•nimiiilllllviluillHiiiiiim.iimiiimiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiimiiHiiHiiiiMiiiMiiiNi
Oregon
MARJORIE MAJOR ELIZABETH EDMUNDS
EDITOR _BUSINESS MANAGER
Published daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays, and holidays and
final examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon.
Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice. Eugene, Oregon.
jbef^nie aj (lumoAd . . .
Rumor is ersatz information. And just as people without*
real bread must use ersatz bread as a substitute, so must peo
ple without real information use their only substitute, rumor.
The only danger in rumor lies in its acceptance as true fact.
Rumor only fills a void, intellectual nourishment must come
from other sources, if these sources have not ceased function
ing because of war and its consequent hush-hush.
So if rumors can be taken for what they are, and have little
importance attached to them, they do give one groping blindly
in an information blackout something to talk about at least.
They fill long leisure hours—at least two or three a week—
for the army men on the campus who have a rumor exchange
system. One man tells a rumor, another counters with another
rumor, and a third man tells one louder and funnier.
The air corps men, since their reclassification, are probably
among the most prolific of rumor starters on the campus. When
all else fails, they can sit down to the question of the future and
of the moment, “Where do we go from here?” Rumor has it
they may go into Arctic service. Rumor also has it they may
go to South America. Rumor has it they may become cadets.
Rumor has it they might have a choice in the matter. They can
choose between tail gunnery, armorer gunnery, turret gunnery,
or gunnery.
But they are all rumors and are taken as such. Opening
lines on the entrance of a man on the rumor exchange are in
variably “Heard the latest rumor?” Of course, he did get the
information straight from Joe, who heard it straight from
Mary, who got it straight from Fred, who got it, not quite so
straight this time, from the old apple woman in the back room
of Mrs. McGillicuddy’s tea roome. But straight or not, the dope
is recognizable as rumor, and it is recognized as such by the
listener.
Rumors, They say—the great mysterious They who rule
bur lives and minds and thoughts and conventions—should be
jspiked. But spiking rumors takes something in the line, of
weapons. The only weapon possible for use in spiking a rumor
is information. Which They refuse to give us. They give us
only the ersatz, at least They have found no way to keep the
ersatz from us, and with the ersatz information we must spike
jother ersatz information, the rumors. Louder and funnier this
'time, please.
-M.Y.
____
• •
B'Um and ^lumde*
Yesterday was the great day for Secretary of the Navy
Knox, and the military strategists, and the men at banquet table,
and the public press to extol the tenacity and the record of the
[United States navy in this war.
I There was of course great talk of the recent advance on
[Wake island when the greatest carried task force ever assem
bled returned to that little island, never to be forgotten in the
history of the Pacific war. Out of the stupendous battles of Bis
marck and Coral- seas, and out of this year’s naval victories
jwhich have never made headlines simply because they were
protective victories, comes an immense feeling of danger
averted.
Last year at this time, the navy as well as all the forces of
[the United States and the allied nations were in a far different
position from the “spearhead attack" strategy of today. Con
sider that at that time the great naval base of Alexandria was
threatened by the German troops in Africa, the Germans were
nearing the Caspian sea and were at the gates of Moscow, the
Battle of the Atlantic was exceedingly grave, sobering even to
the optimistic who thought they saw the end of the U-boat
danger. This year has been full of speed, and a vast swirl of
political find military changes. It is good to compare, and then
[to realise just how much is behind us.
■ * * * *
But before us still hove more terrible and heart-1 shaking up
heavals. And these belong ultimately to the men who fight and
[to the little people who stay behind. As that vast force steamed
[toward Wake, there were many men who remembered oil
flaming water, paint blistering on decks, the terror of the sea.
The tradition of the navy is based upon the terror of the sea,
and of the foe. The men who do their jobs cannot know the
logical picture behind their assignments until battle is upon
[them. And for that reason, theirs is the full glory. \\ hen the
clippers set out across the unknown they battled only the sea,
now there is a double pronged foe, but the courage is the same.
“They that go down to the sea in ships: and occupy their
business in great waters" are charting their histories in brine
and thunder." ■ WM.
