Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/548

542 Items Chosen.—As already explained, the original intent was to obtain statistics in regard to the five items cited in the president's address, viz., work, meals, amusement, athletics and sleep. It seemed desirable, however, to obtain some further indication of the distribution of the time included under work. Hence the subdivisions—lectures (including recitations), laboratories, shop and field, and outside study — which are summarized in the tables as 'University work' by the figures in parentheses following that item. The term 'physical exercise' was chosen as being more comprehensive than 'athletics,' and the 'unclassified' category was added for obvious reasons.

After the blanks had been distributed, but before they had been filled out, the writer's attention was called to the desirability of obtaining a record of the time devoted to work for self-support. Notice was accordingly given in the college papers that students who spent time in this way should record the amount as a separate item. Many observed this request; others, who did not, added explanatory remarks to their reports so that the writer was able to compute the time correctly and subtract it from the time assigned by them to physical exercise, unclassified or meals as the case might be. On the supposition that some self-supporting students failed either to itemize this time or otherwise to indicate it, we may assume that the percentage of self-supporting students and the percentage of time allotted to self-support may be slightly too low.

Finally, in the light of our experience, we may mention three improvements that might have been made in the list of items.

In the first place, 'shop and field' did not prove of sufficient importance to justify the separate item, being only pertinent to students in engineering, agriculture and architecture (draughting), and the amount of field work in civil engineering and agriculture being at a minimum in the winter. All phases of university work other than class-room work might be conveniently indicated collectively under some such term as 'practicums.'

Secondly, many, especially freshmen in arts, hesitated to include recitations with lectures—a difficulty which had to be remedied by the writer in tabulation, but which might have been avoided by specific instruction.

Thirdly, a number of important student activities are not easily placed under the present rubrics, and thus fell into the unclassified category. We refer to such things as musical club rehearsals, Y. M. C. A. meetings, work for the college papers, in class politics, upon fraternity business—time spent for various university organizations. Such activity is not strictly university work, but neither is it amusement, nor physical exercise. An item should have been introduced to include this significant phase of student life.