Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, January 13, 1944, Page 2, Image 2

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Private Bill Hoff’s likes and dis
likes may be just mentioned in
this column—passed over lightly
so to speak. But we would like you
to know from the first that there
is no happy medium for him. He
is a fellow of violent tastes and
unfortunately his most emphatic
views were censored.
Anyone whose favorite book Is
“Language in Action” by Hisa
kowa and who spends his Satur
day evenings studying maps is apt
to be misunderstood. But Bill says
you’ve only to begin Hisakowa
and you can’t stay away. It’s just
the initial effort that’s hard.
Bill Hoff is a native of Milwau
kee, Wisconsin, which may ex
plain why he doesn't feel at home
in a dry state. (He misses the
cheese, too.) But the one thing
that really worries him is why
Oregonians don’t paint their
bams. “Wisconsin has such beau
tiful barns ...”
Hill attended the University of
Wisconsin where he majored in
English. (After the war he in
tends to teach math!) His hobby
is the education of the masses and
it the masses aren’t available, in
dividuals will do. If you think this
sounds like an egotistical quiz kid,
you may be right. Bill coined the
phrase himself.
No interview is complete these
days without asking for an opin
ion of Frank Sinatra. “I swoon,”
Bill says soulfully, “but I prefer
Freddie McGurgle!’’ We are hap
pier now that we know he follows
“Lil’ Abner”, too.
Comes A Pause:
Hate at night, about eight in
the morning, there are the classes,
sttangely enough called “Eight
o’Clocks.” The fog hangs low and
the black of night, combined with
the slick wet pavement, makes the
navigation of the most fog
worthy Webfoot a dangerous and
even quite praiseable feat.
Between the dark, and the dark
light,
And between each Oregon shower,
Comes a pause in the night’s re
piration,
That is known as “the Miserable
Hour.”
The air is brisk-cold in the morn
ing,
And the fog hangs so low that
they say,
“Many students signed up for
these classes,
Blunge in, and lose their way.”
Come one o’clock turn from this
hour,
For nine o’clock’s followed by ten,
And the faces might seem to
brighten,
As their owners wake up about
then.
Oh. those minutes between dark
and dark-light,
Come as regular as reports from
Knox,
And have earned the dank reputa
tion,
As those Eight
O'cloeks.”
By ERVIN WEBB
The first yearbook published by
a military organization on the Un
iversity of Texas campus will
come out in mid-February when
the University Naval ROTC dis
tributes its 70-page annual.
Formal dental education began
in the East 101 years ago, and
nearly thirty years elapsed from
that date until Harvard Univers
ity estabilslied the first university
dental school.
Oregon ^Emerald
MARJORIE M. GOODWIN
EDITOR
ELIZABETH EDMUNDS
BUSINESS MANAGER
MARJORIE YOUNG
Managing Editor
ROSEANN LECKIE
Advertising Manager
ANNE CRAVEN
News Editor
Norris Yates, Joanne Nichols
Associate Editors
EDITORIAL BOARD
Edith Newton
Shirley Steanrs, Executive Secretary
Shaun McDermott, Warren Miller
Army Co-editors
Bob Stiles, Sports Editor
Carol Greening, Betty Ann Stevens,
Co-Women’s Editors
Bill Bindley, Staff Photographer
Carol Cook, Chief Night Editor
Published daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays, and holidays and
6nal examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon.
Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice. Eugene, Oregon.
Announcement that the new series of ASUO forums will
undertake the delicate, controversial subject “Liberal Thought
Must Not Be a War Casualty—What the Oregon Student Can
Do”-—suggests that a stop sign should be put out in plain sight
before these discussions begin.
No doubt plenty of students and faculty members will have
a great deal to say, pro and con, about university’s educational
facilities, outlook, accomplishments, and defeats. So far, so
good. But right there a “stop sign” has to be put up. If students
arc sincere in their desire to talk over what they experience at
Oregon, and they undoubtedly are—they must make sure that
they are getting the right perspective, and incidentally the
answers to their questions.
