Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

Page 22 text:

PUBLIC SERVICE The Public Service Division was organized July 1, 1919. It was the purpose of President Lewis that off-the-campus” activities in which the school was repre- sented as a unit should go through this Division. The Division was perhaps an out- growth of the publicity work which P. Caspar Harvey began for the institution in the fall of 1914. The Public Service Committee of the institution is comprised of P. Caspar Har- vey, Director; Floyd B. Lee, L. D. Wooster, and C. E. Rarick. The office force in- cludes Eva Hedges, Myrtle Divine, Roy Schesser and Bessie Ferguson. This Division publishes the official bi-weekly newspaper of the institution, Pub- lie Service, which has a circulaton of 4 500. It sends out for various departments and faculty members whatever material might be of use to the public in general or to particular classes of the public. Mr. Wooster’s nature study work and his science leaflets have been especially popular. All the catalogs and bulletins of the insti- tution are mailed through this office. The Public Service Division has undertaken a vocational survey of the Juniors and Seniors in Kansas high schools. At the time this was written this survey had just begun but already approximately 3,000 Ques- tionnaires had been received. From July 1, to March 1 Mr. Harvey dictated and signed 1,910 personal letters. The Division has mailed 26,641 circular letters in amounts varying from 13 to 4,517. Circular enclosures have numbered 23,251. Cata- logs and bulletins of the institution sent out reached 21,115. Over 6,000 question- naire blanks have been sent out. Mr. Harvey has written 247 different newspaper stories which have been sent to 4,331 newspapers; 1,710 have been clipped. The office on March 1 had 43 different name lists for the use of the members of the faculty, totaling 42 413 names. The office of the Public Service Division is the busiest place on the Campus. Page Twenty-Two

Page 21 text:

P. Caspar Harvey, A.B., A.M. Professor English Director Public Service Florence E. Barns, A.B. Professor English James Start, B.S. Asst. Professor English ENGLISH P. Carpar Harvey conducts the advanced classes in Journalism and Classics in Shakespeare. Browning, and the Short Story. Miss Florence E. Barns, the associate professor of English, became a member of the faculty this year. Her classes have in- included the beginning college rhetoric, Journalism, World Literature, and the ad- vanced classes in Poetry. A direct quotation from Miss Barns is especially fitting: “I have found that the Fort Hays Normal School and the possibilities of the alert teacher here are essentially typical of Western Kansas, — a land of unlimited space, inviting one to expand. The physical frontier has been conquered; but the educa- tional frontier is still in the process of mastering. That this frontier may be passed without blundering, without confusion of values, and with the definite goal of Amer- ican citizenship, is the hope of one who is desirous of making the study of the Eng- lish language and of Literature contribute to this frontier conquest ’ Mr. James Start, a former student of the institution, who was graduated from the School of Oratory of Northwestern University, became assistant professor of English and instructor of Public Speaking in June, 1919. The oratorical contest this year was the closest contest within the history of the school. The inter-collegiate debaters were chosen only after a hard fight and the plays presented throughout the year have pleased their audiences. Each member of the Department has had to do a very large amount of corre- spondence work and there has been one extension class of sixteen members at Quinter. Page Twenty-One

Page 23 text:

HISTORY Robert L. Parker, A. EL, A.M., Professor History The motif of the History Department is “In- terpretati on is of more importance than informa- tion ’ This does not mean that facts are ignored. On the contrary, a knowledge of facts is essential. He who has studied history aright ought to possess that poise of mind, that sanity of viewpoint, so po- tent in preventing one’s opinions becoming warped and twisted by the perplexing and often conflicting influences of modern life. There is an old saying that if a book on his- tory is interesting it is not history. This certainly is not true of twentieth century treatises and text- books. History in common with the other social sciences is inherently interesting because it treats of that most interesting of all subjects — man. Recent events have shown as never before the need that American citi- zens should be trained to think straight upon economic and international questions. In recognition of this fact two courses have been added during the present year to those previously taught in the Department. These are International Law and Economics. It is planned to add still another course during the summer term of 1920 under the title of “Institutions, Parties and Government ’ This will deal with current questions of social, industrial and political significance and the hope is that it will prove one of the most valu- able courses offered in the Department. What has transpired within the Department during the past year? Noth- ing startling or sensational. All the work has been conducted in accordance with the ideal above set forth and the results will have to show for them- selves. During the year sixty-five students have been taking correspondence courses in History. This number does not include those who started to take correspondence work but who discontinued sending in manuscripts for various reasons, although they are nominally still enrolled. The number includes only those who have already finished their courses during the current year or are still regularly sending in manuscripts. One study class in English History has been conducted at Rozel and the course has been completed. During the current year one hundred and fifty- three resident students have enrolled in the History Department. Page Twenty-Three