Far Off Hills Are Green

Life in the eastern colleges is one long puzzle to students in the western part of these United States. Supposedly the acme of collegiate sedateness, formality, and decorum, the inmates of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and the others break out every so often in a burst of wildness that makes the diversions of the "rougher" Pacific Coast universities appear pale by comparison.

Students at Harvard, stronghold of eastern conservatism, staged a riot last week which developed into a pitched battle with police, tear bombs being necessary to quell the blue-blooded New Englanders. A stolen bell clapper was the only apparent cause for the excitement, yet Harvard put on a fight that surpassed Stanford-California Axe and bonfire raids. Nor is this an isolated incident; similar clashes with police are common occurrences both at Cambridge and New Haven, and no one appears to consider them anything unusual.

How can this sort of unmannerly exuberance be reconciled with the fact that suits are de rigeur in eastern classrooms, that formal dress means white tie and tail coat on most eastern campi, that exclusive prep schools furnish a majority of the entering undergraduates?

It is a curious situation, one not easy to comprehend at this distance. However, a moral can perhaps be drawn from it. Local residents, theatre proprietors, and administration officials might give heed to the ways of other colleges and be thankful that the sons of the Cardinal are relatively restrained in their search for excitement. The annual fresh pajamarino with its inevitable wind-up at the Play show houses appears rather innocuous beside the recurring affrays at Harvard. Stanford Daily.