54 



But when the dormitory system does not exist, and the students are 

 distributed about the community in private and fraternity boarding houses, 

 then dangers to the students as a mass are greatly reduced, while on the 

 other hand there are dangers added to the community at large. 



In many of the college towns as we hud them in Indiana, there is no 

 such thing as a detention hospital or a pest-house, and under these con- 

 ditions the question arises as to the disposition of the sick student, and of 

 the other occupants of the same house. If the whole house is quaran- 

 tined, as the rules of the Board of Health require, and I believe rightly 

 so. then the inmates are or seem to be needlessly exposed to the disease 

 imless extraordinai-y precautions be taken by each one who finds himself 

 at that time a member of the unfortunate household. And under such 

 conditions, it is difficult not to be in sympathy with the student or students 

 who break quarantine and go to their homes. I am not giving my sanc- 

 tion to any such actions, however, unless every preventive measure be 

 taken before each one departs. I refer to such measures as vaccination, 

 disinfection of body, clothing, and any articles taken away as baggage. 



Another feature that is of vital interest to the student is the matter 

 of procuring food. The usual method when there is no general dining 

 hall for the students, is to form clubs, the main feature of wliicli in most 

 cases is to get the meals for very little money. The consequence is that 

 by paying their .$1.50 to .?3.00 per week the students are fed three times 

 a day on something. It is possible that we have here in our college towns 

 some experiments on adulterated foods and improper dietaries on a larger 

 scale than our President Wiley is conducting at Washington, but we have 

 no one to keep record of them. 



Now there are two features about this food that I desire to call at- 

 tention to: 



First. Are not the students who are subjected to such diet— I can not 

 go into the details of the diet here,— are not the students who are sub- 

 jected to this diet, more prone to come down with a transmissible disease 

 than those who get a more wholesome diet? 



And second. Is there not a gi-eater chance of coming in contact with 

 infected food at these low-priced boarding tables? Certainly these two 

 factors working together, form a feature of student life that is worth con- 

 sideration, as one of the dangers existing in a college community. To 

 emphasize this last point. I take this opportunity to describe a recent 



