400 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



discuss or vote on such a motion. Faculty membership 

 is only honorary, as the voting privilege is withheld. We 

 have 13 at present. 



Of course, the most important activities of such clubs 

 are their meetings. During the fall term, the Bowen Bird 

 Boosters hold their meetings once a month; during the 

 spring term, once every two weeks. The programs for 

 these meetings are always posted a week in advance and 

 are centered around a certain topic. For instance, a pro- 

 gram will be centered around pigeons, or bird pests and 

 their control; our game birds; migration, etc. At least 

 two musical numbers are rendered but such numbers are 

 always kept from being the most prominent part of the 

 program. Every student taking part in the program 

 must be a member of the club. This rule is inflexible. 



Eegular meetings are never allowed to become social 

 gatherings ; but an annual picnic held once every spring 

 in some forest preserve, which can be reached by truck, 

 is especially for fun. Our largest social affair, a fine pro- 

 gram and dance, was given on our tenth anniversary. 

 Even at this affair, attended by about 400 members, many 

 belonging 10 years back, the program was entirely a 

 student affair. The constitution does permit prominent 

 men w T ho are interested in birds to appear on programs, 

 such as game wardens, museum workers, etc., men who 

 are able to give interesting talks. 



The policy kept in mind concerning programs is : (1) 

 a program should never fail. If the program is made a 

 farce, if the dignity of the occasion is forgotten for one 

 moment, the program is a failure. It may amuse, it may 

 even instruct, but its negative result is very serious, for 

 each time a program falls through more students will 

 lose interest and the club loyalty will lag; (2) all students 

 scheduled for appearance must be present at the meeting 

 and no excuses excepting those of sickness are accepted. 

 In 10 years we have had but two failures to report; (3) 

 to give real information. In order to obtain the best re- 

 sults, all reports are prepared under the guidance of the 

 faculty adviser. Students in the first two years of high 

 school have not, as a rule, had much training in outlining 

 material. The faculty adviser sees that each student un- 



