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

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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

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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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Social %itc The t ' liiversity of Texas has been co-educational since its first day, anticipating in this policy the subsequent course of many universities of the highest standing. Nor could an advocate of co-education find an instance more favorable to his theory than this University ; for we have never known the antagonisms and unharmonious relations which have, in some instances, attended like experiments. Mutual sympathy and respect has been here the unfailing attitude of the young men and women. The orderliness of our students, always remarked by those familiar with other colleges, is generally attributed to the restraining presence of the young ladies. Vp the long corridor, circling the rotunda, and back again as far as the back door of the History Room (so as to avoid the line of vision from the girls ' sitting-room, where dwells the matron i. turning and retracing the same round, the fair sophomore li.stens to the modest junior, as he tells her — well, we leave the stor ' (« •. ' ) to the constructive imagination of the reader. All this is to be found in the curriculum of our school : but it is one of the many elective courses in the degree groups, and if a girl has visions of the lecture platform or the purification of the ballot-box, she may decline this disci- pline. Observation would lead one to infer that we have few feminine politicians in embryo among our students. We shall not attempt to rehearse the ameni|ies of the social life of the University, or to point out, either bv cari- cature or direct criticism, specific shortcomings ; but must content ourselves with concluding this prefatory sketch by branding ad of college spirit as the primal cause of all defects. When an earnest college spirit is thoroughly quickened in us. all other good things will be added. Ever - need which we have mentioned would quickly find its satisfaction : every fault we have overpassed would soon be remedied. Those who selfishly or churlishly refuse to deny themselves for the support of general enterprises, who decry football, discourage tennis and athletic .sports, carp at the literary societies, sneer at class receptions, servilely obstruct ma.ss meet- ings, or repudiate college journals, annuals, or final ball — all these are enemies within our gates. Fellowship must be sternly denied such men until they are willing to reciprocate the .sentiment : AH for each, and each for all. They are barnacles, clogging the keel of progress ; they are sponges, soaking up all that is given and returning nothing. Some of them are so absorbed in self-seeking studies that no moment of their precious time can be spared for the general good ; others, besotted in self-indulgence, can spare nothing for a common cause. Only when all love the Alma Afal, r, and are willing to render some loyal .ser ice in return for her free gifts to us, can we hope to realize our hearts ' desires. We must love the University, honor her traditions, and cherish her high aims. 19