AMENITIES OF CULTURE

Evening Star, Issue 22975, 4 June 1938, Page 3

AMENITIES OF CULTURE

What a lot of fun our young pcopie miss by not going to college in America ! Not that they have a very dun time of it even here, for the age of “ compulsory subjects ” and “ set •courses ” is passing ; it is no longer a case of arts or science, with here and there adoring Martha attempting a domestic course. Utterly dead are the days of my own misspent youth—dreadfully misspent when I recollect that even for a humble B.A. we had to “ qualify ” in mathematics. Yea, even I also—-[ who invariably became comatose at sight of a rider, and who have found little need of higher mathematics in my life; indeed, when I take a furtive glance at my household accounts, I am inclined to believe that the rule of subtraction alone would have sufficed me. Yes, we learned a number of dull things in my youth, and I doubt whether they did us much good. Nowadays college courses are much more vital affairs even in New Zealand, whilst in America they are brimful of colour. Who, for example, would object to studying at the University of Illinois, where motion .pictures are placed upon the curriculum? Here the films are seriously studied from the historical point of view; stories are compared with the history from which they are taken, and stars are criticised for the fidelity or otherwise of their portrayal. Serious-minded students must, of course, attend the picture theatres regularly and write lengthy notes on Mr Cliirk Gable as Parnell and Mr Arliss ns the Duke of Wellington. At New York University, also, the films are included in certain courses, but here they are studied from the sociological and psychological viewpoint. The aspiring student, for example, writes a conscientious thesis upon U’e effect on the adolescent mind of the Dietrich versus the Garbo op upon the reactions of the natives c'i India to the curious jingoism, of he i* : ngal Lancer. However, it ail p.'ovi cs the best of excuses for visiting the theatre regularly, and at least cliscoura'jss that intellectual snobbery fiat still a fleets to look down upon the films .>i hopelessly iow-brow entertainment. Equal-y en sting must prove the study ci ! zoo',, y at tie Un , rsity of Miami, for ‘ ? ssat of lea - ng actually provide - ■ *irs room icy .is students on tv- ' o' fie Gu,f Stream

itself. To ui-.. ime.uselves of its privileges the students naturally must cloa diving gear; surely such an. adventure would settle onco and for all any doubts as to the single-minded earnestness of the scientific undergraduate. Compared with so direct a method of attack, our high-and-dry laboratories, with their, carcfully-prepared slides and conscientiously supervised, microscopes, seem dull enough. The zoological student in Miami sees life indeed —both on the ocean wave and below it. Even more attractive is the course on exploration offered by the University of Michigan. Here studeuts are taught to fit themselves for a career of scientific exploring and Investigation by joining a class that goes on trek during the summer months. One season’s work, for example, took the amateur explorers into the Yukon; here they spent many weeks in travelling slowly across that wild country, mapping ' out uncharted wastes,_ watching its animal life, and' closely investigating its natural resources, its meteorological conditions, and its geology. Thus does America encourage and train its' potential Edward Wilsons, Peter Flemings, and Freya Starks. But study in the United States is admittedly many-sided. It teaches its students, to be not only scientific and adventurous, but charming. With that end in view. New York has introduced the most delightful study of ail—oneself, In this course you learn your own peculiarities and weaknesses and correct them, study your personality and improve it, The methods followed sound a

MARY SCOTT on Advanced Universities

little drastic, for the victims must watch motion pictures of themselves and listen to gramophone records of their own voices. Thus they learn in the most direct way to correct ugly mannerisms and avoid unpleasant tones of voice. (There is, we believe, no real foundation for the rumour that in this course the percentage of suicides among the students is very high.) This accomplished, they undergo various tests —in leadership, comradeship, charm, initiative, etc. From the results of this they learn without doubt their own weak spots and become* at last all things bright aiid beautiful. Having thus produced the ideal personality, the next step follows inevitably, The ssar student must he coaxed-—not coerced—into matrimony, and sheltered and protected therein. The University of lowa is only one of many colleges that offer a course in matrimony. And why not? Surely the old idea that married life needs no preparation is giving place to the recognition of matrimony as a profession? In this America, as usual, leads the way, and there the gay co-ed. is prepared for all sorts of domestic crises, from burnt bacon to bankruptcy. Both parties to the contract learn to adjust themselves to new relationship and fresh responsibilities, and we can only hope that the practical result is as good as the theoretical. Dillard, the university for negroes, foes a step further. There the students ave a compulsory subject for thendegrees, and it is housekeeping. Men and women students work side by side in studying the care of children, the planning of convenient homes, the choice of the daily menu, the balancing of the domestic budget. Surely marriages made in these class rooms have as good a chance of enduring as any made inn higher sphere? The contract usually spoken of as a lottery takes on a new stability. But it is left to Oklahoma’s State College for teachers to add the final touch, that ultimate perfection that is required in order to turn* out the complete, the dream husband. There the men students receive a course of instruction in simple household repairs. They learu to adjust the wireless, fix the electric iron, install the vacuum cleaner, to mend leaky saucepans, and put in a pane of glass without breaking it. Little plumbing jobs, also, are in this curriculum, so that no longer need the fortunate wife of one of these graduates send for the plumber when the bathroom tap is leaking or the main, hot water pipe has burst. Let us hope that, these model young people will become pioneers and go forth into the hinterland of America; such Admirable Crichtons should not be wasted in the tame security of the suburbs. Yes, there is no doubt that the ori-ginal-minded student is well provided for in America. Yet there was a dav when the educational system there was as conventional and dull as our own. As proof of this I quote the ancient rules of Mount Holyoake College; the date of the document is 1837. “No young lady shall become a member of this college who cannot kindle a fire, wash potatoes” (even then America recognised the really important things of life), “ repeat the multiplication table and at least two-thirds of the Shorter Catechism Every member of the school shall walk a mile a day unless a freshet (delightful expression !), “an earthquake, or some other calamity prevent. No young lady shall devote more than an hour daily to miscellaneous reading. No young lady is expected to have gentlemen friends unless they are returned missionaries or members of benevolent societies.’’ (I like that “ gentlemen friends ” ; but, after all, even our modern young things might hesitate to call the members of benevolent societies their hoy friends.) Ah, well, America appears to haWe stepped out to some purpose in the last century.