to instill'in the worker’s heart a proper zeal for.
his task. It is the method used to induce con
victs to work and tends to harden rather than re
form them. Marks and demerits have held sway
in public schools and kindergartens for many
years, little harm being done as long as they re
mained there, but when they leave their proper
province and seek to invade the walls of a college
or university it is time to call a halt. Keep them
where they belong, and allow their fondest vota
ries, the typical school master and mistress, who
probably know as much about self-government as
they do about the subjects they pretend to teach,
to continue to use them as long as the public will
forbear. To inflict them on a college man is a
blow at his independence, and lessens his desire
for acquiring the self-reliant training and educa
tion that he is seeking. It destroys some of the
best results of a college life, and frustrates the
the highest aims of a system of which it is at once
a shameful and ludicrous part.
WAS it negligence on the part of the students
or carelessness on the part of the authori
ties that our reports were so incomplete
last term ? The student must appear for examina
tion at certain hours on particular days. The. re
sult of these examinations means a good deal to
him. Should he fail to make a grade of sixty in
two of such examinations, he is excluded from his
classes until one condition is removed ; he being
allowed this privilege of re-examination upon
making a slight deposit at the business office for
the benefit of the library. It is therefore impor
tant for him to know whether or not he is success
ful. Heretofore the means used by the authori
ties for dispensing this information, among stu
dents and their parents, has been the reports sent
out at the end of each term. It is little satisfac
tion, however, to receive a report containing only
two or three grades instead of eight or nine. No
slight proportion of the statements sent out this
last term were in this incomplete condition, and
THE FREE LANCE.
caused some of the students not a little inconven-
Where was the trouble ? The students attend
ed their examinations but were not informed as to
the final results. Some, on their return to college
found letters, dated some time previously, from
professors, personally notifying them of their fail
ure. Unfortunately these letters, directed to
State College, remained at this office and failed
to reach the students until their return. Surely
the reports should have been kept until a little
more information was obtained, or else there
should be some rule regulating the date at which all
grades should be handed to the proper person.
In this conneption it is appropriate to remark up
on the carelessness of some instructors in regard
to sending proper notice of removal of conditions
to the secretary of the faculty, or neglect, on the
part of that functionary, of recording them. Cer
tain it is that numerous cases could be mentioned
where the ,student removed conditions or back
work and failed to receive due credit for it in the
College records. There evidently should be some,
way of avoiding such mishaps.
AT the beginning of each term, students from
every part of the State have always found it
very inconvenient to be present at the open
ing exercises in the chapel at eleven o’clock in the
forenoon. To a person living any considerable
distance from the college, it necessitates the start
ing of the journey on the previous day, and the
inconvenience of remaining over night in one of
the small towns in our vicinity. According to
the present railroad schedule, one can get so far
and no farther on the day he starts, and must
come up to College on the following morning.
Such is the case as it presents itself to the student
who desires to get back on time, and it was little
better, several years ago, when we were without
the advantages of a railroad. Then, however, the
inconvenience was not felt, as it was impossible to
make the complete trip in one day, and conse-