Oregon Daily . _ _
(EMERALD
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Feb 4 thru 8, 11 thru 15, 18 thru 22, 25 thru
, March 10, Apr 2 thru 4, 7 thru 11. 14 thru 18. 21 thru 25, 28 thru May 2. May 6 thru 10,
thru 16. 19 thru 22, ami May 26 by the Associated Students of the University of Oregon.
Entered as second class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscription rates. $5 per
school year, $2 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
the associate editors. Unsigned editorials arc written by the editor.
Help Week: A Success
While Oregon fraternities have toyed with the idea of the abolish
ment of Hell Week, one school in the Northwest has taken definite
action along this line.
During January several University of Washington frater
nities replaced Hell Week with Help Week. And all of them
seemed to be pretty impressed with the success of the experi
ment.
Zeta Tsi and Delta Upsilon started it off, and five other lrats fol
lowed their lead. Included in the latter group were three fraternities
represented on the Oregon campus— Pi Kappa Alpha, 1 an Kappa
Epsilon and Chi Psi.
The theoretical purpose of Hell Week is to unify and inspire the
pledge class. Certain Washington fraternal leaders evidently began
wondering if a week of torture and endurance-testing was serving
that purpose. They suggested that their fraternities cooperate with the
King county (Seattle) welfare department in helping poor families,
improving conditions at hospitals, etc.
The usual procedure for the fraternities cooperating in the
Help Week movement was for the pledge class to put in a week
of eight-hour work days at some welfare job, such as the clean
ing and repairing of poor folks’ homes or the removal of aged
trees from the grounds of a children's hospital.
The fraternities found that Help Week did more than unify and
inspire the pledge class. According to one pledge: "It left us feeling
good.”—D.D.
A Chance to Do Good
On March 18 the greatest show in Oregon comes to the campus
and we the students are presented with an opportunity to do some
thing individually for our University. We l>elieve that deep down
inside nearly everyone on this campus would like to be able to point
to at least one thing and say: "I did this for the University of Ore
gon.”
The “show,” of course, is the State High School Basketball Tourna
ment. The opportunity is to sell our University to the state’s high
school students.
Our school will never be any better than its student body,
and the competition for the top high school seniors is rugged.
As a case in point we would cite the tactics of our Beaver
friends.
The Oregon Staters have used every trick in the book to get high
school seniors down to Corvallis for things like our Duck Preview
weekend. They’ve done everything to get the State Tournament
moved to Gill Coliseum except burning down Mac Court.
The tournament comes right in the middle of final week this
term and there’s the challenge.
Let’s not let the youngsters get on our final week nerves.
Let’s show them a good time and let them know we want them
down here this fall.
While w’e’re at it let’s invite some of them back for Duck Preview.
These seniors may have heard about such far away places as the
University of Washington, or Stanford, but if they have actually
BEEN to our campus we stand the best chance of getting them. The
opportunity is there, so let’s take advantage of it.—R.N.
Oh the Hi/i...
KASH to Air Jurgens To day
By Don Collin
Half-hour of music by the
Senior Ball's Dick Jurgens will
be featured on KASH’s “Bands
in Review” today at 1:30 p.m.
KORE is the first authorized
station in Oregon to carry (Sat
urday 3 p.m.) the International
Relations club show, “Foreign
Students Forum.”
Discussions are on current
problems and feature the for
eigners’ view. This week’s pro
gram is on the coming presiden
tial election. The broadcasts are
part of the University’s IRC
work.
* * *
Climbed aboard that south
bound train again last week or
at least KUGN felt so. When this
column contacted the station
about NBC shows they really
didn’t know what the program
ming was going to be despite the
inference to the contrary here
last week.
As station manager S. W. Mc
Cready put it, “KUGN is still
committed to ABC ... until...
June. However, we will carry as
many NEC programs as possible,
depending on available time and
commercial committments” . . .
Know anymore now ?
* * *
New programs: Mario Lanza
(KUGN, tonight, 7:30) . . . H. V.
Kaltenborn (KUGN, Saturday,
3:15 p.m.) . . . NBC Symphony
(KUGN, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.) ...
Martin and Lewis (the funny
men) on KUGN, Saturday, 7:30
p.m. . . . Tallulah Bankhead’s
“The Big Show” (KUGN, Sun
day, 4:30 p.m.) . . . "Philip Mor
ris Playhouse on Broadway”
(KERG, Sunday, 8:30 p.m.)
Speaking of Philip Morris
their advertising is going to be
toned down a bit. FTC is after
them for claiming less nicotine
than other cigarettes. To prove
it P-M cut holes in rabbits’ tra
cheas to pump smoke into their
lungs (five of the rabbits died,
but P-M says they were smoking
rival brands.) FTC was unim
pressed. More on page 96 in cur
rent Time magazine.
