"In the United States very few men leave home for prop school as early as the English do. Most of our men need some kind of orientation to a life away from home. Yale has a wonderful thing in the Freshman year. It has been much more successful than the report seems to indicate. Freshmen need orientation in the habits of living, the values of the institution, the nature of knowledge and the importance of study. It has been doing exceptionally well, and while it can be improved, it should not be abolished as the committee suggests. This one excellent thing that we have in the United States they want to abolish.

Make Yale Richer

"The committee would lop off a student's time, particularly if he be well-prepared before he came. His school-college life it would make only seven hours long. Why not instead make Yale a place where there is rich enough offering for everyone, making it worth-while to spend four years here no matter how bright or well-prepared the student be? Education is more than a matter of course. It is also a matter of time."

"But," adds Weiss, "there's no hiding the fact that we need to improve things. In the 20 years that I have been teaching at Harvard, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, and Yale, I have noticed a decay in spelling, grammar and ability to study. Some thing must be done. But no matter what system you have you will find the same problems; that of getting better men to teach. The best way to solve the problem is to make learning exciting. If you want excellent teachers you must give freedom to the teachers.

Yale's Good Sense

"I recognize the committee's good intentions, but I am sorry to say that I find little good in most of its diagnoses, in many of its analyses, and almost all of its remedies. I have heard that most of the faculty and alumni are right now opposed to the proposals, which shows the eminent good sense of Yale. But to stop something like this entirely, what with the president and a hand-picked committee behind it, would require a concerted opposition uncommon in academic circles. Eventually some form of it will probably go through. Fortunately, however, no gadget can stand in the way of a man determined to teach."

But, Weiss, as he himself realizes, is only one professor; the fact that Yale does need intellectual stimulation and a new curriculum, coupled with the very power of the president's committee and the value of the report, should bring major changes, as outlined in the report--within the next two years