If this series of forums is going to accomplish anything,
it cannot resemble the Oklahoma land rushes—each horse
drawn carriage waiting for the “ready, set, go!” firing of a gun.
This forum cannot Ire a gripe session where students “get set”
and let loose with anything they think sounds sufficiently
caustic or sensational.
That same warning carries over into the selection, of
speakers. The disappointed office-seeker, the disgruntled in
structor—however interesting his stories may be—is not the
open-minded source of opinion which can help students form
honest conclusions about education at Oregon.
It is extremely important that the fermenting dissatisfac
tions and doubts always present when education is under fire be
taken into intelligent discussion. There are altogether too many
students and faculty members who let off steam, but offer noth
ing constructive.
“Take it easy, get it right . . ” might be a good slogan for
this term’s forums. This should be no land rush into the teach
ing methods at Oregon. This should be no lambasting expose.
This forum, if it fulfills its promise, is a chance to find out why
students are not intellectually curious, why they are dissatisfied.
Having found this out, and having discussed the possible
answers, a “ready, set, go” attitude will be discarded as pretty
silly and incidentally very ineffectual. M. M. G.
—Town Hall—
By AUDREY HOLLIDAY
I'll scoop the editor and tell you that “the views herein ex
pressed are strictly the author’s and may or may not be those of
this paper”.
The student members of the Educational Activities Board
always get the low-down from Air. Robinson, acting ed. act.
mgr., before they go to meeting and get the same low-down
from Dr. Pallett. One afternoon, we fell to informally discuss
ing the question of general student interest—or rather lack of
student interest. It seems that some think 99 and 44-100 per cent
of the students will always act like the proverbial ostrich where
campus interests are concerned and never take to reading the
Emerald (unsolicited plug—ed.) instead of True Romance or
discussing campus problems instead of campus politics. I'm an
optimist and contend that the reason there is no such general
interest is that nobody knows what is going on—exactly.
Take things such as the SAC, ASUO, Ed. Act. Bd., Ath.
13d., (they don't add up to alphabet soup—too thick), add the
honoraries, classes, (there are classes and classes), publications,
campus committees, now throw in the Dean’s office, shake well,
and you’ll get a colloidal suspension with the functions well mix
ed.
Don't get the idea that there is something completely
wrong with each of these. There isn’t: Subsequent columns will
deal with only one subject at a time such as student government,
the coordinating committee, or any one of a dozen problems
that continually arise. Information will be gained from records
Q'elt la QueWie : ^
(Editor's note: The following editorial was contributed by a
member of the Emerald staff.)
Snafued—that seems to be the
general feeling around this cam
pus where morale is concerned,
especially among the coeds. And
how easy it is to say, stoically,
“C’est la guerre.” (It is the war);
how easy to invent excuses like
that for our shortcomings by con
centrating on the material short
ages such as men, butter, and
bobby pins!
So you drag on, lovely picture
of young America, carrying a
couple of torches, bravely plod
ding into your glorious future with
that firm springy step like a P.E.
major and that fine courage in
your eyes and that brave, brave
grin on your pancaked puss. Uh
huh. Drag on, then, aware of the
shortage of men and bobby pins;
never daring to face yourself.
You who reserve your bright
est smile only for influential
people, for men with looks, girls
with clothes; remember your ob
vious gushy friendliness to the
rushees or members of your house
-—and the remarks you made aft
erwards.
Provincial—poor thing, you are
so blind; you are so enmeshed in
following “what is being done”,
saying “what is being said”, wear
ing “what is being worn”—like
a little mole who knows only his
own path in the ground and
thinks that it knows the world.
Weak—no courage, you dare
not see life as it is—you must
camouflage the truth and shrink
from the searching questions
your own mind throws you. You
dare not allow yourself to grow
out and away, to live. Even when,
you want to, you do not have the
courage to be kind, to be tolerant,
to be sincere.
You want to improve your
morale ? Probably you are quite
content to remain where you are,
to exist until you simply exist no
longer. But perhaps you wonder
what is wrong with you, why you
are so bored, so ineffectual.
