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Page Two
T HE TAR H EE L
Thursday, March 28, 1229
Leading Southern Coixege
Weekly Newspaper
Tri-
Published three times weekly during
the college year, and is the official
newspaper of the Publications
Union of the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C. Sub
scription price, $2.00 local and $3.00
out of town, for the college year.
.Offices in the basement of Alumni
Building.
Walter Spearman .. Editor
George Ehrhart Mgr. Ed
Marion Alexander . Bus. Mgr.
Thursday, March 28, 1929
PARAGRAPHICS
"One more quarter to pass, one
long spring quarter to pass," sing the
.i
seniors as they start in on the last lap.
Now that the baseball season is on
again, we can soon find out whether
baseball rates on a popularity par
with football or with debating!
The rumor from the Playmaker
realms that the eternal "Man Who
Died At Twelve O'Clock" is to be
hauled out on another tour makes us
long for a good strong coffin in which
to plant the dear but not yet departed
dead. .
Campus courses, together with
springtime sweaters, shirtsleeves, and
arboretum strolling, are declared to
be in vogue once again.
The Russian concert Tuesday night
was none too well attended rpossibly
because of the rumor that it was this
very Russian singer who had taught
our own Glee Club to sing!
? - - -
President Chase
Decides To Stay
The most pleasing feature of the
spring holidays for hundreds of -students,
alumni and all others interested
in the welfare of the University of
North Carolina was the statement
that Dr. Chase would remain at the
head of the University rather than
accept the tempting offer that was
made him by the Social Science Re
search Council.
Immediately after the proposal
from the Research Council was made
public the entire campus .was buzzing.
over what Dr. Chase would do. The
universal sentiment- was a desire
that he should stay; the question was
whether the opportunities at the
University in the future could out-
weight the attraction of the new of
fer.
To he casual eye the increased
salary might have been the most al
luring thing, twenty thousand dol
lars instead of the ten thousand paid
by the University. In addition to
that, however, there was the nature
of the work, neither so trying nor so
discouraging as guiding the policies
of a state university, and the liberal
retiring allowance which is certain
ly an inducement to be considered. ,
With such prospects weighing down
the Research Council side of the
scales, there must have been even
weightier reasons for the president's
welcome decision to stay. It is here
at the . University that he has won
. his high reputation as an educator.
During the last ten years the Uni
versity and its president have advanc
ed together, each contributing to the
well-earned fame of the other. Now
they stand together, the foremost
university of the New South and its
progressive leader, Harry Woodburn
Chase. Regardless of the attractions
other places have for him, we be
lieve that Dr. Chase's interests are
here and we hope that he will con
tinue to remain here with them.
The prestige North Carolina has
gained through her university in the
past decade has heen due in large
part to the successful management of
President Chase. He has built it up
from a good school to a better one,
from a respected educational institu
tion to an admired one, from a uni
versity known to the citizens of its
own state to a university widely
known and highly regarded through
out .the country. And in accomplish
ment of this achievement he
must -necessarily have formed an
attachment for his handiwork which
will be conducive to holding him
with it for years to come. He has
watched its growth up to this point,
has tended it carefully and anxiously
and has now rendered his decision to
stick with it in the future.
Skipper" Weaver
Decides To Leave
Obituaries are commonly printed
when people pass on. Professor Paul
J. Weaver is passing on in another
sense, but there is no cause for heavy
black type and psalm-singing. Pro
fessor Weaver, after more than ten
years of service in the University
of North Carolina, is leaving. He
has accepted a position as Head of
the Department of Music at Cornell
University.
"Skipper" Weaver has been known
for a long time as one of the most
enthusiastic men on the faculty. It
is no small achievement to be and
remain enthusiastic as a teacher over
a long period. Apparently the Skip
per is in love with his work. He has
undertaken it that way, and in conse
quence the results are noteworthy.
Outstanding among his achieve-
ments at Carolina is the Glee Club.
Just an ordinary collegiate warbling
club when he arrived, he has made it
one of the best and most serious of
the college Glee Clubs in the South.
He has raised the quality of the mu-
sic, ana ne nas given tne people oi
the state something more than mere
transient entertainment when he took
his group on its yearly tours among
them. He is a second vice-president
of the Music Supervisor's National
Conference, holding that position
since 1926. He is editor of the1 Na
tionally known Music Supervisor's
Journal. And he has been a leading
spirit in the annual presentations of
thei Wigue and Masque Club.
The "Skipper" has decided, then,
to leave. He has done much for the
music-lovers of the University and
the state of North Carolina. The
Tar Heel takes this opportunity of
wishing him every success in his new
work. H. J, G.
Open Forum
Clipped
I ; : : 'i
DR. CHASE WILL STAY
The announcement that Dr. H. W.
Chase will not retire from the Presi
dency of the University of North
Carolina to accept a position as di
rector of the Social Science Research
Council with headquarters in New
York at a salary double that he is
now receiving with a liberal retire
ment allowance, will give pleasure to
North Carolinians.
In so doing, Dr. Chase foregoes
what must have been a temptation
and a sore temptation. Doubtless, he
I would decline without hesitation of
fers in which increased salary alone
were involved. But here was an of
fer to engage in a work of a highly
pleasing character, with the future
carefully provided for and at the end
old age in peace and plenty.
