University of Oregon - Oregana Yearbook (Eugene, OR)

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number of teachers will avail themselves of the opportunity thus of- fered for getting in touch with the higher education, and making use of the very superior equipment, in some lines, afforded by the Univer- sity. By thus! opening its doors during the summer vacation to those who could not attend at any other season, the University is simply recognizing the obligation laid upon it, as the state-supported center of higher education, to distribute its benefits as widely as its means will permit. The system of accrediting authorized by the Board of Regents within the past year, has for its aim to enable all secondary schools of the State to bring their courses of instruction into harmony with the University,s entrance requirements, and thus secure the right to have their graduates admitted without examination. The system involves inspection by the University, on application, thus bringing the Uni- versity into much closer relations with the secondary schools than heretofore, to the manifest advantage of both; for it will enable the central institution to shape its work to the needs of the State, and it will, on the other hand, provide a more regular body of students than the University has hitherto had. If the experience of other states is any criterion, the system of inspection and accrediting, inaugurated this year, will in the future be regarded as one of the most momentous de- partures in the history of the institution. The magnificent high school V systems of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and California all bear testimony to the efficacy of such a system in developing the secondary schools, while the state universities of the same states are Witnesses to the favorable reaction exerted by the system upon these institutions. 26

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Building for the Future. . In a young, developing institution like our own, progress can not be correctly measured by the ordinary standards of attendance, teach- ing force'and equipment. A great deal of its energy is necessarily di- rected t0 shaping its tendencies, to setting in train the forces which should go to realize the higher ideals sought in its future develop- ment. These larger plans, this building for the future, must be con- ' sidered in estimating the importance of any period or epoch in the his- tory of our university. i Keeping in mind this broader basis of judgment, it is believed that the past year has been singularly significant. In the promotion of our purely material equipment we can point to the new heating plant and engineering building, and to the plans of the Board'of Regents for further building improvements. In the same category falls the gener- ous appropriation voted for the library one year ago, which has prob- ably given the institution as great an impulse on its upward way as any like expenditure could possibly do. Of a somewhat different order, but intheir way equally indica- tive of substantial progress, are the appointment of the university steward to assume complete responsibility for the purely business and fmancial aspects of the administration; and the development of a sys- tem of registration on lines similar to those followed by all of the leading universities of the country. These two changes have already done a great deal, and promise to do much more, toward securing the greatest possible economy and efhciency in the management of the in- stitution. From the standpoint of the relations of the University to the edu- cational forces of the State, the past year has witnessed the inaugura- tion of two important movements, the summer school and the system of accrediting. The first session of the University summer school was held in July and August, 1901, for a period of six weeks, and was fairly well attended by those for whom is is especially intended, the teachers in the public schools of Oregon. A second session will be held during the present summer, and it is believed that a much larger 25

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The New Building 'and Heating Plant. The new central heating plant and light station for the University was completed early in the winter, and has since been in successful oper- ation. Funds for its construction were provided by the last legislature, which appropriated the sum of $2 5,000 for a hcentral heat and lighting a plant and hall of engineering? ' The new building, which houses the plant and serves also as a hall of engineering, is made of brick laid in cement mortar, upon concrete foundations. The main part is 4ox80 feet, two stories high, while the boiler house annex is 41x44 feet, and contains the two boilers and a concrete walled pit about 12 feet deep, in which are placed the pumps and receiving tank. In the main building, the north half of: the first story has a concrete fioor and is divided into two rooms, one of which contains the engines and dynamo, and the other is to be used for electrical apparatus. The south half is divided into an entrance hall tin which is the stairway to the second H000 and two rooms which are used by Professor Mc- Alister, the one facing the east and south as a draughting room, in charge of Mr. Adams, and the other as a lecture and recitation room. The second story is given entirely to the workshop in charge of Mr. Dearborn, except one room for lectures or recitations. The brick for the face walls are of a cherry red color, carefully selected, and the mortar is stained the same color. Relief is given by a 27