Lodge
Chatter
By ELIZABETH HAUGEN
A couple of “characters”—that
elusive title which has gained so
much prestige of late—turned up
under the dining-room table at
Mill lodge one night. Or at least
they ended up there—Pat .Phil
lips, all the way from Massachu
setts to find out if there really
were Indians here, and Debby
(the drip) Belknap.
Incidentally, Scwoogies, Inc.,
(humbugs wdio spend all their
time scouring likely spider wrebs
and doormats for—whatever
you’d find in likely spider w’ebs or
doormats) report these tw'o were
the first to venture forth in the
sharp new rainy flay combina
tion—“crew caps,” pork pies
worn over bandannas. Patt Kline
and Jess Sc.afe, Laurel lodge, and
Jane Copeland, “Beta” or Lom
bardy lodge are among others
who have taken up the fad.
Gee, Crime Wave!
A crime wave broke out at
Highland house last Friday night
when everybody came down to
dinner dressed as convicts or gun
molls. Dege Carter won “tough
est babe” honors. Then the in
mates overpowered “guards”
Anne Craven, Edith Newton,
Marjorie Young, and Ruth Hulse
and evicted them onto the front
porch just as Company A of the
engineers “hupped” past. Oh,
maidenly shyness, where have
you fled? Hmmm.
Over at Alder lodge, the gals
have racked their brains, trying
to get the cokes that are stored
in the rainbarrel of the home next
door, which houses some fellows
from Northwest Christian col
lege (how did they get in here?).
Roommates just drooled when
Marvine Westrum and Jeanne
Krebs, same house, opened boxes
of “real” Doublemint and Den
Superman Teaches
Army Ducks to Swim
Quite a bit of a superman is
the director of swimming at Ore
gon, William Baker. “Bill”—
most people call him that has
quite a story behind him—begin
ning at Independence, Oregon,
where he went to high school, and
for the present, at least, ending
in the Oregon swimming pool
with the Ducks and the army.
Bill received his B.S. in PE
from the University in 1930 and
won the Spaulding cup given for
the highest grades among athletes
fall term of his last year. At that
time he was newly-married and
was carrying a 21-hour study
load. He is the Phi Delt who
married a Tri-Delt, and now
there are two little “Delts.”
Boy Could Pitch
Older students will remember
Baker as one of the best pitch
ers Oregon baseball ever had.
While attending the University,
Bill doubled as football and bas
ketball coach at Springfield. He
played varsity baseball for three
years at Oregon.
After graduating, he played on
the Eugene town team for three
years under Billy Rinehart. One
tyne gum and Hershey bars from
“contacts” in the service, where
abouts unknown.
Did You Say Wassermelon?
Birch lodge feasted on water
melon and cantaloupe last week,
thanks to Yvonne Smith, whose
family lives on a farm. And
what’s more, these enterprising
coeds were serenaded by Flight
E before the last open house. The
fellows arrived early and sang
for admission—smooth harmony,
too, we hear.
There’s plenty brewing down
at Lombardy lodge, in the oppo
site corner of the campus, whose
inhabitants plan a formal tea and
reception today and a surprise
dance on the thirteenth.
summer he pitched for Lakeview
and lost only one game—“Quite
a rugged summer,” he grinned in
reminiscence.
18 Wins—Not Bad
In 1926 Bill played for Toledo
.—winning 18 games, and losing
only 2. He also played one yeaw
for Anaconda, Montana. After
graduating from Oregon, Baker
received his masters degree at
Columbia university.
Since his graduation from Co
lumbia, he has been highly suc
cessful as a high school coaej^
He coached football, track, and
swimming at Columbia high
school in Mapleton, New Jersey.
His high school swimming team
was national high school swim
ming champion in 1940. His track
team was the New Jersey state
champion in 1941. At the present
time Columbia high school holds
4 out of 8 state swim records.
