Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/559

Rh for is found in the report of a young lady in sophomore arts. Very many men, on the other hand, especially those in the medical and engineering courses, were able to account for all their time under the rubrics we employed.

As already explained, the time assigned to self-support may be somewhat understated, because of the lack of the item in the original blank. We know, however, that at least 121 men and 5 women, or 14 per cent, of the students here figured, work for their support. In the extreme case, a special student in agriculture, seven hours and twenty minutes daily are devoted to earning a livelihood, while a freshman in the same course, as previously cited, devotes seven hours similarly.

In Table 3 we have incorporated figures to show the absolute and relative distribution of the cases of work for self-support. It appears that not only is it the average student in agriculture that devotes the most time to support, but also that a greater percentage of such students (about one in three) are so engaged. The lowest percentage, 2.9, is that of mechanical engineering (apart from electrical engineering), which is even lower than that of the women in arts. Or, if we combine mechanical and electrical engineering, we observe that only 6.5 per cent, of Sibley College students work for their livelihood, as against 19.1 per cent, in arts, 19.5 per cent, in law, 20 per cent, in civil engineering, and 17.2 per cent, in the two medical colleges (by combination). This relation seems significant enough to demand attention. In the opinion of a Sibley College professor, it is to be explained on the ground that a larger proportion of Sibley than of other students are the sons of wealthy or well-to-do parents. If the explanation be correct, it is of interest as showing the increasing tendency of those who are identified with large business interests to give their sons a 'professional' rather than a 'liberal culture' training.

On the basis of returns from about one third of the student-body, and subject to the limitations which have been discussed at length above, the following propositions may be laid down in regard to the daily distribution of the time of Cornell students:

1. Freshmen and seniors give slightly less time to university work than do sophomores and juniors.

2. The average length of time given to university work is greatest in the colleges of medicine, and progressively less in those of engineering, architecture, law, agriculture and arts—the extremes varying from 10.79 to 8.03 hours daily. Though these differences are largely due to the varying amounts of laboratory, shop and field work required, the courses in medicine still seem to demand not only longer, but also harder work than others.