THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY WEEKLY.
Editor-in-Cnief...RALPH ELLIS
Associates {...A. H. BAYSE
Sporting Editor...FRED A. GILLETTE
Local Editor...J. W. KAYSER
Society Editor...MABEL BARBER
Literary Editor...CHAS. L.VANFLEET
Business Manager...M. N. MCNAUGHTON
REPORTERS.
J. B. Rienman, Geo. Hansen, Wm. Shaw,
Albert Beach, O.A. Zimmerman, Ray Barton,
J. R. Brady, Mary Burwell, Earl Campbell.
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OF ALL the organizations and societies in the University, the one which does the most good among the students, which exerts the widest influence outside the University; and which assists the student most after he has left school is the University V. M. C. A. Modest and unassuming in its work, this society of young University men assists more students in obtaining work than all other University agencies combined. No man this year has gone to them for assistance and been turned away disappointed.
And this assistance to poor students is only one phase of the activity of the society. It is Y. M.C.A. committees that meet all the trains just prior to the beginning of school; they provide the new student with information regarding eating clubs, rooming places and supply him with the Y.M.C.A. hand book which informs him of all the requisites for registering, describes all the places of interest about the city and furnishes him with a directory of all university officials.
It is the Y. M. C. A. boys who take the homesick freshman and amuse him while he is still a stranger and before he has found his niche in university life; they advise him regarding courses; look after his physical comforts; and see that he is placed amidst the proper moral surroundings. Nor does the interest which the association takes in the freshman close when he is well started in his university work. Receptions are given to the students; lectures are provided for them, and above all, classes are organized for Bible study.
These Bible classes have gradually grown in importance and usefulness until now they exert a great influence for a higher moral life and deeper living upon the students of K. U.
The Y. M. C. A. man is always a firm supporter of University affairs; whether it be athletics, debate, oratory or musical entertainments, he is always present with his assistance.
Such organizations are integral factors in every up-to-date educational institution. They are a part of the true university life and it is the earnest wish of the Weekly to see the Y. M. C. A. continue to grow in the future as it has in the past, and to hope that its great work will be even
more fully appreciated by the students in the times to come than it is today.
THE CONFERENCE of principals of accredited preparatory schools for the university and of city superintendents which will be held at Lawrence on April 15 and 16, is an innovation which should prove productive of a great deal of good both for the University and the high schools and academies of the state. At present there is too little connection between the university and the schools from which it draws its students This was recognized last year when they decide to have a regular high school visitor who should inspect the schools in the interest of the University and it is largely through the efforts of Prof. Johnson that the conference has been arranged. Invitations are being sent out to all teachers in the state who are interested in improving the preparatory schools.
These conferences are to be made annual affairs. At each one some prominent educator will deliver an address upon some special topic and will give valuable suggestions for the teaching of the branch in the high schools. The past few years have witnessed a great improvement in the high schools of the state but there is still plenty of room for more. The university, as it grows in size and importance, must advance the entrance requirements and the high schools must make a corresponding improvement in the courses offered. A few years ago the vast majority of high schools only offered a three years' course and some gave only two years but now almost all the high schools in the towns of any size give four year courses.
Every year there are many examples of students entering the university with insufficient high school training. Such students cannot keep up with the class work, and more than that they keep the classes into which they are enrolled back in the work. The result is that there is a very large per cent of "mortality" in the term quizzes in the freshman classes especially, and many students are discouraged and decide to leave the university simply because they have not been thoroughly prepared to take the higher work. It is as easy for a high school student to get a thorough preparatory course as it is to skim through in preparation and if it were thorough in every case there would be a better standard at the university and a correspondingly more thoroughly equipped class of graduates turned out upon the world.
Some may think that the high schools were not founded simply to furnish material for the university but to educate the youths of the county or city at the expense of the citizens. There are some also who think that the people who pay the taxes to run high schools should have the selection of the courses and the direction of the schools. This is true. But anything that makes a school more thorough and elevates the standard of its work
accomplishes a great deal of good for the school and should be thankfully received even if it does come from the university. The educational system of the state needs organization. All its departments should work in concert and we believe that the conference of principals and superintendents will be a great aid in this direction.
