THE FORUM AND THE UNION.

That the University Forum is to be held in the Union this evening is welcome news to all who are interested in the success of these two institutions and wish to see them attain their maximum efficiency. The Union as the centre of undergraduate life and the common meeting place of students should by all means be the home of the University Forum, for it thereby comes nearer to fulfilling its own purpose. The signal success of the Oxford Union is in large measure due to the fact that the Oxford forums are held there. Conversely, the results of the forums are gratifying because they have their home in the Union, where the facilities are best for social intercourse. The same advantages and the same atmosphere most conclusive to informal discussion may be secured here.

The Forum this evening is particularly important because of the nature and weight of the question to be threashed out. Plans for a new gymnasium have been agitated and proposed for years, but have remained nothing more than idle dreams. At the meeting this evening the opportunity is offered for undergraduates to express their views on the subject and to advance whatever solutions of the problem they may have worked out. This undergraduate opinion is exactly the thing needed. What is said this evening in the Union will bring to the attention of the University authorities just what the undergraduates feel to be the situation in regard to a new gymnasium and will show them how the students would solve the problem. The significance and importance, then, of the value of this discussion cannot be overestimated. Undergraduate problems must be solved from the point of view and to the satisfaction of undergraduates; hence to obtain their opinions is the first step in the right direction.

Fron the standpoint of the Student Council, too, this and succeeding forums are of exceeding importance. This body exists to represent undergraduate opinion and to guide its actions by this opinion. Consequently an institution that fosters the free expression of the undergraduates' views aids the Student Council and enables it to fulfill its mission.