Occidental College - La Encina Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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... .... Nl.. i l Panorama of Highland Park The College HE strenuous West, the opportunity-fostering Pacific Coast, pro- gressive California, sun-loved Los Angeles, is the home of Uc- cidental College: the NVest whose boundless freedom presents unrivalled opportunity for the exercise of man's originality: the Pacific Coast, the center ol' the America of the next decade: California, with progressive step, ever ready to take the initiative in making the most of opportunities and privilegesg Los Angeles, the embodiment of the whole. l'hilosophers of all ages have discussed the infiuence of environment upon the development of character. The question of the bearing of its location upon Occidental is a similar question, but the conclusion seems justifiable that its location, technically its environment, has been a great factor in the making of Occidental College. There has been action and reaction, however. The College has made lflighland Park the center of a choice residence district: Highland il'arlc with its many attractions has made Occidental popular. There has been an on-rushing tide of progress from which there is no escaping. The winding country road with scattered country dwellings-the l asadena Avenue of a few years ago-is the densely settled, busy boulevard-the highway of travel connecting two thriving cities. The site for Occidental has all thc advantages of city in country. Two car lines serve the community. and the busy city may be reached in thirty minutes. A walk occupying half the time will take the nature- lover to the hilltops or into cool, quiet canyons and glens, so wild and 12

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picturesque that it seems as if the city could not be within a hundred miles. The main buildings stand, conscious of their superior advantages, just at the crest of the hill. The campus faces across to the hills to the south--those hills which are a bank of changing shades of green, or contrasting shades of brown as the season varies, but always a source of joy to the beauty-lover. The busy city world in which we live may be forgotten and whosoever will may lose himself in sequestered soli- tudes. Live oaks cast dense shadows, soft grasses wave upon the hill slopes. birds sing and flowers bloom. From the top, if excursions from the straight and narrow way do not prove too alluring-such a view! There are glimpses into faraway valleys beyond other hills: there is a range of blue mountains only a few miles distant, with the white observatory on Nt. XfVilson sparkling out its distinctive signal like a lighthouse beacon over seas: and on the other hand, the ocean, the world-old Pacific. Point lfermin dips its feet in the quiet waters. Catalina rises mistily, the vague outline of her purple mountains silhouetted against the horizon. A wavering line of smoke marks the progress of a steamer. And away over there, be- yond-somewhere-the setting sun. just at the foot of the hills runs the Arroyo Seco, a characteristic California river. Those who know and love the Scotch streams say that 5.159- T 4' in , A, In the Arroyo 13