IT IS SCARCELY twelve years since the organization of the Young Woman's Christian Association at K. U. yet it has already become a necessary adjunct to the University. The work accomplished by this association of young women can scarcely be overestimated. It is not bounded by the University but extends beyond as well. Many a child of the "patch" in Kansas City has been made happier through the efforts of these girls.
As to the University work, it is a part of nearly all the girl students' University life. The ladies of the faculty and of the city also take a keen interest in the college Y.W.C.A. and greatly assist the girls in their efforts.
Perhaps no similar organization in any college is in closer touch with the great work in the outside world than the K. U. Y.W.C.A. From their ranks have gone out workers to almost every field of christian action and into all parts of the world.
The organization has now so permeated the life and affairs of the University that it has become more than a mere agency for good—it has become a necessity to Kansas University.
THE TIME has at last arrived when Spring athletics have begun in earnest and every day McCook field is the training ground for the base ball and track squads. Although the early outlook for spring athletics was disappointing to a great part of the student body, recent developments indicate that K.U. will be the usual hard proposition for her college opponents.
Coaches Durham and Moulton in their respective positions are fast rounding their men into better form and the Kansas teams with a little more work need fear no comers—nor do they. That's part of the K. U. student. He's not going to be alarmed at anything that he is scheduled to meet.
Especially this spring it is hoped and all indications point to the fulfillment of this hope, that our university athletics are going to be supported better than ever. This expectation of unswerving support and assistance on the part of the student body is the agency that is putting ginger into the boys and bringing out their best efforts.
The Weekly desires to see this University spirit increase until the institution is permeated with it and our University athletic teams will be so intent upon winning more honors for old K.U. that they will forget everything except that they must do the best that's in them.
DURING the Spring vacation K. U. students have been engaged in almost every conceivable pursuit except "book larnin." Some have been beautifying lawns, some have devoted their leisure hours hunting the teal and canvas-back; while others have spent the evening hours in snaring the wary snipe along the bottoms of the classic Kaw.
And this is as it should be. The student who has put his University work entirely out mind during the few days vacation is now prepared to enter into his work for the final half term with renewed energy and determination And in spite of spring fever, beautiful moonlight nights and spring athletics, this last half term should be the most valuable to the student of any during the year.
IS AT LAST certain that gentle spring has reached as. Not only has the robin laid aside his chest protector and felt boots, and the senior engineers begun to spin tops, but the athletic board has started to placing base ball players on the ineligible list.
Headquarters for Good Eatables.
We have been making a special effort to get in a full stock of good things to eat.
W. A. GUENTHER
'Phone 226.
721 Mass. St.
MOAK BROS. & SHARPE,
Eldridge House Livery & Boarding STABLE
Hack calls promptly attended to. Rubber tired rigs a specialty. Everything first class. Phone 148.
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NEW ELDRIDGE HOUSE,
MRS E. H. CONN.
Rates $1.00 per day, Supper and Lodging $1.50,
Single Meals 50c.
The first hotel in Lawrence.
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FOR SHORT ORDERS
All Students go to the
HIAWATHA CAFE 820 MASS. ST.
Open 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Ladies and Gentlemen.
Some Pantatoriums Are Better than Others
Our work speaks for us. We make every job an advertisement. $1.50 per month fills the bill, no matter how many suits, coats, paints or vests you have nor the number of times you have them cleaned or pressed or repaired.
Tel 506 Gray.
Lawrence Pantatorium, 12 W. Warren St.
Do You Anticipate uying a Typewriter?
Investigate the merits of the
Chinago. Price $35
Chicago. Price $30.
FRED BOYLES, 639 Mass.
has secured the agency and sells either for cash or payments. Also a full line of paper, ribbons, carbon paper, or anything in the stationery line
Fred J. Boyles,
6. 39 Mass. St.