“(£3 Page Two ARMOUR TECH AEWS AAAAAAA AAAA iAiAAAA Student Publication of the ARMOUR lNSTlTUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CHECAGO, llLlLllNUllS Published Weekly During the College Year EDITORHAL STAFF ...John Hommes, ’29 .Fred B. Farrell, ’29 ....David T. Smith, ’30 ..Charles E. Morris, ’30 .Waltcr J. Ehrmeycr, ’29 ....John E. Tarman, '30 John P. Edstrand, ’29 ..Walter Paradzinski, ’30 (Not yet chosen) ........... Joel M. Jacobson, ’29 .Professor Walter Hendricks CONTRKBUTORS C. J. Ashenhurst, Fred A. Atwood, A. B. Auerbach, L. W. Booker, l—Ial Burnett, F. C. Carlson, S. Chiappetta, W. Edmonds. Frank M. James, H. J. Monger, S. S. Pu— laski, H. P. Richter, W. H. Rudolf, S. B. Scavuzzo, R. F. Stellar, Vernon Sturm, Max Schinke, H. W. Yount. BUSKNESS STAFF ...Russell E. Johnson, ’29 Thomas R. O'Malley, ’30 ....Stanley A. Beatty, ’30 on, ’30; Wilbert B. Deering’, ’30 ..Preston E. Heath, ’30 ...John W. Gamble, ’29 T). G. Garen, ’30 Editorvin-Chief . Desk Editor...,. News Editor ....... Department Edito Assistant Social Editor Athletic Editm Assistant ........ Humor Editor. Feature Writer.. Faculty Adviser. Business Manager. Assistant ...... Advertising Manager. Assistants..Morris 0. b1 Circulation Manager Assistant . :1 (“hang/'12 Vol. II. OCTOBER 11, 1928 No. 4 What’s To Be lllllone About it? Our editorial of last week, headed “Armour’s Annual Vaudeville,” created considerable discussion, some kindly, much of it otherwise, among the student body We should have been sadly disappointed if it had not. We believe that the unfavorable comment, however, was due entirely to a complete misunderstanding of the article and its intent. To clarify our position on the matter, we wish to enlarge somewhat on the subject thus brought up, and, if possible, to offer a few suggestions which might aid toward eliminating the cause of all the hubbub. Before proceeding with this article, we suggest a careful rem reading of last week's onslaught. Regarding the misunderstandings: First, that article was construed by many to apply directly to the recent Senior Class election. The article specifically included all four classes, and all their sequels, the farcical attempt at a Freshman election last Monday being; no exception. It was further misconstrued, particularly by the mem— bers of the Campus Club, to be a direct criticism of the victories reaped by the non—fraternity factions. To the contrary, the non-fraternity victories as such were a very healthy reaction to a series of fraternity walk—aways in previous years. The article applied much more point— edly to the. class of ’29 election of last year than to that of this year. Nor did, we by any inference condemn the actual campaigning among the factions. If any group wants to contribute a few nickels to the. Illinois Bell, or invest a few of their good dollars for posters and campaign literature in order to advance their cause, that is their own concern, and a perfectly legitimate one. To get back to the original subject, let us analyze the situation as a Whole. We have a series of elections. Each is hotly contested; each stirs intense rivalry, and each precipitates several factions among; the students. The nominations are opened, and probably two, maybe three men, are put on the presidential slate. There may be four or five factions or parties, each having their own idea of a choice, yet all do not obtain representation. The discretion as to who shall be nominated lies almost entirely with the chairman of the meeting, who, in the case of the upper~classmenhis the previous year’s presi- dent. This chairman is usually very much biased as to whom he wants nominated, and when he wants the nomi- nations closed. There, as we see it, tem of choosing class officers. To this very condition we referred last week when we said the elections were unrepresentative. The actual number of ballots cast in any election for any one man means nothing, if the original slate upon which he appeared does not contain truly representative men. And now a possible. solution, if any, to correct the fault in the system, The presiding Chairman must be a non-interested, unprejudiccd individual, Wabash College, of Indiana. attains this end by placing the four class meetings: in charge of student committees of three, one to preside and two to act as tellers and general assistants, the appointment of these committees heinp; vested in the Senior Council, which in turn is composed of a group of the distinguished men in the Senim Class A failil’ty riprcsentative sits in on the nicotine; which draws up ”14. committees. .‘~ dilleient and 111}! likely supclioi in vogue rlsev.l1(1ro..\‘10’1‘lecl {111 :1 nominating unnrnittcc, methods are nominations uhirh ionimittee usu— mi lhl'ouirl': (Continued on column Al} is the big tlaw in the present sys- . AAA RAEWAE‘WEA ALBERT EDWARD W’EGGAM "The Fruits of the Family Tree)" “The New Decalngue of 5cieuce" “The Next Age- of Man” By JOEL M. JACOBSON “The Fruit of the Family Tree” is the best and most simple explana- tion of the causes and effects of heredity that the layman can read and understand. Clearly and sim- ply, in the modest tone of a true scientist, he sets before us the facts of modern biology. The fight be— tween the exponents of heredity and those of environment in the determination of character is sub- siding. There is now but slight doubt that environment has but little effect in man’s development except in that it changes the direc— tion of the stream of heredity. (An unproven possibility.) The late re— searches into the ancestry of a num- ber of typical .families show this clearly. One fan/ii y, in 200 years of existence, producei 12 college presi— dents. 