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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1947)
MARGUERITE WITTWER-WRIGHT Editor JACK L. BILLINGS Managing Editor MARYANN TIIIELEN and walt McKinney Assistant Managing Editors BOBOLEE BROPHY and JUNE GOETZE Assistant News Editors GEORGE PEGG Business Manager BILL YATES News Editor JEANNE S1MMONDS Feature Editor DOUG EDEN Advertising Manager BERNIE HAMMERBECK Sports Editor BILL 'STRATTON, WALLY HUNTER Assistant Sports Editors DON JONES Staff Photographer DICK BYFIELD Chief Copy Desk Editor Beth Basler, Leonard Bergstrom, Bettye Jo Bledsoe, Hugh Davies, Diana Dye, Ruth Eades, Virginia Fletcher, Lejeune Griffith, John Jenson, Donna Kletzing, Dick Laird, June Mc Connell, Kathleen Mullarky, Barbara Murphy, Laura Olson, Joan O’Neill, Nancy Peterson, Marjorie Rambo, Katherine Richardson, Adelaide Schooler, Helen Sherman, Jackie Tetz, Gloria Tatarico, Wally Waller, Hans Wold. _ MEMBER--ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS ASSOCIATED PRESS WIRE SERVICE Signed editorial features and columns in the Emerald reflect the opinions of the writers. They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the editorial staff, the student body, or the University. ‘ , _ _ _ Entered as second class matter at the postoffice, Eugene, Oregon. Beauty Hits the Spot Freshman Aileen Slattery has come up with a highly intelli gent approach to the never closed issue of grades. (Emerald, Thursday). While not entirely new, her ideas sound reasonable enough to merit further comment. The present University system for measuring scholarship accomplishment and the one most widely used by other com parable schools is the five unit, A, B, C, D, and F device. Sev eral reasons are given for this system: 1. All the Oregon high schools use it. 2. Most*schools to which or from which Oregon students transfer also use it. 3. Practically every honorary and activity on the campus bases its selection to some extent on the grade system. All these functions could be served by converting over to the grade point equivalent of the current system with only a slight increase in clerical work. Under Miss Slattery's proposed plan, the instructor Would simply submit a grade of 2.5 for a C plus student, a 1.5 for a C minus student with all the vary ing shades of plus or minus expressed in terms of decimal points. If'we stipulate that we must have a system of grades, and apparently the University has not yet come sufficiently of age to outgrow them entirely, this decimal method would have certain advantages. Faculty members could give each student a grade more closely related to the actual work done in the course. No longer would the instructor have to worry about having to drop a good B minus student down to the C level or crowd the marginal D minus student into the flunk column and cut him off with no credit at all. However, C. E. Avery, registrar, and Clifford Constance, assistant, both observe that grades at best are imprecise and unscientific and hold that to make more precise the imprecise can accomplish little. They feel that to further complicate an inaccurate measure makes it only more inaccurate. Dr. Smith of the geology department favors some way to more adequately measure education than the present tendency to put pressure on students to make grades. He points to the fact that in points, an hour of A in handball is worth as much as an hour of A in philosophy. At. Chicago, and most European universities, they don’t see it quite that way. The stu dent is either educated or he is not. Their means of determina tion involve examining boards of highly trained experts who scrutinize candidates for degrees. (This question will be considered further in a series of edi torials on grades.) Noblesse Oblige There have always been persons less fortunate than others, either economically, physically, socially, or mentally. There has been no convincing evidence up to date that would make obso lete the biblical observation, "the poor ye have always with you." in the days before organized relief for unfortunate indi viduals the members of the aristocratic classes recognized that responsibility was an integral part of superiority. This sense ot noblesse oblige, the obligation of the nobility to care for their people, can be interpreted in the sense that those indi viduals blessed with good health, superior intellects, economic and social success are morally obligated to help their inferiors. Today the prevailing attitude seems to be that "whatever I've got 1 got for myself, and if the