The Washington times., 1922-09-17
PART: Time STUDENT
/ IS DETRIMENTAL
Washington Colleges ovsrrur
With Degree Collectors.
Marston Asserts.

~.
By WIN. MOULTON MARST0N,
Professor OF Psychelosy Mt American
UnIversity and Inventor OF the
Lie Detector."
In Washington there are, proper
tionately, more part-time students
than anywhere else in the country.
And a considerable number of these
part. time students are confirmed
I "degree-collectors;'' that is, people
who go about collecting college ana
university degrees with the same
xest and childish satisfaction in the
parchment itself (which, alas, OFTEN
isn't a parchment at all, in Wash
ington, but only a piece OF SUIT
paper that you and used to display
In collecting stamps or marbles when
we were boys, or that the executor
OF the Ladies' Home journal. Ed
ward Box, used to feel in collecting
famous autographs Why. l know
one of these chronic students very
close friend of mine, VINO mas man
aged to gather in seven degrees IN
six years. With him, apparently
"all is wheat that comes to the de-
gree collector"
Now l seem to recall, during my
days of marble collecting, that ordi-
nary marbles-"piggies" l think we
called them-were all pretty much
alike, and / was just as happy in
winning a dozen dirty, decrepit.
"piggies'' as in acquiring twelve
spic and span new ones. Moreover,
when my collection reached about
the thousand mark began to be
rather bored with my efforts to In.
crease it, because each newly ADDED
increment meant that had to count
the whole thousand in order to glory
in my increase and that was little
too much like work. Do you see the
hope this marble experience Is point
ing to in my mind with regard to
our degree collectors? I am sure my
friend of the seven degrees in par
ticular will soon grow weary OF por.
ing over 80 many Latinly worded
titles and will ease up in the express
sion of his collectors instinct. Quan-
tity never did permanently satisfy
the human race and think the time
is not far distant when the mere
number Of piggy" degrees it is pos
sible to collect in a given time will
cease to attract the intelligent Wash
ingtonian, for practically all the stu
dents with whom ! have come into
contact are unusually Intelligent and
when that saturation point Is
reached it will be up to us univer-
sity people in the District to have
ready a new and higher class Of de-
gree, which will contain real intel.
lectual work enough to satisfy the
enlightened demand of the students.
Even while the rage for "piggies"
was at its height, however, to re-
vert to the marble-collecting age
once again, we boys were always
very keen for classics" those
great. fascinating. spheres of hard
glass with beautiful, twisted, rain.
bow-colors at the center. A boy
who had an unusually large and
gorgeous classic" became at once
the center of all the boys in sight;
and every effort was made to get
that classic away from him, by
trade, shooting" at 1t, or some.
times, alas! by force. Now at
American University, we're trying
to supply classic" degrees. Per-
haps some of my distinguished and
conservative colleagues on the facul-
Iy may OBJECT 10 my tnuS CnAraC-
terizing our supposedly dignified ef-
forts to attain the highest educa-
tional standards. So I'll have to
descend to conventional explanation
Of our theory.
- Difficulties Pointed Out.
The great difficulty in the way of
giving intellectually first-class de-
grees to the degree.collectors in
Washington, is the fact that they
are nearly all part.time students.
That is, they earn their living and
go to school on the side. Now II
my job required me to drop this
article right here and rush off for a
strenuous four hours clerical work
for the Great Lord So-and-So in the
Department Of Commerce, I should
not be able to pick up the thread
again instantly when returned.
and the result would be even more
disconnected than IL Is. To pro-
duce any first-classj intellectual
work it is psyshologically necessary
to concentrate on 1t over a consider.
able period Of time, and not to
switch off to something totally IT.
relevant, mentally. With under.
graduate work, this is almost i'm
possible for the part.time student;
for there Is a wide variety Of sub.
ject that must be covered for any