South Dakota State College - Jack Rabbit Yearbook (Brookings, SD)

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCIAL SCIENCE. In discussing the work of this department it would be well to suggest the purpose for which this course of study is offered. At the present time we are experiencing an economic development to a degree heretofore unknown and our aim is to qualify students completing the full course to enter into this ceaseless fiow of activity, taking their places alongside of those who have attained success only after years of practical business experience. The work of the department is divided into two courses of one year each, namely- the Amanuensis and the Business Training Courses. The subject matter offered in both courses in the main parallel except in the former shorthand is given instead of business practice. In the commonly accepted business collrge course, essentially no prerequisite work is required, consequently one without preparation can take the teclmical work required to do ordinary office routine duties, but not having had the foundational training there is no breadth or depth of intellect upon which to build. What we purpose to do is to offer as required work those subjects which will not only have a money value to him in after life, but to enlarge the horizon of his mental faculties and thereby be the better able to enjoy and appreciate living- As an illustration of the thought in mind might be men- tioned the advanced subjects in Economics, Law, German, French and Latin. One of the chief difiiculties we encounter is that students are too ambitious to leave college to earn a salary before having covered sufficient ground to qualify them for life's duties and in order to encourage them to remain longer the graduation requirements have been raised to that of the Freshman year. thereby insuring at least a foundational training upon which to build future business habits. It does not follow from this sugges- tion that shorthand and business subjects are given a secondary place, but rather the con- trary is true. All phases of business activity are considered carefully and fully worked out and the student made thoroughly conversant with the same conditions he will encounter in the whirl of business life, but in addition we desire to create in him the power to look beyond the pages of a ledger or shorthand note book. We want him to enter life's duties sufficiently equipped in intellect and facility of hand to be able to exert his business energy economically. The clerks of to-day are the hustling business men of to-morrow, and as business principles become more complex and intricate so must the future business man's mind be more alert and highly developed in order to meet the new conditions. As a conclusion to the foregoing we might add that our constant aim is to give the student all the technical training, shorthand, bookkeeping, etc., he needs and as much advanced information as is consistent within the time limit. af' ARTHUR B. CROSIER Professor of Stenography and Commercial Science 27

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The students of the department have organized a Civil Engineer's Club for the study and discussion of subjects in their line of work which, though just organized, bids fair to be of much value to them in their work by giving a broader view of the field and creating interest and enthusiasm in the work. The department feels just pride in the work of some of the young men who have gone from the institution and entered this line of work. Two are employed in government work in the ,U. S. Geological Survey, one is professor of civil and mining engineering, three are at work in railroad engineering in the Eastern states, one is government sur- veyor on the new reservations recently opened up in Utah, and several have been appointed county surveyors in their respective counties. These are mentioned merely to show the opportunities which are offered for those who care to enter and are prepared. The depart- ment is better equipped than ever before to prepare you. If it appeals to you avail yourself of the opportunities offered and the department management stands ready to help you all it can in every way it is able. Ausrm B. CRANE, M. s. Professor of Civil and Agricultural Engineering 26

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- Q- ,.- DEPARTMENT OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. This department is not only one of the oldest in the college, but one of the oldest in the country, a fact interesting to note in tracing the development of the home economics movement in our schools during the last few years. The aim of the department throughout its history has been to turn the attention of our college girls toward the home. The training of girls in our colleges has frequently been criticized, and not a few parents have felt a hesitancy in sending daughters to college, because of a belief that the four years' training brought back a daughter who was not content at home, one who knew nothing of the management of the home, frequently one who prided herself that she knew nothing of any of the household processes or the materials which are handled every day in the home. In some cases this criticism proves true enough. To refute it, however, many good home makers may be found among women who have experienced this college training. College girls used to struggle to be admitted into classes with their brothers,-felt tl1at their school training must be identical, entirely losing sight of the fact that their lives when out of school are very different. If we believe that education should be a prepara- tion for life-for living-it is surely logical to believe that the sort of life to be lived should have a determining voice in the preparation for its living. The college girl need not feel that her mental capacity is questioned because she studies other subjects than her brother studies,-that she wants a training equally thorough and inclusive is quite right. There is just as much of life for the girl to live, and her opportunities for service are quite as great as her brother's are. It is not the intention of this department to train a group of people so that by their very training they form a class distinct and separate from all their fellow workers, peculiar unto themselves, the effort is toward a broad and liberal training. Occasionally expressions are heard which lead us to feel that the real purpose of the department is not under- stood by many people. We are neither training nor looking for housekeepers, maids or cooks as a result of the work here. We hardly feel that such training comes within the province of the college or university. We are working with college girls hoping to see as a result normal, ,well-developed, well-balanced women, with sufficient training and suflicicnt breadth of view to make them useful and happy, wherever their lot may place them. To many persons domestic science suggests a spoon and a saucepan, roasting and boiling, preparing and cooking of food after the most approved methods. If domestic science meant cooking alone it would occupy only a small part of the Held which legiti- mately belongs to it. Less than one-seventh of the total credits required for graduation in the domestic science course come from the department of domestic science. The departments of chemistry, botany, physiology and physics furnish the great elementary truths from which applications of peculiar import to the home are made- A girl who is accurate enough to make her determinations in quantititative chemistry, and careful enough to work out her unknowns in the bacteriological laboratory, has technique, appreciation of detail, and such unfaltering notions of cleanliness as will work good for any home. The languages, history, economics and sociology have a general culture value, as well as specific values which no one questions. The psychologist tells us that environment has a most important influence on the individual. Shall we be satisfied to read the statement in the textbook, and to listen while the enthusiastic artist tries to open our eyes to our surroundings? Has it ever occurred to us that a new piece of furniture, a new picture, or a new wall covering with all their posibilities of beauty and ugliness may be reflected in the family temperament? Believing that a knowledge of the mood value of color, and an appreciation of color harmonies should be cultivated for the sake of the home as well as for the enjoyment of the masterpieces in the art galleries, our girls spend a share of their time in the art department. The question of food is not what shall we have for dinner to-day, or what new dish for to-morrow. Do we know enough of food values to know whether we are sup- plying what is really needed by the body? The man who owns cattle for the sake of 28