University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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either woefully trite or wholly unexplored by the debaters. Honors in the Athena-uni and Rusk societies were once high prizes. An Athenaum man was wont to be like Epaiuinondas, willing to serve in any office from sergeant-atanus to president: and unlike him in that he sought these offices with zealous ambition. The decadence in the literary societies has been charged to a greediness of the fraternities, which, it is claimed, never gave a non-fraternity man a chance. That the honors went to fraternity men is hardly enough to substantiate this charge, for it is not improbable that the best men in the literary .societies should also be fraternity men; but why cannot the fraternities redeem themselves from this accusa- tion by joining in an honest effort on every side to reanimate the literary societies, in which all men shall candidly recog- nize merit wherever found, and, when found, cordially do it honor. Let every tub in college stand on its own bottom. The young ladies ' literary society, the Ashbel, is in a more flourishing condition. May their good example spur us on to redeem lost ground I Recently, the Junior Laws organized a debating society, which has done some good work. It is not impossible that they may succeed in building up a popular association, unless they should deem it more expedient to unite with the old societies, and join in maintaining what is already established. The propriety of the existence of three debating societies may be questioned. A magazine. The ' ' e.xasUiiiit r- sily, issued jointly by the literary societies, is published eight times a year. Its tone was wont to be homi- letic, but the endeavor for the last two years has been for a brighter and more representative periodical. This year a college weekly, the Alcalde, was started privately by two students. It began with and has maintained an excellent standard of college jour- nalism. The Cosmos Club is an organ- ization of members of the Faculty and students which deserves mention in this connection. At their fort- THROV ;il WILD ANI RlXKV r.OBOU J

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3tu cnt lite Student life here is more prc aic than it need be, or ought to 1 . College spirit flutters too much like a candle flame in a gusty atmosphere. Tliere might be more of it if the student body were not so woefully scattered throughout the domiciles of the town. If more than half of it lived upon the University grounds, there would certainly be a more active fsf»il dc corps. We look forward to the era of fraternity chapter houses, new dormitory halls, a University Gymnasium; — then we may expect many good things now lacking. What but the disintegration of our present mode of existence can explain the fact that the college with incomparably the best and most convenient natural advantages in the world should have no boat club? Lake McDonald attracts llie lovers of aquatic sports from all over the world ; yet we supinely refuse to stretch out our hand to take po.ssession of this gift of fortune, which would excite the envy of every college in the United States. Our long, smooth lake, extending as it does for more than twenty miles through wild and rocky gorges, fairly lures to boating. Its advantages have several times attracted to Austin international regattas. Surely jfij- ' . j ' btf ■jjT ' v -- the time is ripe for a University boat club. College spirit has been manifested in football, and our team has done us much credit. The city has stood by us nobly in this enterprise with help and encourage- j ( . ' y f jK, ' qwj Attic- ' Ji meut. Great crowds of students and citizens turn out to Hy ie Park, ' ' • ' ■ iir-a— tiw Jl»- 1 wearing the orange and white, to display their devotion to our eleven. Tulane, Arkansas, Dallas, San Antonio, all were triumphed over ; but . - ,,.■,,■.,. ,L - we cannot pose as cock-of-the-walk, for it was otherwise last vear with Missouri. Athletic spirit is alst) displayed in the Tennis Association, and in season the campus is lively with players on the tenuis iDiiits, Ijascbail, and the lonihiili teams practising with the new coach. In the past the literary societies have played an important . ' A in college life. an l have been foci of college |K litics. But recently .something has lieen ami.ss with the literary societies. Interest in them stems to be at a low ebb. The patriotic should .sec to this. It is not necessary to grind over text-books all the while. Take time to give real thought and research to the lebntes. Audiences canuut be ex|)ecled to as.semble to listen t o perfunctory debates u|k u subjects i6 m

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nightly meetings (which are not intended to be public), papers upon various scientific topics are read and discussed. Higher even than the honors conferred by the literary societies is considered the office of Final Ball President, doubtless because it is the only honor conferred by the whole student body. Karly in Januar - the aspirants — there are never many — begin the canvass. Blue-books are compiled, and the bias of each .student ascertained weeks before the election. Select parties go down to Jacoby ' s to talk the situation over, or, perchance, taking with them a doubtful voter, in order to win hira, if may be. to their side. As the time draws nigh the race grows wanner, and election day and hour find all the students punctually in the big Assembly Hall. Soon all is over, and the victor assumes with his honors a vast amount of work, anticipating his reward in the glory of presiding over the gala event nf the year— the Final Ball, in the great Senate Chamber of the Capitol. Our field day for athletic sports is held in the .Spring. Those who go into these competitions show much native strength and skill, and de.serve all credit. But this sort of thing will never see a full measure of success until we have a college gymnasium. An interesting experiment now being carried on is the umltrtaking of the stu iiiil lu niii Hrackenridge Hall on a co-operative plan, under the management of a committee of students who lodge and eat there. It has proved a financial succe.ss, in spite of the fact that the I ' niversity authorities had long run the hall at a loss. S ?stcin of Oovcvmncnt The University of Texas was, in its inception, one of the fortunate heirs of that priceless contribution to education by the great founder of the I ' niversity of Virginia, known as the Honor System. Thomas Jefferson ' s question, whether fear after a certain age is a motive to which we .should have ordinary recourse, and his declaration that the human character is susceptible iif other incitements to correct conduct more worthy of employ and of better effect, were the cornerstones of the governmental i olicy of this inslitutiun. May our present and future rulers ever maintain the Honor System in its integrity ; for its success is always iu direct proportion with the thoroughness of its adoption, as the experience of almost all Southeni colleges, and many Northern ones, who have abandoned debasing systems of tyranny and espionage, amply prove.v