Try this: develop your aware
ness of Space, of Time, and of
People.
Instead of thinking of yourself
only as and where you are at the
moment, look around and try to
see distances. a clear day,
stand near the Oregon Seal and
look east, past th§ snow-covered
hills of the McKenzie valley where
the timber climbsf into the blue
haze and the majesty of the white
Sisters presides o^r the unseen,
far flung plains beyond, Imagine
the distances thefe; beyond the
Rockies, hundreds! of miles, the
Mississippi flowirig beneath its
ice-rimmed banks, the Great
Lakes, the great!cities, picture
the silhouette iff Manhattan
against the greyl-Atlantic, and
across the waves tljte cliffs of Kftg
land and the smok^and ashes that
is Europe. Don’t light yourself to
a campus, a state^.a nation—you
are a child of the jwhole Earth.
Imagine Time. | Don’t watch
only the clock. Achieve an aware
ness of the time Involved in the
growth of the treesiyou pass on the
way to class, stopj^or a moment
and notice the formation of a bit
of crystal frost oi a brown leaf
on the sidewalk aid discover the
relation between bs brevity and
timelessness of tile, butte in the
distance. On your ijVay to an eight
o’clock in the meaning, look at
the stars and try to conceive the
effectiveness of tin|e as measi^jp.V
by astronomers, f
Then, just for fun, become
aware of people—not in their rela
tionship to you particularly, be
cause you are so prejudiced—look
at them from their own stand
point. Not only the jones you know,
but the faces yqu catch brief
glimpses of, the tshadowy, un
known figures in a passing car,
the personality bejhind some un
familiar name youjdiear mention
ed. Become interested in their
stories, which are as vital and im
portant as your o^n. Try to re
alize " the immense numbers of
people. Realize tha| you are oniy
one small fragment of humanity ■
Practice these things, practice
perceiving and Understanding.
Perhaps, then, youjwill have be
come a little moreHiumble. And
if that word tastes fbitter on> your
lips, remember that your morale
is ill and medicares have that
tendency. You will become a little
more humble, a little closer to
yourself, to others, iand to God.
By MARGUERIlfe WITTWER
and from students at present engaging in the particular activ
ity. *
Without going into detail this time, here are a ffew pertinent
observations: I j „
For instance, there is a Student Affairs Comjnittee; it is
concerned with the welfare of the students; its membership con
sists of two student members and seven faculty members.
Question of the day—Should the title be changed' to Faculty
Interested in Student Afairs ? Seriously, I don’t thinlf a few more
student members would harm the welfare of the Hoard. Dean
Onthank is chairman; the meetings are called by him. Is it
possible to get a petition to the SAC? Positively fyes—if it's
deemed important enough to call a meeting for, and it’s made
certain that the welfare of the students won’t be harmed. I’ll
wager that some of us don’t realize the exact type of thing the
board handles. We never do until we try to revolutionize (hor
rors) things by getting a forty-five minute increase in Sat.-nite
closing hours, with valid reason considering the changed so
cial set-up. Ah well, there are, no doubt, good reasons v^iy
action has not yet taken place on the question. For one, closed
weekends last term ; secondly, no meeting of the boar<f this term.
For the second, I dare say that most of the students'are inter
ested in gaining one o’clock per every Sat. night. Maybe the
libe will stay open, too. Tsk, tsk. More on student-affairs an
other time!
Then, there is the question of these drives. How interested
are you in seeing a system worked out whereby they might be
lumped or at least made to progress with rhyme and reason?
Here’s the type of thing that occurs now: A WSSF drive was in
progress this year sponsored by the Student Religious Council.
The cause is worth-while; last year the University of Oregon
placed lowest among the cost schools in the slight matter of
actua' ontribution. .1 his year a determined effort was mad<^®So
remedy the situation. Right in the middle of the one drive* the
A ar Board sponsored a cigarette drive. Emerald publicity was
naturally divided and both drives were nullified to an extent.
This and similar incidents have made us “drive conscious’’—
we run when we hear the word.