JOHN FINLEY OPPOSES TRAINING FOR CAREER

Arguing that liberal education is necessary for effective continuation of society, John H. Finley, Jr. '25, associate professor of Greek and Latin, opposed vocational guidance and training as part of the college curriculum.

Combating the views presented by John M. Brewer, associate professor of Education, and Arlie V. Bock, Henry K. Oliver Professor of Hygiene, Finley stated that under vocational training a student becomes a job-holder first and a human being second.

Caused by Depression

According to Finley, the present demand for vocational training has come from parents made security-mad by the depression, hoping that training received in college will assure their children of a position on graduation.

"Liberal education," asserted Finley, "rests on the assumption that success in life must depend on as full an awareness as possible of a person's environment and tradition. This awareness should enable the liberally educated man to solve his own problems as well as any others he is called on to settle."

As an undergraduate, in Finley's opinion, a student should come face to face with some portion of the great field of experience, not in a vocational spirit, but in the spirit of inquiry and understanding. This spirit should take him out of himself and suggest something of the meaning of the society of which he is a part