SINKING OF THE MONITOR

Curiously, the idea of an honor system at examinations hasn't occurred in the crusading form for some time. The panegyric in an adjacent column may stir the hearts of Harvard men to take noble resolves to abide by the code, but some how it appears that the situation is reversed by the analysis therein set forth. The honor code as elaborated for the youth of the land looks more juvenile than any system of moderate supervision.

As for the practical move of abolishing monitors, that is unthinkable. One generation after another of Harvard men has shivered at an icy breath on the nape of the neck, and then turned to see only a kindly monitor whiling away part of the three hours by reading over his shoulder. One after another has listened to the padding of feet up and down the aisles, and started as a snort from the desk indicates that the fun of communal blue-book reading has begun, and shrunk when the cold glint in a proctor's eye shows he is wondering why you look at your watch so often. What is honor? A mere abstraction; but monitors are a perennial joy, and they must remain.