Septemder 4, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



299 



raisinjr the rfquireniciits for admissiou, 

 that is the general as distinguished from 

 the technical requirements. The student's 

 preparation in the high school or academy 

 should be complementary rather than in- 

 troductory to his later work, those subjects 

 being omitted which will be thoroughly 

 taken up in the college course, in favor of 

 languages and other subjects which can 

 not be so well studied later. But this re- 

 arrangement and extension of the prepara- 

 tory course must not involve any material 

 increase in the entire time required to ob- 

 tain the bachelor's degree, for our grad- 

 uates, as compared with those in Germany, 

 are quite old enough under the present 

 arrangement. 



Finally, student activities and inter- 

 course which make up the characteristic 

 college life furnish an opportunity of 

 supplying the general training which is 

 lacking. Indeed, if the statements of some 

 over-enthusiastic college presidents be ac- 

 cepted, to the effect that participation in 

 college life is the chief end in attending 

 college, we might logically conclude that 

 the differences between a liberal and a tech- 

 nical education could be entirely made up 

 by the proper introduction of dormitories, 

 fraternities and a reasonable amount of 

 hazing. "Without going so far as entirely 

 to deny the value of the regular curric- 

 ulum, we must admit that intercourse 

 with fellow students and participation in 

 various student enterprises may be of 

 tremendous benefit, if these activities are 

 rightly directed and carried on, and such 

 activities, particularly along lines very dif- 

 ferent from the routine work, should by all 

 means be encouraged. This encourage- 

 ment can be the more freely given because 

 student enterprises are far less likely to be 

 carried to an extreme among engineering 

 students than among others, simply be- 



cause they have less time for such things. 

 This simple fact of having plenty to do, 

 effectively answers, almost before they are 

 raised, many of the questions which are 

 most difficult to deal with in connection 

 with student life at other institutions of a 

 different character. For instance, outdoor 

 sport with you has not entirely ceased to 

 be play, and the view still finds favor that 

 athletics exist for the benefit of the stu- 

 dents, rather than that the student body 

 exists to 'root' for a winning team. 



In ways like these will it become more 

 and more true, let us hope, that the engi- 

 neering graduate has had the essential fea- 

 tures of a liberal education in addition to 

 his professional training. That such is 

 not the case at present should be frankly 

 admitted. The danger is that the graduate 

 should not realize the limitations of his 

 training, and should not in the future be 

 at all interested in making up its de- 

 ficiencies; that his judgment as to the 

 values of an education be based too largely 

 on the consideration as to whether or not 

 it 'pays.' Such a one-sided point of view 

 is, I am glad to believe, rare among tis. 

 We are all proud of the good name of our 

 alma mater; we appreciate that the rank 

 of an institution is in large measure deter- 

 mined by the success of its graduates ; and 

 we are earnest in our endeavor to win such 

 recognition in our specialties as shall be 

 worthy of, and if possible bring additional 

 honor to, old Rose. But do we f ullj' grasp 

 the fact that we are called upon to be broad 

 men as well as specialists, and that there 

 is a sort of success to be attained quite dis- 

 tinct from our professions? I trust that 

 we do, and I hope that the R. P. I., with- 

 out losing in the least its good repute as a 

 trainer of expert engineers, may more and 

 more be known as a trainer of men. 



W. C. Mendenhall. 

 University of Wiscoxsix. 



