Y. W. C. A.

The Y. W. C. A. is this year, as it has always been, one of the most influential organizations in the institution. With Miss E. Z. Rather as President and Mrs. Rice as Secretary and Treasurer the Y. W. C. A. has had a most successful year. The Bible class contains forty members, and is led by Miss Roberta Lavender, whose long and deep study on the subject and keen appreciation of Bible literature have made the course an intellectual treat and an inspiration to all who are fortunate enough to attend. The funds raised by the organization are spent for charity.

Sororities.

The two sororities, Pi Beta Phi and Kapppa Kappa Gamma, established here last year, have done their rushing this year under conditions unprecedented in the University of Texas. At the end of last session they made an agreement with each other not to rush, pledge or initiate first-year students before the middle of January. Thus they had opportunity for investigating class standing and a sufficiently long time to know all the girls well and to judge whether they were congenial and good sorority material or not.

The Girls' Gymnasium has only been a regular department in the University for the last four years. In spite of this, it is well stocked with all

The Girls' Gymnasium.

the necessary appliances. Gymnasium hours come in the afternoon after classes are over, a time that gives plenty of vigor for the study hours and yet ensures

a healthful sleep for the night.

Miss Norvell directs in all over a hundred and fifty girls. Of these only twenty are upper-classmen, the remainder being the Freshmen for whom the course is prescribed. Some of the Freshmen, however, are not enthusiastic workers and shirk whenever they can. About the middle of her second year the college girl sees the great benefit to be derived from gymnasium work, but at that time is so weighted down by her studies that she has no time to spare for it. Moreover, she would rather employ her time in taking something that counted toward her degree. If credit (be it ever so little) were given for the work, the enthusiasm would increase seventy-five per cent. There would be more vim in the work and the good derived would be proportionate.

Last Valentine's day the Gym girls entertained all the girl students and can boast of having brought more girls together on that occasion than have ever been gathered at any other time or place. The gymnasium was elaborately and appropriately decorated, delicious refreshments were served, and dancing and other amusements appropriate to the day were indulged in.

The classes this year have been very lucky in having among their numbers several excellent basket-ball players. Two teams, a Freshman and an upper

class team have met on the field, resulting in the victory of the Freshmen. From these two teams the first team has been formed. Miss Fannie Aden was chosen captain. The other members of the team are: Misses Bolton, Alma Proctor, Edith Claggett, Claudia Bralm, Lucy Johnson, May Hopkins, Winifred Kingsley, Midy Maverick and Minnie Cade.

G. R.

ATHLETICS.

In many respects the work in the gymnasium this year is in advance of that accomplished heretofore. In addition to the Freshman class the Junior Laws were also required to take the work. Gymnasium Notes. This materially increased the attendance and brought the benefits of the work home to practically all first-year men. A helpful feature was added by requiring all the students to wear the regulation costume consisting of an orange and white sleeveless jersey, black tights and trunks and tennis slippers. This made the class present a trim, neat appearance and enabled them to work to better advantage. The feature which proved to be of the greatest advantage, however, was requiring the Freshmen to take their class work at a particular hour instead of at any of the regular class periods. This hour was from 3 to 4 p. m. and each man was required to select two days per week as his regular days and report on those days. This made the 3 to 4 p. m. class consist entirely of Freshmen and the attendance showed a great improvement over last year. The upper-class-men came later in the afternoon and the Junior Laws from 11 to 12 a. m. The first half hour was spent in hygienic pulleyweight work or dumb-bell drill and then, as usual, the class was divided into squads of ten or twelve, each under a leader, for work on the apparatus. After the apparatus work came a run of half a mile and the lesson closed with a series of deep breathing exercises.

When a man was absent on his regular lesson day he was required to "make it up" by coming at some other period so that he did not lose any lessons nor get behind his squad in the apparatus work.

The apparatus work was carefully graded and the class was required to compete and pass on the lowest grade, consisting of five series of about eight exercises each, on the horizontal bar, parallel bars, vaulting bar, side horse, tumbling and wrestling. This varied and all-round training was designed to develop to a considerable degree the power of co-ordination and control and to give each man a knowledge of how to work in a gymnasium without a teacher.

The amount of work covered and the form in which it was executed showed a great advance over last year. More men did advance work and the work was of a higher grade than ever before. This was especially true in tumbling. The tumbling squad was invited to take part in a minstrel show given by the High School at the opera house and also at the high school when the entertainment was repeated later.

At the beginning of the year a new cement wall was placed in the handball court and as a result that game received far more attention than ever before. A tournament, in which twenty-four men took part, was organized to determine the Varsity championship and suitable medals were awarded to the winners in both the single and double games. The final game for the championship in the singles was very close and exciting. J. R. Beasley won from Ed. Crane by only two points, one in each game, the score being 21-20, 21-20. Burford and Lewis won the double championship from R. J. Beasley and Kirkpatrick by a score of 15-21, 21-13, 21-19. A tournament was also arranged between the Varsity champions and the Y. M. C. A. champions for the championship of the city. We had no trouble in winning both games, Beasley winning from Caswell 20-21, 21-18 and 21-16. Burford and Lewis defeated Caswell and Clarkson 21-11, 21-7.

Next year another wall will be put in at the other end of the handball court to provide two courts for this interesting game.

All the men have not yet had their second physical examination, but those who have, showed an improvement consistent with the more regular attendance and higher grade of work accomplished this year.

