Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-19
YALE WANTS $2O,OOO,OOO
TO HELP STUDENT BODY
Closer Contact With Teachers Is Essen
! tial, Says President Angell-Larger
:. Faculty Means More Expense.

! fore more endowment
I'VE consider it of special impor-
| tance." said DR.. Angel. "to make con-
| slant efforts to build up a strong staff
| of able teachers for the freshman
| year, composed especially of men who
| have the personal qualifications to
serve as advisers to these new-fiedged
Yale men just out of the preparatory
school hatchery. This is another rea-
son why we must have more endoW-
ment for the freshman year
Against LOckstep System.
The lockstep system of instruc-
ton" said President Angel. lis one
of the most serious defects In Ameri-
can university education. Yale wants
money to eliminate this serious evil.
The 'loCkstep keeps all the men In
any given course moving at the pace
set by the average student. 1t per-
mitS no more demand to be made on
the bright boy than on the dullard.
The dullard may have to run to keep
up with the procession, but the bright
boy cannot get ahead of the procession
even If he wants to run. We must
change all that"
Honors work is the method already
introduced at Yale TO break up this
deadening system. The upper class
| man of high standing is allowed TO
choose a field in which he wishes to
specialize Under the guidance of an
instructor he explores that field. lie
works at his own initiative and the
amount of work he does depends upon
his ability and his enthusiasm. When
| he needs advice, suggestions or Spe-
| cial information he consults his men
| tor. This may be once a week or 1t
may be once a day. There is no limit
| to the speed at which the honors man
may travel.
"Honors work" said the Yale presi-
| dent. carries to its logical conclusion
| the Yale principle of maintaining the
closest possible contact between the
teacher and the student. 1t will do
more than any other single thing
we know to develop leaders But II is
expensive. A professor who was do
ing nothing else could handle at the
most 20 honors men. To establish 1t
! on as broad a basis at Yale as we
want to will mean the employment of
many more teachers, many Of them in
the higher ranks. To do this will in
evitably be costly"
Much Reading Required.
HonorS work means a lot of read
ing. The honors man does not get
what he is after primarily, as does
the regular student in the lecture
room or the classroom. He must go
to books-and books in large numbers.
He will spend a large part of his
working time in the library. The
Sterling Memorial Library, now build
ing, which will be one of the finest
things of its kind to be found any
where, will provide special facilities
for honors work. There will be 400
stalls. in each of which student can
have his own desk for reading and
study. The entire resources of the
library will be at his disposal with
minimum of effort and trouble.
cit will be a great workshop for
scholars" said President Angel, "as
efficient as an up-to-date factory, and
furnishing such facilities for work as
Yale men have never known before.
But the facilities will be of little use
without an adequate staff of libra
rians, attendants and monitors. The
men and women who make up the
staff must be a carefully selected
group, for in no small measure their
duties will require both executive
ability and scholarship. Such staff
will cost money. That is one of the
dowment of $500 900 for the library
| as a part of the endowment fund"
| Ex-President Taft asked five years
| ago, How do teachers live. anyway
| The question is still pertinent.
THE Yale teacher" said President
Angel. still plays a losing game
with the cost of living. Salaries now
average SO per cent above the pre-war
level, but the cost of living has in
creased still more. One year ago Of
| fetal figures of the United States De-
partment of Labor showed that 1t was
nearly so per cent above the level for
| 1913 Obviously the teachers salary,
expressed in terms of purchasing
power, is well below the pre-war scale.
| Nobody who knew the facts ever
argued that that scale was high
| enough"
Yale does not intend, if it can help
| it, to let it's standard of education
suffer because of under payment of
| it's teaching staff. Poorly paid teach
ers will in the long run mean poorly
| taught students. If it We're not for
devotion to an ideal and loyalty to an
assumed obligation on the part OF
men on faculties this effect would al
ready have been felt in American col
leges and universities. Yale does not
propose to have 1t felt at New Haven.
| How would a Yale man Of the
class of 1900, say" asked President
| Angel, like to have his son taught
by an instructor who is paid less
than a plumber? We must be able
| to pay decent salaries in every grade
| to promote men who have demon
strated that they belong in higher
rank, and to compete with other uni
versities, as we'll as with other call
| fo,. no SoryipaC nf mon of hill.
ity and achievement
Language Teaching Classes.
One place where small divisions are
| imperative is in the department OF
Romance languages. This depart
ment has achieved striking results
by basing it's instruction on class
room conversation. a method tC
which small classes are absolutely
taking French or Spanish recite ir
these languages. Pride in their abil
ity to talk in a foreign tongue, how
ever haltingly. spurs them on. with
the result that they make progress
with astonishing rapidity. The mum
Der of students taking these courses
has nearly tripled under the new sys
tenn, though the work is far harder
than before. Advanced courses II
French and Spanish are conducted
like courses in English literature. II
one French course 10 plays are reac
in the first semester and 10 novels
in the second. The average assign
ment in a novel is between so ant
80 pages. Recitations. themes ant
examinations are all conducted II
French and Spanish. and students
are being graduated from Yale wht
not only read these languages witt
enjoyment and appreciation, bu
have the confidence to speak them
/ 1tt.