OUR POOR RELATIONS

The theory of the Freshman Advisory System is infinitely better than the fact. Designed to beget a "proper placement in courses and a friendly interest and readiness on the part of the Advisor to talk over the various decisions", its practice has brought much disappointment to first-year men. Coming from distant states and new to university life they rightly expect some mature, personal guidance. That they do not get this assistance is indicated by the cynical disrespect which most upperclassmen hold for the system, a feeling epitomized in the classic farewell of advisor to advice--"Drop in again any time. Next April, for instance".

The promising machine lacks the right cogs in that many of the advisors are unfit for the job, and poor organization serves as a defective driving wheel. Freshmen themselves are partly blameable for the first fault, incompetent men. They demand from their advisors the voluminous ever-changing rules governing courses, and are bitter if the instructor makes the smallest mistake in the facts. Dean Leighton has found that the older professors--the best advisors who take the most effective interest in the students--will resign if held accountable for laws better picked up at University C. If Freshmen were less insistent that reknowned scholars know in what exam group French B is, more such men would join the board.

What ruins the present system, however, are the unreasonable and hence unfulfilled claims it inflicts upon the instructors. By requiring them to do the extra work without pay or alleviation of ordinary duties University Hall has succeded, with notable exceptions, in repulsing valuable men already over-busy, and in discouraging most advisors from devoting any appreciable attempt to advising. This irritating condition continues year by year disguised in President's reports with honeyed words and justified in the college's eyes by the lack of money to correct it. The policy is plain short-sightedness on the part of a corporation which every year gives Freshmen increased discretion in course selection and new fields of study. By neglecting first-year men they are building an elaborate scholastic temple on foundations of sand.