Army Requires
Math Training
By RUTH KAY COLLINS
Where in the course of four years are youth to find mathe
matical problems which will extend their intellectual horizons
and stretch their mental muscles?” asked Admiral C. W. Nim
itz, commander in chief of the Pacific fleet, in a letter writ
ten last November to Professor Louis I. Bredvold of the Uni
versity of Michigan. Professor Bredvold, who is a member of
me university advisory commit
tee on military affairs, requested
facts and figures from the train
ing division of the Bureau of
Navigation in Washington, D. C.,
to illustrate the need of mathe
matical training in American
high schools and colleges to aid
the national defense effort.
From the data compiled by the
bureau, come the following fig
ures illustrating that other than
engineering students, few col
lege men are sufficiently trained
in math to qualify for officer's
training in the navy:
fcxam
1 “A carefully prepared selec
tive examination was given to
4,200 entering freshmen at 27 of
the leading universities and col
leges of the United States.” Of
these—
68 per cent of the men were
unable to pass the arithmetical
reasoning contest.
63 per cent failed the whole test,
which included also arithmetical
combinations, vocabulary and
spatial relations.
Not Close
The majority of failures were
not merely borderline, but were
far below passing grade. Of the
V4.200 entering freshmen who
wished to enter the Naval Re
serve Officers’ Training Corps,
only 10 per cent had already tak
en elementary trigonometry in
high schools. Only 23 per cent had
taken more than one and a half
years of mathematics in high
schools.
The report by the bureau of
navigation showed that this lack
of fundamental education is a
ihajor obstacle in the selection and
training of midhipmen for com
missioning as ensigns, V-7.
Rejected
“Of 8,000 applicants—all col
lege graduatees—some 3,000 had
to be rejected because they had
no math or insufficient math at
college nor had they ever taken
plane trigonometry,” the bureau
writes.
Because of a deficiency in the
early educations of the men in
volved, it was found' necessary to
lower the standards in 50 per cetit
of the admissions at one of the
training stations. The require
ments had to be lowered in the
field of arithmetical attainment
in order that the necessary num
ber of men might be enrolled.
Follow Your
Campus Chums
JOHNSON’S
for
Super Creamed
Ice Cream
y. Block West
McDonald Theater
54 W. 10th
Yasui Losing
Curfew Battle
Minoru Yasui, American-born
Japanese graduate of the Univer
sity, is fast losing his battle to
prove the unconstitutionality of
the alien curfew laws. He was in
dicted last Wednesday by the fed
eral grand jury on charge of vio
lating the alien curfew.
It was the first indictment on
this charge returned in the Unit
ed States, according to United
States Attorney Carl C. Donaugh.
He forecast that the prosecution
would result in a test case, if con
tested.
Yasui deliberately violated the
curfew and then gave himself up
to the police, announcing that he
planned to test the validity of the
curfew order. Donaugh said that
penalties provided fines up to
$5000 and imprisonment up to a
year, or both, under the act.
The indictment against Yasui
was one of 13 returned by the se
cret body. Eleven of the 13 were
open and 2 were secret.
Ensign Tells
(Continued front page one)
members of the University de
fense council met with the naval
officer in the faculty club to dis
cuss deferment possibilities.
Dr. Kossack may be reached
at his office, 107 Deady hall.
QcUHflMl
Qcdz*uHaA
The Badminton club will not
meet for the remainder of spring
term.
Fencing club meetings have
been postponed for the remainder
of spring term.
Sigma Delta Chi will meet
today at 4 p.m. in 105 Journalism
rather than Monday as was an
nounced yesterday.
Oregon H Emerald
Ray Schrick, air raid warden
Reporters:
Dorman Alford
Bette Armstrong
Margaret Brooke
Elsie Brownell
Ruth Kay Collins
Joanne Dolph
Bob Edwards
Carol Greening
Ruth Jordan
Flora Kibler
Mona MacAuley
Marjorie Major
Roy Nelson
Edith Newton
Peggy Overland
Betty Ann Stevens
Janet Wagstaff
Mildred Wilson
Marjorie Young
Barbara Younger
Advertising Staff:
Barbara Thomson, day mgr.
Betty Edward
Dorothy Bruhn
Edie Newton
Day Staff:
Leslie Brocklebank
Night Staff:
Ted Bush, night editor
Shirley Davis
Marjorie Young
Bette Armstrong
Copy Desk:
Joanne Nichols, city editor
Bill Stratton, assistant
Betty Ann Stevens
Marjorie Young
Barbara Younger
Mona MacAuley
June Paddock
Anne Craven
Chuck Politz
Ted Bush
Jim Watson
G. Duncan Wimpress
Three New Greeks
Latest additions to fraternity
rolls are: Robert Ruber, Delta
Upsilon; Herbert Grant, Delta
Tau Delta; and Willis E. Elliott,
Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
It's Fun to Plag
BADMINTON
Every House Should
Have a Set
Save at
Ward's
OFFICIAL SET
Everyone can play Badminton! Ifem don't have to
have a prepared court. Bet consists of 2 official
weight rackets—2 shuttlecocks—20-foot net" with set
of poles and rules. Why not the whole House pitch
in-together and get one? Yes, extra rackets and shut
tlecocks available at Ward’s, too. Shop them today
and Save at Ward's!
Other Sets as Low as $3.29
1059 Willamette
Telephone 4200
Cash Prizes
To Top Off
Libe Day
Cash prizes for the best per
sonal libraries maintained by
Oregon students will be awarded
by the University library on its
sixth annual library day, May 2.
The contest, which is open to
both graduate and undergradu
ate students, offers two prizes of
$10 and $5, respectively, for each
group.
Students entering the contest
must make their entries by noon
of April 29 at the librarian’s of
fice. The number of books to be
displayed must not exceed 50.
Judging Points
Judges will consider personal
taste used in the selection of the
books and the care with which a
special interest has been fol
lowed; the usefulness of the col
lection as a whole to the owner;
and its value as a nucleus of a
library for future years.
Copies of the complete rules
and all the points on which the
judges will base their decisions
may be obtained at the library.
Oregon Grads Featured
In Magazine Articles
Two prominent University al
umni have been featured in na
tional magazines within the last
week, it was learned here yester
day. They are Lester Steers,
•world champion high jumper, now
living in Portland, and Vivien.
Kellems, president and founder
of the Kellems products company,
and one of the few women manu
facturers in the nation.
The magazine that featured
Steers was Colliers, which con
tained an article, tracing his early
athletic training up until the time
when he broke the world's high
jump record as a sophomore at
the University. Steers is now em
ployed by the Oregon shipbuild
ing corporation and has dropped
his high jumping for the “dura
tion of the war.”
Miss Kellems, one of the fore
most women manufacturers in the
nation, was featured in a Satur
day Evening Post story. Her out
standing business career was de
scribed at great length. As pres
ident of the Kellems product com
pany, manufacturers of electrical
cable grips, Miss Kellems is play
ing an important part in the na
tion’s defense effort.
A proposed college of veter
inary medicine at the University
of California has been deferred
until after the close of the war.
A tiny pin-hole in a telephone cable can admit
moisture, causing short circuits and service inter
ruptions. But Bell System men have fouud away of
beating this trouble to the punch.
They charge the cable with dry nitrogen under
pressure. Then should a leak develop, the escaping
gas keeps moisture out. Instruments on the cable
detect the drop in pressure ... sound an alarm at a
nearby station.. .indicate the approximate location
of the break. A repair crew is quickly on its way.
To maintain and improve America’s all-important
telephone service, men of the Bell System are con
stantly searching for the better way. Pioneering
minds find real opportunity in telephone work.