Oregon W Emerald JMARGUERITE WITTWER-WRIGHT Editor GEORGE PEGG Business Manager JACK Li. BILLINGS Managing Editor MARYANN THIELEN and WALT MCKINNEY Assistant Managing Editors HERB PENNY News Editor BOBOLEE BROPHY and BRUCE BISHOP Assistant News Editors JEANNE SIMMONDS Women’s Editor PAT THOMPSON Executive Secretary JUNE GOETZE Assistant Women’s Editor BOBBIE FULMER Advertising Manager EDITORIAL BOARD Tom Kay, Byron Mayo, Bea King, Billie Johns Faculty Adviser—Dean George Turnbull ' Published Daily except Sundays, Mondays, holidays, and during the final exam periods, by the Associated Students, University of Ore gon Entered as second class ihatter at the postoffice, Eugene, Oregon. ASUO Headaches The ISA petition to the ASUO executive council concerning establishment of more than one polling place and suggesting that two days be set aside for voting is only the beginning. There are many other—and related—problems which the heads of student government will have to face this year. Among them are two which should be brought to the fore and discussed this term so that, if need be, they may be placed on the ballot at the freshman elections winter term. Voting Systems First is the preferential voting system. There is no valid reason why this outmoded, clumsy and confusing system should be retained. The only reason for its adoption was to insure an equal number of Greeks and Independents holding student offices. As the Gil Roberts incident—trivial in itself—has proven, the preferential voting system does not insure anything. An Independent, once elected, is still free to pledge a Greek organi zation and change his political loyalties thereby. Furthermore, as shown by last year’s election, the preferential system may actually be deterimental to good student government in that it does not insure election of a candidate with the majority of votes. Tt is the conviction of this newspaper that an individual of the caliber indispensable to good government should be elected to a suitable position by majority vote regardless of his political affil iation. There has been a great deal of hue and cry about the over emphasis of party politics on this campus. The preferential sys tem and its stated objective only adds fuel to the blaze. It is therefore suggested that the executive council begin im mediately to discuss adoption of the best posisble alternative to the preferential system : the Australian ballot. With this system each party would make up a slate of candidates, one candidate for each position to be filled. In addition, at the nominating assembly, any other eligible student may be nominated from the floor for any position. Voters should then be prevailed upon to elect whichever candidate seems best qualified. Tf, just once, students would exercise their democratic privi lege of voting by the authority of their own judgment, instead of following blindly the coercive dictates of their political “leaders,” it may be possible that a really efficient and capable student gov ernment would evolve. Strange as it may seem, it is possible for an individual affil iated with a party to think and act impartially once he has been elected—Exhibit A: Senator Wayne Morse; Exhibit B: Tom Kay. Student Congress The second hone of contention at present is the proposed stu dent congress form of government, eliminating the present execu tive council. The student congress plan was the platform on which Kd Allen was elected to the ASUO presidency in 1945. As a rav of hope to those who believed in a representative govern ment. this platform was one of the most ingenious devices possible. Fortunately for Allen’s record, he did attempt to make the student congress an actuality. However, for reasons which will be enumerated later when the matter comes up for discussion again, the plan fell very, very flat. At thg special election last March only 25 percent of the student body turned out to vote: tabulations showed a 9 to 1 majority in favor of the student con gress, but the vote was not considered representative of the student body as a whole. In May, 1946, “continued strong support for the proposed stuednt congress” was one of the platform planks on which Tom Kav was elected to office. Eventually, Kay will have to bring the matter up again. Designed primarily to reap the Independent vote in 1945, this student congress plan may, in 1947, prove to be the end of the bloc politics which are responsible for most of the alleged corruption pn this campus. If so, the Gotterdamerung looms on the horizon i~-and it is an issue which cannot be avoided. Progress Report A commendation for the ASUO executive council. At yester day’s meeting, council members unanimously approved, with only slight changes, a majority of the proposals submitted by Howard Lemons, ISA president, and printed in yesterday’s Emerald. It was resolved, in effect, that three polling places would be established. Though as yet unofficial, it is presumed that Mc Arthur court, the library and the YMCA building will soon be named as voting sites. At present, members of the council are ascertaining the feasibility of poll placement in the above-named places. The ISA proposal, asking for a voting period of two days, was not accepted by the council, and justifiably so. It is quite probable that such a plan would not be approved by the student affairs committee, on the logical grounds that'students would "tie up” campus affairs in the libe, Igloo and YMCA for an unnecessary period of time. Two other acceptances, those of requiring educational activity card identification, and establishing a supervisory committee at each polling place, displayed a sincere desire on the part of council members, to make voting, on the whole, a much easier and simpler proposition. This is the first major decision to originate with the student’s elected inner council. It evinces belief in the impartiality of the executive group as a body. It proves that students, regardless of individual political beliefs, can