Coaches Many Champs
Bill coached Connie Doran,
eastern intercollegiate highboard
champion of 1942. And Ted Da
vage, the swimming captain at
Yale in 1942, who swam the
breaststroke in the 300-medley re
lay which broke the world’s rec
ord at 51.8. ^
The swimming; captains of
Yale, Rutgers, Brown university,
and Princeton were his former
high school students. In 12 years
Columbia won £41 swimming
meets and lost onl3{:17.
Several of the bpys that Bal^ru
trained in the past have cd
back from the war and told him
that his swimming lessons have
saved their lives more than once.
For seven years he was the
swimming instructor at the South
Orange Mapleton: adult school;
and for six years he was the pro
fessional swimming instructor at
the Maplewood country club. He_
is a past president of the New
Jersey swimming association.
Bert was home...
Miracles, They Will Not Stop
By CHAS. POLITZ
Miracles will never cease and
Bert Moore was home this week.
The ex-Emerald gossip man
whose column was theoretically
read by millions dropped into the
shack to say hello. Having done
that he started talking about S.
J. Perelman. Moore is Perelman’s
No. 1 fan—even if he—Perelman
has as yet not gotten around to
realize the fact.
“Did you know that Perelman
and Ogden Nash have just hit
Broadway with a new musical—
‘One Touch of Venus,’ starring
Mary Martin, and Kenny Baker,
and Paula Lawrence” ? We knew.
“And Perelman is now writing
for the Poost, and have you seen
. , .” while entering the door of
the editor’s office with a good
place to sit down as a psycho
logical motive.
His bellbottoms tolled those
strains of John Donne as he sat
down. He was in a sailor suit
which was blue all over except
for a white T-shirt that really
was once. “Don’t forget that
square knot in the kerchief.”
There was a square knot in his
kerchief.
“Naval training at UCLA is a
much tougher deal than marine
training at USC. Lots of the boys
don't make the grade and head
for San Diego for a change of
climate.” A dull moment here en
sued as the white navy cap,
boxed in front, was shoved into
position at a 38 degree angle
from the darker hairs of the right
eyebrow'. The eyebrow didn't
seem to mind.
“We live in former fraternity
houses—all except us I mean. All
the other kids live on fraternity
row—except us. We stay in a
former girls’ hall on sorority
row. There are 25 men on the
top floor and four wash basins
that work. You start in brushing
teeth—hoping that it’s your
own.”
The navy boys, unlike the ma
rines at USC, have to take cer
tain prescribed courses, unless
they have already taken them.
The study load must total 17
hours.
“The boys at USC have to take
18 hours, Bert.”
“Yeh, but they have a cocktail
bar that moves across the street
on the days when across the
street is out of bounds.”
Westwood, the home of UCLA
and a town which Los Angeles
calls to its all-encompassing
bosom every 10 years, is noted for
its shops. We asked Moore about
the Westwood shops.
“The Westwood shops are
swell. We go in quite often and
finger the ties.” Here the eyes
that have been swamped with
calls from Oshkosh lit up, and
the mouth turned up at ends. It
was almost a smile.
To questions about the Oregon
IT
boys at UCLA: JgT-he boys
getting around. All kinds of bojba
are getting around. There are
75 boys here from Oregon and
75 from Stanford.” He promised
Raymond Lyman Wilbur he'd
put that in.
“Chick Chulupka and Bob
Scott play drums in the navjr
band'. Art Hosfeldt has gotten
special navy permission to dream
about Teddy. Chuck van Atta is
doing a swell job on the football
squad. So’s Frank Smith but he’s
had it tough because he’s play
ing end behind UCLA’s all
coast Herb Weiner.”
The crowning change in Moore,
other than that he shaves now,*
was the wealth of new expres
sions that floated from the
mouth that turns up at ends. ‘‘If
someone’s mad at you,” Moore
explained, “ ‘he has the nose’ at
you. If you get mad ‘you get th£"
beak.’ Whenever something has
been completed and especially if
you have done it-poorly, ‘It’s a
tough one to lose’.”
We asked Bert how he was
getting along down south.
‘‘It’s a tough one to lose.”
1
AVON
EUGENE REPRESENTATIVE
ELIZABETH HAUGEN
Lombardy Lodge — Phone 1024