The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 24, 1922, Page 2, Image 2
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PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 1111
EUP11RADIAN AND CLARIO
SOP11IC SOCIE'TIFS, UNI
VERSITY OF SOUTH CARO
LINA.
Subscription $1.50 per Year.
Entered at Columbia, S. C., postoflice
November 20, 1908, as second
class mail matter.
Columbia, S. C. March 24, 1922.
Editor-inl-(C'iief:
.\ary P-lettcher. stackhmiuse.
Assistant- Editors:
Emm111 Wilsonl.
Cornelia Ilugginus.
Lorraine llendry.
On with the May Jubilee
the world loves a booster!
"The greatest, of faults is to
be conscious of none."
A pessimist is I man who
thinks the world is against himil
-he is probably right.
No one is too young to learn
the beauty of courtesy 'and no
one is too old to practice it.
A country is not made great
by the numiiber of square nilles
it contains, but by the 1num1ber
of square people it contains.
Spring is the season for
Cupid's fever epidemics! Is
Carolina iiimune? But, don't
break your hearts over 'em!
don't ruin your career for 'eII!
don't lost a night's rest for
'ei! TIh'ey're not worth it
except one!
* * * * *
Our Honor System.
Is our honor systeim ork
ing? Have we forgot ten what
it meanls? It[s it, hecmme Imlere
ly a systeIII? /lonor is really
a verv broad telI, inh1ling
the (Iolen llItIulle. Whylv cani't
ve apply it to everything w(
do0? If we had considered thiN,
phase of the Iatter. carefully,
it w~old niot have~' beeni ne(ces
saryV to have ouir attenition
call, at few weeks ago, to the(
talking ini chapel. Th'le follow
ing is ai letter which app)eared
in Na/ion, .Juily 12, 1914, writ
ten by Dri. Joynes of our Ulni.
ver.sity dlefeninlg our 1honm0
systemt. lsend.* it, and see if wc
are living upi to hils expeCcta
tions.
"To the Editor of the Nation:
Sir: I have r'ead1 with mueill
interest the cont11ribution of
Pr'of. 0. WV. F'irkins in the Na
tion of May 7 on the honor sys
temi. I shalh n ot attemipt t<
con t,rovert I'rof. Virk in's ar'gu
ments, some of wvhichi, I con
fess, 1 (10 not fully unII(erstam1(
--perhaps because I am unabl<
to nonuy his noint of view
But I ask indulgence for a few
remarks on this subject, oil
which (though Prof. Firkins
(ows not quote ie) I liave once
before written to the Nation.
It would be impossible for
any faculty sharing Prof. Fir
kin's opinions to inaugurate
successfIIllv the honor systei.
T'lis is, inl its essential nature.
reciprocal it, canilnot live with
out Iuitual contidence and ,
good faith. What the faculty
expects of t(he stuldents, it must
accord to the stuldents,- -that
is, entire colfidence, without
any shadow of suspicion 0( es
ponage. Of course, unlder aIY
system, occasional lapses will
occur, )but it is better to be
sometimes dleceived than to
destroy the basis of lmutual
confidence. Yet I am sure
that, under the honor system,
such lapses will be fewer than
unlider -any other; for the wit of
a student, or of a group of stu
dents, intent to deceive, is al
ways sharper than any pro
fessor's eye.
I agree with Prof. Firkins
that the exactionl of a pledge is
offensive. Inl Imly opinion, it is
incon.sistent with anyN truie coil
ception of the honor system.
and should be abolished every
where, as it has been, with the
best results inl this institution.
The honor system, righttly con
ceived, is only the ihonior prin
ciple suchi as exists everywhere
among gentlemen, applied to
cornlitions of college life. It
means that the facultv are 'en
tlemen; the students are gon
tieIen ; and the relations be
tween them, always and every
where, are such as shoul mark
the intercourse of gentleien,
whethier singly or in grous.
It is a low and degradinllg con
ception of the systeml that con
fines it to examinlatiolns or to
the cassroom. I shoub gov
ern the conduct and i intI er
coulirse of professors and stu
dents always ald everywhere.
I hope Prof. Firkins will ex
cuse me if I ask hin and other
readers of the Nation to reflect
upon his views.
Might I plead tle privilege
of old age and of long experi
ence to add a personal word?
