FLAMING YOUTH

A class rush beyond the imaginative powers of the most collegiate minded of motion picture producers has recently provided a few hours of tense excitement at Amherst College. There have been class rushes of almost every conceivable description, but setting the greater part of an oil-soaked Freshman class on fire is certainly, an innovation of distinct originality. Unfortunately, the peculiar nature of the incendiaries indulged in by the Amherst sophomores did not alleviate its evils with the result that a number of Amherst's erstwhile flaming youths are now cooling off in the college infirmary, some of them seriously burned. Moreover, the affair was only prevented from becoming one of the most spectacular slaughters in history by the presence of several inches of snow, and since the rush committee, despite their ingenuity, could not have arranged that convenience, the proceedings were at best unconventional and inexplicable, particularly in a college devoted to the higher arts.

The practice of holding a class rush which persists as a hallowed tradition in many otherwise sanely conducted colleges, originally conceived with the aim of promoting class spirit, has achieved in practice more distinctive 'success' as a method for annually mangling a few unfortunate participants. Class unity can be achieved through less drastic measures, and although Amherst's recent contribution was the first time a class rush has developed into a conscientious attempt at whole-sale murder, class rushes even when conducted in a temperate frame of mind are inevitably accompanied by casualties due to the indiscriminate milling of a large mob. The Amherst incident, unfortunate at it was should serve a purpose in emphasizing to students throughout the country the futility of extravagant "collegiate" customs, of which the class rush is but one of a large category.