Fancy Free

A young man's fancy may have its way in Spring, but in February it has a bad time--if the young man is a Freshman and he's taking English A. Although he is allowed to select a new section man for English Ab, he has no way of choosing the material to be covered. Each section concentrates on a specific phase of literature, but the range is extreme and the sections many; and the student has no way of knowing in advance whether his fate in Shakespeare or Euripides. Whatever his fancy may be, he must take what he gets.

With a thousand-odd Freshmen to juggle into sections, the English Department cannot cater to every man's pet whim. Prior preparation of the Veteran's Book list further limits the possible materials and the section man, having already planned his course, cannot effectively arbitrate at the last minute. But neither can a student effectively work in a field foreign to his bent, to which he is arbitrarily assigned. His literary acquaintance may be broadened but not his interests; and with no participation in the selection, his education suffers.

Considering the wealth of possible reading, it would be unfair to an instructor's particular inclinations to make all sections identical, equally comprehensive in scope. Although this might placate the sufferings of a misplaced student, it would be only a pony duplication of English 1. Much more feasibly, the English Department should announce each section's Spring reading a few days before Ab registration. The student would be assured of a more valuable course, the instructor a more receptive class. If overloadings resulted, second or third choices could be satisfied. Three hundred men changed their sections last term and the new plan would hardly boost this turnover. And the student would know where he's going.