Since 1848, wheni I be(Came Il
sophoImore, I have been inl inti
nuate connuect ion with college
life. 1 have lived umnder abniost
every' systemt-thant of the class
imnifor, andl iat oif prefessioni
a 1lipr'vision1 and1( espionage,
both (of which I have found to
he fumtil1e and( unlsucce'ssful
may I add, also, at least un i
moral, if not iitmmoral; and it
is myi c(onv ictioni t ha I ihe only
decent modIu' riren di bet weeni
faculty and stuident,s niust be
based1 on the honor pri nciptle,
and that this is thle only sound1(
basis for' the education of
characi(ter. I venture to bielieve
that the timne is comning when
no14 othier pilan will be deemued
conisistent with the growf h of
Anmerican nimnhoodl.
Edlward S. .Jones',
Emeritus Pro(fessoir.
University of S. C.
Nhy Do Not More Young Men
Graduate at College?
In a paiphlet, "Does It
P'ay ?" by 1 Dr. Heed Siith, head
)f t he Ext ension Depart iient
)f the State University, he
shows that' the average unedu
-ate( 111an earis $464.76, usu
Illy with effort and little pro
notion; whereas the average
1dicated man makes $1,048.21
xit h1 comparat ive eas and some
visure time left for "fiving."
With this poinit inl mind,
xhat future can South Caro
iina hold out for its boys? The
4atistics of 1920-21, compiled
>y( Government agencies, show
hat of all boys ill South Caro
ina, 77 perl Cent were enrlolled
in tle schools; 2 per cent ill the
-olle'es; and three-tenthis of
me per 'cent, or three inl every'N
I,000 of the school enrolhient.
-'radlated in college.
This does not- signify, how
ver, that South Carolilialns
-alnnot achieve. If we could go
)ack to 1893 in room No. 3 W.
[larper, we would find A. T.
hlarden, at that ine a hard
xorking University student,
ater a telegrapl oplerator, and
ater. still the lamente(d vice-1
resident of the New York
'enltral. If we could ask him if
le road of success passes
llrough South Carolina, what
10 you think lie would say?
Then too, there was a timle
wen Soulit Carolina was a
eacon light inl all that stood
ror American culture. But
-eal (nultire and ediucation go
land inl hand, and durilg the
last four decades, for twenty
rears South Carolina, made her
mark at the bottom of the list
)f forty-nine States, and after
[lawaii, Canal Zone, and Porto
Rico were added in 1918, the
latest report, she made her
muark at the bottom of the fifty
Swo, with an index figure of 29
ror her State school system.
It, is encouraging, however, to
'1ote that, according to our
't4ate Superin lit end11eit, of Edu1
-ation, South Carolina lead all
the States iln the Union In
Lhe 1910-20 decade in reducing
her illiteracy percentage
teaching tlie unlettered to read
ind write.
With this strengthened foinl
lation, what will the yotng
men of South Caroli na und4 er
take? What (leteriiinat ion,
effort and sacrifice will ac
comnplish was miagnificenitly (de
mlonst.ratedl whlen (let erm ina
tioni, efTort, and1( 5acr ifice
stretchied over a period oif a
cou ple of years wvon victory~ iln
the World Wa r; briniginug peace
and liberty wh'Ien every maln
nmny sit by hiis own Iireside(
with freedom to miake of his
own life whatsoever he nmy
choose.
What about a lit tie miore
sacrifice now to get on a higher
plane of living-to give Sou th
Carolina an edlucated1 nmn '
hood and place her in the posi1
tion of her former glory in tie
galaxy of States?--to say niothi
ing of the inestimable gaini to
each individual man.
What the Co-eds Can Do.
Are we taking advantage of
tHie m1anly opportulnit ivs -which
ire open to woimlen at the jni
versiity? The answer to this
inestion as far as at least fifty
per ceit of the Co-eds are con
1evierl would Imiost assliredly be
N( . . When entering Carolina
m1any of Is have beenl too quick
to deile that out interests are
Ii imited Ierelv to tle class
roomt; a 1nd whiile our classes
Iiould be of great importance,
Zurely th ey are not ouri only
-lii lit.
To begin wi ih, thIle fact. of
being a Co-ed tends to broalen
a girl-to enable Ier to put
hlerself on a plane with men, on
[,qullal ternis an1 under e(ual
iircustances. And today
when the women have the vote,
when many of theiml are rn1
ninlg for flices, and thrown
with men oi the saimle basis
wit I theiml, it is more import
111t than ever before to know
theiml and to understand how
to mingle with them.
