Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Technique Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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1915 TECHNIQUE Q3 The definite plan of sane, conser- vative athletics, of a character suited to the possibilities of under- graduate participation as recom- mended by the parent committee, has been the sole guiding principle of the Advisory Council during the years of its existence. One policy which has been followed consistently and profitably is that any new sport must pass through a probationary period of at least four or live years, in this time fully demonstrating its inherent worth, before practical rec- ognition by the Council. Now and then a sport has been instituted which has lived vigorously for two or three years, largely through the en- thusiasm and energy of individual students, but when these men have graduated, interest in the sport has waned, and it has gradually lapsed into oblivion. Other sports have been constantly recognized, having demonstrated themselves to be of true general appeal by virtue of consistent, unflagging interest in them on the part of the student body at large, as well as fulfilling the Councilis chief object,-that of physical development along sane and safe channels. As it was found expedient in the past to create an advisory council, to further the best interests of the students and organize athletics, so may the future call for modifica- tion or amplification of affairs ath- letic at our Institute. Wlhatever may be the demands of future years, the fact remains that, at present, our young men are stimu- lated to participate in healthful, manly sport, controlled by skilful instruction, and receiving the sanc- tion of the Faculty and Alumni. Such an athletic policy stimulates mental achievement, develops men, and reflects greater credit and re- nown to our Technology. MAJOR F. H. BR1GGs. TI-IE NEED FOR A DAILY AT TI-IE INSTITUTE f6? ? QUESTION which prob- , a y occurs to every one bl Glu '5 when the subject of the value of The Tech is mentioned is, Is it really worth while?,, I im- agine some answer the question in the negative. The reason is clear: they simply fail to appreciate the value of a thing they are more or less unconsciously enjoying. In these days we are accustomed to take things very much as a mat- ter of course. As we ride to the city from our homes, or talk with our friends over the 'phone, or light our rooms by pressing a button, we seldom stop to think much of the cars, of the telephone, of the elec- tricity,-the things which make our actions possible. We do them simply as a matter of course. In E, : ,i,:':,',::r5L::L: :'a1anm:mm.f.11m ,f -. vzegmft-na :aif5,e7,9555,kL5igf5.m, E 2. .5 . -. :K ...fam ,,,Y ,., ,,............. ...... - ,, .. ... MN., .. . -:..,. -,, , I 1' l11i1k'i1.L5-?S1v7r5i'3Ss?i'Rv S '-- a J-f--H 'E .5'K:T 7Z5T.ill1LL'!flI ,-1.2 -2'h9Gi'l,ClTn,vsN - - 1 -1:45 , F-, : ,Jf.gm,g,.,.,....,.,.,...w.,T-- L1 -5' 1 .-, ....+....,,.,..,.,,,,s,.1.,.,,,m.,,,-...'.. c.... ..,: .7 . HT: E I 4:44-J, 1. ,,44,,,,,g,iq3.ii'm5ga4':f..,.::.. II, x..-.:..:nr.1':n,.-'z...m:3515f1e:..:.mmyM,:hI-LM ' ,H-dug! E!'2'!-...J L, .5--ffm 1 H 'f-:Q few I c- ..i. E L ,em g,mji:1g,fxfzmozm:i- - - -- f 5: ' Ll. Nikifiy afMfmc?w:u:tQm:.-.N E 25 - A :- ' E-Eng:--I R:-I--1--I-ff'-I-1-v-VF! - f 1 1 1 a. I, M'f' f -. f gg:-3, 13, 1 '.'?.'mc'ac'z'm!9n .Lz'--'fc'z:t4', .1-:zz-:... ,,.,....l, ......,.,.... ,,... . . . . . xwnm 3 A T.

