Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE L. S. IviNS, Ph. B., M.S., M. A. The school laws of Ohio require that agriculture be taught in high schools and elementary schools; that elementary teachers who are examined by county superintendents, must take the examination in agriculture in order to teach; and that Kent Col- lege must maintain an adequate department for the training of teachers of Agriculture for the schools of the state. Because of these laws Kent State since it first opened its doors has maintained a Depart- ment of Agriculture for the complete and proper instruction of prospective teachers and other stu- dents who desire a broad and cultural education. DEPARTMENT OF ART Nina S. Humphrey The term ' drawing ' applies to only a small part of the instruction and education in the realm of art that is designed to teach children to appreciate the beauty of truth; to catch the message from nature and from human life; to rightly interpret it and to express it in such a way as to give the message and the joy which accompany it to others. This is the mission of art. DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY Ethel Gowans, B. S., A. M. The scope of biology is unmeasurable and its prob- lem endless, but it aims to teach its laws in such a way that one may understand the meaning of what has gone before; that he may live a longer, fuller and more purposeful life; that he may vision a brighter and better future because the history of the past has shown that change is slowly but pro- gressively towards greater perfection and beauty; and that man is not the reason for the existence of all earthly things, but that he is greatly honored by being one with all about him. (Prepared by Eva N. Spencer, student of the Biology Department.) Page twenty-four

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Blanche A. Verder DEAN OF WOMEN OUR COLLEGE DAYS John Ruskin once said: There are few things more wonderful to me, than that old people never tell young ones how precious their youth is. They — scarcely ever warn or watch them. Remember, then, that I at least have warned you (young men and young women) that the happiness of life, and its power — de- pend on the way you pass your days now. They are not to be sad days, far from that, for the first duty of young people is to be delighted and delightful; but they are to be in the deepest sense solemn days. During no four years of your life can Ruskin ' s words be more applicable than during your college years. They are not to be sad years, but years full of joy — because they should be full of all good things. First, you should be enjoying robust health. We watch and warn, for ' e do not want you to learn to prize your health through the sad experience of losing it. Youth and health are precious. Secondly, you should rejoice in mental growth. There should be joy and zest in intellectual attainment. You should know the thrill that comes from performing perfectly the mental tasks set for you in college. Particularly should you rejoice in the hard thinking out of a problem to its logical conclusion. Thirdly, you should rejoice because these college years are afforded you for spiritual growth. This does not mean that college will prove to be a storehouse of spiritual manna, though it should be that far more than it is. But for the normally developing soul, college years should be a period when spiritual problems are squarely met, and when insight and faith are developed. We warn, and watch, and hope. Have you ever heard a better answer to the question, Why go to college than this, — We go to college to learn how to live with others. College years, therefore, should be full of the joy of social contacts. Perhaps of all the subjects offered in any college, the one not listed in any curriculum is most fruitful in our lives — the study of human nature. Alumni generally seem to prize most highly, and to find most en- during, the blessings offered during undergraduate days of acquaintanceship and friendship. If there is any other more valued asset taken out of college halls, it is the ability to know how to attack a problem. And here again, we of the faculty stand by, and with Ruskin, watch and warn. Happy are they who arrive at the end of their college course with no regrets, and who leave colleg e better than they entered it. And happy is their Alma Mater, for she gives them her blessing with a sense of confidence in their ability and in their spirit to solve even greater problems beyond her fair campus. Page twenty -three

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THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Louis A. Bu Damn, M.A. This is the newest departmental addition to the college. It was opened in January, 1925 with two instructors and an approximate enrollment of 60 students. It now has three instructors in whose classes there are enrolled a total of one hundred and sixty students. Its primary aim is to prepare teachers of commercial subjects in high school but it also offers excellent opportunity to those students who wish training for commercial or secretarial positions, or to those who may desire a wider range of electives in their college work. If given the proper amount of publicity and provided with additional equipment it liids fair to become one of the major departments of the college. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Daniel W. Pearce, B. S., A. B., A. M., Acting Head of Department A department of Education in a Teachers ' Col- lege should be the center about which all the facilities of the academic departments and The School of Directed Observation and Teaching are organized. That is to say the Department of Educa- tion should function as a co-ordinator and as an ever willing helper in all efforts directed towards realiz- ing as fully as may be the objective of such an in- stitution, namely artistic teachers. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Edgar Packard, A. B. Study English. It is the world ' s foremost lan- guage. It is the material by which vague subcon- sciousness takes on form in the most practical, the most philanthropic, and the most inspiring thoughts now being produced. It is the means of self-ex- pression by which the one-fifth of the race now- using it is enabled to publish four-fifths of all books and periodicals. And it is the medium of communi- cation which all the signaling at sea and nine- tenths of all the cablegrams and telegrams employ. Study English! Page twenty-five