m Daily
EMERALD
TV. Ommanu Daily Emeialb published Monday through Friday during the college year
«£ft (£TiO- D^ 5 through Jan irMar 6 through Ja’M.y 7; Nov. 22 through 27; and
MaJ 24 with isucs on ^ov. 4 and May 12, by the Associated Students of the l^ntN'erMty
JfOre^i Enured ^second class matter at the postoffice. Eugene. Oregon. Subscription
rates: $5 per school year; $2 per term
the associate eaitors. Unsigned editorials are written by the editor._
Mabtel ScaoooiH. Business Manager
Anita Holmes. Editor
Loans Laeson, Managing Editor
Tom Kisq, Ken Metzleb. Jackie I'eitzen, Associate Editors
Shielev Hiliabb, Advertising Manager_
EQUALITY IN DEFERMENTS
“I'm a college man. My grades are pretty high, or 1 can
pass an aptitude test. So I don't have to go into the army."
That is the status of the college man several days after Presi
dent Truman passed an executive order allowing draft defer
ments to students with high grades or ability to pass an apti
tude test.
This special privilege for the intellectuals or "bright boys”
as Gerald Johnson put it in last month’s Harper’s, smacks of
unfairness to one reared in the American system.
Our immediate reaction is like that of the student who xold
the Inquiring Reporter, “I don't think those guys should be
more exempt than any others just because they have more
brainpower.”
But this question which the military and governmental
heads have been puzzling over for months is not so easily an
swered. Let’s look at both sides, and then re-evaluate.
Taking a long-range view, America will continue to need
professional men, specialized leaders to
Lest We Forget cj;rect the country. We cannot afford to
The Tomorrows becomes a country of%militarists, forget
ting the life of a world without war.
Granted we have to look ahead. But is a high grade or a high
test score the mark of a man worth preserving for his non-mili
tary contribution to our society? Its not difficult to name a
series of “skunks,” all of them with high intellect, but none of
them assets to the society in which they live.
This order by the President creates an intellectual elite. It
elevates the scholar above the so-called masses, a practice we
do not advocate in America.
A reading of “Peking Diary” makes
China Students one extremely fearful of an intellec
Were Floundering tuai aristocracy. Bodde tells in that
recent book how the students made up an upper strata in China.
When Mao and the Communists moved into North China
cities such as Peking, the students floundered, not fitting into
any part of the society. The conditions under which they let
themselves live were tragic.
Then there is the financial standpoint.
Just because a man is financially able to go to college, should
he receive more privileges than the other man whose lack of
money, not intelligence, holds him out?
No, but it is becoming increasingly easier to work your way
through college if you have the will. The bright student has the
chance for loans and scholarships to help make his way.
So we’ll rule out the money angle and say that small per
centage of men wanting to go to school, but lacking the money,
must be sacrificed for the long-range national good.
mure mipui lcuu w cus. '-**»-**'•'
Postponement, question is that college men are not be
Not Exemption jng exempted. They are just being de
ferred under the new measure. Universal military training will
still be universal, but one segment of the public will be allowed
to delay its training period for three or four years.
The greatest unfairness is here. Why should these men with
more A’s than C’s or more know-how with aptitude tests be al
lowed to postpone their training while the others aren’t.
In wartime, it would be a gross injustice to defer college in
tellectuals ahead of anyone else. In peacetime, it’s the country’s
responsibility to give equal opportunity. If college men are al
lowed to take their training almost when they choose, so
should non- college men be allowed to serve the months they.
..choose within a four, five, or six year period after reaching draft
age.
If we truly are planning a peacetime army, this leewAy for in
dividual decision should go to all men of all intellects and apti
— tudes. If we are preparing for war, we’re all in it, and as John
son wrote, “he who would separate himself from his fellows
now should and shall be cast out from them forever.” _
THE DAILY rg ...
to Barbara Stevenson, Bonnie Gienger, and Beverly Ro
bathan who are now serving their last day as presidents of
the Associated Women Students, Women’s Recreation
Association, and YWCA respectively. These three lead
ers officially give up their positions tonight at installation
ceremonies,
t_ _
■ — - The Word . .—■
Columnist Cracks Whip at Columnist;
Says Initials Might Mean 'Jackass'
»—*From Stan Turnbull
Every spring the lucky Univer
sity of Oregon students get a
choice of two spring football
practices to watch. They may
trudge down to the lower athletic
fields and watch the outdoor ath
letes, or peruse the Emerald edi
torial page, where the indoor
athletes kick around what for the
past couple of years has been the
Emerald's pet football — the
Greek party.
Yesterday morning an audi
ence breathless with anticipation
was treated to something really
singular — a column headed
"Where Angels Fear,” (we can’t
imagine its frightening any an
gels, though it was frightful In
its own right) by someone sup
posedly initialed J.S.
There was an accompanying
picture of a black smudge of ink
wearing a^hat looking more like
Dick Tracy than anything else.
Who knows ? Perhaps Mr. Tracy
is the actual author— the accom
panying literary epic is about
what one would expect from that
minor giant of the comic pages.
