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The Campus Mirror
Man Plus—
Mary DuBose, ’31
Life, life, and more life. Oh, how beau
tiful! The new bud, the grasshopper, the
tiniest insect, tlie smallest flower, all repre
sent life. Man in his relation to this won
derful environment may be considered as an
actor in a drama in which he is the prin
cipal character and other living forms are
the minor characters, but playing roles of
importance. Each lives in his own sphere
and is a part of this complicated world
where man is dominant, but the drama of
life would cease with the absence of these
minor players.
The First Act of the play presents primi
tive man as the main character. Little did
he know of Nature, except the use of fire,
air, water, and earth. Nature was only a
means to supply his immediate needs in a
crude fashion. The insects, the plants, ex
cept those he could devour for food, and the
animals, not used for food or for beasts of
burden, meant almost nothing. He succeeded
in existing, but crudely. Disease, illness, and
death were mysterious matters to him. He
imagined strange reasons for these happen
ings and many absurd and unfounded reme
dies were administered. What was the rela
tion of the universe to him? What did it
all mean? Almost nothing. Here, man
stands on the stage unmindful of the other
players around him and of their value to
him, with no knowledge of the blessings
they hold for his life.
The Second Act opens with the same set
ting, man in his environment as before, but
with a little more, though vague, intelligence
of himself and his surroundings. The same
players are in this scene and man himself
is the same physically, but the difference is
that he has received some knowledge of his
human form, the parts of his body and their
function, also some knowledge of external
Nature. But a clear practical knowledge is
still absent. Each minor character plays his
own part, but man conquers them all in a
brutish way and his life is made none the
richer for having them under his power.
In connection with this play of life there
are two main factors which have important
influences in human life. One is the bio
logical inheritance, or heredity, with which
man is born and which is a great contributor
to his physical and mental existence. The
social inheritance, which is the other factor,
is that into which he is born and which has
a unique part in influencing his life and
making him human. It is all around him and
is partly imposed upon him from birth. This
marks the distinction between man and the
minor characters. His social inheritance
helps to determine the character of his life.
Man also excels other living forms in having
‘‘the high development of mutual aid, plus
a high degree of brain power, plus the ex
istence of something we call spirit, or soul,
in him, all these interacting on each other to
the advantage of the further development
of each.” Recognizing these extraordinary
qualities in man, we cannot look on him as
beyond Nature, for he is a part of Nature,
and when examined he shows that, although
he is the main character, he is only a part,
and to let him appear on the stage alone
makes him too remote, too detached from
the things that make up his surroundings
and fill his present needs—such things as
the plants and animals which furnish his
clothing and food and other necessities and
help solve his domestic problems.
In this same act of our play man is gain
ing a knowledge of his environment and
its relation to himself; still he lacks the ex
perience of an intelligent observer of life
forms, and by not understanding them and
their relations to him, and not valuing these
living forms, he only leams how to safeguard
his health and live longer, still he misses the
richer meanings of life.
Act Three opens with Man and all the
minor characters at work, this time each
performing his own task but working in
harmony. Man has begun to discover each
character’s part and its relation to his life,
avenues have been opened so that he has
been able to let them help solve important
human problems. After getting this knowl
edge he cannot remain alone on the stage
without knowing what is being done and
said by the others.
Man, the main character, can now play
his part better, with the others coming in
their turn. Just as players give cues to each
other, so does the work of the minor players
give Man the cue to his part. Without them
the play would fail.
Biology is a science which acquaints Man
with his surroundings. It is an eye-opener.
It helps to interpret common factors of the
life of an individual and lays bare the mean
ing of some of his concepts. That the char
acters of the play serve as a cue to man is
proved by biological experiments in the labo
ratory. Comparative anatomy, embryology,
and other courses provide valuable cues, giv
ing comparisons, contrasts, similarities, and
aids to the study of man. We study human
life through them, to a certain extent. By
means of animals we study diseases, their
symptoms, and cures, and gain knowledge
of our own bodies. All these things show
that man has the power to conquer the other
characters in the drama of life and does
conquer them, not in the form of just crudely
ridding earth of them as in the primitive
stage, but using them thus to get a richer
meaning of life—to understand life, to make
life for the main character not only safe and
long, but to give it a deeper meaning, make
it fuller, make it beautiful.
Because man has the greater power, so
much greater is his responsibility. The other
characters are influenced by Nature and
man; they have little power of choice, can
not curb tendencies and factors nor bend
forces, but man has the power of choice; he
can well make his own future, with the aid
of these other characters to do his bidding.
Full and rich is the life of the man whose
eyes are opened to himself and the things
around him and who realizes himself to be
a brother to the rest of life. So the great
drama of life goes on with main and minor
characters interacting each for the develop
ment of the others.
Faking a Senior's Measure
Eddielena G. Haynes, ’31
When a freshman enters college, he is
not apt to know exactly which courses are
best suited to give him the fundamentals of
study, as well as to open up fields of in
formation; neither is lie apt to know how to
tackle his lessons so as to derive the great
est benefits and to know how to plan his
social activities so as not to neglect his
lessons. For these reasons freshmen have
the greater part of their courses selected
for them by the college; their assignments
are very definite, requiring written home
work such as themes, problems, and reports,
and their social privileges are limited. In
most colleges, freshmen are required to
take orientation, or a course in how to
study. By the time the student attains
sophomore rank, he is expected to know
more about the courses that will round out
his program, and how to budget his time.
On this assumption he is allowed more
electives, given less orientation, but not
so much of a let-up on social privileges.
Upon reaching junior rank the student is
supposed to know the courses that will
help him most in the field in which he is
interested, how to get the greatest benefits
from his studying and how to make quick
transitions from recreation to work. He
should be able to work on his own initiative
and with less direction for study—-a sug
gestion from the instructor should suffice.
He should be so perfected in the technique
of budgeting his time that he is able to
carry on major extra curricular activities
without neglecting his studies. He should
be able to think directly, that is, he should
be able to isolate readily the topic of
reference.
When the student attains “senior
heights” he should not find it necessary
to lose any time in isolating a topic for
critical analysis. His preparation of les
sons should extend beyond the instructor’s
suggestions. He should know the main
points he wishes to get from a course, and
as the work is covered daily he is able to
organize it. He considers amusing pastimes
as essential parts of his college career with
out being frivolous. He should feel as
deeply as the administration the respon
sibility for the record and spirit of the col
lege. He should know definitely what he
wants to do and how to begin without any
procrastination.
If a student has been growing continu
ously since his entrance as a freshman, he
should have developed these habits. How
many seniors measure up to these qualifi
cations ?
T. E. LAUGHRIDGE
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