PUBLISHED PRECISES

At present there is no way that undergraduates can find out just what subjects will be dealt with in the various courses offered by the University. Aside from the fact that a man may know that he is scheduled to take Biology D or Government 5, whatever it may be, he is unable to discover exactly what topics are covered in the course or where the emphasis is going to be placed.

Freshmen, in particular, need to know what any proposed course holds in store for them, since they have only their tutor's suggestions to go on. Many men have been roped in for a course that was too hard for them, merely on the basis of fly-by-night recommendation or well-meaning suggestions which unfortunately were more harmful than helpful to them.

If the University were to include a one hundred word precis with each course that allows Freshmen to enroll in it, and publish this precis under the course title in the catalogue, it would render a very valuable service to those who were not sure of their own qualifications or of what would be demanded of them. Lack of adequate official information about the more elementary courses offered by the college is inexcusable, since the only way to get this necessary information at the present time is to go and see the instructor himself; a laborious process that obviously can not be indulged in by all.

The majority of courses offered by the University undergoes certain changes every year, and for this reason it is doubly important that reliable information about them be published annually by the professors in charge. This procedure would put an effective stop to preconceived notions and half-truths that are handed by word of mouth from one class to another. The Freshmen especially are entitled to exact information about the courses that they propose to take, and there is no excuse for not publishing it.