Oregon H herald
ALL-AMERICAN 1946-47
The Oregon Daily Emerald, official publication of tne University of Oregon, published
daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays, and final examination perioas.
Entered as second-class matter at the postomce, Etigene, Ore.
Member of the Associated Collegiate Press
BOB FRAZIER, Editor _ BOB CHAPMAN, Business Manager
BILL YATES JUNE GOETZE, BOBOLEE BROPHY
Managing Editor Co-News Editors
walt McKinney, jeanne simmonds, maryann thielen
Associates to Editor _
WALLY HUNTER
Sports Editor
PHYLLIS KOHLMEIER VIRG .TUCKER
HELEN SHERMAN Advertising Manager
Assistant Managing Editors_
National Advertising Manager.!.ur-.-y."-Manlyn Turner
Circulation Manager .Billi Jean Riethmiller
Editorial Board: Harry Glickman, Johnny Kahananui, Bert Moore, Ted Goodwin, Bill
Stratton, Jack Billings.___
Office Manager ..Marge Huston Foster
Are We Too Young?
At the first of the term it was hinted that the Iowa plan was
‘about to be included in the religion department at the Univer
sity. We thought it was a fine idea. But the plan was suddenly
shelved with a "no action is being taken at present” label from
Dr. P.B. Means, head of the department.
For the benefit of the uninformed, the Iowa plan, originated
in the state of that name, would incorporate three associate
professors of religion, one each from the Catholic, Protestant,
and Jewish faiths into the religion department. A priest, a min
ister, and a rabbi, each specialists in both the science of com
parative religion and in their own respective traditions, would
teach accredited courses in the University.
The benefits of the plan are obvious. Students interested in
the backgrounds and beliefs of their own as well as other re
ligions would be sure of gaining that knowledge from men who
kuo\v their subjects. The average student has some kind of
religion but it is doubtful if he knows more than its basic con
cepts. The same student is very likely to be completely mis
guided about religious organizations through misunderstand
ing and misinformation. The Iowa plan would enable students
to erase old prejudices and gain a fuller understanding of the
functions and beliefs of the three main religious groups.
But the plan has been tabled for the present. The reason:
Lack of faculty support, which is necessary before any new
course can be added to the curriculum. It seems some members
of the faculty feel that the three church* representatives would
become too concerned with the promotion of their own religious
interests. That they would, in other words, be biased and would
influence the students.
In answer, we ask to be shown one professor in this univer
sity who is not biased about the subject he teaches. Each man
has his own beliefs in English literature, art, or religion. Shake
speare, for example, can be interpreted in several ways, and
is by the several professors teaching the course on the campus.
By the time they reach college age, students are supposed to
be intelligent enough to listen to both sides of a question, size
up the matter and cast their lots.
A University serves as a clearing house for ideas. If the
faculty feels it must screen the material given to students, they
are failing in the original aim of education.
We feel the Iowa plan should be taken off the shelf and put
into action before the dust gathers on it. —M.E.T.
A Timely Thought
The untimely deaths of three of the state's top officials calls
to mind the fact that three states have lost their duly elected
governors in the last 12 months. In each case there was a
lesson to be learned.
Georgia’s cat-and-dog fight for the executive mansion grew
out of an inadequate or unclear succession law. The people of
this state licked that a year ago by passing the law that went
into operation yesterday when Governor Hall was sworn in.
Wisconsin has a new governor, because Walter S. Goodland
died in office. Governor Goodland was 84, a factor which might
have been considered before he was even nominated.
Oregon lost three of its top officials because all three of
them flew in a little plane, over some of the roughest country
in the United States, at night. Any of those factors should have
kept them out of the same plane.
The people of a state have an obligation to protect their
chief executive. By the same token the official has an obliga
tion to the stat,e. . , ,
Battle of the Pit
By TOM SWINT
Everyone is talking about the sensational rise in the price of wheat
on the various commodity exchanges. President Truman has denounced
exchange speculators as “gamblers.” Attorney General Tom Clark s
anti-trust division of the department of justice is investigating com
binations in restraint of trade.” Margins in futures trading on the
grain exchange have been raised to one-third of the contract pi ice.
December wheat is quoted at $3.11.
What started this inflationary spiral of one of our basic foods ? Gam
blers? Poor weather conditions? A short supply? Department of ag
riculture reports say our wheat crop is larger than average. The
simple fact is that we are taking a huge slice out for exports to foreign
countries. The government is the agency which buys this wheat.
What is Gambling
It boils down to the fact that the government, acting as an agent
for relief of foreign nations, is in competition with private buyers and
flour mills.- When the president announced his plans, an immediate
shortage of wheat was forseen by producers of wheat-products. Since
1930 we have exported about 10 per cent of the annual wheat crop.
