University of Oregon, Eugene Sterling Green, Editor Grant Thuemmel, Manager Joseph Saslavsky, Managing Editor EDITORIAL BOARD Doug Polivka and Don Caswell, Associate Editors; Merlin Blais, Guy Shadduck, Parks Hitchcock, Stanley Robe UPPER NEWS STAFF Malcolm Bauer. News Ed. Estill Phipps, Sports Ed. At Newton, Dramatics Ed. Abe Merritt, Chief Night Ed. Peggy Chessman, Literary Ed. Barney Clark, Humor Ed. Cynthia Liljeqvist, Women’s Ed. Mary Louiee Edinger, Society Ed. George Callas, Radio Ed. DAY EDITORS: A1 Newton, Mary jane Jenkins, Ralph Mason, John Patric. EXECUTIVE REPORTERS: Ann-Reed Iiurns, Roberta Moody, Newton Stearns, Howard Kessler. FEATURE WRITERS: Ruth McClain, Ilenriette llorak. REPORTERS: Clifford Thomas, Helen Dodds, Hilda Gillam, Miriam Eichner, Virginia Scoville, Marian Johnson. Rein* hart Knudsen. Velma McIntyre, Pat Gallagher. Frances Hardy. Ruth Weber. Rose Himelstein, Margaret Brown. SPORTS STAFF: Rill Eberhart, Clair Johnson, George Jones, Dan Clark. Ted RIank, Don Olds. Betty Shoemaker, Rill Aetzel, Ned Simpson. Chat’es Paddock, Rob Becker. COPYREADERS: Elaine Cornish. Dorothy Dill, Marie Pell, Phyllis Adams, Margery Kissling, Maluta Read. George Ilikman, Virginia Endicott, Corinne Da Rarre, Charles Pad WOMEN’S PAGE ASSISTANTS: Hetty Labbe, Mary Gra ham, Bette Church, Marge Leonard, Donna Theda, Ruth Heiberg. NIGHT EDITORS: Bob Parker, George Biknran, Tom Bin ford, Ralph Mason. ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Henryetta Mummey, Vir ginia Catherwood, Margilec Morse, Jane Bishop, Doris Bailey, Alice Tillman, Eleanor Aldrich, Margaret Rollins, Marvel Read, Edith Clark. RADIO STAFF: Barney Clark, Howard Kessler, Carroll Wells, Elwin Ireland, Eleanor Aldrich, Rose Himelstein. SECRETARY: Mary Graham. ADVERTISING SALESMEN: Bob Helliwell, Jack Lew, Margaret Chase, Bob Cresswell, Hague Callister, Jerry Thomas, Vernon liuegler. BUSINESS OFFICE, McArthur Court. Phone 3300 Local 214. EDITORIAL OFFICES, Journalism Bldg. Phone 3300 News Room, Local 355 ; Editor and Managing Editor, Local 354. A member of the Major College Publications, represented by A. J. Norris Hill Co., 155 E. 42ml St., New York City; 123 W. Madison St., Chicago; 1004 End Ave., Seattle; 1206 Maple Ave., Los Angeles; Call Building, San Francisco. The Oregon Daily Emerald, official student publication of the University of Oregon, Eugene, published daily during the college year, except Sundays, Mondays, holidays, examination periods, all of December and all of March except the first three days. Entered in the postoffice at Eugene, Oregon, as second-class matter. Subscription rates, $2.50 a year. GRADES AND THE GREEKS GPHE INDIANA DAILY STUDENT recently edi toriaiized and pollyanna-ized over the report of the National Interfraternity conference to the effect that at Purdue and Butler universities, scholarship rating of fraternity men was higher than that of unorganized men. Averages at 156 American colleges and universi ties, the report further states, show a rise in fra ternity grade averages, although they still are under the “All-Men” averages. The Daily Student finds sufficient stimulation in this fact to congratulate the fraternities for their splendid progress. "Gone, perhaps forever, is the too frequent connotation that the fraternity house is merely a club for college men who have not the time nor inclination for study,” it says. This seems to be a rather dubious foundation for any great throwing of the hats in air. It is commendable, surely, but only because it is less deplorable than it formerly was. It seems a little early for any congratulation to the American col lege fraternity. Ostensibly the fraternities take the cream of the entering classes. Ostensibly, the fraternity puts forth a great deal of effort in driving its mem bers on to grades, with regulations to compel poor students to work. Yet with all the system of house grades, study tables, upper-class supervision of work, systematic files of old examination questions, and the like, every term finds the fraternity aver age lagging behind the university average, the all men, the dormitories, and the non-organization men, who have no scholastic discipline off the campus. Here at Oregon, the grade showings released every term show this to be a consistent delinquency. Last term, for example, we got the following re sults : The all-university average was 1.2981. Non fraternity men were above this with 1.3220. The all-fraternity average was under this with 1.0883. Non-sorority average outranked the all-sorority average 1.5623 to 1.2923. These are some samples of the way it runs. In sum the whole grade report usually indicates the scholastic superiority of non-fraternity over fra ternity, of non-sorority over sorority, of women over men, anti of the dormitories over all general classes of residence status. We have no intention of