PRESIDENT LOWELL'S REPORT.

"The single course is not, and cannot be, the true unit in education. The real unit is the student. He is the only thing in education that is an end in itself." These words from President Lowell's report which the CRIMSON prints in a supplement today, epitomize the reasons for the various guidances and restrictions which have been and are being thrown around the student in his choice and prosecution of courses. The new elective system has been followed by a tutorial system in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, and by the requirement of some supervision of the courses elected by students concentrating in History and Literature. The oral examinations, of doubtful efficacy, are a step in the same direction. And President Lowell suggests in his Report that the departments should supervise the work of men concentrating in their respective fields, whether they are candidates for distinction or not. "All these changes are in a direction away from the mechanical view of education which is the bane of the American system."

Another matter in the Report of especial undergraduate interest is that of the military movement. President Lowell emphasizes again the danger of overestimating the value of winter drills; and he points out their futility unless reinforced by actual tactical training in summer camps. He expresses the fear that the humdrum of mere drilling may disgust men with a work in reality interesting. The organizers of the Regiment have taken the position that, on the contrary, winter drill would increase interest in military matters and the attendance at summer camps. This is the view with which General Wood is supporting the movement for establishing companies in the colleges. The attendance at the camps next summer will provide a test. In the meantime, President Lowell's warning should be heard by any man whose enthusiasm is warning.

There are many other matters of importance treated in the document, among them the need of fellowships for productive scholars, the growth of extension work, and the advisability of thinking, going to college, and writing as early in life as possible. The undergraduate should take head of the need of money for buildings, most emphatically for the Chemistry Department, and especially for a general endowment for internal strengthening. The influence of the undergraduate, who is in touch with some alumni, and who soon will be an alumnus himself, is potential even in such a matter as the raising of money.