Technical High School - Tech Tiger Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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T.H.S- UDB 6911016 : 1907 27 About the University of Maine BY EARLE L. MILLIKEN, '08, T. '05 N MAKING another attempt to tell the fellows i, at Tech something of Maine, I Hnd myself fac- , ing in some ways a difficult task, and in others, a decidedly easy one. There are so many sub- C r Q jects on which I would speak at length, that to discriminate from among them and pick out - the most important is quite an undertaking. At the present time, however, I think that the most 1 important question in connection with the Uni- ' versity is the one relating to her finances. , In eighteen sixty-five the legislature of the LD- State of Maine provided for an institution to be known as the Maine State College of Agri- , culture and Mechanic Arts. This was a direct outcome of the Morrill Act passed in Congress in eighteen sixty- two, providing each state with the means and authority to es- tablish a college or university. I can best compare the growth of the University of Maine to that of the Technical High School. Old Mechanic Arts con- tinued to rise in prominence from eighteen ninety-eight to nine- teen hundred four, when the name of the school was set aside for the more appropriate one which it now bears. In like manner the Maine State College existed and grew until eighteen ninety- seven, when the legislature rightly changed the name to Univer- sity of Maine. During these thirty-two years new courses were constantly being added, in consequence, the institution was in eighteen ninety-seven thoroughly fitted to confer the B. A. degree. In nineteen hundred two, George Emory Fellows, Ph. D., succeeded Dr. Harris as President of the University. During these years of growth, the annual increase in the enrollment raised the cost of running the institution correspond- ingly, however, the trustees were allowed for the expenses only an amount appropriated every ten years by the legislature. It is evident that an amount appropriated for a growing institution one year is apt to be entirely inadequate for the next, to say nothing of the eight or ten years after. The appropriation by the state was, in eighteen ninety-seven two thousand dollars annually for ten yearsg in nineteen hundred five the additional sum of twelve thousand dollars was set apart for that year, and an equivalent amount for nineteen hundred

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26 CD6 0t'i01'6 : 1907 VUL iv took the Watch and held it until the thousands of diamond lights were shining on the earth, and then he too sank behind the hill. A man walked up the village road. His eyes were cast down, for his mind was laboring with strange thoughts. Soon he came to the old White farm house. There was no light inside but the door was unlocked and he strode into the large room. The old- fashioned clock stood in the corner monotonously ticking away the minutes. The dying embers in the fireplace gently crackled and Hickered. A shaft of Warm light came in the Window, re- flected from the glass front of a cabinet and found the man's face still troubled by the untold story of his long absence and adventures. But the face was handsome in its strength, por- traying a man like the flag-pole on the hill, high in honor, true to the core, and unchangeable in the roughest blasts of fortune. Suddenly all was deathly silent. The clock had stopped ticking, the last spark in the ashes had faded into darkness. With a dread foreboding the man rushed from the house and turned into the Wellworn path leading to the top of the mountain. Soon he stopped, for there by the path, with his head resting in a cluster of ferns, his eyes closed and his hands folded as if in prayer, lay the old man, his face upturned to the stars. It was very beautiful, peaceful, still. The long White beard was partly buried beneath an American Hag which lay across his breast, and a slender frost- bitten golden-rod had bent its head to mingle with the silver hair. The man fell on his knees and laid one hand upon the cold clasped hands before him. f'Dad, he cried, and dropped his head on the dead man's arm and wept. uh Q ,D 45 3

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28 'Ciba NNOI6 : 1907 Vvl- 1.71 six. Since the first appropriation the enrollment has increased from two hundred to seven hundred. Due to this and the grow- ing needs which naturally come to an institution of the kind, it is evident from the above Hgures that at least three times as much income is needed to meet the expenses properly. The extra amount has not been granted, however, and only by the econom- ical and stringent methods of our president have we been carried over. At the time of writing, a bill is before the State Legislature asking for an annual appropriation of one hundred fifty thousand dollars. This sum is the total arising from taxing each dollar of property in the state three fifths of a mill. As the state valuation increases each year, such a scheme would materially increase the annual income for the support of the University. By the time THE ORIOLE is in the hands of the reader, there is little doubt but that this money, or the greater part of it, will be appropriated. Even though hampered by the lack of friends, the increase in growth of the institution under the circumstances may be readily seen when one glances at the strides which have been made up to the present time. I have entered into this somewhat ,detailed explanation in order that all of you who intend to enter some higher institution may at least have your attention attracted to Maine. To some men it will appear manifest upon investigation that Maine is just the school they desire. If an agricultural course is wanted, the finest in New England and the third best in the country is here. Our forestry course is recognized as one of the best preps for the advanced Yale Forestry School. The B. A. courses are as good as can be obtained anywhere in New England with the possible exception of those of Harvard. The College of Tech- nology offers engineering courses whose efficiency in the next few months is to be greatly increased by new apparatus and a larger faculty. Thus I ask you all who are about to choose a college to give Maine more than a passing thought.