecture hall, with return to the teaching of the fundamentals of recognized edu- cation, leaving the~students to adopt or form their own theories of the uni verse and all that it contains when they have come into real contact with it's roblems-Commerci Appeal
 If Prof. Brown would visit some of the high schools of the country he would no doubt be surprised at the amount of time being absolutely wasted in giving attention to foot ball, basket balt and many other things that are worthless to a stu dent that hopes to be successful in any line he shall select to follow in the future.
 A team belonging to Bolin Thoma- son of Hazen ran away on Front St. at about 11:30 Thursday morning and ran into an auto belonging to MT. J. R. Hash, which was standing in front of l.. B. Krshka's store. For tunately no one was in the path of the tJInaWay tean, The gar was rot ma