A new game called "Medicine Ball" was invented by the class of upperclassmen which met from 5 to 6 p. m. under Assistant Howser. The game is played with a “medicine ball" weighing twelve pounds. The ball is thrown or passed from one man to another of his own side until it finally touches the ground between the opponents' goal-posts. It is a strenous game and affords an opportunity for all-round development and will produce a good sweat quicker than almost any other exercise in the gymnasium. It also accommodates any number of players who may wish to join in the game.

No record of attendance was kept except for the Freshmen and Junior Law students but on the basis of the number of lockers in use and the size of the afternoon classes it is thought that more men used the gymnasium than last year. On the whole the season has been a most satisfactory F. H. C.

one.

THE LAW DEPARTMENT.

Since the last issue of THE RECORD no material changes have taken place in the department as regards this year's work. A few new students, including one member of the Legislature, have matriculated, bringing the number of Juniors up to 106, and the total in the Department to 175. The committee appointed to arrange the three years curriculum made its report to the Board of Regents some time ago, and it was approved by them. The classes are to be designated as Junior, Middle and Senior. The work of the Junior year will cover twelve hours of class work per week in law and three hours class work in an academic topic to be selected by the student with the approval of the deans of the two Departments. The work of the Middle

Year embraces the same number of hours in law and in academic studies, but the latter is to be given in the prescribed course in political economy. The work of the Senior Year will embrace 14 hours of class work per week in law topics and one hour in argumentation besides practice court work. The additional time for law work will be divided about equally between an extension of the topics heretofore embraced in the two years course and new topics. Among the latter are American Elementary Law, Damages, Bailments, includings Carriers, Wills and Administration and Municipal Corporations. The principal extensions of time were made in Equity, Constitutional Law, Evidence and Insurance, some slight addition being made in almost all of the old topics. The curriculum was decided upon after careful study of the catalogues of other institutions and consideration of our special needs and environment. We believe that it will afford to the young men of Texas desiring to follow law as a profession an opportunity for first-class preparation. The incorporation of the academic work in the course was thought necessary because of the very limited training of a number of the students upon entering the Department. In such cases the academic topic for the first year will be selected by the student under the advice of the two deans, and he will thus be enabled to remove his most hurtful deficiency. Students whose academic training is entirely satisfactory will be permitted to attempt the three years course in two years. Students applying for advanced standing in the Department who have not attended some other approved law school will not be credited upon examination with more than one year's work, and will be required to spend two years in the Department as condition precedent to obtaining a diploma. Students who have attended as much as one year in some approved law school will, if they have sufficient credit or will supplement the credits they do have by a satisfactory examination covering the Junior and Middle Years' work, be permitted to matriculate as Seniors. These regulations will make it impossible for one to obtain his degree of LL. B. until he shall have had at least two years training in a law school. Students not candidates for degrees will be allowed reasonable latitude in the selection of their

course.

The readjustment of the curriculum made necessary by the extension of the course furnished opportunity for considering the interchange of topics between the Academic and Law Departments. A committee appointed for this purpose reported to the two faculties, and it was determined that candidates for academic degrees could be credited with as many as four courses for work done in the Law Department, reasonable restrictions being placed upon the selection of the courses and the time in the academic work in which they may be taken. The attitude of the academic faculty on this matter is appreciated by the Law Department, and we desire to express our thanks for the good will and courtesy shown. It seems now that the extension of the course will necessitate the employment of another full professor in law. If this is done, and time can be found, it is probable that a course in Elementary Law, specially arranged as a general culture course, will be offered in the Academic Department, open to Junior and

Senior students. This will, of course, depend upon the time at the disposal of the law faculty. We hope very much that this may be found practicable, as we feel sure that the course would be valuable in itself, and also that the fact of the interchange of work between the two Departments would be to draw them more closely together and to unify university spirit.

Much interest has been taken in the Department in the bill pending before the Legislature regulating the granting of license to attorneys-atlaw. We are very much gratified at the advance that will be made in the passage of this blil, and believe that it will be a very great benefit to the State and indirectly to the Department. It will be in the power of a few responsible men, selected on account of fitness, to make examinations for entrance to the bar thorough and uniform throughout the State. With increased difficulty in obtaining license law students will naturally turn to the University as a means of acquiring the necessary information. Under the existing law graduates from the Department have been granted license without further examination. The new law changes this, and after this year our graduates will be required to be examined just as other applicants. This will work some hardship on the students, in additional expense and consumption of time, but we hope may result in raising the grade of examination papers necessary to pass, and we feel confident that our students can make really good grades on any reasonable examination that may be submitted, and will thus set standards by which to judge of the efforts of other applicants. As the bill has no emergency clause, the present Senior class will not be affected by it, and our Juniors will have a year within which to become used to the situation.

J. C. T.

THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.

There has been a very gratifying increase in the Engineering Department this session, the enrollment in the Freshman class being 61 against an enrollment of 47 for the previous session. This is an increase of 23 per cent and is a most favorable showing for the Department, when it is remembered that there is a falling off in the number of first-year students in the Academic Department.

The total number of students in the Department taking Engineering courses is 103, and in addition to these there are 20 special students taking partial courses, making a total of 123. Almost all of these are taking drawing, both drawing-rooms being over-crowded in consequence, and Mr. Endress, the newly appointed instructor in drawing, has all that he can manage. If the class which will enter next session is as large as is anticipated, it will probably be necessary to appoint two student assistants in drawing in order that the work may be kept up to the present standard, and additional drawing space will be needed. The effect of the presence of an instructor who gives his entire time and attention to drawing is