reviving the old cry of “Abolish fraternities." The fraternity is an insti tution that adds immense vitality to campus life and social training that would otherwise be sadly missed. It has been as much a part of the scheme of the American university as are the classrooms. But it must be borne in mind that the fraternity grades are not up to the high standards that should be maintained. It would be difficult to prove that the fraternity causes the low grades. The fact re mains, however, that fraternities must eliminate their scholastic disrepute, or they cannot hope to endure permanently as desirable groups dedicated to fuller development of the college career. THE ROOSEVELT DOLLAR—III ^T'ANGIBLE evidence of the effects of President Roosevelt’s gold policy is most easily found in the international field. When the administration i announced its intention of buying new-mined Amer ican gold in Jate-October, the general price level made but slight changes for the better. When the j treasury commenced foreign gold purchases, the! dollar abroad, however, underwent marked depreci- j ation in value. It is this aspect we shall consider in (he present article. When the United States dropped off the gold standard last April, the dollar instantly lost value with relation to the pound sterling and the frane. i The pound went up to 85.50, and the franc to six and one-half cents. In other words, since the American government no longer redemeed its obli gations abroad in gold, world confidence deter-1 mined its value at a lower point. The Britisher I was now able to buy American goods for less of i his own money, and a purchaser from the United! States was forced to pay more for British goods. The same situation prevailed in France, and in both cases the economic advantage became America’s. The world economic conference met at London in June, and the two most important problems lie lore the nations were the slubilizulton of the dollar and the pound, and tariffs. The former was ob viously the more important, for a discussion of tariff, could mean little if no one knew what the doll • t and the pound were going to be worth i'F foreign exchange. France advocated a return tu> the gold standard, where she alone of the great powers still remained; but Secretary of State Hull gave the gold bloc little satisfaction. The confer-1 ence broke up without clarifying the monetary! issue. The gold value of the dollar stood at about 88 cents after the United States suspended specie pay ments. That figure has been driven, by means of foreign purchases of gold with United States cer tificates, down almost to the 60-cent level. The policy corresponds to that of Great Britain in 1931, when that nation left the gold standard and drove j the pound sterling down in terms of the franc and i the dollar. The advantages sought by that country : were essentially the same as those now sought by | the United States. Increased foreign markets are the principal ad- ■ vantage in the deprec'. 'ion of a currency. Great; Britain, realizing this fact, has utilized its exchange ; equalization account since 1931 in the purchase of gold francs to preserve the pound’s advantageous j position against the dollar. President Roosevelt has directed his gold policy in an attempt to wipe out this country’s disadvan tage abroad. To state the matter more clearly, the dollar of 60-cent gold content, which is the result of the administration's gold purchasing campaign, will enable foreign buyers of American goods to buy more cheaply. In like manner, American buy ers will be more likely to find goods produced by their own countrymen cheaper than those imported. A 'trade advantage for the United States, or at least greater equality in foreign markets, is a basic aim of the Roosevelt dollar-devaluating policy. If congress chooses to stabilize the dollar at its present gold value abroad, Europe will acclaim it as a definite step toward America’s return to the gold standard. Europe has remained silent during the past two months of dollar devaluation, despite the obvious damage dealt her trade advantages with this country. Bike the shrewd merchant that she is, Europe will welcome stabilization, for it is not. so hard to face conditions when one knows what they are. The president expects the devaluated dollar to have both domestic and foreign benefits. He de sires a rise of the price level to the 1925-26 level. He desires stable commercial relations with the world, with this country on a footing close to that of former years. His program, however, has been widely criticized by economists. In tomorrow’s article these critics will be given a hearing. On Other Campuses “It’s a Tradition” . . . llTHAT is a tradition? * ' According to the dictionary, a tradition is "a body of beliefs or usages handed down from gen eration to generation” or “accumulated culture and