Oregon Daily _l
EMERALD'
The Oatcott Daily E«r«»t» la published Monday through Friday during the college year,
except examination and holiday Periods, with issues on Homecoming Saturday. Dads Day
Saturday, March 10 and Junior Weekend Saturday by the Associated Students of the Uni
versity of Oregon. Entered as second class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Sub
scription rates: $5 per school year. per term.
Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the writer and do not Pretend to
represent the opinions of the ASUO or of the University. Initialed editorials are written by
represent xne opinions OI me nouv; UI ui ^ • *•.
the associate cdttors. Unsigned editorials arc written by the edttor.
Wire services: Associated Press. United Press. Member. Associated Collegiate Press.
Loan a Laxson, Editor _Roarar GaKr.Ntr.it, Business Manager
Phil Bettens, Managing Editor_
Jack Cady, Advertising Manager_
~ Gkbtchem Geondahl, Bill Clothiee, Don Dkwey, Associate Editors
Some Managers Like Them
Some doubt still exists as the “financial benefit" of pay
phones to campus living organizations. Since the believers in
their value have not expressed their bone of contention, we will
hazard a guess.
Many fraternities and sororities formerly got phone bills
each month totaling about $75. Most of this amount was due
to long distance calls which were normally charged against
the caller’s house bill as an assessment.
In some houses, however, adequate records were not kept
of who made these calls and the house had to stand the loss of
those not traced. This, we presume, is what Mr. Barry makes
reference to in his letter.
Limitation of long distance phone calls in fraternities and
sororities is a matter which can be fairly easily accomplished.
At least one fraternity last year installed one pay phone for
long distance calls, instructing the telephone company not to
accept long distance calls on the other two phones. This is a
common practice on other campuses.
While they are doubtless saving house managers consider
able bookwork, we have presented the figures and we again
say that pay phones are not a financial benefit to anyone, save
PT&T.—R. X.
\ Tale of Religions - from 200 Years Back
Over 200 years ago a German author, Gotthold
Ephraim Leasing, wrote a play "Nathan the Wise"
as a protest to narrow-minded assumptions of
:hcologians of the day. He was a believer in uni
versal brotherhood.
VVe think portions of this play worth considering
during this I’arliament of World Religion. So...
we’ll let I .easing speak for himself.
(Nathan is a Jew. He has been asked by a Mus
mlman- who considers Nuthan a very wise man
,vhy he chose the Jewish faith. The Mussulman be
ieves only one faith can be the "true" one. Nathan
.ells this tale:)
“TN days of yore, there dwelt in Kastern lands
A A man, who from a valued hand received
A ring of priceless worth. An opal stone
Shot from within an ever-changing hue,
And held this virtue In its form concealed,
To render him of God and man beloved,
Who wore It in this fixed unchanging faith.
No wonder that its Eastern owner ne'er
Withdrew it from his finger, and resolved
That to his house the ring should be secured.
Therefore he thus- bequeathed it: first to him
Who was the most beloved of his sons,
Ordaining then that he should leave the ring
To the most dear among his children; then,
That without heeding birth, the fav’rite son,
In virtue of the ring alone, should still
Ee lord of all the house ....
“From son to son.
The ring at length descended to a sire
Who had three sons, alike olicdient to him,
And whom he loved with just and equal love.
The first, the second, and the third, in turn,
According as they each apart received
The overflowings of his heart, appeared
Most worthy as his heir, to tuke the ring.
Which, with good-natured weakness, he in turn
Had promised privately to each; and thus
Things lasted for a while. But death approached,
The father now embarrassed, could not bear
To disappoint two sons, who trusted him.
What’s to lie done? In secret he commands
The jeweller to come, that from the form
Of the true ring, he may bespeak two more.
Nor cost nor pains are to be spared, to make
The rings alike quite like the true one. This
The artist managed. When the rings were brought
The father's eye could not distinguish which
Had been the model. Overjoyed, he calls
Hift eons, talus leave of earn apart bestows
His blessing and his ring on each anti (lies ...
"Scarce Is the father tleatl,
When with his ring, each separate son appears,
Anil claims to he the lord of all the house.
