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7 f *1 v » Thursday, December 25, 1952 / THE CLINTON CHRONICLE *» Pasre Tlfree A Regular Chronicle Feature COST OF EDUCATION IS TOO HIGH, ROGER BABSON THINKS Expenses Going Up But Institutions Getting Fewer Gifts. J — By ROGER W. BABSON Babeon Park, Mass., Dec. 22.—I believe that free colleges and uni versities, unencumbered by Gov ernment ties, are essential to our economy. I am sure General Eis- enhowr — due to his experience with Columbia ndversHy—believes likewise. We both are disturbed by the weak financial condition of hundreds of our important col leges. Costs Up — Contributions Down Inflation has forced operating costs sky high, while taxation has kept gifts down low. This course, the wi Vi f %■ 4 is, of result of short-s i g h t e d legislation of “soak the rich and excess tax business..’ We have reached the point where very few indiv i d u a 1 s believe they can, afford 'to confrib” ute large sums to educational insti- Rojtr W. Bsbisa tutions. An indication of the end of this kind of policy is hinted at in a re cent issue of the Harvard Business Review: Harvard’s endowment stood at $139,000,000 in 1940, with total annual operating expenses of $11, 000,000. By June, 1951, Harvard’s endowment had reached over $200,- 000,000; but annual operating ex penses had risen to over $32,000,000. , In other words, during that period, while its endowment increased 46 per cent, its operating expenses zoomed 195 per cent! Probably close to half of our colleges are current ly operating in the red. Cost of Education Too High To help relieve this financial stress, colleges have raised tuition costs, increased class size, trimmed faculties, and raised board and room rent. The result: the old, large col leges now cost parents $2,000 per year. AdTtolhis cTbttfihg, transpor tation, and amusement, and Dad is lucky if he gets out of it for $2,500 per year “It is true that this"T©st can be reduced by enrolling your son in a college of Business Admin istration which combines four years’ work into three years; but this mans your boy must work. How many fathers can afford $2,- 500 per year for four years when the top 20 per cent of our popula tion holds 93 per cent of our total net savings? This leaves the bottom 80 per cent with but 7 per cent of our national savings. Add to this the fact that the average annual earn ings for all full-time employees in the United States are around $3,- 250 and you begin to think that the old colleges and universities may be pricing hemselves out of the market. Should present trends continue, t am afraid that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other famous institu tions will be for only the privileged few who can afford their education, rather than for those who most de serve it. This, ordinairly, would be dangeous for a free society. Democ racy needs the best character and brains of its citizenry, irrespective of their families’ wealth. But I be lieve that today the smaller and more economical institutions are really developing better meHw Government Aid Given 1h TW4-50~ f Even under present conditions, the Government has already been generous. At the height of GI edu cation in 1947, the United States Government was paying 50 per cent of the colleges’ operating costs. For the fiscal year ended in June, 1950, the Government contributed $3,617,- 516,287 for general educational pur poses. It is this form of financial aid that has kept many colleges alive these last few years, although this is not a saisfactory educational practice. Our colleges should have further substantial aid both for operating expenses and scholarships to worthy students. Corporations could easily contribute to philanthropies 3 per cent of the 5 per cent allowable net taxable income which, the law per mits them to give tax free. This 3 per cent would come to about $1 1-4 billion. If 25 per cent of this, or about $300 million, were tabbed for higher educational institutions, in cluding business schools that -do, *= such a fine job with Individuals, the problem might'be solved. But will business respond ~before-4t—ie too late? What will your company do about this important issue? NO RAIN. DEAR . . . This young lady makes a pretty pic ture down in sunny Florida on Christinas eve as she poses with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Although Florida lacks snow it makes up for It in other beau ties. Christa Rose Enhances Yule’s T’ke Ckhl&tm.a& Sjpihit The goodness ond helpfulness of the Christmas Spirit are the things that hove ^ kept it alive for two * thousand years. The teachings con tinue to give us the standards on which w e c a n pin our faith. With such thoughts uppermost in our minds, we wish you a blessed Christ- IW mos - WE PLEDGE OUR BEST ’ A MERICANS usually decorate their homes at Christmas time with holly, evergreens, or hot house plants. Recently, however, they have found a new friend in the ChristmaS-rose. Nurserymen say this plant’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years. The Christmas-rose is not really a rose at all but belongs to the crowfoot family. It is a small plant no more than a foot high when mature. Nevertheless, it can put forth seven or eight small white roselike blooms tinged with pink. Called by botanists Helleborus niger or black hellebore, it gets this name from its black stalks. The Christmas-rose is no freak, no super-precocious flower or early-blooming plant This ligiti- mate child of winter flowers nat urally in December or January. It withstands snow and low tempera tures, demanding only some sort of shelter from the snow. Hellebonis niger does not prepa- gata well in the United . States. Hence, most at the tiny plants are imported from Belgium knd the Netherlands.- They . develop- best- only in the western pert of those countries where they thrive in soil peculiar to the region. The ancient Romans knew sbeut the Christmas-rose and eagerly sought it for medicinal use. They believed that eating the veots would “clear the brain, cure stu pidity and. relieve insanity.” “Let him sail to Anticyra,” said the poet, Horace, of an ill friend. Anticyra was a Greek town where the black Hellebore flourished. The Helleborus family is indige nous to southern Europe and the Mediterranean regions. The Christmas-rose variety came orig inally from Austria. t—- : Noel Preparat|ons Started in Norway In Middle of Year C 1RISTMAS just couldn’t help being the event of events in Norway when grandmother was a 1 girl. Without exaggeration, prepara tion for Christmas actually began six months before December 24. Everything which was used- food, clothing, household fumish- ings—wa^ prepared in the home. Even the leather for shoes was tanried from hides raised on the homestead. The cloth for apparel, from the skin out, was woven on hand looms. Cobblers came to the house and made the shoes; dressmakers and tailors came. Everyone in the household had to have a new wardrobe for Christmas and. since tailors and cobblers and dress makers could not be at all places at once, it was necessary to get an early start. When the butchering was fin ished—in October or November— the suet was melted and the can dles were made. The children always had a hand in making the little ones for use on the Christ mas tree. And they usually made one which had three prongs which, placed at the very top of the tree, represented the three wise men. The Rose of Christmas Was Young Girl's Gift T HE Christmas rose blooms at an unusual season, from De cember to March, with white, aometimes pinkly colored blooms. Because of the soft tinge of pink, the flower has been given the name Christmas rose. Legend tells us that when the Wise Men were journeying to ward Bethlehem, they came upon a young girl who was tending her sheep. The girl complained to an angel that she had no gift for the Holy Child, whereupon the entire pathway to Bethlehem was flow ered with glistening white Christ mas roses. Madelon. the girl, offered the flowers, and when the fingers of Jesus touched them they became suffused with pink. x&S::-#::: Wmwm illill May the divine blessings of Chrisfnnas besfow on your heart the fullness of a rich and happy season. 1 This being the season when happiness prevails everywhere —we want to join the spirit of the occasion by saying to you, one and all, "Merry Christmas." You hove been loyal and lib eral in your patronage and we deem it a privilege to have the opportunity to serve you. With the splendid remembrances of the harmonious associations we have had with our many good friends in this area during the past, we eagerly look forward to a continuance of them in the future. I We sincerely hope that these friendships have been as pleasant to you as they have been to us. ^ May this be your happiest Christmas and may the New Year bring you some i)ew joy each day. Giles Chevrolet Co. SALES — SERVICE " 1 ■ '■