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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1948)
Oregon W Emerald ALL-AMERICAN 1946-47 The Oregon Daily Emerald, official publication of the University of Oregon, published daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays, and final examination periods. Entered as second-class matter at the postomce, Eugene, Ore. Member of the Associated Collegiate Press BOB FRAZIER, Editor BOB CHAPMAN, Business Manager BILL YATES Managing Editor JUNE GOETZE, BOBOLEE BROPHY Co-News Editors DON FAIR Co-Sports Editor FRED TAYLOR Keep It Clean, Boys The Rubicon has been crossed. The lines have been drawn. The fat is in the fire. The third party is a reality. Basically the third party idea is good. Its aim is to reshape campus politics into something a little more realistic than the old Greek-Independent split which does nothing but ac centuate class distinction on the campus. Ostensibly the third party will try to put the best man into office—regardless of where he lives. That’s all very fine. But there are pitfalls. The way is not easy, and temptation lurks in every smoke-filled room. Fortunately for the future—and probably for the purity—of the United Students’ association, the keystone of the party must be the body of independent students who are not party regulars. This is the group that is suspicious of smoke-filled rooms of intrigue, of meetings in the wee hours> of mutual back-scratching compacts, of passing the offices around, of big deals. This is the group that beams its voice to the indiv idual student, to the student who might take advantage of the secret ballot and vote according to his conscience. The independent group—and many of the party leaders are of this stripe—are unstable politically. They are for good government. They are the purity boys, who are causing them selves a lot of trouble to make reality out of an ideal. They have no party loyalty save to the principles of good govern ment. If the USA degenerates into a “little Greek bloc,” or if the “sour grapes” complaint is the only thing holding the group together, these independents will be the first to call down a plague on the new house as well as on the old ones. It is a debatable point, but there is good reason to believe that the partv had to be conceived in secrecy, that a certain amount of cloak and dagger business had to accompany the labor pains of bringing this new party into the world. But now if the leadership is courageous—and if the membership is courageous—there should be no reason for whispered 'meeting places, for the black arts that have so long been as sociated with the frost that has been known as campus politics. Probably the founding fathers were a little stupid—polit ically, of course—in not inviting some campus leaders to the launching. They probably showed just as poor judgment by asking a few people who are poison in the world of campus politics.. But the party will have to live that down. It was strictly a jerry-built affair. Saturday noon there was virtually no or ganization. By midnight Monday the group had fielded a full slate of candidates, and had filed petitions and eligibility slips for them. The wonder is that there were not more errors than there were. The USA has two obvious things to offer: It can emphasize the view that "we don’t hate Greeks, and we don’t regard Independents as untouchables.” It can point to the folly of choosing student-body officers because of their jewelry or the houses in which they live. They can point to the evils of the rotation system as it is espoused (but not car ried out) by the ASA. The USA can stand on the bizarre prin ciple of “The best man for the job.” The other attraction the USA can—and should— offer is the Wilsonian principle of “open covenants openly arrived at.” If the big boys from the millrace want to come to their meet ings, and to speak their minds along with the ISA’s "senators, and the supporters of the new party, they should be free to do so. Nobody should be barred because he does or does not belong to a certain group or group of groups. Nobody should be kept out because he can’t speak for the house in which he lives. If he can speak for himself alone, he should be welcomed into the fold. The biggest obstacle tnat laces me l o.-v is me cuiu icai r in the hearts of many well-meaning Greeks who are scared to death of what their houses might think. There seems to be a "bloc psychosis” rampant on the campus. All the "big" houses, manv of the "middle houses, and some of the little houses seem to be in mortal terror of the wrath of the bloc. Thus many members who might subscribe to the purity party are afraid to show up because, they fear, it might reflect badly upon the house, which would then be in the bad books of the bloc. This is an unfortunate attitude on the part of living, breath A New Day Dawns With the installation of three Typeomatic rental typewriters in the library for the use of students, the pay-and-serve-your self machine era moves into a new stage. Students can now type notes, write home to the folks, or fill whole pages with “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog for the nominal fee of 10 cents for 30 minutes typing time. An inter esting point is that with this type of pay machine, the value received depends on the skill of the operator,^something new for service machines but long established in the entertainment type such as pin ball, one-armed bandit, and slot machines. An ameteur typist plugging along at 25 words per minute would total only about 750 words during his 30 minute spell whereas an experienced typist clipping along at 80 w.p.m. would av erage about 2400 words, or more than double the amount for the same price. Obviously we are on the threslihold of a new era. Up until now the pay machines have all given the same amount of service at the same price to every user. A nickle will bring one and only one coke to every person who puts a coin in the slot. The same goes for candy bars. A dime in a Bendix will wash 10 pounds maximum of clothes for any body and 25 cents will furnish 45 minutes of hot air to dry (milady’s hair. All of these services have been regulated so that Joe won’t get more than Smo for his nickel. Then along comes the Tyeomatic rental typewriters threatening to upset our coin-deposit existence. Gone are the happy-go-lucky days of equal distribution. Back to the old grind of beating out the next guy—see how many more words you can get typed in 30 minutes than he can. Enter class distinction between the slow and the rapid typists. Enter feelings of frustration and inferiority in this formerly safe little mechanical world. Wait until Henry Wallace hears about this. In the meantime we draw the inevitable moral: Everyone should learn how to type.