Morningside College - Sioux Yearbook (Sioux City, IA)

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1915 SIOUX ,::::ggA., ' the one vital element in the College. It is so strong that no College generation can warp its purpose, and so sensitive that it responds to the impress of the most ob- scure Freshman. It is so real that it af- fects the mental and moral tone of every student, and so intangible that no Senior can say where or what it is. Without analyzing exhaustively the spirit of Morningside, I wish to call at- tention to one phase in which there is need for a change. Morningside College is in a transition period. We have the virtues and weaknesses of youth, but we are trying desperately hard to slough our swaddling clothes. New buildings, in- creased library and laboratory facilities, additional instructors, new courses, and a general stiffening of the whole curricu- lum mark the change. In a word Morn- ingside is realizing itself as a College from the standpoint of the administration. ls student sentiment changing to meet the new order? The esprit dc coeur of the student body is an inheritance from the past. Tradi- tions are handed down from class to class and students accept an intellectual and social code evolved under conditions at variance with the present. As the Col- lege goes forward, the philosophy of the student body must advance-and this in the face of established custom and tradi- tion. Students must realize that they come to Morningside better prepared than ever before, that they graduate later in life, that they must do more and better scholastic work than in former years, and that they are expected to deport them- selves in accord with these conditions. It is natural for the students to accept the old standards and traditions, and equally difficult for them to realize that the old order is changing and that they must change with it. This is the great need of Morningside students just now. More of the traits of men and women, and less of the characteristics of the l-ligh School age, are necessary to meet the en- larging demands of our College life. We must advance along the following three lines unless the student body is satisfied to fall behind in the forward march of the College: The cultivation of a more generous spirit of real scholarship in the student body, and more students who are not sat- isfied with C and D grades. More students in legitimate College ac- tivities other than athletics, and more gen- uine student recognition and support of such activities, for instance, the field of forensics, the Collegian Reporter, and the Sioux. A healthily readjustment of our Col- lege political and social life leading to a more democratic recognition of individual worth regardless of society affiliation, and, for the members of the girls' societies, a lowering of the unchristian and uncharita- ble membership bar now applying to so many of our students. Around these suggestions, it seems to me, the student body can build better and saner student ideals than those in force at the present. what 31 Mant My Sun tn C521 frnm illllnrningnihe fBy Prominent Men in the Conferencej I want my son to get from his College course that modification of himself, which shall set him at his best, in right relations to the world in which he lives. Not the present world only, but the world of all time. The events of today are but the leaves on the tree which has its roots deep down in the past. When the frost MORNINGSIDE 'NAT'-LT- -.A- ll-.- Fifteen

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the mind need a sound body as a means of expression, but the mind itself can nev- cr reach its highest efficiency unless the body is well trained. NVhen one remem- bers how large a proportion of the surface of the brain is taken up by the nerve cells which govern our movements, it is easy to see that the brain cannot be well de- veloped if the muscles are untrained. As a result of this modern point of view, we find everywhere gymnasiums in connec- tion-and in logical connection-with the schools and universities. Physical train- ing should be a part of every College course, not simply for hygienic purposes, but as an integral part of one's education. There should be a noticeable improve- ment in the scholarship of Morningside students, now that their dream of a mod- ern, well-equipped gymnasium has at last been realized, not simply because of im- proved health, important as that is, but because of better trained minds. Morningside now has a fine, large gym- nasium, htted out with all the best mod- ern equipment, and containing, besides the main floor, a running track, dressing rooms, shower baths, team rooms, offices, B1 Ir0phy room, a room for physical exam- inations, and a swimming pool which will be finished off in the near future. It is a 1915 SIOUX gymnasium which can compare favorably with any in the country, and it should play a large part in the life of the school. On account of its importance, two years of physical training work will be required during the College course, and other elec- tive work will be offered to those who desire it. The building is well adapted for basketball, volley-ball, indoor tennis, indoor baseball, and other games. There are then, roughly, three large aims in our physical training work. The educational aim should come first, al- though it is not so clearly recognized by the student as are the other two. Agility, skill, courage, physical judgment, and grace are the results of careful training of muscles and brain, while true sportsman- ship, love of fair play, and willingness to sacrifice oneself in the interests of the team, come through athletics. The next aim should be hygienic. Health is funda- mental if one is to make his life count as it might, and the sedentary habits of the student must be counteracted by vigorous exercise. Finally, through the use of games, rythmic, work, outdoor sports and athletics of all kinds, the work is made pleasurable, for exercise must be enjoyed if it is to give all that it is capable of giv- mg. what itlllnrningaihv Hllnai Nrvha fDr. Wallace Carsonj The editor of the Sioux has asked me to write in a few words and in a spirit of frankness what in my o inion, Morning- Now the , ' P side .College most needs. building up of our College is at once in the hands of the President, the Faculty, the Board of Trustees, the friends of the College, and the Students. I am only interested here in the way in which the students may help their College-and themselves. I rmrtccn The most vital force bearing on the in- dividual student is that intangible thing called, the spirit of the college. It is a result of the reaction of a material equipment, a Faculty, and students on each other under the conditions of a College course. This reaction expresses itself among the students in a philosophy of College life that becomes the principal guiding force of the student body. It is MORNINGSIDE

