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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1950)
For All to See The Executive Council meeting tonight will, as always, be open. But open in more ways than one. Students will have a chance tonight to see with open eyes if the Council, or any member of the Council, can be run by any group which puts special interests above the student good. From over 5,000 students, the Council tonight must select four for class representatives. Ten persons have petitioned for the jobs; it is not necessary that the four be chosen from amongst these ten. There were many qualified persons who were going to peti ' tion for the Council positions. But they withdrew their peti tions after not receiving the endorsement of AGS; frequently so they would not “embarrass” their house. This action by AGS was in itself unusual. It gives the Coun cil added reason for not limiting itself to picking new members from petitioners. The two AGS candidates are not only endorsed by their party, but rather reliable rumor says, they are backed by a po litical group that selects candidates, gets them elected, and then tells those officers what to do. (Call it TNE, SmeeNE, NERTZ, or what you want; it is not the name, but the nature of the group that we attack.) This group does not look for students that are of remarkable ability and intellect; students that are particularly alert and well-adapted to handling problems of other students. This group looks for a different type of individual. First, they want a man who agrees with their “principles,” who will do as he is told, who is smart enough to keep stooges in line, who is not reluctant to use whatever means necessary to obtain the “desired” end. Secondly, they look for a man who is popular and a good vote-getter, who is from a “strong” house, who has a good personality, who is not particularly interested in the workings of student government, who will spend a great deal of time in another activity and therefore not be too aware of what is going on in politics, who will do as he is told nine tenths of the time because it is the easiest, quickest way even though it may not be the best. It is this second type that we may pity. He is the almost innocent guy who doesn’t want public office but is forced into it, by group pressure and by natural pride. He is the guy whom the group think makes an ideal student body president (too busy with his major activity—usually a sport and almost never ever student government—to give them any trouble), because he unwittingly does as he is told. The first type deserves whatever political beating he gets. He’s the campus politician who knows all the ropes; and if he gets hung by one of them, that’s his tough luck. The nicest thing you can do to the second type is to help him stay clear of politics. Tonight, the Executive Council will interview two candi dates not only backed by AGS, but, people in the political know claim, backed by “the boys in the smoke-filled room. We cannot predict who will be appointed by the Council this evening, as we could (and orally did) predict a week ago who the AGS endorsees would be. ' We cannot predict the outcome of tonight’s meeting, be cause we know that those students on the Council who will vote as they have been told to vote are not in the majority. We hope they never shall be. Oregon dailw EMERALD Opinions expressed in editorials are those of the writer, and do not claim to represent the opinions of the ASUO or of the University. Initialed editorials are written by associate editors. ttfte bylined column are those of the columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor or Ins associates. lot ivuv-vs ms .. . The ORKGON DAILY EMERAI.D, published daily during the college vear except Saturdays Sundavs, holidays and final examination periods hv the Associated Students, University of Oregon. Subscription rates: $2.00 a term. $4.00 for two terms and $5.00 a year. Entered as second class matter at the postoffice Eugene, Oregon._ Don A. Smith, Editor Joan MiMNAUr.H, Business Manager Haebaea Hey wood, Hei.cn Sheeman, Associate Editors. Glenn Gillespie, Managing Editor Don Thompson, Advertising Manager Nows Editors: Anne Goodman, Ken Metzler. Assistant News Editor: Mary Ann Dolsnmn. Tom King, Bill Stanfield, Stan Turnbull. Assistant Managing Editors: Hal Coleman, Emerald Photographer: Gene Rose. Women’s Editor: June Fitrgibbons. _ Sports Editors: John Barton, Sam Fidraan. Chief Night Editor* Lorna Larson. Copy Editor: Mariorv Bush. Desk Editors: Marjory Bush, Bob hunk, Circtchen Grondahl,' Lorna Larson, Larry Assistant Business Manager: Office Manager: Karla Van 1 National Advertising Manager weir. Cork Mobley. ,oan. : Bonnie Birke Zone Managers: Sue Bachelder, Shirley Hil lard, Barbara Williams, Virginia Kellogg, Barbara Stevenson, Jeanne Hoffman. SofUtamosie Perils of a Winter Day by Bob- tf-unk The weather seems to be a horrible, dia bolical scheme on someone’s part to com pletely disrupt our smoothly running little life. Unfortunately, we are not among those who like to run out in the front yard and yell “oh, goody, it’s snowing!” when it is (snow ing). We are, probably, getting old. And our nerves are far too shot at this time for us to enjoy a stroll down Alder Street when there is danger of a bombardment from the Theta fire escape or some such other in nocent-looking place. It is not that we think the Thetas shouldn’t bombard