He turned his back upon it . and
gripped more firmly the reins of the
State University in the direction of
a task in which he has been highly
successful but one in which the re
wardsthe monetary rewards, at
least will never be commensurate
with the service rendered. It is a
task, moreover, which makes a con
stantly increasing demand upon one
who, like Dr. Chase, is conscious of
its requirements. Nobody probably
more than Dr. Chase is responsible
for the quickening of University life
and opportunity, and his sphere of
activity, by his own initiative, will be
expanding yearly. Unquestionably,
there will be difficulties and disap
pointments and frustrations, as well
as achievement.
But here, he said by his refusal of
this tempting offer, is his work and
here will he stay. .
North Carolina and her university
are to be congratulated on the deci
sion. News and Observer.
Highsmith to Talk
To Medical Society
Dr. J. F. Ilighsmith, well known
surgeon of Fayetteville, North
Carolina, will deliver a lecture be
fore the Whitehead Medical Society
in Caldwell Hall at 7:30 P. M., on
Saturday, March 30, on some
pha- of his work in surgery. A
definite announcement of his sub
ject will be made later.
THE CAMPUS HAWK
Without going to the trouble of col
lecting statistics I will venture to
guess that the most unpopular course
on the campus is Freshman Math the
required language running it a close
second. Normally the aversion ' to
these courses has an easy explana
tion: students do not like to work,
and both languages and mathematics
require definite effort. And if we
admit that Americans as a whole are
not linguistically inclined these two
points are probably sufficient to ac
count for the aversion to languages.
But what about math? Can the stu
dents distaste for work account for
all of the great hatred that centers
around the freshman course?
We cannot say that this subject,
like so many classical studies, has
served its usefulness and that its con
tinuance at this date is inopportune.
Our present civilization is tied to
gether by chains of mathematical
deduction. No man can hope to' un
derstand the basic ideas of today who
has no knowledge, of mathematics.
Once upon a time Pythagoras dreamed
of explaining all phenomena in terms
of number; the hope was subsequent
ly lost. Today, however, the creations
of the mathematicians are the only
keys to the enigmas of the world.
Those innermost secrets which Na
ture" has so successfully guarded
through the ages from prying inves
tigators are slowly being divulged to
the symbolic logician . of our day.
Mathematics is a timely subject. Why,
then, the rebellion against Freshman
Math?
An introductory course in mathe
matics, presumably introduces a man
to mathematics; how idle a thought!
One look into the vastness of the
field would make any beginner recoil
at the very threshold. Fortunately,
one comprehensive look is not pos
sible; it takes both time and effort
to climb the peaks from whence the
views are possible time and effort
necessary to get adjusted to the sur
roundings. The so much discussed
world of reality is found to be little
more than a string of differential
equations, most of which have no
solution; but it takes a certain apti
tude and several years of pondering
to appreciate a differential question.
This means that most men through
out the ages will live their lives with
out understanding the processes of
Nature. The popular belief that a
thing is well grasped by man when
he can subject it to popular exposir
tion is, I believe, utterly without
foundation. '
Surely, a freshman course must not
attempt to soar too high. If one
would browse, however sparingly, in
the fertile fields where trod Lope
de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderon
one must first , acquire a vocabularly
and master the rules of Spanish gram
mar. So in mathematics: one must
not start by rambling. It is essen
tial, for any sort of an appreciation
of the field, to become acquainted with
and well drilled in the elementary
notions of the subject. After mas
tering the first ground the further
road is not impassable for those who
feel the urge to proceed. It will be
objected to by those who favor the
present freshman course that the
ideas taught therein are fundamental
and not difficult. Quite so. It is a
simple matter, say, to differentiate a
function: you apply what you are
supposed to have learned in algebra
to a new process but what have
you ? What boots it if you can
readily differentiate a function if you
do not know what it means to do so?
It takes time and some maturity of
thought to see the significance of a
derivative. This pecking here and
there, furthermore, is a very poor
preparation for the man who , wants
to follow up mathematics It is bet
ter, that he should spend the time in
acquiring a greater mastery over the
more difficult, perhaps, but more ele
mentary algebraic notions.
I believe that every college gradu
ate should know the rudiments of
mathematics. The present required
course certainly does not give them
an available form. In this day
when the Science of Education, has
grown to be such an intricate and
inscrutable thing it may be presump
tuous of me to advocate a change in
a course which, I dare say, receives
more attention than any other course
on the campus; but I will brave the
disapproving frowns long enough to
suggest an alternate' scheme for pre
senting Freshman Math.
There should be offered three
courses. The first two should follow
more or less the semi-classical
trigonometry and algebra of other
days. The range of notions covered
in these two subjects is very limited,
but I know, none more excellent than
these to familiarize the student with
the symbols and operations of mathe
matics; after .all, all that follows in
mathematics is ' based on these the
greatest change that comes being in
the point of view of the investigator.
These two courses should be followed
by a lecture course, given by compe
tent instructors, designed to bring
out the cultural value of mathematics.
This course should be thoroughly
humanized; it should treat the sub
ject historically, present the signifi
cant contributions, point out the forms
that mathematical investigations may
take, show the limitations of the
field in fact, it should be (as it can
easily be) one of the most interesting
courses in the University.
The majority of students will al
ways be recalcitrant, and any subject
that causes them to work will be re
viled; but this change will, I believe,
help to diminish the hatred which ex
ists for Freshman Math.
J. J. SLADE, JR.
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YACKETY YACK MEETING
There will be a meeting of the
1929 Yackety Yack Business staff
Thursday afternoon at 2:30. Please
be present.
GUY E. HILL, Bus. Mgr.
NEW RADIO REDUCED
New Atwater-Kent radio won ia
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