practices so handed down.” But having had this clarified, we are once more thrown into a muddle by a glance'at the student handbook, which sets forth that it is a tradition that there be no “queening” at football contests, that it is a tradition that chapel services be held every day at 10 o'clock, that it is a tradition that only seniors sit on the senior bench, etc. If these, and a dozen other items are “tradi tions," then the students have lost all respect for tradition. In the first place, it is hardly proper or correct to call them traditions. In the second place, usage has discarded some, and adopted others. Since when, for instance, have the seniors chal lenged the faculty to a baseball game just before the final exams? Yet the handbook says they do. Also we note that seniors only may wear som breros. Despite the handbook, the seniors seem to have signed away their rights. Freshmen do not park their automobiles on Uni versity avenue. Neither does anybody else, but it’s red paint, not “tradition” that decrees it. All of which shows a need for revision of our "traditions.” Strictly speaking they should not be called traditions, unless they have been handed down for us from preceding classes. Also it would be better if they were divided up into rules and practices. For instance, it would be a rule that there be no smoking in front of the Administration building, and a practice that the Trojan war flag be flown before the California and Stanford games. This would make it easier when we wanted to establish a new practice, which we could do arbi trarily. For instance we could say: "After Tuesday, it shall be the practice for seniors to wear opera capes.” But it. is incongruous to say: "After Tues day, it shall be a tradition for seniors to wear opera capes.” -Southern California Trojan. OVERFLOW JACK MILLER, journalist and basketball im " presario, comes in for notice with the week's Silliest Simile. It occurred in political science class yester day. M. Schumacher was discussing the pos sibility of one-third of the population of Oregon swinging the legislative representation in the state legislature. Mr. Miller took issue and spake: "But one horse pulling together can outpull two horses that aren’t!” he said. Miller will receive the Overflow Cup. (The one that runneth over.) * * * Some time ago, the buildings and grounds department planted some grass down by Thir teenth and Kincaid. It didn't turn out very well. So they dug it up and planted again. And dug it up and planted. And dug it up and j planted. And dug it up and planted. And dug it up and planted. And dug it up and planted. And dug it up and planted. That's as far as they've got. Eight times have they sown their seed and seven times has the seed borne alien fruit. They have succeeded in raising every kind of grass but the one they want. So they’ve go: their seed down now and await results, a little grimly but patiently. If they don’t get it. right tins time they’ll prob ably retire to a corner, take down tin ir hair, and jmt h.fVi .< good tv;. It i ) ol ,uch .turf that utheiota are mad6 of. i He Hasn’t Met Us Yet - By STANLEY ROBE j V N111110 number of fire hydrant j painters and 1 would suggest that you immediately petition the C. a A ’•> paint every alternate Lire hydrant lemon and gieen. "You are about to again face the voters of this community as a candidate to succeed yourself in your present position, and, while the graduates of the University of Oregon are not numerically strong enough to defeat you, I believe that this action on your part will so enthuse them that they would feel in that same mellow frame of mind that they had for some time following their recent victory over the eleven iron immortals from your Alma Mater. In this mellow mood ihey would naturally not give a d-n for whom they voted for public office, and I am sure, under these circumstances, they wduld support you. “Believe me to remain, “Yours sincerely, “A. FRIEND" And here is the Barometer’s editorial comeback, complete, which brings the weighty contro versy to a halt, as far as we know, without precipitating another out break in higher educational cir cles: "In a recent edition of the Ore gon Journal a partisan of the Uni versity of Oregon calls on Com missioner Riley of Portland to paint fire hydrants in the city green and yellow rather than orange and black if he desires to retain his job at the forthcoming city election. "The reason given by this parti san is that it gives Oregon State undue publicity to have Oregon State colors on the fire hydrants and makes Oregon students feel out of place when they attend a football game in Portland. He fur ther accuses Commissioner Riley of painting the plugs this color merely because he is a graduate of this college and says that 99.9 per cent of Orego'n State gradu ates are color blind and cannot recognize any