Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free.—John 8:32 The Golden Road? Today’s opening1 kickoff on Hayward field ushers in what promises to be a highly interesting football season for \\ ebfoot fans. Seldom, if ever, has pre-season enthusiasm for an Oregon football team been greater. Confidence in Coach Jim Aiken and his ability to produce a “winner” has reached a pitch unrivaled perhaps by any coach in University history. Certainly, not since the days of Prink Calli son and his Pacific Coast Co-Champions of 1933 has an Oregon team been rated so high by pre-season, forecasters. While most experts concede a slight advantage to the Golden P>ears of Cali fornia and the University of Southern Cailofrnia Trojans, all seem agreed that the Ducks' chances of ending on top of the pacific Coast Conference heap this year are excellent. As if these rosy prospects are not enough to make even the most hard-shelled University of Oregon fans rejoice, sooth sayers writing in two national magazines, Look and the Saturday Kvcning Post, have recently revealed that at least three \V ebfoot aces—Norm Van Brocklin, Don Stanton, Dan Garza—bear watching as front runners in the race for All-American honors this year. The tost today with Santa tsarnara is ciasseci lecmucauy as a ‘Svarin-up” game. It is doubtful, though, if Jim Aiken will let his charges forgot that just two years ago another Oregon football team opened the season on Hayward field with a “warm-up” against the College of Pacific. Disaster was narrowly averted that dav by a sure-footed point-after-touchdown kick which en abled the team—coached then by Gerald “Tex” Oliver—to sneak by with a close seven to six win. To anyone fearng a similar fate for the Webfoots this afternoon, it should be said that gruelling practice sessions the past several weeks offer tangible proof that Jim Aiken is not considering lightly the Gauchos from Santa Barbara. If all goes well today, however, fans should get a chance to see most members of this year’s team in action. It seem unnecessary here to parade forth those worn cliches about school spirit and the need for long, lusty cheers for “the boys.” Surely, no one who followed last year’s season has missed : the fact that an Aiken-coached team, wK’e winning or losing, ; is well-drilled, hard-fighting, and deserving of all the support a loyal audience can muster. The Emerald joins with the student body and the alumni in extending to Jim Aiken and the members of his 1948 team best wishes for a successful campaign this year. Already their fame has spread over the land, bringing much honor and credit to the ; school they represent. Because of them Oregon spirit has reached 1 an all-time high. Co-op Battles Inflation When enough drops fall in the bucket, the bucket will soon fill up. That's why we look with pleasure at the Co-op’s rock bottom cigarette prices. A saving of two to three cents on each pack will mount up to quite a figure in a year’s time. Cigarettes are selling at the Co-op for 15 cents a pack, $1.46 a carton, while at many stores and restaurants they range in price from lb to 20 cents a pack for popular brands and corresponding sums for a carton. The Co-op pulls in very little profit when it maintains these prices, for the wholesale figures are only slightly below the sales price it has established, and handling costs, too, must be considered. Then, the University store gives a patronage refund to members at the end of every year. If every purchaser were to | claim his refund, and if that refund were ten per cent as it was last year, the Co-op would not only make no profit, but would i actuallv lose about a penny on each pack of cigarettes sold, and j approximately seven cents on “weeds” sold by the carton. The Co-op maintains these prices as a good will measure ! toward the students, a solid proportion of whom have taken j cigarette ads criously enough to develp the "vice,” and so in this respect, we doff our hat to the Co-op. Consideration of the patron and not the profit is a rare thing today.B.IT. The Orkoox Daii v Km krai.n. published daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays. holida's. and final examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon. Subscription rates: $2.00 per tern and $4.00 per year. Entered as second-class matter a.t the postoffice, Eugene, Oregon. ini.r, > 1 loll 1 i’ATKS. Kilitor 'air. Managing K-Sf>ort< Editors .Yinita Howard. Women’s Editor Doji Smith. Assistant Managing Editor Evelyn Xill. Anita Holmes Assistant News Editors Phyllis Kohlmeier, Helen Sherman Editorial Secretaries -Musing Colvmnist Decries Vse of V's For U's; Fearsrof New Bvildings By BILL WASMANN Some years ago an American newspaper editorialized against this sort of thing gracing the fa cades of pvblic bvildings: Vnited States Post Office, Vniontown, Vtah. With all the bvilding that is going on on the campvs, we shovld like to pick it vp there. Another year may be too late. First of all, we are not by any method condemning Roman cvl ture, for it is this cvltvre that gave vs a beavtiful old langvage filled with svch phonetic gems as “ossicvlotomy” and a nea-Roman American verbal covsin, “pvg nose.” We believe, however, that there is an American cvltvre and that it should be preserved in every possible way, otherwise, two or three thovsand years from now scholars and civilizations will think of vs as a bvunch of cvltvral parasites whose only claim to fame was the introdvction of a fovr-wheeled model A chariot and the concentration of most of the world’s gold into a single hole in the grovnd rather than into many holes in the grovnd. Again, we are not by any meth od svggesting that other cvltvres shovld be barred from becoming a part of the American cvltvre. What we are svggesting is that everything has its proper place and that when yov mvddle with something that is as established as ovr alphabet, it is time to call an abrvpt halt, to take inventory, otherwise, ovr coming generation will grow vp to be nevrotics. This wovld seem to be the logical con clvsion if yov stop to consider the emotional nvdge a conventionally trained child wovld get if he per sved something of this sort: “Bvgs Bvnny, a Hare in Vacvvm Vniversity.” The time to call a halt is now, particularly on this campvs with all of its bvilding activity, other wise, one day we’ll all wake vp to behold a stvdent vnion bvilding, Vniversitas Oregonensis, rather than just a student union build ing. -Book Review 1860 Birth of Red Peri! Revealed By Aldanov's Latest Social Novel “BEFORE THE DELUGE," Mark