other fellow hasn't got it, that's just tough." It should be self-evident that such things as good health are often not attained through personal effort. Infantile paralysis can strike anyone, anytime, through no fault of their own. And when we contribute to the March of Dimes we usually do so out of pity, not realizing that we who were spared are obligated to help those who are not. On the campus it seems that we contribute chiefly because there is an additional incentive. . We contribute because we may win a cup for the house. This is a negative attitude. We do not criticize the March of Dimes committee. They were realistic enough to know that any sense of obligation could be depended upon; therefore they award cups. We are a little sorry for those persons, however, who will flip a nickel in the kitty at the Dimes Hop tonight, only because it may mean another useless tin jug on a mantlepiece. . _ . .-!•? ..w „_!_ Telling thk Editor ABOUT THE EMERALD Thanks for your letter and the clippings of Emerald editorials anent campus censorship which re veal that journalism students, thank God, are just as belligerent and watchful today as they ever were. The editorial “Penny-Ante Censor ship” in The Oregonian was nostal gic as well as timely. I have not been out so long (1928) that I can’t recall similar instances of peanut pressures in the world within a world. It looks as if you and your staff are competent to deal with them. Let me know if I can be of assistance. Herbert Lundy, Oregonian Associate Editor ABOUT “EMANCIPATION” My sincere congratulations on your fine editorial on "Emancipa tion” of January 21. Such an attitude as presented by college students cannot help but jar the lethargic attitude of those of us on and off the campus into a more active thought against racial prejudice. Too mapy of us can look with dis gust and revulsion upon the Bilbos and the Talmadges of the country and the course they represent, but on the other hand will consider an active fight waged for "amancipa tion” of the minority as Utopian and ‘‘for the other follow.” Paraphrasing Margaret Halsey, we will hotly declare that “Some of my best friends are Jews . . and let it go at that. Such an atti tude can only be that of a “little Bilbo in-a-white-shirt” and it is in finitely more detrimental to an ac tive fight against racial discrimina tion than any or all of the advocates of the “white supremacy” factions that exist. Elwin J. Ireland, Oregon ‘37, Molalla, Oregon ABOUT JIM CROW I have received a copy of your Emerald dated January 14. I was particularly attracted by your edi torial “Not Wanted: Jim Crow." May I take this opportunity to com mend' you for this honest, forth right and courageous statement. I should like to obtain fifty cop ies of this issue, or as many as are available_Many Portland organ izations interested in the problem discussed in the issue. Edwin C. Berry, Executive Secretary, Urban League of Portland. OF ALL. THINGS! By LEJEUNE GRIFFITH Beche le Mar — An Interesting evening can be spent by those who enjoy language studies reading Her man’s Manual of Foreign Dialects. One of the most amusing sections concerns Beche le-Mar, or Sandal wood Pidgin, which'is spoken in the South Sea and othepPacifie islands, Beche le Mar resembles Chinese Pidgin to a great extent, but there are several chief changes—one of them being the addition of “urn" to verbs in Beche le Mar, as “scratch um,” “eatum,” “walkum.” Another difference is the use of “fella” which is attached as a modifier of people and inanimate objects, as “this feljt, la bone him olo.” (This bone is old.) “Kai-kai” Is used for “food” or “to eat.” “Waste-time” is used as an epithet and does not necessar ily imply a time element, as “Him waste-time, that fella.” (He’s a no-good bum.) Other sentences, a la Beche le Mar, are: “What name you want along me?” (Why do you want me ?) “White fella man die all fin ish.” (The white' man is dead.) “Him no catch’m mary (woman) along two fella year.” (He was un married for two years.) “You kai kai bullamacow, pisoup, apple alto gether.” (You ate the meat, the canned food, and the apples.) “Me been walk about* long way bit be fore.” (I walked a long distance for some time.) Perfume is referred to as “wa ter belong stink”; an onion is “ap ple belong stink”; and a piano, “big fella bokkis, you fight’m him cry.” * * * Attention gourmets — An 1890 (Please turn to page seven) A Short and White To be the most ver satile coat in your wardrobe . . . you’ll toss it over skirts and suits by day, over evening and date dresses by night.