The Coconino sun., 1923-01-26
DULL NORMAL Is
BAD PROPOSITION

One of the most amusing dis
patches the Associated Press has car
ried for some time is the story of the
Of J. d. Dull, effic-
iency expert employed by Governor
Hunt, that the Tempe normal school
which has taken nearly 80 years and
several million dollars to develop to
its present high standard, be abolish
ed, the plant converted into an agrl-
cultural college, and the normal school
students transferred to the Flagstaff
normal, all as a measure of economy,
and forsooth, efficiency. About the
most appropriate comment we can
conceive Of this proposal is that 1t
sounds Just like an efficiency. expert
Mr. Dull probably overlooked the
fact that the Flagstaff normal school
accommodation would have to be more
than doubled to take care of the ex-
cess of students caused by discontinu-
ing the school at Tempe, and that the
elaborate plant now utilized by the
Tempe institution is so large that It
would be many years before an agrf-
cultural college could be developed to
utilize all of it. These are probably
considered irrelevant and unimportant
details to the efficient mind OF j. ).
Dull.
No one will doubt the need of an
agricultural college in the state OF
Arizona, and the probabilities are
I that the need viii increase during the
next few years. But why IN the name
! of common sense one Of the Oldest and
I most highly developed educational IN
I stitutions in the state, which is filling
/ an undeniable need, should be destroy
4 ed TO make way for an altogether dlf-
/ ferent kind of college, is more than
the un-expert mind Of the ordinarily
4 intelligent citizen can understand. !.
We believe there is no question OF
4 a choice between a normal school ana
4 an agricultural college. Both are alb
4 solutely necessary, and the PROPOSE
i ton that Arizona cannot afford both
is one of the most absurd that has
been put forward seriously.
An educational institution cannot be
created overnight, neither can it be
coniured up by the mere passage OF
an appropriation by legislature. 1t
\ takes more than few buildings, a
! faculty and equipment to make coli
4 Iege capable Of giving the best SER
vice. One of the most important es-
\ scntials Of any school of secondary or
4 higher classification, is its tradition,
4 which can only be gained by the lapse
I of years, and not always then.
4 The Tempe normal school is the
oldest school of its kind in Arizona,
one of the oldest of any kind, and has
attained standard that gives its
/ graduates recognition all over the
4 United States, which cannot be SAID
i for every normal school by any man
ner Of means. It has grown from
single building to group of struc-
lures that reflect credit both on the
school. and the state, and this very
prowth proves the need Of such an IN
stitution. II the Flagstaff norman
school were sufficient to carry on the
work of training teachers, one oI the
two schools would by this time have
languished and died, whereas both are
Il in a very flourishing condition.
If Governor Hunts idea OF fostering
education is the elimination OF one OF
the best normal schools in the country,
I and the substitution of an altogether
different kind Of a college, our school
system is on the verge Of a disastrous
two wears. However, we cannot De-
lieve that the governor will endorse
the idiotic proposition put forward by
the sharp Mr.. Dull. And if Mr.. Hunt
does exhibit this weakness, it is hard
" to be conceived that the legislature
will fail to perceive the fundamental
fallacies which >underlie this unique
plan to get efficiency in our educa-
tional system.
If we need an agricultural college,
which we do, let US build it, and build
Z, it with an eye to the needs of a school
, of that kinds. 1t is expensive prob
. ABLY. but we suspect that survey
conducted by someone besides an et-
ficiency expert, will show it to be Just
about as expensive to enlarge the
Flagstaff normal to the necessary eX-
) tent, and remodel the Tempe plant TO
meet the needs Of an agricultural
school. And when this is done, the
| state will have lost something that no
act of the legislature can replace-an
! old established institution, with a rep
: utation for a high standard Of excel
, lence, that extends all over the ma
J tion.-Douglas Democrat.