"PLOTTING COURSES"

The problem of satisfying those two shadowy, gloom-shrouded figures, Concentration and Distribution, which annually looms up before the Freshman at this time of year, will be made as clear as possible by President Lowell this morning. But the problem keeps cropping up.

It is possible for a man to change his concentration every year and still graduate. It is possible to begin Freshman year concentrating in Economics and end Senior year in Paleontology. The study card handed in by Freshmen on the first of May is not final in committing a man to one plan of work for the next three years. But the best time to map out a college course is in the spring of Freshman year. The idea of "swapping horses in the middle of a stream" is possible, but it is likely to cause considerable loss of time and effort if put into effect. Any man who has been a year in the University must have definite ideas as to what he can or wants to do in his work. His faculty and student advisors can help him put these ideas in shape, but the final decision must come from the man himself.

There are two ways of sailing a boat across the wind. One is to fix a course at the start and keep on it as clearly as possible all the way. The other is to "play the wind," edge up into it and try to gain as much as possible with every little change in its direction. The latter way may be more interesting and get more out of individual puffs, but the former is "plain sailing"; steady, sure, and the far more efficient of the two.