Ourselves.

College activities slumped in a deplorable manner last year, the only cases in a dreary waste of disappointing failures being one of the best extravs of all time and one or two dances of note.

It is difficult to diagnose the causes of this social and intellectual debacle but in the final analysis it appear s that it may be laid principally at the door of a criminally apathetic indolence on the part of students generally, as a result of which the attainments of the College in this direction can only be described as contemptible.

Take the Capping Celebrations for example. Due largely to inexperience, which will not again, I hope, be a militating factor, few of us can escape responsibility for the fact that these were shockingly organized: but even so they must have been stillborn, owing to the shame ful lack of interest on the part of those from whom so little was asked and some measure of support might have been expected. For the same reasons most of the other social functions such as the once enjoyable bob-hops, sav suppers, and gods parties, either carried on at half throttle or went the way of all flesh.

Now, regarding the various intellectual clubs. How did they fare? Here again the same melancholy tale must be told. If there are intellectuals in the College (and by intellectuals I mean those people who should provide the under where on to strike the spark of genius that will ignite the multitude, the foundation whence the towers of learning may spring, the ashes. If you like, responsible for the birth of the phoenix of progressive thought in the College), they are either very few in number or else they still retire in modest shyness behind those portals whence they can regard in peaceful detachment the struggling world without. In either case they failed to make contact with their public, so that the best debating syllabus of the Society's history dragged out its inspired progress in silent and studied indifference, and Labour, Literary, and Discussions Clubs abandoned their activities for the year.

What of the whole state of the student body militant here at College The world can seldom have lived through such chaos. What did we do about it? Some few tried seriously to do something: a few emulated Nero and did not care a damn while the world tottered. For the rest we do not know—we never saw them, that great wing of the student body, some 300 or 400 strong, remained inarticulate dead Perhaps in a way they are not to blame. Facilities are not all they might be. It is probably too much to hope that inspiration will be born in a hovel such as our Gym, which is unfortunately the nerve-centre of student activity at V.U.C. to-day. What a glorious opportunity came our way in the visit of Robt. K. Burns, of America with his vivacious but thorough ideas for recovery and peace. We may not yet have lost the hope that was there, but if we have it is only because selfish indifference strangled it at birth.

Perhaps it is not yet too, late. Things are in such a mess, there is so much to do Surely a university should be the centre of activity, intellectual and social, that must lead to better days. Cannot we find inspiration.