65 college irofessors, 2.65 col» lege graduates, 60 physicians, 100 clergymen, 30 jud gas, 80 buplic olfi— cers, 3 COHg‘l‘eSSmtl’l, 2 senators and 1 vice~president of the United States; while another fanily in the same time has given the world 310 pro~ fessional beggars, 1.40 wrecked by disease, 50 prostituies, 60 thieves, 7 murderers and 53 other crominals. What more proof is needed? In such a length of. time the elvects of poor environment can be safely disre~ garded, so that the histtry of such a family—none which has rover pro— duced a single useful citizenu—cannot be overlooked. Without the preparation of the “Fruit of the Family Tree” ll would probably have never completed the second and later of Mr. Wiggam’s books. His “ten commandments” antagonize me. Mr. Wiggam, laying down the law like a modern Moses, is not to my taste, and yet I feel sure that all he says is vitally important to the welfare of the human race. In other words, the “ten command— ments of science” would have affected me much more deeply had they not been written in the tone of a bio— logical alarmist. Notwithstanding Mr. Wiggarn’s ar- rogant presentation, he has given us something worth thinking about. I, personally, have never believed that all men are born equal or will ever grow equal under the same condi« tions. This book strengthens my opinions with tangible proof. ,The author’s conclusion is well worth con- sidering: “The bright will always be ahead, and the dull will always be behind.” In reality the ten commandments are the methods Wiggam suggests for avoiding the results of his ”third warning”—“that the highest tri- umphs of science are mainly enlisted on the side of race deterioration." Man, foi'saking' his natural outdoor life more and more, is gradually weakening. Couple this to the fact that we are continually saving; the weak, the diseased, the criminal, the insane, and the feeblominded to reproduce their kind, and we have a truly momentous warning. Until society prevents these types from having children the race cannot ad— vance. The “tenth commandment”--“tbe duty of philosophical reconstruction,” particularly interests me because a small part of the discussion is de- voted to a rather new school of phi-- losophym-naturalism. “In this philosophy of naturalism the universe stands revealed at last in all its gaunt nakedness, as a mere machine without sympathy or pur— pose. Man is found to be a brother not only to the brute, but to the elod and the crystal. He sweeps for a brief moment round his little orbit, and passes into the trackiess void with the some mechanical precision as the stars. Life. itself, instead of being the warm, pulsing thing which we have thought, is believed to be a more phenomenom of matter. . . . ” if such an interpretation of life actually were accepted by the man on the street it would have one of three results, which one, being largely a matter of education. First, men may assume a sort of “eat, drink and. be merry” philosophy. Second, it may cause the world to plunge into social and political revo~ lution, each seeking to grab what he can. Third, it may cause the adop~ tion of a “true liberalism, a true freeing of the human spirit” . . . resulting in a “civilization, not of power but of values, a civilization of beauty, gaiety and happiness; of social tenderness, sweetness and gem tility; of intellectual and spiritual adventure, such as did characterize the old Renaissance and the most high and palmy state of Rome and Greece, and those other precious moments of. history when society thought of men as persons and not as masses.” In his latest book, “The Next Age of Man,” Wiggam has not the highly idealistic and sore. attitude of the “New Decalogue.” He repeats him- self considerably, whole chapters being much like his earlier books. He is more practical, however, and reverts more to the methods of his first and best book. The practical means of carrying out the ideas of the biologist, birth control, is being misused. Where its purpose should be to prevent the rerproduction of the unintelligent and unfit, It tends to do the opposite. Only the higher classes can secure the necessary information. “For example,” the author says, “if i should mention at this point any method of birth regu- lation, I should be promptly and un» ceremoniously jailed as a common criminal.” Whether or not such a situation can be remedied will de— pend on the efforts 0.“? 