University of Maine at Portland - Reflection / Umpire Yearbook (Portland, ME)

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r6 PORTLAND UNIVERSITY Garganizatinna in hurtlanit hniueteitg THE PORTLAND UNIVERSITY PUBLIC SPEAKING AND DEBATING ASSOCIATION The Portiand University Public Speak- ing and Debating Association has been perhaps one of the most active organiza- tions in the University during the past year. The association was organized in the early part of October of 1924- with the following othcers: President. Ralph 17. Blood of Portland. :1 member of the fresh- man class; Vice-President, Lee B. C. Bree. also of Portland. and a memlzer of the same class: and Secretary. Stephen H. Larrahee of Scarborough. At the time the association was organized there were twelve members. The First affair which was planned by the members was the First Annual Prize Speaking Contest, which was held on Friday evening, No- vember 6th. as the entertainment for the X-Voodiords Club. The speakers were hve in number, namely as follows: Charles Haviland. Leo B. C. Bree, Pierre A. Belanger, Stephen H. Larrahee, and Ralph F. Blood. The selections were varied, there heing articles by many famous writ- ers, the War Address of XN-Ioodmw W i1- son. and one originai essay on College Education by the speaker himself! Charles Haviiand. The prizes, two silver cups, awarded by the University, were given by the judges, who were three members of the duh, to Charles V. Havi- land, hrst prize; and Ralph F. Blood. sec- ond prize. President Louis E. VJhite 0f the Wondfords Cluh expressed the Opiha ion that this entertainment was the best that the club had ever had and Mr. White was very sincere in his remarks of ap- preciation. The next event which the association staged with great success was the student speakers time which was held before the annual meeting and banquet of the mem- bers and directors of the Maine Loan and Building Associations. At this meeting there were men from all of the Building Associations and Banking institutions in the state. and it was no small task for the speakers, with the aid of the coach, Pro- fessor Leo G. Shesong, to find a subject upon which the boys could speak and in- terest these men, but finally it was an- nounced that the subject would be, The Advantages of the Leah and Building As- sociations to the State and Nation. The speakers, Leo B. C. Bree and Ralph F. Blood, gave fifteen minute talks on this subject. Mr. Blood spoke first and took up the advantages to the investor. Mr. Broe followed with the advantages to the home builders. The affair proved to be very successful, and Mr. Shesong was afterward the recipient of many compli- ments on the work, as weil as requests for repeating the performance. This was done a week later at the Columbia. Hotel, before the stockholders and directors of the Pine State Loan and Building Association. After this the association organized a debating team. and the work of this team is not yet Finished. although thej.r have

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PUVlAN Finding their classmate game. had planned to capture the president of the Freshman class and one speaker, namely. Leo Bree and Ralph Blood. Their plans were to kidnap them and make the Freshmen give up the Junior captive. Broe and Blood were kept well hidden, however, and to- gether, and although they experienced many narrow escapes from the claws oi the upperclassmen the;r were safe on the night of the banquet, 1n conelusien, the banquet was held 011 the evening of Friday. May 8, in the pri- vate dining-room 0f Cordes Cafe, while the upperclassmen tmisledt were storm- ing the Moulttm House in Scarborough. The entire Freshman class paraded the City of Portland in a big truck decorated with the class numerals and a sign read- ing thus: HERE 15 THE PRESIDENT OF THE jUNlOR CLASS W'ITl-I THE COMPLIMENHS OF THE FRESHF MEN. The entire affair was a great suc- cess. Senator Frederick XV. Hineklejyr and President Whitney P. Thomas were the outside speakers, and much credit is due the entire committee, made up .ol Lee B. C. Bree. john Grant and Roland Peterson. VALUE OF ATHLETICS The keystone of every school 01' college is its student hedy. Much more promi- nence may he obtained by an institution through the activities of its students than through any number of advertising mag- azines 0r circulars. Perhaps the most helpful and heuehciel activities in which the pupils might take part are those which concern athletics. 111 the fall of 1921 the football team of a small Kentucky college travelled all the distance from its home state to Massa- chusetts. where it met and handily de- l925 15 tented the strong aggregation of Harvard University, one of the largest institutions in the country. Through the prominence of this victory the enrollment of the cow- quering college nearly doubled the next year: and there are but comparatively few persons in the country today who have not heard of this small Centre Col- lege of Kentucky whose football team was known as the dPraying Colonels. Perhaps a college without athletics may he likened to a ship without a rudder. In the same sense that a disabled ship will drift from its course, and, unless guided by a fortunate wind, will never reach its intended journeyis end, such a college will drift item the interest of the public, and, unless by chance, will never grow to its full extent, which is its desired destiny. Now then, why can not we establish a. foundation this coming year for the fu- ture activities of our University by start- ing athletic teams. with the hope that in the future at least one of them will have developed to such an extent that it might cause strong competition to some of the best college teams in this section of the country. TO say such a thieg seems to he an absurdity. but the large American colleges which are now so well represent- ed by athletic teams, once had smaller enrollments than have we at our univer- sity. and fully as many handicaps. rWe can not further delay our duty in ans'weru ing the call of athletics. for if we do, per haps such activities will never become a reality. and our university will therefore he clone a great injustice. There is no doubt that athletic teams would receive the hearty support of the university authorities. for they realize the importance of such activities to the stuF dents. College Iiie is often tliFl-ieult and tConlinued on page 3m