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22 TECHNIQUE 1915 venor, ,98. The verbatim report of their joint deliberations would be most interesting if space permitted, but the most salient points, thor- oughly discussed and unanimously agreed upon, may be summarized as follows:- 1. Freedom of athletics from Fac- ulty or Corporation control. Q. Desirability of compulsory ath- letics, or gymnastics, under a system sufliciently elastic to work no hard- ship to the individual. 3. Physical examination of all stu- dents, to be repeated at stated in- tervals with those students desirous of participating in competitive sport. 4. Establishment of some repre- sentative body of control to formu- late a definite athletic policy, under which the various interests could be uniied, a responsible financial system be inaugurated, and a per- manency to the athletic activities assured. On a motion made by Professor Dewey, a committee was authorized, to be constituted in the following manner: the Corporation to ap- point one member, the Alumni As- sociation and Institute Committee to elect two each. This was done, and the new committee, consisting of Messrs. Rollins from the Corpora- tion, Briggs and Munroe from the Alumni, and Allen and Winslow from the student body, held its first meeting April 28, 1897. The ulti- mate result of the deliberations of this second committee was the for- mulation of the Advisory Council on Athletics, which held its first meeting on January 18, 1898. The first Council consisted of Thomas Hibbard, '75, F. H. Briggs, ,81, J. A. Rockwell, '96, G. B. Burch, H. L. Morse, and Pt. VV. Stebbins, of ,99, while Frank E. Peabody, 877, was elected treasurer. A constitu- tion and by-laws were formulated by the Commit.tee on Physical Training, which were taken over for the rule and guidance of the Advisory Council, and these have stood for sixteen years practically without amendment. The records of the Advisory Council, during its life, show a great diversity in the questions which have been considered. At the time of its inception, certain rulings and decisions were made which to-day are common law, but which at the time were considered highly arbitrary, and for two or three years the chairman of the Council was familiarly alluded to as the '6Czar.', It is but fair to state, however, that to-day there is not an undergraduate who passed through the stormy and critical period of the first five or six years who would recommend a reversal of the rulings of that time, such as the abandonment of intercollegiate com- petition in baseball and football. T Q Z ,f -v. vw::rezwem' ' fs-'f - ' I l lilll ..... ILIITTZTII lk ,fl an.. ,-..,,.l-, .....,,.,......,,.,a . . z a az . ,rw -,- qgaua Y, LN l 1.5 T .5 VTHE.-Em,MC?Am7nq,5jn L:na

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24 TECHNIQUE 1915 the same way we read the daily paper and become familiar with things near at hand and far away, and there is scarcely any part of the world we are not in touch with. But we never think of the tremen- dous system which makes it pos- sible,-of the business of reporting, of the Associated Press, of the in- dustry of printing, but we read the news as a matter of course. Now, when we say that there is no need of a daily at the Institute, we are so accustomed to having it that we have lost sight of its value to us, and the information which we get from it, directly or indirectly, we are taking as a matter of course. VVhen privileges are taken away from us, we miss them. We do not appreciate the convenience of the car, the telephone, and the electric light as fully as we would if we had to go without them. The same is true of the newspaper. If it were taken away from us, and we were obliged to return to the old, slow, uncertain methods of street- corner gossip to get our news, we would more fully appreciate its value. Then the proper way to deter- mine whether there is need for a daily at the Institute is to try to picture the state of aiairs without it. I dare say we would exist and pass our examinations,-perhaps more of us would do that, but so would we be able to read by kero- sene light if electricity gave out, and so could we tell time by the sun-dial if we had no clocks. It is not a question of absolute necessity, for the daily paper is not an abso- lute necessity at the Institute, but it is a question of convenience, of efhciencyg and no one can deny that it is a convenience to all Institute men who read it or who get, second- handed, the information which it contains. YVithout it, student or- ganizations would drift helplessly along, each one existing without re- lation to its sister organizations, if at all. The question of frequency of publication here is simply one of expediency from the financial end. There is no question but that a daily is more in keeping with the progress of the times than a semi- weekly or a tri-weekly, both of which have been tried here in their turn. In Technology the need for a daily is more imperative than in other campus institutions, for here our sixteen hundred men are sepa- rated by division into four classes, into fourteen courses, into commu- ters and city residents, and in other ways, so that some system of keep- ing men in touch with each other is necessary. This is the function of a daily paper, which is essentially a clearing-house of news, which collects and distributes the infor- 2 --fvlfnnygggij:caxL.'m-..:::::.f1,'v167-' ,M ....-..1..:.a...1. - .,.1,f:,. - - Em, : ?'viL,a- ' M-'f - ...,,-:fee E555 I : :..., nw. ff.':::ui::a 11-xgaxrzzk : -I this als--1. . .?a!!lLLLf:?f Pff7hPf?3??U7lffL.-l-v-1-g.nl' I iiiiii :zuzmf 1,72 ,Q,,,,Q2..,9,:,,':,,:gZj': T-rs--H , -I Rf-2 ' ,.: F 5 iff'- umv- ' ' ' ' aa . , - -- -------- memmiziassiit-I F111-fijiii .......... ,...,...-,....,,......,,,.,,e , 1 -T 5 i VK W!! l Ei '31 W I :E :LA'm 'A 'R' ' ' E fi' ' - ' 'N ,J M if Lx . zz 1 a 'rQF. m:'ac'z'n4w7:fL':. --'4cf',?, ,'!fI!!'2E ' -I ss I