WRITING OUR OWN JUDGMENTS.

During the past few weeks the University's preparations for war have been sharply criticised, the chief charge against them being of mob hysteria. It has been said that we are going "warmad," and plunging into the new work forgetful of all other obligations. We thus have the responsibility of living down these imputations by the closest possible attention to the immediate tasks at hand, particularly the college work itself.

As we face the first of the special final examinations, the outlook is not encouraging. There have been unmistakable signs of slackness in the college routine, for instance, in the preparation of the annual study cards for the Committee on Electives. With barely a week left ninety-four per cent of the undergraduates have shirked this simple duty. In itself a minor matter, such a record today has a fateful significance. It indicates a curious lack of perspective, and, worse still, a lack of self-control--precisely what the critics have asserted.

The time has come for a decided brace, with a stiffening in the college morale. President Lowell's policy is on trial. The reputation of the R. O. T. C. is in the balance. Only a few days remain before we shall ourselves write the decision in our blue-books. Confronted by the first crucial test, we must not fail.