University of Wisconsin Madison - Badger Yearbook (Madison, WI)

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change is the most changeless of things - The main reading room of the hbrary of the University was cited as |)]tifully inadequate for a University the size of Wisconsin. Aniniij; the cuhural opportunities offered to Wisconsin students is the Pro Arte Quartet, a great favorite among the students. ' Mi Available at the university are opportunities for cultural education such as courses in the humanities, hearing good music, reading good books, and attend- ing public lectures in almost all realins. The commit- tee, however, adds that the elective system in Letters and Science, Education, and Agriculture does only little to insure contacts with our cultural heritage. The advisory system does not help much and the curricula in some of the professional schools preclude any substantial amount in cultural fields. Textbooks arc often inforinative but dull and the library is not conducive to browsing or establishment of good reading habits through easy contact with books. M.inx well known person, iges in the lichi of music and art come to the Union theater pictured at the left. .Miove is Josef Zigetti who was oni of the pcrfornuTs of the Memorial Union Concert .Scries this year.

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Stiulciits .uicl faculty, orking together, complctcil in No vembcr a thorough self-analysis of the university called the University Functions and Policies Committee Report. This was not just another endless report made by an unhe.ird-of suli commission. Taking two years to complete the study, the committee told frankly what was wrong with the university as well as what was commendable, and surprised both the faculty and the student body by doing so. In terms of what can and should l e done, there arc faults in the University of Wisconsin enterprise, the committee, headed by Dean Mark Ingraham of the College of letters and Science, reported. On the whole, though, the committee be- lieved the university to be an extremely useful community of scholars ' whose functions and policies in terms of American educational standards today are uniformly sound. The report titles its last chapter Ideal and Actuality. In this chapter it sets forth the first challenge to the university: Three basic and interrelated objects of education are to train the individual to earn a living in a socially useful manner, to develop in him the highest cultural and intellectual interests, and to make him .1 moral, intelligent and well-informed citizen with a deep sense of his obligation to the community. How well is the University of Wisconsin succeeding in living up to these ideals, the report asks. In training students to earn a living the report said, Yes, the university ' s graduates are well placed and seem not only to be abreast of their subjects but to have the background to develop in their chosen fields. In spite of cramped quarters and an inadequate library the committee gives an A to the uni ersity in vocational training. As to developing in its students the highest intellectual and cultural interests, the committee believed the university must recognize a large measure of failure. The report stated the readmg habits of the average American College graduate, in- cluding those of this university, are insufficient in quantity, Irothy in substance, and undiscriniinating in taste. The arts the committee found, attract attention from the educated public, the sciences are for the expert, and scientific curiosi- ty, a whim of the few. . n aerial view of lower campus, University of Wisconsin. The tur- retc l , rmory in the foreground and the YMC. behind it will be razed to make way for a new Wisconsin Center Building. Ihe iludents at Madison are many. As part of the varied extra- curricular program the Campus Carnival was presented in the Field- house. Its success is shown by the picture above.

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One impiovement which is badly needed at Madison is more hbrary space litie the Library in the Memorial Union. Such rooms are more conducive to browsing and establishment of good reading habif, through easy contact with books. For improvement the report wants space provided for stu- dents and faculty members to meet outside the classroom, greater emphasis placed on intellectual leadership in the selec- tion of housemothers and housefellows in dormitories, frater- nities, and sororities. The development of citizenship in the student has a very mixed account at the university with the university affording many opportunities which make a wholesome environment for the student body, but being only partially effective as a source for moral and civic betterment. This results, the report points out, in graduates who often reflect rather than set the ethical tone of their communities. Specifically the committee fears that student activities are too often practice grounds for techniques, rather than train- ing grounds for huinan understanding and sound leadership. Conditions in regard to cheating, here as elsewhere, now as m the past, are a disgrace. The curricula do little to insist on all students gaining the basic knowledge that a citizen should have and a certain reticence plus the pressure of time keeps many faculty members from letting students know, either through teaching or advising, the finest well-springs of their character. The committee wants a decided improvement in keeping before the university moral goals, the ideal of the good citizen, and his obligations in a democratic society; a more complete revelation of the teacher ' s personality through his teaching and advising; and the minimizing of cheating. Scholarship, central to university education, can be regarded with great pride at the University of Wisconsin, in the judg- ment of the committee. The research accomplishments m many fields are outstanding . . . However, the conditions are not such as to lead to complacency. There are mediocre de- partments, and these present a real problem ... At Wisconsin as elsewhere the functions of interpretation and long-time research are handicapped by the demand for novelty and for frequent publication. The plant and equipment are not ade- quate . . , summarized the report. The research accomplish- ments in many fields arc outstanding here at the University, states the report. Facilities such as the elect- ron microscope are availabk- for research. One of the aims of the com- mittee was to reduce cheat- ing, such as the picture be- low represents.