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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1938)
The Problems Facing a Course in Marriage jTUST ;it present the movement to c offer a eourse in marriage rela tionships seems to be at a standstill. •There have been few reports of pro gress since the flurry of interest and activity caused by the visit of Dr. Dud Popenoe to the campus as an assembly speaker and as one of the authorities on the annual series of i nrriage lectures. The need for such a eourse at this and other universities is obvious. As an institution, marriage is faced with the problem of adjustment to ) w economic, moral, and social stan dards since the era of the industrial re volution and its attendant sweep ing social changes. Experts have exclaimed over the increasing number of divorces, the > Auction in average number of children to the family, and the fact that the ‘‘educated” classes—if such a distinction can be permitted in 'democratic America—-do not repro duce as rapidly as do their poorer .compatriots. They have frowned upon the “cheapening” of marriage as an institution and have predicted dire consequences for people so de fy aerate and for nations with reced >. g birth r^tes. *t *< «• i JT would not be sound reasoning to attribute these conditions and 1 ends Avliieli the sociologists have , discovered to universities or to any • other single group. Universities and • colleges do. however, provide an op l artunity for considering and com b-ting these tendencies, tvhieli have } cently become so obvious. And col leges do have some problems, im j"*rtant problems, in this field which t nnot much longer be ignored. The love and marriage lecture h "it's lias doin' the pioneer work in Ibis field, as far as Oregon is con '■(•rned. Its main value has been in \ iving the way for a sounder, more * thorough stud;, of marriage. - It is c • pioneer, tin* breaker-down of l a boos. . . lint the work of the lecture t< "ies lias now been done. Ktudents, I -ulty. and others have been 1 ought to the realization of the ) > oblcm. Having accomplished its l imar\ jiurjiosc, the series should i w be discarded for a better metli ( ' t bringing- marriage education to t 'ergradua!cs, for as an eduea 1 i-ona 1 medium the lecture series is l obably at present accomplishing b tie and may lie doing more harm t ,n good. In the Home Stretch (The Stanford Daily) LAST November well over 100 students registered in a University experiment now popularly known as “sex” or “marriage.” Limited facilities necessitated cutting the number of applicants who could enroll and next week 56 of the senior class will finish Social Science 120 with a someuiiat adequate knowledge of the trials and triumphs of married life. Agitation for such a course started during the administration o£ A.S.S.U. President Jim Reynolds. Rather feeble embers were fanned into existence -by the editorial insistence of Gordy Frost until a com mittee of Miss Doyle and Professors Hilgard, Fagan, and Reynolds was appointed to investigate needs and possibilities. Finding both, and the consent of Dr. Wilbur, the committee organized the course to include the physiological and psychological aspects of mar riage, vocational considerations, legal aspects of the family, budgeting, consumer education, and parental education and care of offspring. Panels on controversial issues such as birth control and the place of women have been held by the class itself, and the various members of the faculty have provided the lectures. Yesterday committee members Doyle, Hilgard, Fagan, and Reynolds gathered at Laguinta to discuss more needs and possibilities. That is, should the course be continued. Deciding to give students a voice, the committee will hand out next Friday forms on which the class may rate the course. Early next quarter when grades are in and when students can look at the course in perspective, a bull session will be held to further deter mine their feelings. This much is obvious. The course will not be repeated in the spring quarter. Next winter perhaps if student interest warrants it, if the report of the faculty is favorable, and if financial backing is assured, the course will continue. Well planned, well organized, and well directed, the course has been successful from all standpoints. Already a lap ahead of most univer sities, Stanford should maintain the lead it has taken. By all standards, Social Science 120 should be taken out of the experimental stage and made a definite part of the school curriculum. —C. C. J^EFORE any course, lecture series. or other method of instruction can accomplish its purpose, the atti tude of those offering the work and of the students taking it must be right. There can be no half-truths, no concealment, no slighting of certain phases, for if there is the student will be further handicapped rather than helped by his study. The material the course presents must be rounded and complete. At present, a goodly share )o,f the courses the 1'nivarsity offers, includ ing all those in biology and soci ology.. touch upon some phase of the problem of marriage and sex rela tionships. From such sources the student gleans true but incomplete knowledge of these important topics. More often than not the case for marriage as a social institution and an influence in after-college life is but scantily presented, if it is pre sented at all. npiIAT is what Dr. Popenoe was referring to when he confirmed recent remarks of Dr. Cary, a New York physician and authority on marriage, that college women of to day are prone to “experiment” in such matters. Dr. Popenoe’s statement was the strongest possible argument against the existing