THE DARTMOUTH ANALYZES COLLEGE'S USE OF TIME

An interesting analysis of college life is provided by the recently published statistics gathered by The Dartmouth, which with the assistance of the class in statistics gathered from two hundred students minutely detailed and scrupulously accurate reports of their daily lives over a two .week period.

According to these figures the Dartmouth undergraduate averages nine hours of work throughout five days of the week, easing up to five hours and nine minutes on Saturdays and four hours and fifty-four minutes on Sundays. In explanation of these figures, which, it fears, at first glance may startle those familiar with college life, The Dartmouth points out that in the term "work" are included not only hours of study and of recitations, but time spent in varsity athletics, in compulsory recreational athletics (for freshmen and sophomores) in work for the various non-athletic organizations, for fraternities, and for self support,—in short for each portion of the day in which the student's time is not his own.

Four hours a day, except on Saturday and Sunday, is the average of time spent in studying according to The Dartmouth's analysis, the freshmen being the most conscientious student and averaging four hours and forty minutes daily at his books, while the senior, perhaps because of better methods of study reduces this time to three hours and twenty-two minutes. The sophomores show an average study period of three hours and fifty-eight minutes, and the juniors of exactly four hours.

At Saturday noon Dartmouth's scholastic week ends and the period of varsity athletic contests, recreation, card playing and kindred pursuits begins. The average of study for the undergraduate body on Saturday is just one hour and twenty-four minutes. Here again, however, the conscientious freshman gives evidence of his diligence, showing an average of two hours and about three minutes spent at study, whereas the senior's average is but fifty-four minutes, the junior's an hour and twelve minutes, and the sophomore's an hour and twenty-two minutes.

On Sunday the length of study periods begin to approach normal again. Monday's classes necessitate preparation, and the freshman is hard at work. Sunday's average study period lasts three hours and forty-five minutes according to the records. The freshman studies four hours and twenty-four minutes, and again heads the list, the senior who on other days studies least of undergraduates, follows with three hours and fifty-one minutes of concentration, the junior with three hours and thirty-nine minutes, and the sophomore with three hours and seven minutes. And the sum of it all comes to twenty-five hours and twelve minutes of study each week as the average of the undergraduates.

It is interesting to be able to know at what times during the day the college boys are to be found studying. At Dartmouth most of the studying is done, on week days between half past six and half past eleven in the morning, and betwen half past seven and half past nine at night. There is little midnight oil burned for curriculum education. The high points of the day's studying are three, first at half past eight in the morning when eleven and three quarters per cent of the daily grind is under way, then at half past nine when eleven and a half per cent of studying is being accomplished, and again at half past eight in the evening when the portion of the day's search for knowledge touches nine per cent. Throughout the afternoon the plotted curve showing the percentage of study by hours keeps approximately at the level of five per cent.

Saturday's studying is more concentrated, though here again the morning hours constitute the favorite study period, twenty-two per cent of the day's total studying is being indulged in at half past nine. The evening hours again constitute a secondary study period, but the peak of this, which is reached at eight thirty by the clock, registers only eight per cent of the total output. Little studying is done Saturday afternoons, and, as a matter of fact, betwen half past three and half past four the study line drops completely off the graph paper.

It is on Sunday that the otherwise unpopular afternoon period is favored as a time for application to lessons. At half past three twelve and a half per cent of the day's studying is registered. The second peak for Sunday occurs during the evening period which lasts from half past six to midnight and where, at .half past seven an average percentage of ten and a half is recorded.

Attendance at classes occupies daily except Saturday an average of three hours and seven minutes, or thereabouts, of the Dartmouth undergraduate's time, with the seniors accounting for more time in the classroom than men of other classes. The Saturday average drops to two hours and approximately nine minutes and here again the seniors show a higher average of time spent within the recitation halls, the freshmen, curiously enough showing the lowest average, one hour and fifty-three odd minutes.

