Page 26 - To Dragma September 1924

238 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI
T h i s brief summary will give, we hope, some idea of what
kind of girls we are.
Now for Alpha Omicron Pi and how we feel about her. O u r
position is somewhat the same as that of our distinguished E n g -
lish visitors who are met on the gangplanks of their ships by in-
quisitive reporters and asked, ' H o w do you like A m e r i c a ?' T h e y
do not know yet—and neither do we. But we have seen the sky-
line and are very much impressed.
Gertrude Ryder Bennett. woman of average mentality can earn his entire expenses and at the same
THOUGHTS
My thoughts are sleepy thoughts . . .
They slowly creep into my mind
Like lights of distant ships at sea
That come and go in silence.
My thoughts are transient thoughts . . .
They come like comets shooting in the sky
That whirl and blaze, and dying out
Return without an end.
My thoughts are lovely thoughts . . .
They stay with me like ruddy woodbine on the wall,
Its tiny tendrils clinging to the stone
These lovely thoughts . . . my thoughts of you.
Virginia Chase, T '24, The Minnesota
TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 239
WHY USE A LOAN FUND?
In this era of steadily rising living costs the average American youth
who has set his course toward higher education faces increasingly serious
problems in financing his way through college or university.
It is hardly necessary to prove the statement that education is of the
greatest advantage to the person of moderate ability—Lincolns, Edisons,
geniuses everywhere will continually assert themselves, rising as lofty
peaks above the level plain. The day, however, when the young man or
time get the best out of education is a thing of the past. The highly
specialized age in which we live requires an intensity of concentration
which cannot be adequately met by most individuals thrown on their own
resources f o r support. I f the light of genius,—that almost unconscious
selection of the highest merit—burns in a person, he may even arrive
without college training, or choosing the collegiate road he may secure a
scholarship to meet the majority or all of his expenses. Again, there are
special grants of money to students meeting particular requirements, but
what about the man of good, hard, plugging determination who must make
his way without assistance? Should he borrow? . . . . I f he does
not borrow what are the alternatives?
We turn first to the possibility of summer employment. Perhaps, i f
he is lucky, he can secure work tutoring, employment in a summer inn.
camp, industrial enterprise or elsewhere. I n this way .he may earn a
Quarterly large part of the necessary expenses for the ensuing year, returning in the
fall with the idea of filling in the financial gaps with "odd jobs" to be
secured in or about the campus. .
While the value of summer occupation is not to be denied is it worth-
while for the student to work six or seven hours a day in order to support
himself through college, when his best efforts should be given to his
studies? Are cramped, hurried, inattentive hours of study, mental ex-
haustion and lack of preparation in the class room, arguments for self-
help in college? W i l l cultivation of the habit of "just getting by" make
for the high standards of Americanization toward which as a nation we
are presumably aiming?
Obviously a student, as any one else, can do but a limited amount in
a day. Rather than lose his acute sense of self-respect in half-doing both
academic and outside work, is not the better plan to borrow on the basis
of character and the logical promise that his earning power will be ma-
terially increased to the point where he can earn his living at the same
time return the loan in easy installments at a fixed rate of interest?
In the business world "there are times when it pays to borrow."
Successful enterprises everywhere are continually working on bank money.
I t is a well understood principle in the business world, that the man who
never borrows has great difficulty in establishing credit in the event that
the occasion arises when he needs to borrow. W h y should not the care-
fully selected student be considered as a "going concern"? This is a
day when the American youth delights in standing on his own feet. Why