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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 11, 1949)
This Man Johnson It’s been a big term for Mr. Art Johnson. Last month his fellow students expressed their confidence in Art by electing him to the highest student office in the Uni versity, thereby elevating for the first time in eleven years an independent student to the ASUO presidency. Then last week a faculty committee, deciding Mr. John son was the outstanding junior man this year (not a very dif ficult decision, we’ll bet), awarded him the Koyl cup at the prom Saturday night. This achievement followed on the heels of another distinction bestowed upon Art earlier the same day when he was tapped by Friars, senior men’s honorary. Just what’s the guy got anyway? Ask anyone that knows Art. They’ll tell you that seldom has the University been so fortunate in having a nicer fellow or a more conscientious and hard-working servant of the students. From the day Art matriculated he has taken a keen interest in University affairs. Besides being an above average student, he has devoted his time unselfishly in the interest of a variety of student projects. In his freshman year he was elected presi dent of his class; for the next two years he represented the class on the ASUO executive council. He has also belonged to an impressive list of honorary so cieties and has served on committees too numerous to mention here. There has been considerable criticism levelled against stu dent government in recent weeks. Much of this criticism has been justified, the Emerald believes. We also believe that much could be done to correct the present ills of student govern ment. No one knows student government better than Art John son. Next year he’ll be in a position to do something. He could be the man. From Our Mailbag LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .. To tlie Editor: \ More student government is what we need on this campus. When tio you suppose it will arrive? The code of the student traffic court which you published on Tuesday is an example of the great things which have come to the ASUO student body. We don’t wish to quibble, we know we’re crocliety old veterans of the worst kind, hut please, someone, tell us just what kind of traf fic offense will be covered by the traffic court. What is not excluded from its venue? It won’t have jurisdiction over cases involving loss, risk, or injury to life or property. What's more we get to pay for It, too. Just why should we have to pay for a sticker which is illegal to have on our cars in order to make it easier for someone to give us a parking ticket ? What’s to be decided by the court, whether or not we over-parked or not? Three-year term are to he meted out to deserving students in terested in student government. Hurray. These exalted judges of their fellows should learn a great deal about government in three years of dishing out fines from a set of scheduled fines. Now for the payoff, registration. That should he nice. Just like , OSC. With no non-university cars allowed to park in the parking lots , and no cars allowed to park in the streets by the city, business folks • should expect to leave tliehir delivery trucks downtown and dad will come to visit on the train. How about parking meters as a solution? The registration fees for going to school are so low that we could easily pay for the meters out of our breakage fees, if we hadn’t signed them over to the Mill race fund. We don't know, hut doesn’t the whole thing sound just a little like a kangaroo court in Girl Scout camp? Nuts! i Yours for more and more and more student government, Steve I.oy and Chuck Grell Oregon W Emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald, published daily during the college year except Sundays. Mondays, holidays, and final examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon. Subscription rates: $2.00 per term and $4.00 per year. Entered as second-class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. BILL YATES, Editor VIRGIL TUCKER, Business Manager Associate Editors: June Goetze, Boblee Brophy, Diana Dye, Barbara Hey wood Advertising Manager: Cork Mobley BOB REED, Managing Editor Assistant Managing Editors: Stan Turnbull, Don Smith BOB TWEE DELL, City Editor Assistant City Editors: Ken Metzler, Ann Goodman NEWS EDITORS Chuck Grell, Hal Coleman, Steve Loy, Vic Fryer, Diane Mecham DEPARTMENT EDITORS Tom King, Sports Editor Walter Dodd, Feature Editor Connie Jackson, Women’s Editor Warren Collier, Chief Night Editor Bill Lemon, Sales Mgr. E«'c Overbeck. Nat’l Adv. Mgr. Leslie T.iaze, Ass’t Adv. Mgr. H'ien Shet man, Circulation Mgr. UPPER BUSINESS STAFF Bill Plummer, Ass’t Adv. Mgr. Tack Schnaidt, Ass’t Adv. Mgr. Donna Brennan. Ass’t Adv. Mgr, Rue Evans, Ass’t Adv. Mgr. Joan Mimnaugh—Assist. Business Manager Transportation Network r ■ if - ‘ ii . """ TIT AW THIS IS THE network of the major highways and fail lines leading into Berlin where blockades end May 12. Allied airlift (pointers with plane symbols) wili be maintained despite end of blockades. Washington officials regard the airlift as insurance against possible restoration of blockade by the Russians. Flags and shaded borders mark zones of occupation in Germany. (AP Wirephoto) Does Our Curriculum Need an Overhauling? By Michael Callahan IT’S A SAD fact, but the great fable of our time may be the so called “College Education.’’ To the Joe sweating out a four-year schedule into which he must cram professional training as well as absorb a liberal education, it’s strictly no joke. And things are getting tough The first ma jor break away from the bal ance that has existed be tween profes sional enlight enment came ' when the BA I school upped If ltc requirements by 12 more hours in business and economies. Add to that the fact that new e:-:-GI students now will, have to go through the military and health grind, and the squeeze gets tighter. * * * FROM HERE it seems about time that a little serious thought was given to that vague thing called “culture.” In this age of specialization, the old Oregon method of catching a few odd hours here and there won’t work. The answer, as we see it, takes a bow to the Reader's Digest. For too many years it has been customary to offer the same courses to majors in different fields as to those simply dabbling around for a little knowledge. Thus, while psych majors may relish small details about the basilar membrane theory of hear ing, the BA major filling in a re quirement is bored to sleep. Like wise, the history major doesn't give a hootinhell about the lesser works of Mathew Arnold or the theory of perfect monopoly in economics. GOING A STEP beyond this, then, why can't two sets of cours es be offered in each school or department? The first courses would be slanted toward the ma jor, and would examine the small details that the specialists would need to know. These would large ly be on the same outlines that the profs now use. In addition, however, short condensed courses covering the broad principles and trends and the important points, should also be offered, with class member ship limited to non-majors. Need less to say, there would be far fewer of these Reader’s Digest survey courses than there would be regular, full-length courses. With the small points eliminated, two or three terms of what is now offered could be condensed into one term of interesting lec tures. SOME differentiation would have to be made between upper and lower division courses in many cases, and a lot of work in grouping and paring down cours es for the new series would be in order. But the results would certainly be worthwhile. Plenty of faculty opposition for such a plan as this should be expected. Laziness (the taxpay ers would be surprised to know how many profs lecture drearily from the same outline, year after year) and an ivory-tower love for petty details could throw up barriers galore to effective opera tion and presentation of the new short courses. But within four years after such a plan went into effect, a new type of college grad would leave Oregon. The technician or specialist would know his own subject thoroughly, and would also have learned enough about the important ideas in literature, philosophy, history, geography, psychology, etc., to carry on an intelligent conversation about them. He would in fact, know as much about them as their “C” grade majors would know. Footnote: It's high time we boosted our curriculum out of the horse and buggy stage ... it could use an overhaul. The Latest In Books By Jo Gilbert Cat-lovers and golfers atten tion! Two books are on the agen da this week of special interest to you. “The Cats in Our Lives” (A. A. Wyn, $2) by James Mason and Pamela Kellino, and “73 Years in a Sand Trap” (A. A. Wyn, $2.50) by Fred Beck and O. K. Barnes. ••rue uars in uur uves is ex actly what the title indicates . . . a tale of the cats in the Mason facility. To the Masons, the cats are individual persons and they make the pets seem so to the reader. You’ll love them; laugh at their antics, and cry at their deaths. There is Whitey, who spent a good thirty-six hours between a carriage partition in a train. Lady Leeds and her long line of beaux, the frigid maiden, Folly, plus many others. The book isn't good literature, but it is good reading and cleverly written. Ma son illustrated the book and the sketches are rather ‘/„ute.” Besides, for Mason fans, there is a picture of the Masons and sortie of their felines on the back cover . . . for pin-up purposes, y’know. O. K. Barnes and Fred Beck are not champion golfers but simply like the majority of per sonages who infest the golf links during sunny days. In “73 Years in Sand Trap’’ they have collect ed the anecdotes, tall tales, and amusing incidents that occur in the vicinity of a golf course. The trials of the golf widow or widower, the atrocious caddy sit uation, the tribulations of the golfer himself . . . the authors discuss all of this. But if you are looking for advice . . . don’t read this. All you will find are that there are other people right along with you in the “rough.” • Conclusion on the twain: Both good for a night’s reading. Nei ther are heavy reading nor nu merous in pages. If you are among those to whom the books are directed, you’ll especially en joy the books. If you’re not, you will probably get a laugh out of them anyway. Incidentally, finally got around to reading “Point of No Return” by John Marquand. Recommend it to all! Basically the story of one Charles Cray who is “sweat ing out” a vice presidency of a bank but the idea goes far beyond that. Sorta on the idea of “what are we trying to achieve?” Retail Group (Continued from page one) ger of the R. L. Elfstrom company, Salem. A second panel committee will delve into Vandenynde’s speech. At a 12:15 luncheon at the Alpha Delta Pi sorority Dr. N. H. Corn ish on “How Retail Salespeople Can Increase Sales.” The afternoon session will begin with a discussion of “How the Newspaper Can Help the Retail ers,” by Barney Twiford, adver tising manager of the Portland Oregonian. “How Credit associations and Collection Agencies Can Help the Retailer,” is the last scheduled speech of the conference. It will be given by Don Good, manager of the Lane County Credit associa tion. Panel discussions will follow each speech. A question and answer forum' will follow at 4 p.m. to wind up the conference.