Question arises, tumult and devate
But all in vain the true ring could no more
Be distinguished than the true faith now ....
"Hut then they differ not In their foundation.
Are not all built on history alike,
Traditional or written? History
Must he received on trust. Is It not so?
Why should I credit my forefathers less
Than you do yours- or ran I usk of you
To charge your ancestors with falsehood, that
The praise of truth may he bestowed on mine?
And so of Christians..,.”
(The sons complained to a Judge. Kach deemed
t impossible that hit) father had been false to him.
lather, each thought treachery had been done by
he other two brothers.)
THE Judge said:... You tell me that the real
ring
Enjoys the secret power to make the man
Who wears it, both by God and man, beloved.
Let that decide. Who of the three is loved
Best by his brethren ? Is there no reply ?
What! do these love-exciting rings alone
Act inwardly: Have they no outward charm?
Does each one love himself alone? You're all
Deceived deceivers. All your rings are false.
The real ring, perchance, has disappeared;
And so your father, to supply the loss,
Has caused three rings to fill the place of one .... *
EACH from his father has received a ring:
Let each then think the real ring Ids own.
Your lather, possibly, desired to free
His power from one ring’s tyrannous control.
He loved you all with an impartial love,
And equally, and had no Inward wish
To prove the measure of his love for one
By pressing heavily upon the rest.
Therefore, let each one imitate this love;
So, free from prejudice, let each one aim
To emulate his brethren in the strife
To prove the virtues of his several ring,
By offices of kindness and of love,
And trust in God. And if, in years to come,
The virtues of the ring shall reappear
Amongst your children’s children, then, once more
Come to this judgment seat. A greater far
Than I shall .-it upon It, and decide."
--Letters to the Editor
I
A Protest...
Emerald Editor:
We the undersigned students of
the school of law, in the interests
of fairness and justice, wish to
protest the Emerald’s intemper
ate attack of Jan. 21 upon the
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph
co. Complete with front-page edi
torial and cartoon, in the best
Hearst tradition, the Emerald
made no attempt to give a fair
presentation of the very strong
arguments of the telephone com
pany. One article did purport to
present the “complete picture of
the telephone situation...” But
who gave us this “complete pic
ture?” Why, Mr. A1 Karr, one Of
the principal agitators.
Much space that might other
wise have been devoted to news
worthy items was given to “spon
taneous” letters from Oregon
students. How many activity
points per signature, Madame
Editor?
luruu^uuui me nsutr, v* c aic
confronted with the argument
that campus living organizations
are something other than public
or semi-public locations. This is
an extraordinary contention. It
may just be true that some cam
pus living organization considers
itself as being one big happy
family, but it is difficult to ac
cept the idea that such an organ
ization should have a private
phone, even as a family of three.
In addition, we have the im
pertinent suggestion that Got.
McKay should go to bat for the
student malcontents. The gover
nor was elected by the citizens of
the state of Oregon. It is just
possible that some of these citi
zens do not like the idea of pay
ing higher rates because Oregon
students do not care to pay their
share.
One should also recall that the
pay phone rate was 5 cents dur
ing the depths of the depression
when a nickel would ransom a
king—or at least a student-body
president. At a dime in 1952, a
phone call is something of a bar
gain.
Finally, it should be noted that
students may now place long
f distance cafis {h'rough the phones
in their own living organizations.
Conclusion: Boys and girls, you've
never had it so good.
(Signed:)
John Sabin, Robert Abrams,
Robert Puckett, William Love,
Francis Linklater, Jr., David
Lentz, Fred Risser, Kenneth
Poole, Tom Brand, Robert Boyer,
Joe Richards, Robert Hill, Pat
Young, Lester Pederson, John
Larsson, Joe French, Henry
Bauer, Donald McCoy, Robert
Kerr, Robert Holland, R. Vernon
Cook, Tom Mosgrove, Gordon
Price, Corinne Gunderson, Rob
ert Danielson, Gene Rose, Ed
ward O’Reilly.