The remainder of the Dartmouth student's so-called "working day" is variously registered. Freshmen and sophomores, for instance spend three hours each week for compulsory recreational athletics under the supervision of the Department of Physical education; the time spent on varsity athletics, if distributed throughout the college would amount to an average of nearly seventeen minutes for each undergraduate, that needed for the non-athletic activities such as the various college publications, dramatics, and the debating team would come to an average of twenty-five minutes, for fraternity duties ten minutes, and for self support forty-five minutes. There is little in these figures, however, which is of significance unless it be the disclosures that it is the men of the senior class who give most time to varsity athletics, to fraternity work, and to self support, and least time to non-athletic activities. The item of time needed for self support averages slightly over an hour on weekdays and Saturdays for the men of the senior class, the same item for freshmen totalling only twenty-five minutes on week days and thirty-three minutes Saturdays while it comes to about fifty-four minutes for the sophomores and forty minutes for the juniors.

An average of four hours and ten minutes each week day is listed under the general head of Recreation. This figure climbs to eight hours and ten or eleven minutes on Saturdays and sags back to five hours and ten minutes on Sundays. Classified as "recreations" are physical recreation, conversation and discussion, time spent for movies, college events, reading, music, girls, cards, and correspondence, and in the tabulations under these heads are a few high lights.

The Dartmouth undergraduate's chief amusement is conversation and discussion. In this indoor sport he indulges himself to the extent of an hour and twenty-four minutes on week days, an hour and thirty-six minutes on Saturdays and an hour and forty-eight minutes on Sundays, according to the statistics.

It is the sophomores who lead in discussion during the week days, their average mounting to an hour and a half while the seniors follow with an hour and twenty-six minutes and the juniors and freshmen with an hour and nineteen minutes each. Saturday finds the senior ahead, "chewing the rag" for an average of approximately two hours, while the juniors fall fifteen minutes short of this period, the sophomores talk for an hour and thirty-six minutes and the freshmen have subsided to an hour and five minutes. Sunday witnesses a great upheaval. With the principal duties of the week attended to the freshman indulges in a conversation and discussion spree of two hours and nine minutes. Following the neophyte the other classes come in order, the sophomores averaging an hour and fifty-five minutes, the juniors an hour and thirty-eight minutes, and the seniors an hour and thirty-two minutes, The affairs of the world take, apparently, a lot of conversational punishment over the week end.

Little reference is necessary to the time consumed in attendance at college events. These are overwhelmingly concentrated on Saturday when the average undergraduate time allotment for them is three and a quarter hours, as against a week day average of only fifteen minutes. As might be expected it is the freshmen who are most conscientious in this respect.

More interesting is the information offered as to the amount of time spent in card playing, reading, and attending the movies, and of these three activities reading holds the most prominent place. The Dartmouth undergraduate averages forty-two minutes of reading on each week day, while devoting but eighteen minutes to card playing and twenty-five minutes to moving pictures. On Saturdays the moving picture time rises to an hour and six minutes and card playing time to thirty-nine minutes. Even with these increases the average reading time is diminished only five minutes, and on Sundays it rises magnificently to an average of an hour and twelve minutes. Sunday card playing receded from Saturday's level to an average of twenty minutes, two minutes more than the week day average.

Girls take up little time at Dartmouth except byway of correspondence, the average of time given directly to them on week days amounting to just three minutes and thirty-six seconds. This rises to nine minutes on Saturdays and descends to three minutes on Sundays. The greatest desire for feminine companionship is registered by the seniors who on Sundays reach an average per man per girl of fourteen minutes by dint of importing guests for the week end. The least response is charged to the juniors, who on week days reach an average of only thirty-six seconds.

But if the girls do not take up the time of Dartmouth undergraduates in a strictly social sense they account, probably for their full share of it in thought, according to the averages for time spent in correspondence. This amounts to half an hour on week days, just a trifle less than that on Saturdays, and to thirty-nine minutes on Sundays, with the seniors chivalrically in the lead.

There are such items as dressing, eating, religion, and music included in The Dartmouth's analysis of undergraduate time spending. These are interesting, perhaps but not greatly informative save that they prove that undergraduates sleep late on Sundays and exercise on that day more care and time in acquiring sartorial polish. But if the average student sleeps later on Sundays than on other days few will dispute his right to do so. He -has put in according to all reports a sane and fairly diligent week. As to his greater care in dressing, it need only be remembered that Sunday may mean a few calls for tea at faculty homes and does mean an average of fifty-five minutes for religion which on week days amounts to but twelve minutes.