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3~U ri'e. I 902. THE UNIVERSITY BUiTBLE“-BEE. To Walter B. Hill. |j An Open Letter. Dear Chancellor: One about to de part from the University desires to write an open letter to you con- cerniug a fault of yours that needs elimination, or rather, correction. It is that infreual coldness of yours that freezes the marrow in the bones of any poor devil that is forced to come in contact with you, officially, or otherwise. Why, hon estly, during my three years in col lege under yc u, I would at any time have preferred taking a snow- bath in January to a five minutes consultation with you. No, it was not a case of conscience with me, I’ll leave it to any man in college that the frigidity of your manner will neutralize the heat of a July day in Athens, and as for squelch ing the enthusiasm in a maD, why, gee whiz!! words f ail me. Of course we realize fnll well that you are a good man,—almost a great man. You have undoubt ed character and ability, and you have brought the University out wonderfully. Rut, Chancellor, for the sake of youi'iku•esteem', drop thathaio of false ilignity that is so unnecces- sary. In other words, come down off your pedestal, and stand orr your own manhood. You’ve got the character to do it, and you will be liked a great deal better. Now one more thing; at the be ginning of your course in ethics last fall you asked the class to be prepared at the end of nine months to answer you the question as to whether it would be a good thing to import a professor of philosophy and relieve you of the work. For for fear you will forget to ask the question I will volunteer an answer in the affirmative. Your “long suit” is unquestionably adminis- tration, anu I advise you to stick to it for there’s work enough in that department to “hold you awhile.” The course in ethics and philoso phy was dangerously near a farce this year, in fact it was an utt^r farce, but I trust you have already realized this and will present to the trustees the necessity of secur ing a professor of philosophy—at all events, tell them to give you a surcease from attempting the im possible. Yours for life in earnest AnUmnus P. S. dont forget to chuck that halo and get off the pedestal. A. U. J. Lustrat. In the beginning, let me state that my acquaintance with J. Lus trat is limited to the two years of classroom work I have had under him and what I have to say is based upon and has solely to do with his relations with the students of the University in an official ca pacity. It is not the purpose of the Bum ble Bee to extend its field of ac tion to the persoual or family af fairs of anyone who may perchance be dealt with herein. Iu the sancity of his own home, J. Lustrat may be a clever (in the Southern sense) sort of fellow; in the classroom as a teacher, or in any of his activities as a member of the faculty, J. Lustrat is an un mitigated bigot, an unpleasant, re pulsive little petty tyrant. Ho hasn’t a single trait of man hood (as a teacher) to commend him to the merest respect of those who are so unfortunately ignorant as to elect French or Spanish, He is a bully; his weapon of in timidation is “more work,” Time after time has ho threatened his class with “more wort p*»f not do better, zhentlemen.” His slogan is “I weel give you ziro, Meestaire x.” His manner, sneer ing and insinuating as it is, is of fensive to every student of any manhood who comes under his rule. Lustrat is unreasonable in his demands. Mr. Trustee, you for whose information the Bumble- Bee buzzes, ask any member of any class that Lustrat has con ducted in the past two years if the work required of him in the de partment of Romance Languages has not been far greater than that demanded by any other school of the Uuiversity. From all, the an swer will be, “yes.” Ask them if his requirements have not been outrageously absurd. Necessita ting hours of work every day that should be devoted to other studies. The unanimous answer will again be, “yes.” Now, Mr, Trustee, the members of the Junior and Senior classes are as a rule, hard-working men who realize what they are at college for. The majority of these men want a symmetrical, well-rounded educa tion. And they resent the atti tude of anv professor who forces them to labor on his special sub ject to the exclusion of all other work. This is what Lustrat at- tempts to do, and does by mean of the terrible threat, • Eef you db not get up my French, I will throw you.” Lustrat means by this, Mr. Trustee, that he will deprive the uufortunate of his pass, or perhaps his diploma. True, he speaks fairly intelligible| English. But is this the only re- quirem-nt of a university pro fessor? It is with reluctance that I make the final charge against Lustrat, Mr. Trustee, the hue and cry j but for the sake of° those wtuTfoU against Lustrat is not raised be-j low in my footsteps the whole cause we are lazy and want a j truth should be told. Lustrat’s “snap.” John Morris requires a tremendous amount of work on his German, but he is just in his de mands, and you hear little com plaint. Col. Snelling exacts hard work on his “math,” but he too tempers his reqirement with con sideration and justice. Bocock makes his men labor and bo do Strahan and all others, but they are not unreasonable. So, don’t for a minute entertain the idea that I am moved to these words by a puerile protest against work. To give you an idea of his bull headed, insane bigotry, I will tell you a remark he made recently to his Senior French class. It was just at the close of a recitation and a member of his class asked him his opinion on the proposed adop tion by the faculty, of the fifteen hour per week classroom require ment for the Junior and Senior -Ar' -' V-—I ~~-r~~*T-^nr were made he would double his work. Inasmuch as the contem plated action of the faculty was for lightening the recitation work and for giving the upper classmen time for reading and research, Lus trat’s statement deserves attention. Lustrat is a foreigner. The fact, perse. should not be cherished against him for he is not responsi ble for his nationality. But Lus trat does not understand America and Americans. He is not in sym pathy with our customs, our ideals* He is out of harmony with the American young man., whom he is supposed to teach. For this reason, as much as any other, he should not occupy his present position. Lustrat might, perhaps, make an ideal pedagogue iu France. In Georgia he is an anomaly. Lustrat’s education is not pro found, nor is it very broad. He may hold a degree from the Uni versity of France. If so, that is his only claim to culture. His general information seems to be con Sued to the idiosyncrasies of the irregular French verb. His knowledge of English and Ameri can literature is conspicuous by its non-existence. To this extent he is incompetent to teach the young character is not of the sort to in spire those who come in contact with him. I dont mean to insinu ate that he is dishonest or immor al. But Lustiat’s virtues are all negative. He is an ethical nonen- ity. Then he has serious vices that impair him every way. He drinks like a fish—but there is a dissimilarity in the beverage, Those who have had afternoon recitations under him know that he drinks so much wine or liquor of some sort at dinner that he is in a half-intoxicated stupor every day. A nice example for young men he is. And he consumes cig- arett« after cigarette day and rnght until his whole person reeks with nicotine. To be frank with you, I belive his brain has been serious ly affected by his terrible intern- perance, We who are supposed to P/pht, to be inspired, by the per- lw' o-RTriTerl want men in the faculty. W« want men of force, men of sobriety, men of positive character, men whom we can trust. The editors of the Bumble Bee desire to say that no particular ill-will toward Lustrat prompts this article. We I are about to bid farewell to our college days and leave, forgetting forever our troubles and woes in the entrance into the hurly- burly of real life. We have! finished our courses in the Ro- mauce languages, and have done| forever with the insults and indig nities of “the Frenchman,” He I has done us all the harm he can do, and personally we are willing I to let the matter drop. But one consideration moves us—and that is the good of the institution and those who follow us. Gentlemen of the Board of Trus- trees, request Lustrat’s resignation and give us in his place a broad- minded, cul tured, scholarly Amer ican gentleman—a man whose in fluence will be of as mu^h value to] the college as is the intrinsic worth! of his teaching ability. Such man can be found—and he is needj