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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1937)
Fred W. Colvie, editor Walter R. Vernstrom, manager LeRoy Mattingly, managing editor Wm. F. Lubersky, Assistant Business Manager Assistant managing editor: Hav editor: Virginia Endicott Beulah Chapman Assistant day editor: Elbert Hawkins Night editor: Bill Davenport Mary Kay Booth Assistant: Margaret Rankin Still It Persists “ ABOLISH IT; let's at. least lx* civilized.” “Retain it; it’s the proving ground of every aspiring fraternity man.” Thus commented leaders of opposing fac tions in a controversy over “hell week” at Washington State college. But the rank and file of Pullman students voted by a four-fifths majority to do away with the childishly barbaric practice. Which goes to prove our contention uttered some weeks ago, that the American campus is com ing of age. Washington State students are but con curring in an opinion long favored by uni versity administrators and national frater nity leaders all over the country — which, however, is apparently ignored not only on the northern campus but among a number of fraternities here at Oregon. yyilAT ARE fraternities waiting for? They know the wide unpopularity of “hell week’’ among the majority of students. And they know the disapproval frequently expressed on the practice by faculties in num erous universities. Still they persist in con tinuing it. Are they awaiting the day when univer sity authorities will step in and abolish it? II* they aren’t, that is certainly the procedure they are courting; for educators who believe firmly in the higher purposes of schooling are not going to pul up with the situation much longer. Fraternities have two alternatives. They can maintain the notion that they are com posed of mailin' young men capable of regu lating their own affairs and demonstrate it by abolishing “hell week’’ on their own initiative. Or they can, continue to 'offer “hell week” as proof that they are childishly incapable of running things for themselves, in which case university authorities may with perfect justice step in and put things in order. They can take their choice. If a Thing's Worth Doing... 'Y'llK I’AN-HULMSNIC council's plan lo change women’s rushing conditions by sot till*''the rushing period back one week into vaeution lias gained I lie support of sev eral eampus antboi'ilies and lias a scant, mar gin in sororities, as shown by a tentative vote yesterday. 1'nder the proposed plan, the strain of a combined rushing and orientation week would be alleviated by setting rushing back. After the sorority rushing and pledging, under council regulation as at present, was over, the girls would be free to concentrate upon the administration's freshman week program. Backers of the plan have admitted that it has many weak points which may raise serious problems and which should be correct ed before it is accepted and put into effect. Chief among its benefits is the fact the strain of an over-jammed pre-enrollment week is somewhat lightened. Stretching the rushing and orientation period out over a. period of two weeks, however, has obvious disadvan tages. # # » JG'VEHY SORORITY on tin* oamj)us will mandatorily require the presence of each member during the rush week period. 1 aider the present setup, approximately SOU sorority and potential sorority members descend upon the eamjnis one week before registration. The suggested plan would bring these girls to the campus two weeks before classes begin, and during the second week at least 400 or f>00 of 1 hum would have nothing to do or would re turn home, necessitating four trips before enrollment. The plan has been advanced as a means o! establishing rushees as pledges in houses before freshman week and registration. This undoubtedly would for many girls reduce the problems which surround any such abrupt environmental change. It is not entirely de iendable, however. No girl should make the choice ol pledging or not pledging or under take the dillicul; selection of a four-year home without first hearing the aims and pur poses of the I’niyersity expounded in the meetings of freshman week. # * * "DACKKRs of the plan have indicated also that girls not intending to pledge sor orities would not have to come to the campus for the rushing period. This might result in great loss for both girls and living organiza tions because there are undoubtedly main girls, knowing little of college life and of sororities, who would not appear for rushing but who might have pledged houses had they been rushed. The work of the pan-ludlenie council in recognizing and attempting to cope with the problem of till over crowded orientation per iod is deserving of commendation. The plan which they are now considering would re quire great adjustment and might add greatly to the expense of rushing. As long as the council is considering re form along these lines, it should go a step further and consider a plan which