University of Victoria - Tower Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

Page 43 text:

4'+'+'4'+'+'746Dgc2e?g,anf0gg nexus:-1+ In the red pulsating glow, Little hissings come and go: Such hissings were in smouldering Pompeii, it is they that sing The elergy and dirge of man. In a soft circle, where the wind can Scatter it, the grey ash lies- Dust on the grave of centuries. x Godfrey L. O. Hearn. Our Good lVz'shes to the 1947 Alma Mater Society-HOCKING 'E5 FORBES 444441 ' -xxx-x f 1 X Q N . r, -Godfrey L. O. Hearn. e ' T F d t in rf 5 6 ' :Q 6 Jrgl P L- v 1 ' f ,, ' K . ' 1 f 1 Why do the soft laburnum blossoms fall? They should not drop, for they will fall to earthy They cannot settle on your shoulder now, Or on your hair, but idly they Must drift upon the empty ground. The falling of each flower is a death, Yet still I do not pity them That they are dead, but that You are not there for them to die upon: For, idle things, they were not first to die - '.. ! M I J i-tj ' il' Tl-l l lzielrl ' 7 Q, zffllt' X ma. X .M L D ,X in ', ' V 4. -v-Wk ' : ' '

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+1-xx-xxx ' 4141+141-x By RAY BAINES . I - BY BOB DUNN What really is an educated person? One famous educator said that it is a person who walks away from a university with a diploma in his hand, his mind humbled by the realiza- tion that he knows nothing. lf he can see the unending limits of knowledge which stretch be- fore him: if he can conceive of the untapped re- sources of learning unknown to him: if he can employ the pitifully inadequate bits of factual material which he possesses to carry him still farther into the understanding of the enigma of human lifefthen, perhaps, he can be called educated. To be eauipped merely with a neatly catalogued series of facts in one particular line with the hope that these facts will fit into the pat- tern of some profession is not necessarily to be educated, in the real sense. There seems to be a trend in the modern edu- cational pattern to disregard this emphasis on concepts with which to work, and too much on facts to apply. ls Canadian education succumb- ing to this modern trend of industrialization of methods so that graduates are being turned out like finished products when actually their educa- tion is only beginning? Under this system one enters college as raw material and is put upon one end of a moving belt. He moves through four years of training with experts adding facts like parts until he arrives at the end of this educational assembly line, a shiny, polished product, beautiful to look at but with no solidity under the superficial exterior of factual knowl- edge. From that point he begins to lose his sheen and becomes older and more useless until he eventually arrives like an old car on the scrapheap of human endeavour. An educated person should not be a manufactured article: he should be a growing thing which has come from a few seeds of knowledge, so that he be- comes larger and more complex as he gets older. ' The ever-increasing ,demand on Canadian education has caused a decline in this emphasis on scholarship and the ability .to learn. While the facts are necessary, to the understanding of a particular field of learning, the sowing of ideas and concepts is what really gives it its value. No invention, no creative work of art, no scien- tific discovery was ever brought about by the acceptance of known facts alone: it was done by employing these facts as stepping stones to further research and by refuting them, often, in the process. Even in the sciences where nothing is accepted until it has been proved again and again by experimental double-check, the im- aginative concepts are essential to research and the discovery of new theories. The whole emphasis in modern thought is placed on the amount of one's income rather than on his ability to benefit society by his knowledge. This philosophy, coupled with the recent preference for industrialized education, combine to produce a university graduate whose outlook is stifled and abilities limited. This is not entirely his faulty it is a condition that exists and he must accept it. But if more regard were given to scolarship so that he could direct his activity into a useful, as well as remunerative activity, the real purpose of education would be accomplished. In coping with the modern problems of in- creased numbers in university and the demands placed on teachers, the authorities must try never to lose sight of the necessity for scholar- ship. While there is an increased need for em- phasis on the physical-accommodation, space, health conditions for crowded schools, etc. - they must retain the standards of ideational learning which produce the really educated man and woman. They must be prepared to work with enough patience so that the original pur- pose of education does not lose its place and the results of that education manifest themselves in everyday living.

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a..ma,mm.,4gm.,,4v- Wtmemiagkad KDEDICATED, WITH MISGIVINGS. TO MR. BISI-lOPl Look at Life, wilted here, Like a cushion with her stuffing taken out- Like a lamp without light, Like a smile without joy. Like a fire without flame,- A book that knows nothing, A truth that means nothing, A word that's. just noise. Vlfhy was I born here? What do I live for? Why must I die? Why couldn't I linger I A little bit longer 'Way up in the sky? I'd rather play with a sunbeam, Swing on the rainbow, Dance on a vapour, Noi stumble down here in the dark: I'd like to wink at the Man in the Moon, Or crouch on a leaf and fly with the wind: I'd like to float 'round space like a star, Singing cr story that no one can hear but me- I-Iow that, though Life is Dead, I am living for ever, Rippling through nothing and sitting on shadows, Peaceful and free. Comment, after re-reading above. Signifying nothing. 42