Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

Page 13 text:

FOREWORD college Annual is a legitimate publication. It till- a niche into which fll no other literary production, now known, would fit. It is one of the safety valves in college life, furnishing an escape for (toiling mirth, and stormy, long |x. nt-up enthusiasm. The custom of issuing annuals is firmly established in every live, wide-awake higher institution of learning in our country. The contagion has spread even into our high schools, whose slender. though often highly creditable, publications furnish excellent practice for budding college youths. The task of preparing the Annual usually falls on the shoulders of those who stand among the best in their classes—young men and young women whose abilities have been tried, of whose scholarship there is no question, and who are ready and willing to assume the responsibility, shoulder the burden, and make the sacrifice of time and talent. 'Flic casual reader usually has no conception of the labor involved in such an undertaking. The lx ok comes to him complete in its make-up. the reading matter judiciously selected and logically arranged, the text beautifully illustrated. and the whole tastefully bound. ’“'Fake me and enjoy me.” the lxx k seems to say: “look at my pictures and laugh over me; maybe I can furnish you with topics of conversation when you are at home, surrounded bv your loved ones.” The staff, as a rule, ask no special privileges, receive no j erquisitcs. look for no lightening of the load of the regular course work: but attend to their newfound duties patiently and with enthusiasm, content, as regards reward, that the honor enjoyed, the distinction conferred, the experience gained, should lx ample recompense for the efforts ex|x nded. Rutting out an annual is a lalx r of love. The work, while often wearisome and exacting, is nevertheless for the most part agreeable and instructive and lias many attractive features, but is not wholly free from vexation. This is true concerning the work of all the staff, but particularly so in the case of the editor-in-chief and the business manager, liotli of whom should lx men of Atlantean shoulders and pachyjxxl nether extremities. To lx; prepared for all sorts of emergencies, they should have done graduate work in the school of the heavyweight champion. Anon they should be as meek as doves, enduring in patience as water in Kentucky, and as self-sacrificing almost as Simeon the Stylitc. [9]

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PROFESSOR GEORGE WILCOX PEAVY Connected with the growth of every institution of learning, no matter what the scope of its teachings may he. there ties a story of strife .and of endeavor of some one who has struggled with Spartan persistence to build up. from a small beginning, a strong working force for the education of those entrusted to its guidance. If this may l e said of an institution as a whole, it must also he said of each of the departments of learning that make up the scheme of education of the institution. Phenomenal as has been the growth of the Oregon Agricultural College, from a few buildings and a small faculty to one of the largest of the land grant institutions of the United States, yet it' rise is no more remarkable than is the rise of the Forestry Department from a class of a few students, studying Botany and Forestry, to the present course, in which are registered over fifty students. The secret of the development of the Forestry Department may Ik stated briefly: It is. Professor George Wilcox Pcavy. A man eminently qualified by years of experience in the Federal Forest Service, lie came to O. A. C. to undertake the work of establishing a Forestry Department. He received his master's degree in Liberal Arts at the University of Michigan. For five years following he was principal of a High School, where he taught History and Economics. It was while teaching that he became acquainted with the importance of National forests. So iihhucd was he with the future of American forests that he re-entered the University of Michigan and two years later received his Master's degree in Forestry. Professor Pcavy then entered the Federal Forest Service, acting in various capacities that took him to nearly all parts of the country, during which time he traveled several thousand miles through timber lands. Later he was made Inspector of Forests in California, with offices at San Francisco. He had just completed his seventh year of active service when he was selected to head a newly created department in Forestry at O. A. C. Under his never-ceasing efforts, the department gained in strength. So earnest was he in his endeavor to advance the interests of the work in bis charge that lie early enlisted the attention of loggers and timbermen of the state and pointed out to them the importance of establishing a great school of Forestry, where men might lie trained to care for one oj Oregon’s most important industries. In every movement for the betterment of existing conditions and the solving future problems. Professor Pcavy will lie found actively engaged. Not content with simply confining his work to his immediate department. Professor Pcavy interests himself in other activities of the college. Faculty and student' alike have learned to look to him for assistance in problems whose solutions require diplomacy, tact and judgment that will stand the test of time. As chairman of the Student Affairs Committee. he has the difficult task of arranging student activities upon a basis of absolute justice to all. A firm believer in. and a ready sympathizer with, the students, he has come in close touch with them, and they have learned to seek his judgment in all weighty and important matters. A man young in spirit and in action. Professor Pcavy has the opportunity before him to gather further laurels in serving O. A. C. A cheery nature, ready wit. and clogged perseverance are his—these, with an unselfish devotion to his work, spell success. Jo Sorenson.

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The greatest trial of courage for them usually comes when it is whispered among the knowing ones that in the forthcoming issue of the Annual—to distinguish it from previous issues and as a means of dealing a decisive blow at all manner of rapscallionry—the perpetrators of untimely pranks, the heroes of thrilling escapades, snipe hunters, fountain artists, peeping Toms, “escaladers. and such ilk. are to be given their deserts. There is immediately a grand rush of the malefactors or their friends for the sanctum sanctorum of the Annual staff. Their little jokes were played in the dark of the moon, you know: they want to keep them dark, for they are afraid of the light. The pleas put forth, the eloquence displayed, and even the tears (crocodilus vulgaris) shed by the trembling delinquents, would turn a veteran barrister green with envy, could he witness these acts behind the scenes. What is the editor to do? Kcho gives the answer, “to do! if he have the necessary stamina and resolution. More often than “doing it. however, he relents, in the goodness of his heart, and tills the space that should have contained a scathing account of the “joke with—buttermilk or some other innocent and harmless condiment. Everybody connected, even in the remotest way. with the student lx dy of the institution expects to find his or her name on the printed page of the Annual. Xanies alone would not do. however, else the Annual would degenerate into a mere catalogue or almanac. Something must Ik predicated of each subject or there will be dissatisfaction and complaint. Good is always given the preference. and good will be predicated where good can be found, lint where this greatly revered and desirable quality is not present, or present only in microscopically small quantities, practically negligible, something else will have to take up the space, of course. Aye. there's the rub! It has been said long ago. but is surprisingly true even in this day and age. that every man is the architect of his own fortune: so that, if one of his ambitions be to stand well in the estimation of his fellow citizens and to Ik favorably remembered by after generations, he has but to square his actions with this his ambition. After all. this is the only course worth while: the world cares for no other. The antics of the clown and the buffooneries of the harlequin may have the ear and eye of a thoughtless multitude for a while, but they soon grow stale and unprofitable. Therefore, for vour own g x d and for the sake of setting a worthy example for those less fortunately situated than you. put your heart into serious work and do your best—do it better than any one else ever did it. and you need not worry about getting it into the Annual or any other publication: for the recorder of facts will hear of it and come to your door to get the particulars, which the world will be glad and eager to peruse and will be the better for it. Our acts our angels are. or good or ill. Our fateful shadows that walk by us still. Professor Frederick Pkrtchtoi.ii. [10]