University of Washington - Tyee Yearbook (Seattle, WA)

Page 30 text:

if are giving their undivided altention to mental advancement and are making their presence felt more surely than any other single group on the Campus. Finally the Faculty of today is inspired to supreme effort by an untiring leader, a man of rare enthusiasm and of uncompromising ethical standards; so that down to the humblest instructor no one has any disposition to complain, for he is too much interested in his task and too eager to help to think of himself with pity. The entire University has gained immensely in quiet dignity and self-respect. We are entering on what may easily be our Golden Age. THE LIFE OF THE CAMPUS Tr Kii If Afi COMPLETE census of the animal life of the campus would unquestionably be Irtj a revelation to the uninitiated, and a mere enumeration of the species would l ' ' »l require a volume of considerable size. Most of the living things about us would be classified by the majority of those unfamiliar with zoological science as no-see-ums , as they are out of range of the ordinary vision, and multitudes are actually microscopic. Our summary would begin with the one-celled animals, which swarm in the waters of the lakes, and exist in all the pools and marshy spots on the campus, and would end with the birds and mammals, unless we were to include that bipedal type, classified by zoologists as Homo sapiens, as a constituent of the campus fauna. The most extensive series of animals, so far as numbers of kinds is concerned, would undoubtedly be the insects, of which many thousands of species tenant the University district, ranging through the winged hosts from the tiny beetle and gnat through the bees and flies up to the relatively large butterflies and moths. The shifts these creatures makf for a living would make a story more remarkable than any fiction that might be written, and would require volumes for the telling. An entomologist with the genius of a Fabre might spend a lifetime upon the campus and still leave great tasks unfinished. The animal life that appeals to most of us is of course the representatives of the feathered world. Of upwards of four hundred birds known to occur in Washington, either as permanent denizens or as passing migrants, probably several hundreds might well be recorded from the campus during the course of the year if careful scrutiny were m.ade of the flying hosts from day to day. Fortunately many of our bird friends are with us during the entire year, or at least most of the season, and at times some of the species appear in such numbers as to attract the attention of the least observant. The great flocks of sea-gulls that on occasion disport themselves upon the greensward about the buildings excite the admiration of all who view them, and when a company of grosbeaks swarms into the campus all beholders are struck with amazement. Other birds, of a more retiring nature, do not appeal to the eye, but by their curious calls or sweet music draw the attention of those with ears attuned to the harmonies of nature. The solo of the song-sparrow, uttered from the midst of one of the campus thickets, is as tine a bit of natural music as the feathered world is capable of producing. Among the mammals we have many lowly denizens that wend their way about the

Page 29 text:

IMPRESSIONS THEN AND NOW Arthur R. Priest, Dean of Men. N THE years from 1 900 to 1 9 1 the University of Washington was so busy grow- ing that it had little time to take stock. With a rapidly changing student body and a constant influx of new instructors, the establishment of traditions was almost an im- possibility. Com.mon standards of scholarship or common ideals of life were not to be found either among the students or among the Faculty. The students on the whole were ingenious and, on first registering, were overflowing with undirected enthusiasm. The mem- bers of the Faculty, under the burden of too many instructional hours per week, were trying to get the best possible results out of classes generally too large. The result was inevitabi-; discouragement not only to the Faculty but to many, many students who were lost in the mass and who failed to get a proper conception of the real purpose of University training. Such students soon dropped from the college rolls; they had never been in college in spirit. These years were also years of financial good times and many young people came to the University because they had sufficient money and not because they had a vision of true education. Such students rarely graced the campus more than one or two semesters before moving on. The greatest weakness of all, however, was the feeling on the Campus in both student and Faculty circles, that leadership was lacking. There was little disposition on the part of a freshman to look up to and take advice from a senior. The freshman rarely felt that he was passing through a trying-out period. What if he should fail in studies! He felt it no disgrace or reproof, for he could immediately turn his attention to business and possibly make more money in a month selling real estate than his former instructors were receiving for a year ' s grind of teaching! Instructors also felt the pull of outside distractions and many times held to their legitimate work more from a sense of duty than because of single-hearted love for their teaching. Yet through these years of confusion and immaturity there were two notable factors making for stability, two forces at work to make an abiding institution. One of these forces was the Board of Control of the Associated Students. This Board was the one continuous body running through the student life of these years always working for definite standards and laboring at all times for a uniform policy of efficiency in student affairs. This Board it was that conserved whatever of good there was in one generation of students and carried it on to the next. The other favorable factor was a group of a few leading spirits among the Faculty who were deeply interested in every student enrolled in their classes and who sought to point the students to higher ideals of service through scholarship. These men and women toiled early and late to create an enthusiasm for ' he things of the mind. On the Campus today there is a marked contrast to the conditions of ten r: even five years ago. The ingenuousness of that period still exists, but it is taking the form of openmindedness and candor rather than naivete; and openmindedness is the sure fore- runner of progress and scholarship. So on every hand there is cause for hope and great expectations. Our freshmen are uniformly better prepared than formerly and they are beginning to regard an E ' mark as a badge of dishonor. Our seniors are uniformly more serious in their class-room work and in their leadership they assume an attitude that commands respect and confidence. Our graduate student group has grown from a neg- ligible factor to one of much potency and influence. The men and women of this group

Page 31 text:

campus at night, by secret paths hidden from the eye of man, and take to the trenches during the day. Chief of these is the mountain beaver, who mines the hillsides to provide a happy home for his beady-eyed family. This line of tenantry also included the shrews, mice and moles. More agreeable society for the human species is the presence of the chipmunks and squirrels that subsist upon the provender supplied by the hazel nuts and berries growing in the less frequented copses. Time was when the lordly elk and the black-tailed deer threaded their cautious way through the underbrush along the lakeside, and the black bear and slinking timber wolf terrified the lesser life dwelling in the great forest that covered the district out of which our campus was eventually carved. Men are still living who hunted the great game animals among the thickets bordering upon Union bay. Many changes have been wrought in the life of the campus through the advent and continued activities of man. Much of the original life has passed away, never to return. Many new forms have come in to replace those destroyed through changed conditions. The general tendency is, however, towards a constant reduction in the number of animal forms tenanting the area, and this will continue to manifest itself as the grounds are brought under the control of the landscape gardener, and as the area occupied by buildings increases. It is to be hoped that a few portions of the campus may be retained in a semi-wild state, so as to give those who follow us an idea of the marvelous beauty of the site of the Uni- versity as it came into our hands when the tract was secured from the state to serve as a setting for the then small institution. Some thought for the future of our animate neighbors, especially those of the more desirable type, will not be amiss, and our reward will come in the thanks of those who follow us in treading the campus byways.