A FRIEND OF THE TUTORING SCHOOLS

The introduction of a textbook by McIsaac and Smith in Economics A, must have greatly boosted the business of the tutoring schools. This book might be intelligible to an economist, but, for students in an elementary course, it is as clear as federal income tax regulations. Difficult subjects can be handled in clear, lucid sentences, but clearness is not one of the virtues of the book. It should be removed from next year's reading list and replaced by one that is more comprehensible.

The complaints against this book are too widespread to be dismissed lightly. And the complaints do not come exclusively from the addicts of the tutoring schools. Economics A is now one of the most popular and important courses in the University. Since it is not a lecture course, students are dependent for their information upon textbooks. For this reason, it is essential that the books used should be clear and understandable.

Many of the section men in Ec. A conducted polls of their students to ascertain the desirability of the book, and in all of the sections thus canvassed the opinion was almost unanimously against its further use. Such adverse criticism can not be overlooked by the department, since the students will fail to get the most out of McIsaac and Smith if they actively dislike it.

Sentence after sentence in the book is long, and ambiguous. The statistical analysis, and the formulas given in the footnotes, give the book the appearance of being a cross between a Babson report and a geometry textbook. The continued use of this book will inevitably force many students to fall back on the tutoring schools for help. copies of McIssac and Smith should become frozen assets on the shelves of second hand book stores.