Aldanov ($3.50) Charlres Scribner’s Sons. Communism, congressional in vestigations, the Berlin dilemma, communism, war, communism— you can't escape this issue. With passing months, communism has become the major topic of conver IN RETROSPECT -From Our Files 30 YEARS AGO October 5, 1928 issue of the Em erald ran an editorial saying in part: “Even the lurking suspicion that Oregon might have an infe rior team to the highly-touted Stanfordites did not seem to dam pen the eagerness of the assem bled mob." The McDonald theater adver tised a “Spicy . . . New Show To day” starring Colleen Moore. The ad read: “Colleen (is) a charming lady bootlegger, Stranded for a night. (She) hides in pink pajamas And goes dashing all afright Into this bachelor’s great big arms. And maybe she's not right?” A page one editorial discussing registration reads: “The move to McArthur court this year was a step in the right direction , . . the probess was speeded up de spite the addition of more cards to be filled out and more red tape to go through ... if the faculty members were to move their quarters into the outer hall of McArthur court for the registra tion period and arrange their class rolls there, the average student would be duly grateful . . .” Styles of the Times: “In all col leges, the starched collar was found to be so nearly universal that it appears to constitute al most a uniform. The students have reverted from the “slouchy” col lege tendency of recent years to tidiness and care in dress that is surprising.” In a straw vote held by the Em erald, Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover won by a three-fifths majority. sation. To talk intelligently, you need background. Many of us think of communism as a Russian event of 1917. Mark Aldanov’s “Before the Deluge” not only tells of communism in the 1860’s, it sounds frightening ly like the world today. In the pe riod from 1860-1880, the world’s scare was “nihilism,” unrest and terror spreading over both Europe and Russia. This novel is a pageant of his tory, the story of the Europe of Bismarck, Victor Hugo, Karl Marx and Tsar Alexander II. Rumblings of change and uphea val are sensed in every land; all classes and all people are touched by the new ideas. The central character is the Tsar Alexander, benevolent but damned by the terrorists whose sole aim in life is his death. The leader of the Russian group is Sophie Perovsky. The tactics sound familiar—train wrecking, secret liquidations, terror and op pression. Famous figures are described. There is Karl Marx, with his beard and fanatical eyes, and his sad little wife, Jenny, who wants to like people though her husband hates them. There is the novelist Dostievsky; the singer, Adelina Patti; Victor Hugo; and the ter rorist, Bakunin. Aldanov writes in the tradition of the “Golden Age” of Russian realism (1848-1880) for he spent his youth in its declining days. He has the knack of making a petty tsarist court official sound and act like your next-door neighbor. As a world-known historian, Aldanov’s work is authoritative. Alexander Koiransky, former pro fessor of Russian at U. of O., said, “Aldanov's book could be used as a history text. His facts are al ways accurate and intimate.” If you are tired of “historical novels" with chesty heroines, read “Before the Deluge.” It’s educa tion with a thrill. Iowa scored 193 points against the University of Chicago in a bas ketball game in 1944. That total is a record for the Western Confer ence. "In My /■N • • \\ Opinion -From Our Readers To the Editor: Girls’ rooters lids—a fine idea —for it shows that the girls are as ardent supporters of Oregon’s football team as are the fellows. However—it seems that these rooters’ lids are comparable to bathing suits—the less material the higher price. The fellows get off with 75 cents per “lid”—and we gals get soaked $1.50 per. Also, the fellows wear their lids nearly all the time, but the girls really can wear them only to the three Eugene games. The Port land game is out, since it is tradi tional to dress for it. Thus you might say that we have a 50-cent patriotism charge per game. All in all, I think the idea is fine—the price is too high—and I hope that these girls’ lids are in style for next year too—at a more reasonable price. Signed hesitantly, i Dotty June Sorg P.S. Perhaps part of the price of these girls’ rooters lids goes into some worthy charity like the Erb Memorial Fund ? To the Editor: Near the end of each teerm fol lowing a chaotic registration, the administration begins to hint at a “new system.” Registration for fall term ’48 was no different. The students voiced skepticism, but were confident that any new procedure would be better than the preceding ones. They were right. The “new sys tem” was better. A skeleton for an efficient registration has been built. The instruction sheets were nearly understandable, the itiner ary logical and the people working at the stations were competent and pleasant. All that needs to be done now is to break the bottlenecks. For instance, no rationalizing can make right the tendency of de partments to include in crowded classes those who get their names on the lists first, merely because they were first. The hour of the day, or the day of the week is not the criterion for determining de serving students. A person who signs lists in order to fill his loose schedule should not be allowed to take a seat away from a student who is not only interested in the class, but needs the subject for his field. Fifteen minutes brain-work by any of the many coordinators lurking in the shadows of the reg istration halls would evolve a pri ority system for students. The veterans—about one-half of the total registration—had two booths at the cashier’s section and the regular students signed through four windows. Three girls gave out Student Affairs cards and two peo ple were checking the completed forms—the most tedious job in the whole procedure. There is no excuse for lines in registration—even short ones. We have the physical facilities, the per sonnel and the time. Every line a student sweated out this week was unnecessary and was an indica tion of a weak spot in the system. The powers have merely to find the lines, determine why they are and eliminate the causes. Registration is necessarily an un pleasant proceeding, but there is no excuse for making it more un pleasant by administrative ineffi ciency. Let’s not have any more “new systems.” Let’s keep the old one and put the coordinators to work. A Reader He who is afraid of doing too much always does too little.