This "Where Angels Fear” is
apparently to be a new dodge in
the old game of kicking the
Greeks around. Sometimes the
Greeks have richly deserved it,
and other times the mad geniuses
of the press have had to go pretty
far afield.
Now, good straightforward
criticism by someone not afraid
to sign, either by name or by cor
rect Initials, their efforts may
still be Irritating, but it’s noth
ing to the sly Insinuations of
someone using the fictitious Ini
tials “J.S.”—which could possi
bly mean “Jackass, Second cluss."
It's very difficult to combat tin
type of column we were treated to
yesterday, for it deals in fairly
sly generalities and slurs of such
a nature that if one objects. In
can then be accused of “having a
guilty conscience.”
But there can he little douht of
the nasty tone of yesterday’s
masterpiece. Notice for example,
the pat on the hack for "the
present coalition,” USA, when the
unnamed oracle comments that It
(USA) "seems to have gained
unity after hearing I he erroneous
stories which were being circulat
ed about It.” Observe what a con
crete comment this is not.
Next we read, "The Greek party
met just before the term closed
to give a vole of confidence In It
self.” This doesn’t sound as nice,
does it. But whut’s the difference
between "seeming to gain unity1'
and having a "vote of confi
dence?" Is one better than the
other? You’d think so, to read
"Where Angels Fear."
We’ll cut this short ut this
|*dnt, having already, we fear,
descended somewhat to the level
of yesterday’s writer in an at
tempt to Indicate that not every
one around the Emerald, not to
mention the rest of the cuinpus,
feels us the timid one does.
The point we’d wish to make Is
not that the AGS Is infallible, nor
even that the USA is ns bail as
the AGS in our opinion USA
probably Is set up on somewhat
more democratic lines. The point
is that there are legitimate criti
cisms of both, but that in the past
We've been trdtted mainly to the
criticisms of the Greeks, both
legitimate and otherwise.
Let's hope that if we must be
confronted with such insinuating
pieces us yesterday's the author
will at least come out into the
open.
Colleges From Coast to Coast
Loyalty Oaths Strongly Approved, Disapproved
Loyalty oaths and academic
freedom have not been issues on
the Oregon campus, but they've
taken up much space in college
newspapers across the country in
the past two weeks.
Below are a few of the new de
velopments on the college loyalty
front.
• * *
The Associated Students of the
University of Colorado recently
put its stamp of approval on the
University's action in the loyalty
oath, the Board of Regents inves
tigations, and the David Hawkins
case.
Last month the regents ruled
that all faculty members must
take the state teachers loyalty
oath and that a committee be set
up to investigate reports of sub
versive persons on campus. It
was also ruled that David Hawk
ins, professor of philosophy, be
investigated for charges of dis
loyalty.
The ASUC resolution said it
was “satisfied that the whole af
fair is being handled satisfac
torily by the University.”
Meanwhile, the editorial pages
of the Silver and Gold, student
newspaper, have been filled with
letters and editorials concerning
the loyalty oath.
In an editorial the Silver and
Gold told the following anecdote:
“It seems that a member of the
University faculty was speaking
at a luncheon somewhere in Colo
rado recently. At the conclusion
of his address a gentleman arose
and said, “Sir, I understand that
The Second Cup
Headline of the week was sub
mitted to a journalism professor
at Kansas State college—“Hy
drant Sprays Dog.”
At Michigan State College an
English instructor was having
trouble holding his class’ atten
tion. At the same time he kept
confusing Jefferson and Frank
lin. The second time he mixed the
two names, he declared, “I think
I need some blood in my head.”
Laying his glasses on the desk,
he executed a perfect handstand.
they teach Communism in the
classes at the University. Is that
true?”
"The faculty member replied:
'Sir. that is quite true. We do
teach Communism in our classes.
And in our medical school we
teach syphillis. But we don't ad
vocate either.”
* * *
At the University of California
the Academic Senate committee
recently slammed the loyalty
oath there, as imposed by the
board of regents, in a 63-page re
port.
‘'Formidable as the evidence
is,” declared the report, “It is hut
partly indicative of the wreckage
present and prospective.”
The "bill of damage" included
these items: In addition to the 26
professors fired by the regents,
37 others have resigned in pro
test. "Only the Ignorant will esti
mate the logs to the University
in terms of these numbers," the
report said.
* • •
The Rambler, St. Benedict's
college, Kansas, recently asked in
an editorial: “Are American uni
versities providing a haven for
Communists? Is it possible that
under the most well informed
educators of our nation a doc
trine is breeding which has for its
ultimate goal the destruction of
democracy and all they are teach
ing?"
Three paragraphs later the
Itambler answered Its own ques
tion: "Yes, the commie is in our
universities. He is busy even now
with his work . . . but this work
can be stemmed by a prudent
student body, unwilling to fall for
his 'divide and conquer’ tactics."
It Could Be Oregon
“I would like a job teaching psychology. This is my wife—need any
further recommendations.”
.■ i J i o i . t. "i) i ‘ • r. I > j i< 5 [ 3 i 9 ' i i■ •