Text Books Scarce
Athletic sports are to my mind an important, in fact a very important part of education. The C. I. E. rendered great service to the European students in popularizing the idea of University athletics, which in many countries were previously looked upon as unimportant. Through the work of the athletic commission University sports are rapidly being developed throughout the continent. During the past two years there were already international competitions in football, swimming, rowing and fencing between two or more national student sport associations, and the commission in Paris is now working on the organization of an Olympiad of Arts, Sciences and Sports to be held at Rome in August 1927 and to which the student representatives of the whole world will be welcomed.
As to the material side of life, there were a few but successful attempts which I should like to mention. Perhaps the greatest was the creation of the University Sanatorium in Leysen, Switzerland by the Swiss students. During the last year the French students raised the necessary funds to establish a similar sanatorium in the French Alps near Grenoble.
The problem of text books is a very difficult one especially for students in Central and Eastern European countries with their low rates of exchange. An added complication is that we do not have the excellent library system in existence in the United States. Our Warsaw bureau has done a fine piece of work in providing a great number of students in these countries with the chief English, French, and German text books.
The successful actions taken by the National Unions and by the C. I. E. in order to obtain reduced rail-road fares and visa fees were, though indirect, nevertheless essential helps to our students.
The largest and best developed Committee has charge of travel in the various countries. As the facilitation of travel is the practical work done by which we hope to achieve our chief end, namely the creation of a universal feeling of good-will and understanding. I shall treat this part of the C. I. E. activities in a separate article.