TUTORIAL SYSTEM IS MERELY FIFTH WHEEL

"The tutorial system in Harvard College is curiously unsystematized," was the charge made by Conrad Aiken '11, poet and novelist. Mr. Aiken, whose latest novel, "Blue Voyage", has just been published, is acting as a tutor-in the English department this year.

"Thus far," he continued, "I find that the tutorial system does not relate closely to the rest of the curriculum. It is rather a fifth wheel. The chief disadvantage is that it lacks checking up. I feel, however, that my short experience as tutor does not wholly entitle me to such a dogmatic opinion. The ideal system would be to leave all responsibility to the tutor. There would be no examinations, and lectures would be optional. The tutor would have the final decision as to whether the student has passed."

Mr. Aiken also expressed his approval of the reading periods which will go into effect this year. He characterized them as a "very sensible thing." "Anything," he said, "tending toward greater flexibility is advantageous, and should work extremely well."

When asked why so many American authors were emigrating to England to live, Mr. Aiken replied that the reason lay in the fact that England is a more intensely civilized country than the United States. "The background of England is infinitely richer," Mr. Aiken went on; "English society is cultured from top to bottom. There is more opportunity for the novelist to draw on human consciousness. The English country-side particularly appeals to the author. In America everything is rough, ready, uncouth, forlorn, and dilapidated. There is a feeling that American civilization is only temporary, to which England's age and historic and literary tradition offer a striking contrast. That is why literary figures such as J. G. Fletcher, T. S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound have taken up their residence in England."