Business men are notorious for their lack of taste. At least that is the generalization so popular among those who know little of the matters of pounds, shillings and pence.
And, indeed, to the petty Rotarians and the members of small-town Chambers of Commerce it may safely be said to apply.
But those who have watched the growth of the Harvard School of Business Administration had hoped that here at last was an institution which would teach not only the rudiments of good business, but a few of the elements of good taste as well.
To these trusting souls, a stroll through some of the corridors on the top floor of Widener Library would come as a disturbing revelation.
Here, in a building which is dedicated, if anything is, to the humanities, hustling young instructors of business administration have rigged up great bulletin boards, on which are posted at regular intervals, commendable--we suppose--samples of advertising matter. Here are flaunted before the eyes of all passers-by, whether they would see them or no, placards for this brand of shoe polish or that type of manure spreader. Glaring in huge type, on highly-colored cardboard, these display cards are an eyesore and an insult to the majority of the students who use the library. However "commendable" they may be on the signboard, in the street car, or on the pages of the Saturday Evening Post, they are a shrieking anachronism in a college library.
This may all be good business. It undoubtedly is. But it most certainly is bad taste. As long as it is the lot of the business school to share the quarters of other departments of the University, it is its duty, in all graciousness, to show a certain consideration to those departments.
When the Business School moves into its new quarters across the Charles, all unpleasant obligations will be entirely removed. Then it will be the privilege of the business attendants, if they choose, to placard their buildings with purple exhortations to "Boost the Business School!", or to unfurl the banner of the Rotary Club from their flagstaff regularly each Wednesday afternoon.
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Advocate Summons Ad-Chasers