people from their fire escape—if we had a fire escape we’d bombard people too. But it shouldn’t happen to us. Somehow, we should be exempt. Also, the late-at-night freezes are interfer ing with our trips down to the Pit and Harry’s Snappy Service. It has been our custom to walk down to these places (under the impres sion that a good trot before bed helps cure insomnia—which, like a car, we don’t have, but might someday). What with all the ice on the sidewalks, and we not being the most graceful people in the world, there have been any number of lower-end near-tragedies re cently. One solution for traversing frozen streets is to get a sail and slide. This takes wind, however. Another is to walk sort of sideways, like a crab or some other such creature. For the most part, however, we are giving up our midnight snacks till better weather arrives. The foulest blow which nature has dealt, however, was that horrible Friday morning when we swam home from Friendly Hall. We considered calling a taxi or the harbor patrol, but our spirit of adventure forced us out into the storm. Our opinion of adventure has drop ped considerably since then. On the. /til The Best Does Better, The Worse Worse Ly Ma/ity 'U/eUgste'i Work on the agenda of the Federal Com munications Commission is piling up faster than an Oregon snowstorm. Right now the group is ensnarled over television, and no sooner will that problem be taken care of, than another almost as weighty will take its place. As far as we are concerned, the television squabble doesn’t mean much yet, because tel evision hasn’t come down from Seattle, or up from California. We see where it has caused some headaches up at the University of Washington because empty seats at Edmind son Pavillion were attributed to people who decided to sit home and view the game through television rather than travel through a lot of bad weather. If the newest of radio’s babies does hit sports attendance, then the people down here in Oregon have something to think about. How much nicer it would have been, to sit in a comfortable chair on Friday night, sip some spirits, and at the flip of a dial been spared the rigors of an Arctic night and the boredom of what looked like a high school basketball game up at Corvallis. On the other hand, we don’t think that even a television set could have matched being at the first Ore gon-Washington State fray. As they found out back East, the good sports events still draw, the rest justly suffer. After television, the FCC will review the case of low power radio stations. Chief oper ators of these small units were on college campuses, where radio instruction was im plemented by training on a university outlet. At first the FCC blessed such proceedings, but now the whole thing seems to have hit them in the collective face. No sooner did the school start broadcast ing and trouble began. The Nu Nu Nus, liv ing at the edge of the campus would complain that they weren’t getting good reception. The station would step up its power. Next week the Sigma Sorors living somewhat off campus would complain that they too were hearing nothing, Up went the power. Finally it would come to where any local commercial station operated in fear of having its best pro gram cut into by the college equivalent of, “Who was that lady I saw you out with last night ?’’ The commercial people rightfully com plained, and now the FCC is contemplating killing the baby that they themselves suckled. Use of frequency modulation, which would stop all interference, has been boosted as the solution, but until an official answer is given a lot of people (including some up at Villard Hall) are anxiously waiting. ^Ue QittemcUi For That 'Relaxation' Before Studying Lif. Gea^e Spe.lv.iH Jane Wyman does considerably better in “The Lady Takes a Sailor” than she did in “Kiss in the Dark"; which is fortunate, both for the actress and for the audience. The plot of the comedy, now showing at the McDonald, has its novelties which place it in the good entertainment class. It also has its cliches, but most of these are artfully rushed through with the greatest possible speed. Most of the comedy is skillfully handled by Miss Wyman, Eve Arden, and Allyn Joslyn; and Dennis Morgan sticks around for roman tic purposes. Career woman Jennifer Smith (Jane Wy man) is noted for her honesty, upon which her business is founded. While boating one afternoon her sail boat is capsized by a sub operated by Morgan. Storm comes up; she spends the evening in the sub. and next morn ing is found on the beach by the coast-guard. Since the sub was a secret invention for the navy, Morgan disappeared. No one believes the woman’s story, Morgan can’t come to her aid since he is sworn to secrecv, and the lady is in deep trouble. She can prove her story if she could get her hands on some pictures she took in the sub; but Morgans got ’em and Wyman can't get ’em. 1 he story takes the familiar shape of boy gets girl (or vice versa) ; the comedy rang ing from wisecracks to slapstick. Slapstick dominates and presents some of the loudest guffaws of the picture. For high-powered drama there’s Bette Davis in “Beyond the Forest” at the Rex. Nobody’s as good as Bette when she’s bad,” say the advertisements; and I believe them. Miss Davis plays a wicked, middle-aged wo man who s bored with life in a small country town. She doesn't stop short of murder to get what she wants, but even murder can’t get her out of the town.