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PUVIAN 1925 I? given two demonstrations of their work and have several requests for a repetition of the performances. The team is made up of Leo Bree. 1t't al1;er Stanford and Ralph F. Blood. The question which they are using is that of the widely de- bated subject of 'rCapital Punishment. The team in the First public performance went to the Annual Banquet and Ladies' Night 0f the Odd Fellows. which was held in the Rebekah Hall on Forest Ave. on Thursday evening: April :1. The sec- ond occasion was a week iater at a public assembly of the student hotly at the Uni- versity. This team was formed wholly with the idea of developing speakers and debaters for a intereoilegiate debating team next seaSOn, and plans are being rapidly pushed to secure debates with the other Maine Colleges and with Uni- versities throughout New England. THE TAU SIGMA DELTA FRATERNITY The Tau Sigma Delta Fraternity had a very successful year under the leadership of President Philip S. Hagan. i215. The membership has increased considerablyr during the season passed and much has been accomplished. The program for the year 1924-25 opened with initiation of the new members in january. this ceremony iasted for a period of one week. ending with a huge banquet at the Elks Club. The speakers at this banquet consisted of President 'Earle Henry Cunningham, and some outside prominent speakers. The ohicers 0f the year just past were: Presi- dent. Philip S. Hagan; Viee-President. Hariow Skillings; Secretary-Treasurer, Ralph E. Cunningham. Following the initiation week the frat held a number of Smokers at the University building. and at these times a number of outside speakv ere were secured to give lectures to the members 011 diHerent subjects. These proved to be very interesting and instruc- tive affairs.- The installation of the new OITIcers of the fraternity for the year 1925-26 took place on the hrst Wednesday in April. These ofheers are: President, Nathan Schilling; Viee-President. Burleigh My- riek: Secretary. Richard Castner, and Treasurer, Ralph E. Cunningham. The plans of the fraternity are t0 he nationaIized this next year, and also the members of the frat are planning to build a fraternity house in the near future, and with this purpose in mind the organiza- tion is carrying a number of shares in the Loan and Building Associations. THE PORTLAND UNIVERSITY ORANGE. The students of the University, at the first of the year, expressed a desire to have a school paper which should be pub- lished hi-weekly containing all the news and notes at the institution. So the faculty appointed the following Editorial Board and instructed them as to ideas for pub- lication: Editor-in-Chief, Ralph F. Blood; Assistant Editor, Ralph HeHer; Associate Editors: Leo Bree, Pierre Belanger, Ste- phat: -I-I. Larrabee, Hazel XVeleh, and Leonora Marshall. The board held a meeting the second week of January and decided that, since, they were working under great Financial difficulties it would be best to publish the paper in the print- ing department of the College of Busi- ness Administration. and therefore plans were laid out for an eight-page mimeo- graph sheet to he published every other week. The name of the sheet, iiThe Or-