Evening star., 1934-06-03
AS College Youth Sees 1t
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page.)
full to say that the average under
graduate was inclined to approach the
study of the political system OF the
American city with about the same
detachment as he contemplated the
organization of the Roman State, and
with little more background in the
nature of personal experience and OBJ
servation. Such an atmosphere met
the freshmen who entered our Amerl-
can colleges four years ago.
1t was not long, however, before the
tides of hard times flowed over the
protecting walls Of the colleges. In
some ways, 1881 and 1882 were the
most demoralizing years of all for col
lege students, for these years caused
changes which were both abrupt and
drastic. The case of one boy comes to
my mind as especially typical. After
enjoying a freshman year under con-
ditionS of comparative luxury, he re-
turned to college the following Septem-
ber faced with the necessity of flnanc-
ing himself entirely. Forced liquida-
ton of his fathers company had ter
minated the family income, and such
savings as had been rather casually put
aside in the boom years had evapo-
rated in the market.
Had it been possible for the boy to
get any sort of job, he probably would
have withdrawn from college and set
about helping out at home. Any kind
of employment off the campus was
quite unavailable, however, so this
student borrowed his tuition fees from
the college loan fund, got job wait
ing on tables for his meals, another
one for his room, and returned to
school. His incidental expenses he
met by the simple expedient of not
having any.
so Per Cent Self-SuppOrting.
Scores of this boys fellow-students
have been faced with similar prob
lens during the last three years, and
l suppose that in the country as a
whole the total reaches many thou
sands All of these. it must be remem-
bered. have been added to the ranks
of those young who, regardless of the
condition of national prosperity, have
always had to rely on their own ef-
forts. plus the aid of scholarship funds.
! to secure their educations. A reason
ably accurate survey last Fall indl-
Gated that in the Eastern colleges and
universities a little more than so per
cent of the whole undergraduate body
was in some measure Self-Supportlng
Up to the present the number OF
, students who have been forced act
| ually to give up their studies has been
remarkably small. They do not want
to quit and are prepared to cut their
expenditures to the minimum to bal
ance their budgets. College admins
trations have strained their financial
resources to reduce the burden of
| tuition fees. and have managed to Gre
ate many opportunities for non-com-
petitive employment.
1t has been necessary to keep close
watch on those students whose sit
uations are most critical. lest they in
jure themselves through actual pri-
vation. Last Spring word reached our
Office that one such boy appeared to
be omitting lunches from his daily
routine. On investigation it devel-
oped that for almost a week he had
been going without both lunch and
dinner except for an occasional sand
wich when he happened to have
earned little money through some
temporary job. When questioned he
was entirely philosophical about his
situation, pointing out first. that he
was not as badly of as many of the
unemployed residents of his home
community in the coal regions and
| secondly, that his breakfasts were both
| large and nourishing BY coincidental
good fortune a job paying 81 week
| developed in one of the university de-
partments and that particular prob
| lem was solved.
Must Watch Overwork.
Another constant source of concern
| to us all has been the willingness of
| our students to combine study and
self-supporting programs which
| spelled inevitable scholastic failure if
| not lasting physical harm. Who could
conceive a student being able to work
from 10 o'clock at night until 6 the
next morning, attend classes until
noon, sleep through the afternoon and
| then crowd his studying into the few
! hours between dinner and the new
nights work? No one, I expect, save
the boy himself Yet that is what
one student attempted. and his pro-
tests at being required to modify his
program were most vigorous despite
the fact that another and less hazard
Gus solution to his problem was soon
found. Likewise. the remunerative
possibilities in serving as blood donors
have been such temptation for our
self-supporting group that it has been
necessary for the colleges drastically
and arbitrarily to supplement the
supervision maintained by the hos
pitfalls.
Such have been the immediate prob
lens which the depression has created
for college undergraduates. There is
another effect, however, which is
cause for even greater concern and
encouragement Even though a boy
has the ability determination and
luck to solve his current problems. and
manages to graduate. to what can he
look forward? He reads that the pro-
fessionS, such as law. medicine and
engineering. are hopelessly over
crowded, and his personal observation
of what has happened to the grad
yates of the last few years confirms
and emphasizes the point. He is told
that there are far more teachers than
there are places.
The last three years present a drab
picture indeed The general student
reaction has been intensely interest
ing: it seems to the writer to have
passed through three phases The
first, brief one, was the most typi-
cally youthful of the three-it was
marked by both optimism and good
craftsmanship. Conditions couldn't
possibly continue for very long in the
direction they were pointing. and the
thing to do was to make the best of
it until normal times returned.
Bitterness and Criticism.
But times didn't get better and by
the Spring of 1882 the student atti-
tude had entered its second phase
This can be described only as one of
onI d;rao+ad .oa