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Slmtccn .....i......L.....-- comes the leaves will fall, but trunk and limb remain to welcome the master trans- former Chlorophyll, each recurring springtime. The College student there will find special emphasis placed on those simple lines of study marked out by the trunk line of the years. The great store- house of history will be opened to him and his view of events will not be con- fused by speculative theorizing or super- hcial splitting of the subject into drawfish and freakish electives. The language in which he speaks will become manifold in its meaning when he has found and feels its relation to that in which Homer wrote and Cicero spoke. The season's Best Seller will find no place in an estimate of literature. The stars will become familiar in constant Constellations rather than by the midnight presence of a stray comet. Euclid will prove to be a true friend to him. He will be taught to walk and talk with Plato and Kant, how to find 'much 1915 SIOUX good in Herbert Spencer and Dr. Huxley, and will leave posterity to pass judgment on, or forget, Bernard Shaw. His year of Science will be chosen for its own sake and not for future credits at the Univer- sity, His College course then will be unlike: The Angels of Wind and of Fire, who Chant only one hymn and expire, The appeal to save him from the Frivolous incidental in study applies equally to the atmosphere and associations of the four years. His athletic ability will be culti- vated with a view of keeping him out of mischief, but a more earnest attempt will be made to discover his Aesthetic nature. A number will suffice for his room, but he will be known by name in the class room. Tuition has a right to claim a larger share of the students' expenses than any demand of superficial social extrava- gance. Closer to the ideal than any other College will be MORNINGSIDE. flllnrniiigaiilv from ai ill E1Il1P1',H Svtanhpuint The most important question, we as fathers, ask of the College of today, is what kind of a boy or girl has your Col- lege training made of them? As a father who has watched carefully the progress of his sons through College, I have become convinced that this ques- tion is all there is to consider or to look into. I have little concern for his Latin, Mathematics, or the balance of his Col- lege curriculum, whether it is good or bad. If bad, there remains plenty of time to correct it fas occasion demandsj. But my sons' or daughters' moral training can- not be so treated. If not looked after at this time fwhile in Collegej ,then the Phychological time is surely past. This is llie time and this is the place that it must be done. It matters not whether it has MORNINGSIDE been done before or not. The question I would more seriously consider than all others, would be, Wliat College will give my boy 'or girl the best moral training. And when this question was decidecl that is the College they would most likely attend. To express my thought in a few words, it would be this: If I am sure that my child's moral training is right, I am willing to take all chances on his Latin, Mathematics, etc., or shorter yet, the Col- lege that sends my boy or girl home a Christian, is the one I prefer to send them to. A young man's or girl's moral training very correctly indicates to me more than all things else, the sort of a life of future usefulness his will be.