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SUNDAY MAGAZINE
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 1922
(By G. E. Sloan)
manufacturing concern doinp
ness of a million dollars a yea
idered a successful and hig
rtant cog in the world's b
. The University of Michigan,
ing its present building progr
an annual incoine and exper
of several times that. More t
tarter of a million dollars is
.ed every year for equipm
e, and the present annual p
is more than $2,700,000. It ta
e than three full pages of the
financial report to list the l
s of all real estate owned by
ersity. The University r
es, furnishes its own light
runs a large modern laun
atains several museums, an
atory, athletic grounds and g
ums, sewers, ware-houses,
rio railway, a complete po
smission system, a photogral
a complete tin-shop, iron s
enter shop, electrical shop,
nbing shop, even maintains a c
ated system of undergroundt
serving all buildings of the I
ity and big enough for a f
An man to walk through, were
isposed.
hat I huge task it must be to
iently and economically such
ness, which is for, but dist
a, the academic side of the Uni
an institution whose value
ey is more than eleven mill
ness of Running the University
of dollars, and whose prestige and versity and the Trustees of the Agri-' interests of the University but func-
g reputation are priceless, cultural College cannot be interfered tions distinct and separate from the
g How, then, is this huge eleven mil- with in the management of funds at academic side, and is responsible to
lion dollar "business" administrated? the disposal of the institution has the president and the Board of Re-
hly who runs it? How is it organized? been formally approved by the Su- gents. It is with this latter division
Usi- Who is the "business manager" of the preme Court in several cases, and may of the maintenance of the University
in-' University of Michigan, the man upon be regarded as settled. that I shall deal.
am, whose shoulders rest the responsibil- An outline of the organization of", The secretary of the University is
ity for the success or failure of the the University, then, would begin thf redponsible head of the whole com-
ndi- whole*administrative structure? with the people and from them would pl cated business organization of the
han In a strict sense it is not a "busi- extend the line of power to the Re- institution. In a sense his important
ex- ness," but it has difficulties and differ- gents. The Regents are a body of office is incorrectly termed. "Busi-
Lent ences peculiar to such, a tremendous eight men elected for a term of eight ness Manager of the University of
)y- and vital property owned by the years, two members of the board being Michigan" might be more correct.
kes people of the State of Michigan, car- elected every two years. In this way tfpon him falls the responsibility of
ried on under the watchful care and not more than two new members can keeping the huge system running
an- administration of eight public spirited ever come on the board at the same smoothly and functioning efficiently.
oca- men, serving without pay, and wield- time, except in case of death or resig- The treasurer has complete author-
the ing their great power under the con- nation, and a reasonable certain con- ity and responsibility for all monies
snts stitution of the state-the Regents. tinuity of policy is assured. There of the University, and must, of neces-
The honor of doing good things be- are two additional members of the sity, be a man of highest integrity and
and fore anyone else did them has been Board of Regents ex-officio: (1) The rigid honesty.
dry, accorded the University of Michigan president of the University, and (2) The purchasing agent, who is also
ob- many times, but in no other one thing the state superintendent of public in- assistant secretary, has numerous du-
yin- has this honor of priority been more struction. Neither ,the president nor ties, the most important of which is
effective for the good of the University the superintendent has a vote, although the buying for the University
an than in the foresight of those far-see- the president presides, at the meetings. The business of the general offices
wer ing founders of our, state educational From the president, as head of the is analagous to that of a head office
phic system who made the Board of Re- University, the line of authority di- with eighty or ninety sub-corporations,
hop, gents of the University of Michigan videg sharply into two general each doing a separate business, but
and a Constitutional corporation, not sub- branches: the academic, and the busi- for which the head office buys the
n ject to, but coordinate with, the Leg- ness or financial side of the University. goods they requisition and maintains
om- islature, each body having certain The former line branches out into the records enabling each corporation to
tun- specified duties. Under the constitu- various faculties with their deans, the know at any time how much balance
Uni- tion of the state of Michigan the man- library and librarian, the various mu- remains to its credit. The purchasing
ull- agement of the University is wholly seums and their curators, and the and accounting are in large measure
he in the hands of the Regents, while it whole side of University life ordinar- centralized in the secretary's office,
is the duty of the Legislature to main- ily seen by students and the public. although in such large sub-depart-
tain the University. In this way the The other line separates into the ments as the department of building
run University is administered by men di- various activities by which the acad- and grounds, the hospitals, and the
a rectly elected from, and by, the people emic side of the University is relieved library, a considerable amount of the
Jet of the state for the particular pur- of responsibilities and duties for accounting must be done where the
n pose of conducting this institution which it has neither the time nor the business is done. Probably the most
ver- which stands at the head of the school necessary specialized training. This important exception is that the pur-
in system of the state. In Michigan the work of business administration exists chasing of books for the library is
ions principle that the Regents of the Uni- solely for the benefit of the academic (Continued on Page 2)
Religion--Some Doubt and Some Don't
(By Agnes Holmquist)
Just for personal satisfaction as
well as for the enlightenment of
trusting but anxious parents, it would
be interesting to know exactly what
effect a thorough education, particu-
larly a scientific one, has on the re-
ligion of the student. In all prob-
ability the question can never be set-
tled satisfactorily. The atheist will
always be passed off with, "Oh, well,
he was always queer," or, as some
say, "He has a religion that he isn't
conscious of." As for the man who
finally adopts a religion after his
stormy doubting college days arenver,
it will always be a matter of conjec-
Lure how large a part fear of the un-
known played in his decision. But I
am concerned more with the true state
of religion among the students, than
with the existence of a Deity. Even
here we meet a handicap. The mi-
nority of non-conformists, through
policy, will seldom speak for publica-
tion,-and the majority were never
said to be the most intelligent.
