OUR WAR-TIME WORK

The latest news from the College Office is thoroughly discouraging to those who have believed that Harvard undergraduates were putting their best efforts into work which becomes more necessary than ever because of the war. With a much smaller number of students, this year finds more than twice as many doing "officially unsatisfactory work." The number of men on probation is greater in proportion than ever before. What can this mean to the outside world but that Harvard men are unwilling to do their job?

The excuses for this state of affairs are easy to find. The foremost thought of every red-blooded man is to get into service and he accepts too readily the theory that as a result scholastic attainment is of small importance. Serious thought will refute such an idea. If a man does get into the army or navy the success with which he has pursue his studies here will be of splendid service to him in those fields. If he does not get into uniform, he must take his place as a leader in the era of reconstruction to follow. There education is not only an aid, it is indispensable. We are getting our real start in education while in such a place as Harvard, and if the opportunity be lost, it is lost forever.

It is not that we are willfully careless. We all feel subconsciously that college work does not count so much now. It is a natural feeling, but it is none the less fallacious. Study is difficult, but it is more important than it has been for years. And so we demand from you, Mr. Undergraduate, whether you are hoping to be in service soon or not, that you do your utmost. Those who are on probation may have arrived there through excusable sins, but they deserve to be treated with gloves no longer. They are a disgrace to a Harvard attempting to give its best to the nation in war-time. It is not too late. They can recover from that unenviable position and they must.