—M.E.T. Nominating Assembly? “Nominating assembly? Oh yes, a delegation from our house always goes, but it doesn’t mean much.” “Nominating assembly? Yeah, a constitutional necessity, but it's not worth the time. Nothing ever happens.” “Nominating assembly? Might produce a little food for thought in a coalition year.” According to the ASUO constitution, an assembly at which nominations from the floor are solicited must be held five days before election, but students haven’t taken the assemblies too seriously for several years. Actually, the assemblies haven’t of fered too much of interest, since the constitution further states that petitions must be submitted to the ASUO president a few days before the asembly. But this year things may be dif ferent. True, no secret names may be pulled out of the hat at the assembly in a dramatic 11th hour stand. But surprises may be forthcoming in the campaign platforms, the policies, find the personalities of the candidates. The ASA, traditionally, has stood for “better student gov ernment, better Oregon Federation contacts, and better Greek Independent relations.” The ISA, traditionally, has stood for “more representative student government, more adequate Oregon public relations, and better Independent-Greek re lations.” The USA (United Students association) is new, un tried. They have the disadvantage of no traditional back ground, and the advantage of enthusiastic suddenness. Their platform is newly announced and as yet untested. They may have something to say. uecause me asa ana icsw nave oeen tnreatenea oy a new party with a catchword name, they will have to parry thrusts with opposition with which they are unfamiliar. They’ll have to think fast, on their feet, to present something affirmative, powerful, and vote-getting at the nominating asembly to morrow night. The USA, composed of a number of Greeks and several In dependents, is ambitious. Without a doubt, they will an nounce the justification for the new party at tomorrow's meeting. For the first time in years, the nominating assembly, open to all students, will probably produce something startling, worthwhile, interesting, and advantageous to genuine dem ocratic government.—J.B.S. ing college students, most of whom have the ability to read and reason. A careful look at the figures from Monday’s bloc meeting would indicate to the reading, reasoning Greek that the bloc is pretty shakey, that the “little" houses came within four votes of upsetting all the best-laid plans. Resolute action on the part of a house is more likely to be contagious than it is to be suicidal. If enough individuals act courageously, there should be no cause to worry about getting the house in bad with the big boys. The new party has to be composed of persons who come with the courage of their honest convictions. It must be a party of persons of that calibre. There is not room for the other kind. There is too great a demand for them elsewhere. Dean Returns From Meeting P. B. Jacobson, dean of the edu cation school, returned to the cam pus Sunday after attending the West Coast regional conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organiza tion. The conference drew some 3,000 delegates from seven western states, Hawaii and Alaska and aid ed in the dissemination of informa tion concerning UNESCO projects, according to Jacobson. Principal speakers at the meet ing were George Allen, assistant secretary of state in charge of the “Voice of America” programs; Dr. Vera Dean, director of research for the foreign policy association; Er win Dain Canham, editor of the Christian Science Monitor; George V. Stoddard, president ntThe Uni versity of Illinois; and Margaret Mead, author and anthropologist. $ New Press Head Drawn to Oregon Fred A. Beard, newly-appointed superintendent of the . University press, has had a yen for the Oregon country ever since he got hold of an obscure volume called “The Ore gon Book” back in hiip schoolboy days in Iowa. He says today that he doesn’t remember rftuch- of the story, but that the pictures of the great Northwest stayed 'Vith him, along with a secret desifie to hit the Oregon trail. This week Beard was standing amid the grinding presses, type cases and stone tables of the Uni versity press talking with Robert C. Hall, whose duties as superin tendent of the University press he will assume July 1 when Hall re tires. He is moving to Oregon from his Chicago home where he'was super intendent of the University of Chi cago press. Earlier he was business manager for the Good News Pub lishers and superintendent of the Moody Bible press. His wife and two children, now in Chicago, will join him at Eugene next_July. A mid-westerner, educated at Des Moines university, Beard got his first glimpse of the Pacific Northwest when he flew back for a brief conference with University officials last December. Beard believes that the Univer sity press came through the war in remarkably good shape and he will shortly make a survey of plant equipment and output. His policy, upon assuming the job of superin tendent, will be to continue the present methods of operation until he is thoroughly familiar with them and then make any changes he thinks are needed. Pietschmann to Run Jantzen Picnic A1 Pietschman, sophomore in business administration, will plan this year’s University of Oregon picnic at Jantzen Beach park at Portland. Les Anderson, alumni secretary, announced the appoint ment yesterday. Sponsored annually by the Ore gon Federation, the picnic will be the second or third week in Aug ust, according to Anderson. It is held for alumni, present and prospective students, Oregon Moth ers and Dads. Last year, about 4000 attended. Pietschman has worked on all campus publications and writes a column for the Emerald. He has also been on committees for other University activities. Minnesota now has 42 per cent fewer horses than the 10-year pe riod average of 597,000 during 1937-46.