The Free lance. (State College, Pa.) 1887-1904, January 01, 1895, Image 7
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-