That the School of Engineering is heading rapidly toward graduate status is given official recognition in President Lowell's annual report to the Board of Overseers. "Graduate students in the School have been increasing more rapidly than the undergraduates,"' the President states, "and considering the large number of schools for the latter in this country it would seem that giving a higher and more rapid teaching to graduates will be our line of greatest usefulness."

Considering the health of the student body, the President concludes that "careful medical service is given to all." Viewing with satisfaction the decline of "eating around" by undergraduates, he again suggests Memorial Hall as a dining hall for graduate and law students.

Praising the work of the Dental School, the President appeals for a five million dollar endowment. The Medical School he sees as another example of "the change that has taken place in many parts of the University from a local to a national appeal."

Of the Engineering School the president reports:

Engineering School

"In the School of Engineering the graduate students have been increasing more rapidly than the undergraduates, and considering the large number of schools for the latter in this country it would seem that giving a higher and more rapid teaching to graduates will be our line of greatest usefulness. More than twenty years ago, when the bequest of Gordon McKay was received, the Governing Boards voted to turn the Lawrence Scientific School into a graduate School no one at the time, apparently, observing that this might be inconsistent with a provision in the will that instruction under the fund must be "kept accessible to pupils who have had no other opportunities of previous education than those which the free public schools afford." Later this point was raised, and as the will states that all grades of applied science from the lowest to the highest may be taught, courses were offered for both gradu- ates and undergraduates. In practice this has not worked well; and by a plan just approved by your Board it will be possible to offer courses better suited to graduate students while complying fairly with the provisions of the will.

Eating in Memorial Hall

"Dr. Worcester speaks of the improvement brought by the new dining halls in the Houses and elsewhere over the previous practice of undergraduates in getting their meals. This matter has had a long history. Forty years ago Memorial Hall was very popular. More men were assigned to tables than could sit at them at one time; there was a waiting list, and Randall Hall was built for men who wanted less expensive board. But gradually these halls became less frequented, until it was impossible, to maintain them without a loss. The final blow was given by the war, which brought in the habit of eating at cafeterias--not a desirable one, for the object of students' meals is not only nutrition, poorly supplied by the cafeteria system, but also companionship, which it does not supply at all.

"Moreover, the undergraduate thought Memorial Hall remote, and at last it had to be abandoned. After a time the students showed signs of becoming tired of what they called "eating around", and the University offered to build a dining hall on Mt. Auburn Street if enough of them would agree to take their meals there to insure its success; but the signatures needed could not be obtained. Meanwhile some of the undergraduates formed eating clubs, and meals were more generally served in the existing social clubs, while other men were supplied by increasing the service at the Harvard Union.

For undergraduates the question of good and regular food has been set at rest by the Houses, and for the Business School by the dining rooms in its dormitories; but there are one thousand graduate and fifteen hundred law students, beside others, mostly without provision. In their case Memorial Hall is by no means remote, and it has been proposed to fit it up for them, so far unfortunately without response on their part.

Five Million Dollars

"Mention has already been made of the service rendered by the Dental School to the student body, especially the freshmen--thirty-eight hundred and two cavities were discovered, showing a condition needing serious attention--and beside those referred to their own practitioners six hundred and twenty-two men were treated at the Stillman Infirmary. This is only one of the ways in which the School is seeking to extend its usefulness. Inside its walls its teaching and research have followed, and in a large degree led, the change of the last quarter of a century from a purely mechanical to a biological point of view; but its plant and resources are too limited for the purpose. One must not forget that the money for the present building was raised by the instructing staff, who long went without salaries to improve the School. Until the last few years it had no endowment whatever, and what it now has is far too small for the work it is doing and can do. As soon as conditions are more propitious an attempt will be made to raise five millions of dollars, partly to enlarge the plant, but mainly for endowment; and this has become one of the major needs of the University.

"National Appeal"

"In the Medical School, where the numbers are also limited--too much, I believe, for the size of the plant, but the Faculty does not think so--the change in composition has been marked. Dean Edsall points out that in 1910 between sixty-five and seventy per cent of the students came from New England, while in 1930 the figures were reversed. This is the change that has taken place in many parts of the University from a local to a national appeal. He attributes the result in the Medical School to the presence of an increasing number of men in the Faculty of marked distinction as teachers and as investigators. During the past year, he adds, there were in the School one hundred and seventy nine persons engaged in research for a large part of their time, more than double the number so engaged a decade before.

Principles Before Practice