University of Wisconsin River Falls - Meletean Yearbook (River Falls, WI)

Page 16 text:

Freedom To Inquire

Page 15 text:

Why is this “free spirit” so important? Because it is the basic difference between education in a democratic society and the type of learning that sets boundaries on men’s minds. It leads to the kind of education that, as someone has said, “makes our teachers more important than our generals.” It is the means to developing the “brain power” that our civilization must have to meet problems converging on it from all sides. It is our hope for civilization’s survival. 11 • Broadening knowledge.

Page 17 text:

Education is stimulating. It is aimed at producing ideas and examining them. But the first step is to form ideas. This can be done best when there is freedom to investigate. The thinking of the past has been preserved so that we can know what thoughts have been held; what ideas have been tried. No one begins completely anew, for our progress is based on having retained what has gone before. The wealth of man’s knowledge is contained in books and the student will find the library a source of mental stimulation. It offers a place for examining ideas, weighing the new against the old and making comparisons and contrasts in ways of thinking. The laboratory also affords a setting for testing ideas, re-thinking what has been done in the past and striking out in new directions. 13 • In the laboratory.