'Wiggam and the other biologists to change public opinion. A. l. T., Chicago, lll., Letter Box: Oct. 8, 1928. Now that the courses at Armour are run on the semester~ hour system, have the students any reason to expect that the figures given in the catalogue are true? In most cases, it seems that the instruct 01's adhere to the system by assigning only enough work to require the ire dicated amount of time to be spent in preparation. In other cases, how- ever, the student cannot. possibly prepare his work in the time shown in the catalogue. The catalogue shows for Physics Laboratory, three hours in the lab. and two hours preparation each week. In this two hours "1 “preliminary” must be writ“ ten. results calculated, and a “final” written. Where is the students who can do all this in the time allotted to the subject? Many students ad~ mit having spent eight and nine hours on this task. If it is necesA sary that we spend so much time, why do we not receive credit in pro» portion? Something should be done to remedy this condition of unbal~ ance. ——One of Them. ENTHUSIASM is the dynamics of your personality. W'ithout it, what” ever abilities you may have lie dor- mant. You may possess knowledge, sound judgment. good reasoning facilities, but no one will know it until you discover hovi to put your been into thong} .t and action. A wonderful thing is this quality “men we call er. sni. If you would like to be a power among men, culti~ vats enthusiasm. People will like you better for it; you will escape the dull routine of a mechanical exist» once and you will make headway wherever 3701.1 33:3 —— 1. ngsn Armour. 24 1 . :1 “Fihilii 1% A??? .552 it?” . Cleave to “The Slip/stick”; not the Slapstick Ely where El: may. In the crowded street car The homely lady stood—— And stood and stood and stood and stood And stood ands tood and stood. Iii 7': :1: “At last the worm has turned E” exclaimed the excited M. E. as he adjusted the gears. Iii it A! She (indignantly) : “I’d like to see you kiss me again!“ He: “All right; keep your eyes OPEN this time.” :11 a: . rs , When playing poker, and all seems gloomy and hope less, remember the words of Perry or John Paul Jones or somebody: “Don’t give up the chip!” ’1‘ ti: * Izzy: “What has three brains and dances?” Dizzy: “l bite. What has three brains and dances?” Izzy: . “Ten thousand chorus girls!” * 18 Though not definitely known, this remark is attributed- to Napoleon or Socrates: “You can always tell a senior ——but not much.” 7i= 1% 1k The Siipsticlk Receives a Spirit Message Dear Slipstick: -The Ghost of the Attic. . 1‘ 3i: H'- Professor Cooper: “Use vermillion in a sentence.” Bird: “My girl is ugly, but her old man is rich, and I’d like to have vermillion.” If: W * Nervous Patient: “Howinell do you take these capA soles? Do you break ’em open?” irritated Doc: “No; swallow them, and they’ll break open on your gallstones." 3}: 3? Griffith: “Why didn’t you examine some of the stones around the campus as I told you to do?" Rose: “I couldn’t find the campus!” Grif.: “Well, didn't you see that blade of grass?” 1: ‘i= 4‘ An echo is the only thing that can chest 3 Woman out of the last word. H: ’l‘ 5’: And don’ t Ema-get, Freshie, the big Armour-Vassar foot- ball game will be held at 8: 3E! 11. m. at Schummer smegma next flatur nay! #1 a}: \1‘ Our office recoid shows the enrollment of-2 .. freshman from Yuma, .Ariz. Investigation disclosed the fact that he lived his entiie life in that city, and has been happy. My! my! What a wonderful sense of Yuma he must have! (Continued from column 1) ally corresponds to the Senior Council mentioned abm“ Otheis have nominations by petition, which system works very smoothly and effectively. None have as much faith in human nature as we apparently had when on. present system was adopted. These are but a few of the possible solutions. The LETTER BOX welcomes any others that the students may have to offer. What is to be done about it? A $588,0{Eildlilfi Bonfire This week is Fire Prevention Week. Every year the National File Prevention Association se is aside one wee}: in which to carry on an active campaign among the citi- zens and propertymolders of the country, spreading propaganda in an attempt to reduce somewhat the half» billion-dollar annual fire loss which occurs in this coun~ try. Adding to this figure a little reading on the historv of disastrous fires ,makes one realize the appropriate of such a campaign. The first important fire of which we have authentic record is that of Rome, in 65 A. D. Emperor Nero is held responsible by mam... It is known. at any rate, that he was notoriously slow about taking measures for the city s protection. The Great Fiie of London with property damage of $60. 000 000. occurred in 1666.111 1813 the great Enos cow fire consumed 51,000 buiidings a: a loss of $1543,» 000,000. Within the last century many of the lerger American cities have been partially destroyed b1; file. The busi— ness section of New York City was pr: 11211113. wiped out in 1835 bv a fire starting in :1 narrow, windsfixept street. The great Chicago fire of 1871 is said to be "e been started by a cow kicking over a lantern. “be next \681‘ Boston had its great fire. in 15301} the Hoimhsn sis: and steamer fire cost 215 lives. In th‘S Se 11 9:51.11? 11:1 had its great fire following an earthquake , and sit“ loss of 209 lives and $350 ‘ .900 are» merry 01.111133; And inst the other ole .he use Wipers 1118:621er— lining the Medr ~ theater are. the smile-3111‘s guest mocter fire in the \1. Grid since .iSli. Let us all give the. matter of E-‘i: Pl’vsntign 5;} special thought this week. A small fire prevented r moon 8. big disaster aver Alb 4