work together for the common welfare when questions of interest to all arise. Naturally members of fraternities and sororities, at least those members with any political interests, inclinations or aspirations, will question this council move, as to its probable consequences on election day. These people may assume that the proposals were suggested only to simplify voting for a previously un-inter ested Independent mass. Such platitudinous thought is incorrectly applied to the coun cil’s decision. By winter term of this year the University expects an enrollment approaching 6,200 students. The ratio between Greeks and Independents will reach almost 5 to 1. It is obvious that a strong Independent party need not worry about numer ical strength. What has been forgotten is that the odd five thousand Inde pendent students will constitute a majority. Never forget: any and all democracies operate under MAJORITY rule. It is to put polling places within the reach of ALL students that this resolu tion has been adopted. It is to insure that everyone will be allowed to vote, unhampered by space or time restrictions that this body of elected students has acted; as only a popularly chosen execu tive branch in a free social system can. ♦ ♦ ♦ (going, (going In re the letter printed elsewhere on this page about women smoking on the campus: There is no rule now in effect prohibiting women from smok ing on the campus, according to the dean of women’s office. How ever, many sororities forbid their members to smoke on the streets, and somehow those house rules seem to have grown into a time-honored Univeristy tradition. Seldom does one see a sweet young thing striding down Thirteenth street trailing a cloud of cigarette smoke. For no apparent reason, the coeds cluster on the steps of buildings and in the co-op to light their weeds in the between-class break. Now there are traditions and traditions. Some, like painting the “O” seem reasonable. Others, like smoking taboos, are 19th century. We can see no great ethical or moral principle involved here. If a woman smokes, the place where she smokes does not alter the fact that she smokes. So, after due deliberation and much deep thought, we feel that Mr. Frazier has a point. This is, after all, 1946. Some traditions eventually must go, alack. Let's drop this one as gently and quickly as possible. Telling the Editor To the Editor: America’s odd little folkways may serve a useful purpose in some communities, and doubtless some of them do on the Oregon campus. But there is one that is a pain in the neck. I have reference to the old so cial restriction against women smoking on the campus. Anyone \vho drops in to the Co op between morning classes to buy a pack of butts is forced to shove his way through a solid mass of smoking women. And I do mean smoking women. It appears a goodly portion of the coeds on the campus duck into the Co-op for their between-classes smoke. Men students smoke as they go, and Homecoming committees to the contrary, will doubtless contin ue to do so for beaucoup many moons. Granted that we need a stu dent union building so a girl can have a sheltered smoke, the fact re mains that we haven’t. Why don’t we get on the ball and remove this social restriction. Let women smoke on the campus. Let the Co-op be used by people whc want to buy a pack of butts. —Bob Frazier LOST Rubber bulb and tube for view camera, and 5”x7” film holder Call Bell Studio 442 Ifenity [ Fare Oh where, oh where, has our cof fee pot lid gone, is the mournful wail that greets passersby of the Sigma Kappa house these days. The housemother has searched the house over for it to no avail. Now she's waiting to see if any of the girls be come ill as she is afraid one of them swallowed it. The morning meal hasn’t been the same since. Sorrow reigns and people speak in hushed whispers for what is a coffee pot without a lid ? Come the Dawn We dislike to see a determined man weaken but Dick (I’m no easy mark) Stoinoff, ATO, finally un loaded the brass on Pete McNott, Al-Fee. It wasn’t a hasty step either for the lad squired the girl around for almost a year before he realized! that maybe the girl wasn’t after ins money after all. Newsome Twosome Another on the campus with a new gleam on her sweater is Anna belle (I’m everybody’s buddy but my name isn’t Smokey) McArthur. The male interest is supplied by Beta, Jack McAuliff. Taking roots this summer the romance blos somed out this term when the boy took on the job of dealing them off the elbow at the GamFi house across the street. Northbound Could be that the Betas at OSC tell funny stories or that she is a spy for Tex Oliver as DeeGee, Au drey Wood, checks in at Corvallis every weekend. Another boy who loses no time in burning up 99-E every Saturday is Jack Meeke, K-Sig. Object of all this searing passion is Shirley Ol son, Kappa at OSC. liig L»eai Through a highly special pur chase from the Federal government^ the Sig-Eps are fortunate in pos sessing the latest in campus casual coats—marine camouflage jackets. From the jungles of New .Guinea to the cemetery of Oregon, they have proven their indispensability. San Francisco had one of the worst traffic jams in the city’s his tory recently when Nancy (Give me my telescope) Wortman who had never driven anything but fluid drive was turned loose in a gear shift model. It’s Your Move Next For those of you who are a bit behind in following the adventures of Lil Marilyn Stratton, Dee-Gee, she is now once more pinned to Ox Wilson, ATO. What we would like to know is-—who is playing games with who ? Apron Strings Here’s a lad who is really tied down: Seen listening to the Cal. game over the radio last Saturday were K-Sig Bill Barish and Kappa Liz Powers. Bill was planning on taking the trip south to see the (Please turn to page seven) Be proud of those Campus "snaps" you send home ☆ y Exceptional Developing and Printing ☆ 1 ' For better pictures every time »« wtitshPteH YOUR KODAK DEALER Next to the RegisterGuard