Optimistically, Dr. T. I. Iden of
Lane hall, declared doubting and.
questioning natural to people of col- beliefs and we get nothing from it, the
lege age, and even more so on a uni- rest of the service has an aesthetic.
versity campus where everything is value for us that is closely related
questioned. Discussing the question, to religious value,.
he says: "If by religion you mean "Considering the situation here, it
prayers, singing hymns and going to seems only necessary that the minis-
church, the churches can give you ters make a closer connection be-
statistics. But true religion should tween what they teach and what is
function in every phase of life. We being taught on campuq, in order to
have made the mistake of separating attract the students."
religion from life too much. A combi- "Education cannot harm true relig-
nation of philosophy, sociology, and
economics may produce a man morally ion," declared the Rev. A. W. Stalker
good, but religion goes farther in giv- of the Methodist church. "As a proof
lug the man a constant consciousness of the act, we have several all 'A'
of a personal God. students enrolled in our membership.
But religion today must appeal to the
"Science and religion are not antag- intellect. We can't hold a 'religion
onistic. What we know of psychology until we first accept it with our mind.
so far, points to the fact that we can "It is true that religious doctrine
work out a scientific religion. In fact has little influence here, but the great
it has become necessary to make re- vital convictions of Christianity, of
ligion scientific as we study every- the nature of the duties of life are as
thing now from the scientific point of strong here as ever. The, challenge
view, and unless we do, religion must of the life here makes a more positive
be lost to the scientific mind." religious life in one who takes it
Mr. J. D. Finlayson of the psycho- seriously."
logy department, also refused to con- So much for the sunny side, except
sider the condition of disbelief on that one might add a denial of the
campus a serious one. opinion that religion can be worked
"A child's religion," he said, "is al- out scientifically. Father M. C. Burke
ways one of authority. Then our of the Catholic church said, "It is
studies cause us to question-and be- ridiculous to attempt to build up a
cause we cannot accept certain dog- religion on a scientific basis,-a basis
mas, we think we are irreligious.:But that is necessarily a constantly shift-
even if the sermon is contrary to our ing one."
To get a little closer to the campus
it is interesting to note ther opinion
of a graduate of the University who
is at present instructing in the science
department.
"Ignorant, illiterate people are al-
ways superstitious and consequently
religious. It would be a great deal
better if we got rid of all religions
and treated each other as the animals
that we are. Man is the only animaj
on earth that kills merely for the-joy
of killing,-and still he lays claim to
morals. What good have religions
done? The worst crimes and bloodi-
est wars in history have been com-
mitted in the name of religion.
"There is little hope of cmring
people of religion so long as the fear
of the unknown exists. Man is liter-
ally afraid to believe that there is not
a God. He has a sneaking suspicion
that there may be a hell-fire, and it is
best not to take the chance.
"As for the question whether certain
students continue to doubt after grad-
uation, it all depends on the individ-
ual. Some students who have athe-
istic tendencies now will give them up
because they are too weak to- keep
them. Some, the stronger ones, will
keep up their cynical, attitude, al-
though they may be merely agnostic.
While others will simply not bother
(Continued on Page 2)