Preliminary Bout

If more than one hundred students were to sign up for. Outlandish 12 on their preliminary Study Cards, it would not be surprising. As usual, they would be using their imaginations about what courses are to be taught next Fall; there would be a little ink and some shoe leather wasted, and those who saw no sense in the whole idea would be fined.

Because there is no official pronouncement of changes in next term's list of courses before preliminary Study Cards are due, students have no incentive to be especially discerning in their choices. Even if the Cards do give a slight indication of the enrollment size in old courses that will be given, they are worthless for the new courses. But the preliminary cards are most needed for new courses; past experience is a reliable index of the size of old ones.

A preliminary course catalogue, published in the spring, has been found in past years to be more expensive than its value warranted. But many students would like to consider their next year's program during the summer. With many new courses unlisted, and many old ones discontinued, this is sometimes impossible.

At this stage of the year, all but the emergency changes in next year's curriculum are known. A list of the proposed changes could easily be mimeographed, and distributed to the House offices. By eliminating the present hit-or-miss technique of the preliminary Study Card, both the student and the Committee on the Choice of Electives could use them to far greater advantage.