more near ly approaches the ideal than ally other ad vanced in regard to rushing. This plan's objections are as many and as strong as those which can be made to the one now under consideration—it has long been the bugaboo of sorority and fraternity heads—but its ad vantages are undoubtedly far more material Ilian are those of either the proposed or the present system. That plan is one calling for one term’s deferred pledging. Saving Themselves Grief '^^'E CAN’T for the life of us understand why anyone should he disturbed about the severance of class organizations from the A8TJO, or why there should be any move started to rc-attach them. Yet such were two reactions to the intentional failure of the ex ecutive council to mention classes in the new by-laws. Classes gained nothing under the old con nection that could not be effected in a situa tion in which they existed separately from the ASTJO. The main fruits of tin; old-time liaison between classes and the student body were the continuity given the inherently transient class organizations and the estab lishment of an effective control over their finances. Hut these same ends may be achiev ed by other means. As we have already point ed out, the classes may, by comparatively simple changes in their old constitutions, ar range for their continuity of organization. And, as for their treasuries, they may be put under the care of the University business office. And, incidentally, by doing Ibis the classes will save themselves a lot of grief. * * * r | 'ilKHK CAN be no doubt that this grief was building up. hong before 1 lie execu tive council with due premeditation — al though the matter was not brought to a vote —left class regulations out of the by-laws, there was a growing resentment of the in justice in requiring participants in class ac tivities to have student body cards. This was a hold-over from the time prior to 1935 wliyn compulsory membership in the ASUO was abolished. In those days every student was a member of the student body, and the re quirement of membership in the larger or ganization did not exclude anyone who want ed to engage in class affairs. Hut today this requirement would work an injustice, and it will be fitting if the classes, when they meet to discuss the situation, should vote to maintain the independence granted to them by the executive council. We realize that such a statement, coming from a paper owned and supported by the associated students, may sound rather queer —perhaps even a little disloyal. Hut there is' such a thing as justice, and the warmest sup porter of the ASl'O would not deny its being I granted. Moreover, from the standpoint of the associated students, it is doubtful whether there is groat prestige in the class connection anyway. N Campus Comment (The views aired in this column are not necessarily expressive of Emerald policy. Communications should be kept within a limit of 250 words. Courteous restraint should he observed in reference to personalities. No unsigned letters will be accepted.) SMOOTH DICTATORSHIP To the Editor: The editorial yesterday which criticized presort administrative tactics in the handling or women's student government was cer-1 tainly very much to the point. It' any one phase of our student affairs needs airing and cleaning it is decidedly this field. Smooth dictatorial steps have every year char acterized the handling of AVVS. YWCA, and \YAA officers. Particularly questionable is the way the girls chosen for officers arc nominated each year. With Mus^olini-likc tactics, our personnel officers head a committee of the past year's officers to pick the nominees for the year following. Going still further, this small non-representa tive group not only hand picks tiro candidates, but then proceeds to keep or try to keep their names secret, i Except of course from a few of the high and mighty in our leading i ?i houses). And then, as you mentioned yesterday, to climax the entire matter, the ballots an burned immediately after counting! New 1 don't doubt tii esjneerity of the per sonnel officers. And 1 don’t doubt the sincerity I of some of the past officers who support the sys tem. But I do think this sincerity could be just as effective if it would come out of the dark closet and appear in broad daylight Covering up things and burning ballots just doesn't give the average poison the impression of any inclination towards fair play and sincerity 1 do feel that perhaps the nominating com mittee is the best means of election, and that ASUO offices would be better administered it such a system were used. BUT, when such a committee is to pick the candidates, it should be a TRULY REPRESENTATIVE group and not the way it is now. A great many co-ed- on this campus very just ly feel that they have been given a dirty deal yearly in this dictatorial administration Keep hammering away. You certainly have a just cause. t.l.OYP TUPPING. I Pacts End Sit-Down Strike, Workers Happy Union employes of a General Motors Fisher body plant at Flint, Michigan, streamed from the build ing as the 14-day sit-down strike ended with signing of pacts between strikers and union officials. Scenes of would jubilation marked the end of the strike as workers left the plants joyously, after living in them for six week. |Black Menace By H. RIDEM RAGGED EPISODE SEVEN What Hus Gone Before: Toni Masters, reporter on the Oregon Daily Emerald and self-instructed amateur detective, is awaiting the arrival cf the Black Menace, who has threatened the life of Din Toomas,, when a strange voice answers a remark by Toobas that “The Black Menace would not dare come in here.’’ -“Death Before Sunset - It was an awful foreboding- silence that settled over the College Side; even the seniors had stopped their shouting. It was the Side’s proprietor, one Mr. Smith, who afterwards la belled it the most amazing display of silence the students had ever put on in the history of his establishment. Even one of the waitresses, a Miss Eyebrows by name, admitted her com plete astonishment. But it was not to be for long—a heavy clomp of feet on the narrow staircase leading to the League of Liberty broadcasting room turned all eyes, and a mur mur of hushed remarks rose on the air. The steps were slow and deliber ate, their hollow beat a madden ing mark of time. Din Toomas in attempting to get the very best view of the voice’s owner, stood up in his seat and grimaced just a little when he saw the occupant of the next booth, Tom Masters. ’ Suspense, if suspense there was, had its effect on Toomas he lean ed so far forward over the back of his seat that he was having diffi culty keeping his balance. Mean while, the stomping feet came low er and lower Toomas wiped a bead of sweat off his brow. A wide-eyed feminine face in a booth on the west wall, gulped, gasped, "Look, it's the black men ace!” It was too much for Toomas. He fell face down—on Masters' table. The "voice" reached the bottom step, faced the assembly with a wide grin. It was Major Cuddelly. Life at the College Side resumed its normal pace almost immediate ly. The Major's moment of glory was but fleeting: by the time he’d gone out the door, the incident was covered with cobwebs in the Stygian darkness of College Siders' minds. Toomas extricated himself from a tangled position in Masters' booth, explained awkwardly that he "just thought he'd drop in for a minute, anyway," laughed heart ily about the whole affair, and re sumed his place with Honey Lor raine. So highly ridiculous was the whole aspect of the preceding in cidents that even if wandering eyes had seen the cloaked figure stand ing statue-like on the balcony, they would not have brought ex citement to the brain. Masters wagered with himself the chances that the Black Menace would show himself here here, with laughing voices, the hum of idle conversation, rattle of dishes, and waitresses scurrying about in the aisles. How utterly out-of place. ridiculous. Vet if Masters had looked once more at the balcony from whence Cuddelh had made his appearance, ho would not have thought so ra tionally. Like some mysterious lonl of a secret cult looking down from a lofty pulpit for a proper sacrificial victim, the hooded fig ure surveyed the mass of humanity below. Beady, sparkling eyes dart ed back and forth bgjtind narrow slits in the black hood covering his head: twitched, like the tail of a cat awaiting his prey. Stiff, statute-like, arms folded, he leaned against the balcony railing. Black leather hands showed themselves as the arms unfolded, inserted a small tube in a slit which opened in the head cover ing. The hissing puff of air was unheard; it fell like a drop of rain in the roaring surf— Toomas lurched forward in his seat, slapped a hand on the back of his neck, held it there a minute, brought it slowly around before his eyes. A small, spider-like creature, with hairy legs, crawled slowly across his palm, dropped to the 1 floor. S: * * (WILL, TOOMAS DIE? CAN THE BLACK MENACE MAKE HIS ESCAPE? READ EPISODE EIGHT OF "BLACK MENACE" IN FRIDAY'S EMERALD.) Eight Houses j----:-— (Continued from paye one) “Several houses objected to the added expense but this is not such an important item, as minor changes in the plan would remedy this," stated Miss McNiece. Miss McNiece will present this plan to representatives at the re gional conference of the Pan Hellenic association convening at the Multnomah hotel, March t>. She will ask for suggestions to further perfection of the plan. Schools I'se System “Most of the other colleges and universities have this system of rushing, although it is modified to fit their needs," said Miss Me Nieee. Miss McNiece will make her re port on the action taken on the plan at the convention when she returns, which will be before spring vacation. By this time, rushing chairmen will know how to plan 1 for the fall season. The change, if it goes through, will be admitted to the booklet on rushing rules to be distributed