color other than orange and black. “It is encouraging to know that 99.9 per cent of our grads are that loyal, and we imagine that the other .1 per cent must have trans ferred to the university and changed from normal minded col legians to radical supporters of that institution. “My, my, it certainly will be nice the next time we go to Port land to notice all the gayly painted hydrants, and we are certain that we will feel more at home.' It had escaped the notice of most mem bers of the Barometer staff that Beaver colors were displayed with such prominence in that fair me tropolis. “Contrary to examples set by many leading newspapers in the state the Barometer has always endeavored to steer a fair course in institutional matters. It is not the wish of this paper to treat university students ■ unfairly, so for their sakes Commissioner Riley has this paper's permission to change some of the hydrants so university supporters won’t feel out of place and homeless when | they 'are in Portland.” Scanning the Cinemas MCDONALD ‘‘Fugitive Lov ers," Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, Nat Pendleton. Also, “The World Changes,” Paul Muni, Guy Kibbee, Mary Astor. COLONIAL Special matinee, Eisenstein's "Thunder Over Mexico,” show starting 2:15. Evening, “Wake Up and Dream," Jack Buchanan. By J. A. NEWTON Matinee Special At the requests of hundreds of people who wished to hear Ro land Hayes last night, the manage ment of the Colonial theater is running a special matinee of “Thunder Over Mexico" at 2:15 this afternoon. For photographic beauty this picture surpasses anything seen on the screen in years. The act ors are native and untrained, facts which show in their performances, But Director Eisenstein has made the most of them to make the film more realistic. “Thunder Over Mexico" has been called the picture causing the controversy during the year. It is called propaganda, and people pounce on it for its actors and story. However. I feel that if one is capable of appreciating the beauty of this work he is also ca pable of disregarding what propa ganda there may be present. "Wake Up and Dream" is an other English contribution. So far the island nation has given us only "Henry VIII.” which was really worth mentioning twice. This is said to be very racy and sophisti cated. It: au English musical in which they go the whole way, jo we re told. When the hero walks up stairs, so does the music. Get it? From a stage success, “Yes, Mr. Brown.” “Fugitive Lovers,” at the Mac, was directed by one Boleslavsky. and the picture shows photograph ic tendencies which parallel those of the more advanced Eisenstein. Interesting lighting, angle, and close-up shots, as well as staccato flashes are used for dramatic ef fect. The picture depicts a series of adventures which happen to a bus full of people on a cross-country trip. Madge Evans hops said bus in an effort to elude one “Legs” Caf fery, big shot gangster who has taken a shine to her. Nat Pendle ton, just a big good-natured guy, tries to be mean, but his good na ture comes out. Montgomery as the escaped convict who boards the bus and falls for the girl, and Ted Healy is the funniest thing, what with getting dignified mid dle-aged ladies drunk, etc. The stooges, worse luck, do very little. "The World Changes” is another story about the back country boy who becomes a millionaire. It be gins with a pain in Aline Mac Mahon’s tummy. A bit later when a baby was flashed on the screen, a feminine neighbor said. “I don't know how I knew it, but I had a hunch thered be a baby before long.” The moral of the picture seems to be "stay on the farm and marry the home girl, because if you go i east and make money your wife will go crazy and your sons will be fools.” Paul "Chain Gang'' Muni does hi* vert bent Director Mervvn: Cham Gang” LeKoy also. CRITIC SAYS HAYES’ ART CLASSICAL IN SPIRITUALS (Continued from Fage One) lenge to the musicians to write a song which would invite to a haunted kingdom far away—this Hayes did with particular grace and poetic feeling. His encore af ter this group, “The Song of the Cossacks,” broke the ground for the modernist group which suc ceeded. This third group I liked the least, perhaps in so large an audi torium the lack of melodic line made the mhard to follow; the Eichheim setting of “Come Not When I am Dead” seemed to me to suffer from a confusion of styles—a Liza Lehmann opening, and a Debussy close. The encores which followed opened the way for the spirituals. “The Rain,” in serio-comic vein, was gladly re ceived; and “Plenty good room in My Father’s Kingdom, Jus’ Choose Your Seat and Sit Down” had a rhythm as catching as “Ezekial Saw a Wheel.” The spirituals speak for them selves; but they are enhanced by the Label SANFORIZED SHRUNK w4 new shirt if one ever shrinks ERIC MERR ELL CLOTHES FOR MEN THE ARROW SHIRT STORE IN EUGENE