... An Answer
Before going into detail on the
letter’s content, we’d like to point
out that one of the signers of this
letter, Joe French, also signed a
letter protesting the pay phone
installation, which ran on page
two of Wednesday’s paper. An in
teresting dualism!
• Front page edits on subjects
of particular significance or inter
test are fairly common among
U.S. newspapers.
• The only argument the phone
company offered was an interpre
tation of its own PUC-filed tar
iffs. The extracts fro mthese un
der w’hieh the phone installation
was made were printed on page
one of the Jan. 21 paper. We’re
sorry the company didn’t give us
more reasons for its action so we
could devote more space to its
arguments.
• Mr. A1 Karr, even though a
member of the ASUO senate
phone committee, is an Emerald
reporter and one of the few in
formed on the phone situation.
• Not "one article,” but two,
purported to present the develop
ment of the pay phone situation.
• We are not assigning activ
ity points. Direct this question to
the members of the senate phone
committee who suggested that
living organizations express their
feelings through letters to the
editor.
• PUC tariffs state that flat
rate service is not provided in
public or semi-public premises
where phones are “accessible to
the public in general.” Has. the.
public free access tc phones in
such restricted membership
groups as fraternities and soror
ities? An “extraordinary conten
tion,” students of the law? Prov
en members of your profession
seem to agree there’s a question
of interpretation.
• Where have we asked for a
private phone? Do you not real
ize that the old flat-rate phones
were not the same as ‘'private”
pho%s ? You would suggest a pay
phone for a “family of three?”
• Since when has it been “im
pertinent” to suggest that citi
zens call what they consider an
unjust practice to the attention of
the governor of the state?
• Did the phone company state
Oregon residents would have
higher rates if pay phones were
not installed on this campus? We
think not. Incidentally, pay
phones were installed in Septem
ber. Rates went up Monday.
• A conipleted phone call for
50 cents or so isn’t much of a
“bargain.” Or do you 27 students
always get your money back
when you call a living organiza
tion and find the party not in?
• Where have you 22 fifth
year students been for the past
few years that you think stu
dents were unable to place long
distance calls from their living
organizations previous to this
school year ?
• How many of you 27 lawyers
-to-be have lived under (he pres
ent pay phone system? Only sev
en of you, according to the Rig
ger’s Guide. (One in a fraternity
and six in dorms.) Eight of you
have private phones; eleven have
no phones; one, a University ex
tension.
To the general reader this may
seem unnecessary usage of
space to re-explain things to 27
leaders. However, we feel their
apparent ignorance of certain
facts justifies it. Ed.
It's Best to Give
Emerald Editor;
We wish to announce that we
are 100 per cent behind the posi
tion taken by the ASUO senate,
the university administration and
the Emerald concerning the pay
phone situation in fraternity and
sorority houses.
We are strongly in favor of
returning to the system of last
year or use of the proposed toll
free intra-campus phone system.
Remember, Pacific Tel. and Tel.
it is better to give than to re
ceive!
(Signed:)
Sally Stone, Audrey Campbell,
Norma Wilson, .loan Fewlcss,
Judy Woodeosk, Dorothy Peder
son, Marjorie Williams, Joan Ren
ner, Marlene Smith, Ancy Vincent,
Ann Irwin, Betsy Kggen, Sydney
Hass, Mary Dunson.
Joan Kademacher, Sally Val
mer, Shirley Kendall, DeWanda
Hamilton, Mary Fowler, Ann
Dielschnelder, Adeline Khrlich,
Journo Walker, Sally Kooloy,
Mary I'reium, Shari I-ong, Calh
orlno Itluek, Sue Baoheldrr.
Picture Not Clear
Emerald Editor:
I don't wish to criticize the ef
forts of your new editorial writ
er, but I hoc no alternative. As a
former house manager, R. N.
should be aware of the financial
benefit of the present system of
pay phones to his living organiza
tion. The editorial definitely did
not give a clear picture of the
situation.
As for myself, the proposed in
tra-campus exchange is a logical
solution.
Torn Harry
Holding Students' Attention
“I thought we hail decided last week that you were to face the front
of the class, W'orthal.”