dur ing spring term. Koom for the gang, T.VVLOK’S. ad Piggers’ in (Continued from page one) ankles. When they had settled down with a long board, called a centerboard, extending from the foot of the bed to the head between them, it was the practice of the mother of the house to come and tuck them in and see that all was well. Then in the chilly darkness plain and fancy bundling ensued. The custom was in high favor with the men and women of the time and at the height of the bundling period girls who refused to bundle were likely to become spinsters. The preachers however | fought it tooth and nail. A story is told of a Congregational min ister, Reverend Seth Pethwick, who was the chief of the bundle busters. One night during his travels he stopped at a trange house and was invited to spend the night. When he found out that he was supposed to bundle with one of the handsome young daughters he was so incensed that he stood up all night in a shed and died of exposure. Shark’s Tooth Fossil Given Geography Head A rare fossil of a prehistoric shark’s tooth, found by a student near Eugene, is now in the posses sion of Dr. Warren D. Smith, head of the department of geography. The fossil is from an undeter mined specie of the genus notida mus. This genus is know to have existed millions of years ago, ac cording to Dr. Smith. Hey! Stude’s! You bring’ the sweets . . . Gus will put out the Mixtures Wotta Deal!! Lemon-Orange Squeeze Gerlinger — Friday 80c couple concoctions fSEIBfSiffiSfSlSJS/BJSSlSEEiSiSSiBJc LEARN TO DANCE IN EIGHT LESSONS Learn the latest modern ballroom steps quickly and easily. TOTAL COST $5.00 NEW CLASS FOR BEGINNERS Wednesday, February 2-1—S P. M, S61 Willamette Phone 30S1 MERRICK STUDIOS Campus Calendar Infirmary patients today are: Alyce Rogers, Bernard Kliks, Lois Onthank, Dorothy Reburn, Betty Brady, Joe Goding, Barbara Espy. Ruth Stanley, Jeane Larsen, Joan Jacobson, Mrs. D. A. Collis, June j Martin, David Cox, j£en Skinner, I Vernon Johnson, William Dalton, Ted Thompson, Irwin Elder, and Beverly Brown. l l Westminster current problems ! forum meets tonight at 7:30. Travel group of Philomilete will meet in. the Women’s lounge at Gerlinger Thursday at 4:00. Freshman commission meeting at 4 o’clock today at the Y bunga low. Gamma Alpha Chi will meet this afternoon at 4 o’clock at the Col lege Side. YWCA sophomore commission and the yarn doll sale committee will meet at 5 o’clock this after noon at the Y bungalow. Victor P. Morris, acting dean of the school of business administra tion, will speak tonight at 8 o’ clock at the Y bungalow. The pub lic is invited. MO KRIS SPEAKS Victor P. Morris, acting dean of he school of business administra ion will speak at the YWCA cab net meeting at the YWCA hut Vednesday at 8 p. m, Pd. adv. Campus Comments O-h-h-h, boy! as Martha Ray would say. We-feel like spring. In fact we practically went to sleep standing up today. * * * We’re almost too lazy to notice what’s happening, but we couldn’t help hearing that Walt Miller, who had a little difficul ty about the gold standard last week, has again turned to the Alpha Phi for safe-keeping. * * * Formal time is not over yet, so a note from Doc Near about appropriate handkerchiefs for tuxedos, reminds us that you can get just the right size and shade of white at Eric Merrell’s. * * * Although toggery experts say it is too early yet for whites, Bob Boyer was unable to resist the chance and turned out Monday in sparkling shoes and slacks. Spring horse-back riding was evidently too much for Judy Siegrist, laughing Theta, who was seen about the campus yes terday with her arm in the air, having broken her collar bone last week. She’s still laughing, however. * * * Something new, and perhaps old, as father would say, are the new Arrow detach able collar shirts, called ideal for street and evening wear. Drop in at Eric Merrell's and take a look at these as well as the new spring sweaters. * * * ERIC MERKELL The University Men’s Store 8-Reel Talking Picture1 Sketching Man's Rise from Savagery to Civilization The HUMAN ADVENTURE These Films Co-sponsored, by U. of O Anthropology and Music Depts. Take off on an Air Cruise over the lands where Civilization first arose — Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Ana tolia, Persia. See world famous archeologists in the actual work of unearthing ruins of ancient cities. See the Pyramids of Egypt, the Nile,' Palestine, Baghdad, The Stables of Solomon, the tombs of Darius the Great, and Xerxes. ^The Human Adventure brings you o new conception of ancient ^man’s accomplishments and achievements. 2 MAJOR FEATURES I TTIII ill B The Love Story That tke World Loved for ^ears! * The wonder melodies of ihe immortal Schubert— the heart'drama of his life and loves—thrill you now in a Mammoth Musical Spectacle! - Dii/.btiled by Mei/o C oldwyrv RICHARD TAUBER unth JANE BAXTER Dirtcltd by - PAUL L. STEIN p >'“> / ♦ NIGHT MATINEE KKES 35c « 2()c , T Doors Open 1-2:4.3