This year we shall export over one-third of the crop. Supply and
demand are functioning normally; those who desire the good most
are bidding up the price. Is it gambling to auction off a washing
machine to the higlfest bidder ?
Add to our increased exports the fact that farmers are holding their
wheat to avoid high taxes. A fair crop of $3 wheat puts even a small
farmer in the higher brackets. Next year they have been promised
lower taxes. Politics has upped the odds in this “ gamble of the grains.”
Speculators Don’t Gamble
We have no argument against relieving the hungry European
nations. But we do resent the remarks the president made against
business men who perform a vital function in our marketing process.
Speculators do not gamble. They create time, place, and possession
utility in the economic sense. In addition they serve as insurance
agents for processors of grains, buyers for farmers and producers, and
stabilizers of prices.
Without speculators, flour-makers would be forced to gamble that
the price of wheat would be the same when their flour was milled and
ready for sale. By hedging, that is selling an amount in future deliv
eries equal to the quantity purchased for immediate use, flour mills
insure against risks of falling prices. Few millers would be willing
to assume this risk in addition to their other risks of fire, theft, de
created demand, and changing consumer habits.
Farmers Use Him
Farmers utilize the speculator as a matter of convenience. Un
necessary costs would arise if a farmer had to shop around for a
miller desiring wheat. He might have to postpone his sales until some
miller wanted wheat. Speculators provide a ready market for sellers
(farmers) and buyers (millers). Is this gambling? Yes, so is fire
insurance. They “betV you $10,000 against your monthly premium that
your home won’t burn down. Gambling can be socially beneficial.
Viewing the president’s accusation in this light, one is reminded of the
Sunday-school teacher who thought playing cards for money was
sinful, but sponsored bingo games to raise money for an organ. It’s
what you do with the money.
Mr. Truman is gambling that our wheat shipments will tide Europe
over; the speculators are gambling that our domestic supply won’t
be sufficient. Fortunately; in America even presidents can apologize.
Powder
Bums
(Editor’s Note: Emerald Colum
nist Rex Gunn today turns his
space over to his wife, Barbara,
who is all hot about the textbook
situation. Rex did this voluntarily.)
By BARBARA GUNN
Nearly everybody has at some
time received a huge gift box,
only to find, after digging through
pounds of tissue and tape, that it
contained some little 10-cent gad
get.
That same feeling must come to
nearly every student and professor
on the campus at least once a year,
after wading through endless pages
in a “padded” text book, only to
find a small core of knowledge,
or none at all.
For Leisure Class
Such reading is all right for peo
ple with plenty of leisure time, but
leisure time is not common among
today’s college students.
There is work to be done, and
students read their textbooks for
information, not entertainment.
But apparently the offending auth
ors don't know this because they
sometimes write their texts to
entertain, rather than to enlighten.
For instance, a cartoon in a
copyediting text shows a man
biting a dog’s tail. The same book
carries a joke about the reporter,
who was told not to forget names,
who wrote about three cows named
Susie, Mary Jane, and Arabella.
No thanks., I’ll take mine
straight.
Some Difficult
Or there’s the "difficult” text
like LaPiere, and Farnsworth's
Social Psychology, where the auth
ors play word games like this:
“The importance of human mo
tivation to social psychology lies
mainly in the fact that the in
tensity of the disequilibrium caused
by any stimulus effects the inten
sity of the organism’s activity.”
The author really meant: “The
(Please turn to page three)
20 Years Ago
(From Emerald Files)
The second of a series of student
recitals was given at the home of
George Hopkins, instructor in
piano. •
On December 5, two University
of Oregon debaters will meet Cam
bridge University of England, in
Eugene, in the third international
meet in the history of the Univer
sity of Oregon.
The first article ever ordered on
the campus now quietly tick-tocks
away on the wall of the combina
tion university depot and post
office.
Billy Reinhart's yearling foot
ball crew took the field against the
highly touted University of Wash
ington freshmen team and sent
the Husky cubs scurrying back to
their northern lairs by a score of
14 to 0. A second squad of Oregon
ducklings defeated Ashland 6 to 0.
Oregon’s varsity lost to Stanford.
YWCA Committee
Sets Food Speech
Mrs. Chase Going Woodhouse,
executive director of the women’s
division, Democratic national com
mittee, has been scheduled to speak
on "Food or Famine” at an open
meeting of the public affairs com
mittee of the YWCA in Gerlinger
hall, November 5 from 4 to 5 p. m.
Former teacher, congresswoman,
and president of women voters’
clubs, Mrs. Woodhouse is being
sponsored by the Portland league
of women voters. Townspeople and
| students are invited. _
- the Short & thet^l
"T belongs*
... as the Army
*•)
song goes
Or just about
every man-jack of
you, veterans, pea
green freshmen
and all, will ap
^ predate the color
ful fall assort
| ment of •
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