This year mally opportllni
ties have beenl open to the girls
inl writing, debating and 011ora
ting. Only a few weeks ago,
the Ipoys voted to m1lake it pos
Nible for a co-ed to edit the
('arolinianl and to assist on the
(iamecock staff. Surely this is
soitethiing that no girl should
look upon - as a small privilege
(w slight honor. For had not
the boyNs realized our abilities
they would not have made this
field of work possible for us.
And yet, out of our iinety co
eds how many do1 work onl the
publications? Now that we
have been given the chance it
is up to every girl to shoulder
then reslponsibility of maiiikinigr
lie publications larger and bet
ter than ever before.
F'urtherimiore, it is surprising
how few girls regularly attend
literary society, although the
lleilberslip is large. The soci
ety shotld not be a Imere name
to its Iembers, but it. should
stand for an organization
which holds within it vast, pow
elrs that mulay be developed in
its timeilbers. There are miialny
rewalr(s opened to those wlio
wolhl help t) imlake the society
If we are eq(lual to the Ietn,
why is it. t hat tnotne of its ever
enter oratorical atnd other cont
t;est s open t.o stitdents of thle
Utniversity? It has been saidl
that a womtan can out talk a
man, then wh'y can't she out
speak himt?
Think all these things over
ask yourself whether you are
get t inug everyt hing ou t of the
UTniversity that it offers you,
awli whet her you in retuirn are
giving your best efforts to the
University. If we are niot, we
ar'e niot realizing the greatest
aim ouf edtientiont.
Conservative Liberalism.
In last week's issue of t his
paiiper' there ratn an article
signted by "4C. K.," gr'ieving
over' the utnliumnv) lot of bromd
mind)(led liiberalists who are Cj
termIed by "the great mass" as
"led,""Radicals," "Bolishe
%viks." To quote, "the narrow
mind(ledI rustic who will close
iis eyes to everything outside
the scope to which he is accus
tomed rolls everything at all
new ilto a ball which coil.
temptuouslv lie calls radical.
lie takes 110 painls to diStinl
guish degrees of worth or
cliange: is it (lifferent?-well,
it's radlical. AnI in a perfect
frenzy lie becomes obsessed
with the bogy of ra(licalisl *
* * ald( the all-important per
sonage who thinks that he is
getting the best of the argu
ient by yelling 'Bolshevik'
slioulI imake friends with an
Eg yptian mumm1111y."
This grievance is made after
several paragraphs in which it
is explainedI that "1the mlost
emph) lyed meaiis of winning ar
g"elillits has been the attempt
to (liscrelit and(I to slan(ler, to
shout anathema and damning
phrases; calling on I eaveii to
witness the perfidy and sedi
tion of the opponent."
We don't know vhether "C.
K." has been in an argument
in which lie has been called a
"Bolshevik" or not ut we join
with him heartily in con(lemn
ing those narrow-minded men
who coienin a new thing be
cause it is new. As "C. K."
says: "the sensible man (oes
not fiercely point his finger at
every new or (lifferent idea and
yell "Rled !" If lie can't an
swer by defense of himself lie
keeps quiet. Only the crazed
bigot yells indiscriminately.
For reason and justice, no
matter how mucli they may Ie
shouted at from the housetops,
11o matter what terms the dem
agogulle clothes them in, remain
reason and justice, anid the
beating of tomi-tomis and the
hue and cry coinnot change
Tlhiis attitude of comiserva
t.iv,e liberalismii is the attitude
we must cultivate. A broad
minded conception of the prob
leis which face us--the search
for new things which will be
ii proveilenits, the (iscardilig
of the iuriful-a wi(e-awake
and reasoning policy, that is
what we want. Tle stand
patters have beeni well cont
deimned, but what about other
hurt ful attitudes? What about
the true radical who for the
sake of sensation pr~opo5C seshs
ty and ill-advised measures
for the sake of personal tri
umuph will lead the "great
mlass" to take a standI which
will work untold harm to it?
W~hat about the muliiish main
who kicks for the sake of kick
ing and keeping alive the
"spIiit of '76 ?"
Let this attitud(e also be comn
demned, and let us get together
as a body of reasoninig meni
who will always considIer the
good of the whole and who will
strive by wordl and action to
uphold1( the honor and digniity
of the studi(entf blody of the Uni
versity o f South Cnrolina.