Last Fall in his Tercentenary address, President Conant in speaking of the "four main streams" that have watered the soil of University education, said that "the cultivation of learning alone; produces not a University, but a research institute." He then went on to describe what happens when any one of these main streams becomes overemphasized, and concluded that a proper balance must be maintained between all four.

This is exactly the problem as the "Crimson" sees it. A University teacher who ceases to add to his store of knowledge becomes stagnant and loses much of his value as an educator. On the other hand a man who is so preoccupied with his own self-instruction that he neglects his teaching responsibilities both in the class room and in tutorial conferences, is of no value to the undergraduate whatsoever. He serves only to emblazon the name of the University in scholarly publications, and to swell the volume of library books bearing the insignia of the University Press.

Both Aristotle and Confucius taught the doctrine of the "Golden Mean", and this age-old truth may very well be applied to the problem of teaching and research. These two functions must be blended into a harmonious whole, if undergraduate instruction and the pursuit of knowledge are to benefit equally. At Harvard the balance is all askew; the pressure on young men to publish, or "perish", is so great that their teaching and tutorial sessions suffer. A man may be taught to lecture in a comparatively short time, but the gift of inspiration and ability to stimulate youth, is one that demands much work and practice to at-ain. Since it is the young men who bear the greatest teaching burden, particularly in the sections of the large courses, it becomes doubly important that they master the art of teaching as soon as possible.

Harvard's undergraduates have been promised this balance, and they feel that the promised land is not yet in sight. How long it will be before the college's teaching prowesses are up to its researching abilities is a question that can only be answered by Harvard's department heads and those who mould the policy of the University.