DISCUSSES VALUE OF COLLEGE COMPETITIONS

The abiding value of any college competition--and it makes no difference whether it is for the football team, the musical clubs or the student newspaper--lies in the fact that it brings out the best there is in a man and that it gives those participating a sure foretaste of the conditions they will constantly encounter in their life work. If it doesn't serve the former purpose in an individual case, then that individual has no business taking part; if it doesn't serve the latter purpose, it isn't a serious competition.

To there who make up their minds to do the job thoroughly, the process of trying out for places on a college newspaper offers much work but it also offers rich rewards. In more than one sense of the word it is a game in which, as in most games, concentrated effort and initiative are factors that decide the issue. It teaches a man the fine arts of resourcefulness and responsibility, two qualities which in any walk of life are worth possessing. The competitor, too, should find a joy and a pride in his labors, the joy that comes when he is trying to do something better than someone else can do it and the pride that comes when he succeeds.

"Profit as Well as Satisfaction"

The men in this competition will have the opportunity to be of service to Harvard and will find profit as well as satisfaction in the serving. They will meet prominent men, in and out of college, and will gain an acquaintance with their fellows and a knowledge of their university that they could hardly obtain in any other way. They will become a real part of Harvard. On the technical side, they will acquire experience in gathering news; they will learn to write. And the more they write, the better they will be able to write.

The contestant ought to decide, at the very beginning, that he will give to the competition the maximum of effort and attention. For him to give less is an injustice to the CRIMSON and even more of an injustice to himself.

The men who win and are finally accorded places on the CRIMSON staff will have an experience that will stand them in good stead if they ever seek to enter the newspaper field. They will be trained to see things as they are and to write of things as they are. The world has need, and always will have need, of men with those qualifications. The competitors who lose need not feel that they have labored in vain. They, too, will have received instruction that may some day prove valuable. Merely to have been in such a contest is worth while if for no other reason than that it is good for every man to be tested and put on his mettle