Elizabethtown College - Conestogan / Etonian Yearbook (Elizabethtown, PA)

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Twenty-three mm

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VrO THE PRESIDENT ' S ETONIAN HOMILY A Jr. Howard W. Odum delivered an address at his Alma Mater, Emery University, in ■ ' ' • the spring of 1924 and gave to his audience advice that well might have been given to all the youth of America. The following statements embody part of his message: We do not know enough. We do not think enough. We do not read enough. We do not write enough. We talk too much. Since it is truth alone that sets us free, there must be a greater emphasis placed upon investigation, experimentation, and research in various channels. Habitually to press on in old paths is the death knell of progress. Where there is no growth in vision, no new inter- pretation of truth, civilization harks back to barbarism. Nor is it the cock-sure type of individual who adds to the sum total of knowledge, but the humble, open-minded student. Thinking is one of the most difficult tasks in which man engages, but it is just this kind of exercise which makes practical men. Bernadine Freeman in an article, Is This Educa- tion? has the modern student confess: I can solve a quadratic equation, but I cannot keep my bank balance straight. I can read Goethe ' s ' Faust ' in the original, but I cannot ask for a piece of bread in German. I can name the kings of England since the War of the Roses, but I do not know the qualifications of the candidates in the coming election. I know the economic theories of Malthus and Adam Smith, but I cannot live within my income. I can recognize the ' leit-motif of a Wagnerian opera, but I cannot sing a tune. I can explain the principle of hydraulics, but I cannot repair a leak in the kitchen faucet. I can read the plays of Moliere in the original, but I cannot order a meal in French. I have studied the psychology of James and Titchener, but I cannot control my own temper. I can conjugate Latin verbs, but I cannot write legibly. These weightier things left undone after all determine the worth of the individual to society. What do the scintillations of intellect profit a man when he has not really thought enough on how to live? The theory of life must become incarnate. Because we do not read enough we have an impoverished supply of facts upon which to base the decisions of our lives. What narrow worlds we inhabit because we do not acquaint ourselves with the thoughts of the world ' s greatest men and women! No one can read the messages contained in a masterpiece of literature and be the same person afterwards. Every one should read some of the outstanding books in fields other than that of his major interest. This would give him breadth of perspective and prevent biased and distorted views on the practical problems of life. Then, too, how much of value has been missed bv the world because many of our best thinkers have failed to set forth the fruits of their labors in clear, concise language. An exactness is developed in an individual by frequently engaging in writing. Glenn Frank significantly says, We must breed more scholars and writers who combine the burrowing qualities of the mole with the singing qualities of the lark, men who are masters alike of the science of research and the art of expression. There is a mass of writing done bv those with juvenile brains; but we must encourage the lion thinkers to give more of their discov- eries to a hungry world. May you remember as you leave your Alma Mater that the greatest danger is in talking too much about what ought to be done instead of actually doing something to make the world better. Put your life on the side of those striving to consummate a constructive pro- gram for humanity. Dare to do the right at any cost; never flinch when duty calls. To see you thus acquit yourself will be my highest joy. President R. W. Schlosser. Twenty-two

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THE EDUCATED MAX Recently a group of scientists had a meeting at which time they made a list of the things ■ ' ■ which in their minds count for most in the life and work of a scientific man. The first of this list is education. The narrow definition of the term is not implied, rather the broadest possible meaning of the word. This kind of an education is not given to students, it is the product or an attitude, a wisdom, which results from an intelligent corporation of purpose, factual knowledge, and character. To be educated means that ignor- ance and provincialism have given way to thorough training and a universal outlook; that crudities are replaced by refinement and that discipline is substituted for dissipation. The second essential selected was that of health. No mind can do its best in an unsound body. Many a great man lived in an afflicted body, but the world would undoubtedly be richer had the same man enjoyed health. Pasteur laid the foundation of bacteriology and vaccination against small pox while confined to his bed by paralysis. Voltaire said, The fate of a nation has often depended on the good or bad digestion of a prime minister. How true! For efficiency, sweetness, joy of work, we need health. As a third, income was selected. Every man who is willing to contribute his honest share of effort has a right to a living wage. Anyone who has the ability, ambition, and ingenuity to do a thing better than the average has a right to exact more than the minimum wage. No scientist, engineer, doctor, preacher, teacher, or mother can do his or her best with the wolf ' s shadow on the door. All he wants is freedom from worry to make ends meet. This is all that any truly educated man wants. Social responsibility was the fourth essential selected. Regardless of the amount of tech- nical training and skill, or health, or how large an income, no educated man lives unto him- self. Elizabethtown College aims to train her young men and women not to live compla- cently in a house by the side of the road, but to get out into the procession and help guide the onward march of civilization in paths of progress. Fifth, and most important of all. these scientific men placed spirituality. Wisdom, health, wealth, and social service are transient. They last but for life. We do not think of death, the closing even of our activity on this planet, as the end of it all. It is but the beginning, the birth into a new world. Indeed, the consistently trained man will not neglect, in his thirst for truth and facts, that corner of his mental life where he may reach beyond the farthest horizon of facts through the media of faith and hope. The educated man believes in sound training, undergirded with a sound bodv and an income commensurate with his creative genius. His time and his energy are not his own, but the entire human race shall enjoy the labor of his hand. He is ever a man of faith, hope, reverence, and moral and intellectual integrity. This is the truly educated man. DEAN A. C. BAUGHER. if-M 1 Twenty fow