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THE CAMPUS MIRROR
WHY KNOW HISTORY?
By I.uis I). Davk.mport, '30
Thoughtful C lio, muse of history, we do thee
homage. For it was thee who with thy book
and stylus first recorded all that happened to
mortal men and immortal gods.
History in its wider sense is the record of all
that has happened. It includes everything that
undergoes a change, and, as modern science has
shown that there is nothing absolutely static,
therefore the whole universe with all its parts
has its history.
There are many, many people who fool them
selves into thinking that they do not like to
read or study history. It is a mass of cold dry
facts which are of no use to them. With that
idea in mind they are only seeing one of the
many parts of the picture. They have let them
selves become enclosed in air-tight compart
ments and have failed to become exposed to an
interesting subject. History is interesting be
cause its scope is so broad, and it is one of
the most inclusive subjects in the field of learn
ing. The history of the earth is in the rocks,
and the structure of the plant and animal life
shows the history of their development. The
study of the English language and literature
traces the history of the English people. In
mathematics, which is a subject of proving prob
lems and propositions, one must know what has
been, to know how to prove what is at hand.
In Home Economics one must know the sources
of foods and clothing in order to purchase the
best values.
Not only is history valuable to the person in
school, but it is just as valuable to those who
are out of school. In the first place it enables
one to make wise choices. The gardener must
know the variety of his seeds in order to get
successful results. The merchant must know
the quality of his goods in order to satisfy his
customers and make a profit for himself. In
choosing friends it is well to know something
of their family history—whether they are de
pendable and physically sound. Even in one’s
own life it is well to know one’s ancestors be
cause this enables him to know himself better.
In the second place, history helps one in in
terpreting the future. We build our future
progress on what has been accomplished; there
fore, we can predict fairly accurately what is
apt to happen. On the other hand, history, like
fashions repeats itself; therefore we are less
likely to become gropers in the dark, as it
were, depending upon fate to decide our destiny.
This is especially true in politics—in making
laws and electing officers.
In the third place, history helps one to criti
cise problems more intelligently. Many people
read newspapers and other periodicals without
getting either a positive or a negative effect,
because they do not have the history of the
situation; it is impossible for them to know
their point of view, and they are thus wasting
their time reading.
Lastly, history makes the world a more en
joyable place in which to live. Especially is it
valuable to the traveler. In going from one
place or country to another, the trip is always
enjoyable if one can recall some historical
events of the places visited. Hence, it is through
history that the new generation is able to carry
KNOWING LIFE
Evki.yn C. Gkkkn, '30
Biology is the science of lile and of living
things, whether plants or animals. It helps us
to understand the simplest forms of life that
God has created. The most interesting and
thrilling fact about it is that even the smallest
animals or forms of plant life have a definite
structure and plan of life. One of the humblest
forms of animal life, amphioxus, which is a
fish like animal with no distinct head, has all
of the essential characteristics of the higher
animals arranged like a simple diagram. This
diagram of characteristics is followed up
through the phyla, becoming more and more
complex, until the Genus Homo (man) is
reached. After one has studied biology he can
really look upon life in a more enlightened and
appreciative manner. Our critical attention is
drawn toward everything that we see life in,
because we know that these little animals did
not spring upon the earth by causeless chance,
but by a definite universal law.
Biology helps us to see the scientific reason
for things. Primitive peoples had signs and
superstitions to account for things that happen
in nature, but today scientific observation and
reasoning have shown how many things happen.
We no longer say to our teachers, as the people
in Jesus’ time said, that blindness and other
physical characteristics are due necessarily to
the sins of the parent. By the laws of genetics,
which is the science of heredity, we find out just
why we inherit the characteristics that fall to us
and we are made more intelligent about our own
physical anatomy. God has given us these won
derful bodies of ours and we can at least be
interested in ourselves to know what constitutes
our different systems. Comparative anatomy
is one of the most interesting subjects one can
study. Physiology teaches people how to have
better health and that over-eating causes more
sickness than anything else. Many people do
not know that some bacteria are as useful as
others are harmful; or that our mental atti
tudes can affect our physical conditions.
Biology also plays a very important part in
our social order. We hear a great deal today
about social diseases. Biology helps us to pre
vent these diseases and shows the need of eu
genic laws to prevent infected people from
marrying. We are becoming more interested
in the causes of plagues that effect large groups
of people, for instance, the Mediterranean fruit
fly that infects fruit. In our communities we
can see to it that we have good wholesome
water to drink and that our meat is free from
infectious bacteria.
Science has gone a long way to remove fear,
superstition, disease, famine, plagues: instead
of these we have better health, better sanitary
conditions, better foods, due to scientific investi
gations. With all this, the scientific discoveries
are by no means finished. They have a long
way yet to travel before they can discover “what
God and man is.”
on the torch of knowledge from where it was
left by the old, and to continue in progress with
out having to retrace laboriously the ground
already covered.
WHY MAJOR IN FRENCH?
By Samantha B. Howard, 30
Within recent years there has been a great
deal of thinking upon internationalism and
means by which peaceable relations may be pre
served among nations. In view of the fact that
this is a vital interest to the world, I believe that
the assimilation of the French language by a
larger percentage of English speaking students
will aid in cultivating this international spirit.
Through the study of the French language,
one develops a cosmopolitan attitude, that is, he
learns to understand another life, a different set
of ideals and customs, another civilization, a
different philosophy, and different political and
religious institutions which have solid founda
tions. Through understanding these phases, he
grows to understand the people and, conse
quently, to have more sympathy for them. After
all, sympathy is the depth of a mutual under
standing.
To get best the psychology of a people, one
might seek to find it in their literature. For
tunately, the French people have produced a
literature that gives a deep expression and a
clear understanding of themselves; but to get
thin understanding one must know the language.
Also, their literature has served as a model for
other nations. It is said that they are among
the keenest thinkers in the world. Too, the fact
that they have such a high regard for their
language to the extent that they abhor slang, has
in itself a cultural value. Therefore to know
the people is to better appreciate their ideals.
Again, the study of the French language is
helpful to one who plans to go abroad, either
for pleasure or for furthering his pursuit of
study. II travelling in Europe, one will find
that this language is most commonly spoken by
a great majority of Europeans. From this
standpoint it is worthwhile to know something
about speaking French. It is said that an
American once visited in France and while there
secured lodging at an English hotel. It had
always seemed useless to him to study French,
especially, when one could go to France and live
comfortably a t a hotel where English was
spoken. But one day while walking around
Paris he found that he had strayed too far from
his hotel to get back in time for lunch. He
was frightfully hungry, too. He then decided
to stop in a restaurant and get food. As he
entered he was ushered to a table and the waiter
began to ask in French, “Monsieur desire?” but
the American did not understand. Then the boy
said again, “Monsieur desire? Void la carte.”
The American, becoming a little vexed ex
claimed, “Speak in English! Don’t you see I
can’t understand you?” but the reply from the
boy was, “Je ne comprends pas.” The man not
knowing what to say, suddenly decided to point
out something on the bill of fare. The food
brought to him proved to be distasteful, but he
ate it and paid the boy a price greater than the
food was worth in order to prevent further
conversation. He left the restaurant with a de
termination to learn something about French, for
he had discovered that it was a handicap to be
ignorant of the language.
“Why paint so fast, young fellow?”
“I am trying to finish before the paint
out.”
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