Louisiana State University - Gumbo Yearbook (Baton Rouge, LA)

Page 13 text:

the battalion forms to march to meals, and stands at parade rest when the flag is lowered at retreat. The pentagon is home to hundreds of cadets, and not merely a plot of ground enclosed on four sides with the fifth side open. TRESHIES Vhen a student registers for the first time he is a freshie, and remains so until the following year, no matter whether he comes from New Orleans with the latest cut collar, or from Squeedunk wearing brogans: whether he makes the football team or remains in obscurity; whether he is fly or respectful; whether he makes an average of 95 (purely hypothetical case) or not, he cannot belong until the following year. New students dread the opening days of school. Later when they look back over their first year, they most vividly recall the impressions placed upon them during the last few days of the session preceding commencement. THE HONOR SYSTEM Stripped of its finer shadings, which do not admit of an explanation, the honor system is the code of student ethics which requires absolute fair play in tak- ing examinations, and truth-telling in making official reports and explaining delinquencies to the authorities. There are no rules on the subject. It is a matter of tacit understanding among the students, and for a breach of honor there is only one penalty dishonorable dismissal. To say that the honor system was inau- gurated at any particular time, might carry the implication that before that time there was an era of dishonor. Such was not the case, but the present system took definite shape under the regime of Capt. Alvin C. Read (West Point) com- mandant. THE LAW OF NEXT Though not in the Blue Book (the repository of many vexations to the flesh), there is one law compared to which the iron-bound statutes were as flexible as the rules of mumble-peg. It is the law of next. It obtains in the mess- hall. To illustrate: John Jones has the meat dish helping himself. Sam Brown pro- nounces the cabalistic words Next before Lorenza Smith. Sam Brown is enti- tled to help himself before Lorenza (if there is any left) no matter how much Lorenza wants it and even though the dish may have to pass through Lorenza Smith ' s hands to get to Sam. The latter.

Page 12 text:

(most of which have remained unchanged to the present time). The Col- lege of Arts and Sciences combined the former literary, Latin-Science, general sci- ence, commercial, and pre-medical courses. The College of Engineering offered courses in civil, mechanical, elec- trical, and chemical engineering. The Audubon Sugar School offered sugar cul- ture, sugar chemistry, and sugar engineer- ing. The Teachers ' College supplied training for the great numbers of young ladies who fl ocked to the campus follow- ing the Board of Supervisors ' approval of co-education in 1905. A Law School and a Graduate Department were added. The School of Agriculture was revitalized and an agricultural extension program for the state set up. A Medical School was estab- lished in New Orleans. In the year,s before World War I the University had a period of uninterrupted growth, especially in the area of new departments and academic standards. Many departments were created as the Department of Forestry in 1911, the Department of Journalism in 1913, the Department of Music in 1915, and the Department of Home Economics in 1915 to accommodate the women students seeking training in domestic arts. A standard requirement was set up for entrance into the Freshman class, and the Sub-Freshman department was abolished. In 1915, a regulation was established called the elimination rule by the fac- ulty and the hog rule by the students that would make the passage of certain scheduled courses necessary for gradua- tion or the alternative being automatic suspension from the university. This reg- Pcntagon Barracks ulation helped raise academic standards for the school. Before World War I, the University ' s enrollment numbered 888 students in the regular sessions with 610 during the sum- mer with instate students admitted free and out-of-state students paying $60 per year. After the outbreak of the war, the enrollment dropped noticably with many of the cadets and faculty entering military service. On the site of the new campus would be a memorial tower honoring all the war dead of Louisiana, who gave their lives for their country. The next section is taken from the 1915 Gumbo about life at the Old Campus. Just Plain Kaydets -- the backbone of the Ole War Skule! This sketch deals with phases of the student life, and certain customs, and scenes not familiar to those who have not worn Henderson and Ames clothing, nor carried a Krag several thousand miles. To the cold mechanical eye of the camera the Pentagon is merely a plot of ground enclosed on four sides with weather-beaten, two-story buildings, with the fourth side open to the Mississippi River, and a flag staff in the middle. That is all. But the Pentagon is more than that. At one time it was the University. So much so, that the official seal of the University is pentagon shaped, showing the four buildings and the fifth side open. Now, however, since the establishing of the Law School, the admission of Co-eds, and the addition of many new buildings, the center of student life as a whole has shifted. But the Pentagon is still the center of cadet life. The four buildings that form the principal barracks are for the students enrolled in the military department. Here 10 Nostalgia

Page 14 text:

12 Noslalgu (