methods which spread dangerous half-knowledge. It indi cates undeniably the need for plan ned and complete education, through a course, perhaps, which tells the whole story of'marital relationships —from courting to old age. The Emerald printed Dr. Pope noe \s remarks. Through indirect channels the information has been advanced that University authorities were shocked by such brazen treat ment of such a delicate subject. So shocked, in fact, that the proposed course may be abandoned. It is obvious that the best possible thing to do under such conditions is to abandon the course. Nothing valu able can possibly be gained from material presented on such propa gandists. narrow, and mid-Victorian basis. The only result would be the increased dissemination of curiosity arousing half-truths. # * # I jgUT it is unfortunate if this must be done. The postponement of actual constructive work in this line means that all the work of ground-clearing done by the lecture series not only goes for naught but becomes a positive evil. The taboos surrounding the sub ject have been broken down. If stu dents are permitted and encouraged to continue to make their decisions in matters pertaining to marriage on the basis of hints and psuedo-truths, those decisions are bound to be faul ty and conduct based upon them can lead only to misfortune. It has not been too many years since these topics and others, such as venereal disease, were considered unmentionable. Society prides itself upon having dispelled the taboos surrounding these personal matters. Science, sociology, and philosophy claim to have made important ad vances in such fields through the new liberty. Society and science cannot stop now. Having shattered taboos which served fairly well in the absence of knowledge, the next step must be taken. Knowledge must be advanced to replace the taboos. J^NOWLEDGE and truth cannot do this if those who control their dissemination still hold to antiquated concepts in an age which has brushed the taboos accompanying and justifying those concepts to one side. The fact that sex or venereal dis ease are no longer horrid words does not necessarily solve the problems arising from them. It rather in creases those problems because it causes injudicious action on false bases. The evil has already been done. Good can only be salvaged from the wreckage of reticence and “holy” marriage if the new problems can be studied thoroughly and calmly. Stan ford has made a beginning and is now reckoning the results. Oregon has pioneered in the early stages of this work. It would be too bad if those who have inherited tlie job of extending the work until it is actual ly of value are not broad enough to realize the necessity for straight-for ward effort in the task. Preparing the Student for the Better Life-and a Paying Position JJNVhKTAINTY about tIn* future must have filled the minds of more than a few of the r veral hundred Oregon seniors who laid their coins on tlit' counter at registration last week. Ap I ehensive, those senior* might also have felt some d » :bt as to what extent four years at Oregon have | repared them to cope with future problems. I hey should entertain such doubt. When the t ; ior shoved tin1 money for his last-term fees over t eouuter, the i n: versity's responsibility for hi* C 'tiny was nearing an end. Yet the institution’s t dc j)reparing the student for a fuller life—will ) have been satistaetorily completed, for in many c m‘n the graduate will find himself only half e nipped to meet demands of prospective em |d overs. * * # ]V0 *01l-~ ;lh° l^;11‘l W. (bithank told an Kmerald reporter that his work as dean of personnel * duinist rat ion he •* constantly coming in contact \ dt employers, seeking graduates with one or two years' experience in the business ■world. The fact that employers are clamoring: for university-edu cated employees should gladden the hearts of graduates, for it portends palmier days. But the employer asks more of the prospective employee than graduation, lie wants men and women with “one or two years’ experience.” Where in the college curricula could the stu dent have gained such experience in any line of business? Acquainting the student with actual working conditions has been undertaken by sev eral deparments but such training does not satisfy the-stipulations of the employer. * =K= nPIIK 1 'Diversity has long held that it is fulfilling its purpose when it prepares the student for a ‘‘fuller” life. In that field it has gained an ample degree of success. It has prepared him to observe the world around him with greater understanding, to have a broadened interest in its events. Prepar dug the student for sustaining that .life should, however, be one of its objectives.. A number of American colleges and universi ties are attempting to do this. At Columbia and Aew \ ork universities the course of study includes voik in business firms. For this work the student A paid, and his work-hours are accredited to the fulfillment of degree requirements. Courses offer ing a stud\ of theory integrated with actual busi ness experience are being worked out elsewhere. Although these programs of student training are still in the experimental stage, they have been hailed by many educators as a necessary part in progressive education. Granting that Oregon’s location does not lend itself to extensive local train ing courses, as does that of a metropolitan eol h gt . the fact still remains that Oregon is not eapi tahzmg on the opportunities available. AH concerned in an “on the job’’ training pi <>t-i ‘tin a\ oiihl profit. The graduate would have As ti .lining rounded and strengthened without (Continued on page tjeven) ,