A* Cditosual
We Must Preserve Our Island of Freedom
There's ft stenlthy monster stalking our campuses
today.
On some, it has moved in for the kill.
It's a many-appendaged thing, with some in the
form of loyalty oaths ... or "gag" rules ... or news
paper censorship.
It's fear ... of u single word. Fear of Itelng Identi
fied with this word: communist. Fear of the loud
mouthed half-informed McCarthyite.
took at some manifestations of this fear monster.
Loyalty oath at the University of California.
Many faculty members refuse to sign and are fired.
It's been rescinded, but the harm's done. The fear's
created. (And, we might add, the school's suffered
greatly in loss of prestige.)
, Loyalty oath at the University of Oregon? Dur
ing the last days of the recent Oregon legislative
session a loyalty oath requirement Including all
college faculty in the state was Introduced. Only
fust. Intelligent uetion from believers In academic
freedom tabled the hill.
In the next session . .. the story might have a
different ending.
Jump across the country to Ohio State univer
sity Last fall the board of trustees, fearful lest
"subversives” be allowed to taint the minds of the
student body, granted the president absolute author
ity to screen any ar.d all speakers coming to the
campus.
Biographical sketches of nil regardless of wheth
er they would speak in a class, to the YWCA, in
a living organization or to the International Re
lations club are to be submitted 10 days prior to
appearance. Then the president's office begins to
probe, and if the officials decide the speaker will
conform with what they want to hear, then .. . and
only then ... is approval given.
The Daily Californian, student newspaper of the
University of California, ran signed articles this
fall concerning conditions inside the Soviet Union,
written by students who had visited there. The
articles indicated conditions were actually not as
bad as painted by the West.
So, a 13-member "advisory" board and a "day-to
day advisor” will now "assist” the publication. Six
of the 13 board members are students.
University President Robert G. Sproul said it is
"not to be in any sense an agency of censorship.”
This is so much hogwash. Any time faculty have
official control over the paper even in an "ad
visory" capacity there’s going to be censorship.
We're not vindicating the California staffers.
They admit using "poor judgment," and students
here acquainted with the situation agree. But the
Imposition of the 13-member bonril and day-to-day
advisor nllows no more freedom to Judge.
So the Incidents accumulate.
We’ve been fortunate ... so far.
In fact, we’re kind of an Island In a sea of fear,
distrust and vanishing academic freedom.
If we can keep the McCarthy-mouthed monster
from our shores... stave off the loyalty (or as we
prefer to call It: anti-disloyalty) oath... continue
to permit speakers to speak, without setting up a
minor FBI to screen them, we'll keep our freedom.
Chancellor Charles I). Byrne expressed our feel
ings most eloquently in a talk before alumni lurft
Saturday. He said:
"... A great university must not necessarily
yield to the spirit of the times. Too-frequently our
society experiences waves of hysteria; minority or
even majority groups advocate unsound economic or
social programs or philosophies ... A great univer
sity dedicated to Justice and truth must be in a
position to, and have the courage to resist, and to
provide the factual Information and leadership to
discredit such Movements."
How can we gain factual Information hash- to In
telligent decision formation If we are permitted to
hear only one side of the story? Only by learning
the true faults of communism, can we authoritative
ly say It Is had.
You gain nothing by creating a nation of sterile,
protected minds.
As Dr. Bryne said:
"These loyalty oaths are a most Ineffectual meth
od of fighting communists. Those who hunt for
communists In great universities mistake their na
tural habitat, for a free university Is not a place
where communism can thrive. Freedom of thought
and expression Is Just what communism cannot
practice or tolerate.”
The simple word freedom was one of the basic
foundations upon which these United States were
budded.
We loudly proclaim this freedom ... In our schools
... in our speeches ... in our communication media
... in our contacts with other nations of the world.
And the world looks to us as a free nation with
free inhabitants.
Hut our glowing proclamations echo emptily In a
day when the fear monster Is slowly claiming llio
minds of our countrymen.
We criticize the "Iron Curtain" which ban us
from any contact with the Communist-dominated
peoples.
Are we setting up our own?
- - Letters to the Editor - -
A Vote Against Taft
Emerald Editor:
Your Tuesday editorial about
Taft tends to perpetuate a false
myth that he is sincere, honest or
loyal. All the evidence from
Taft's record indicates to me that
he is willfully lacking in any of
these virtues. This most political
of all figures has carefully fos
tered such legends about himself
as part of his unprecedented two
year campaign for the presi
dency.
First about Taft’s “honesty”
and “integrity.” The abominable
record Of the 80th and 82nd Con
gress has been accomplished
largely under Taft’s leadership
and direction.
As acknowledged guide of Re
publican legislative policy, Taft
could have done much to restrain
Senator McCarthy and could
have kept him off key commit
tees, but instead he aided and
quietly encouraged McCarthy. Is
this honesty?
An honest Republican would
have investigated the fradulent
Maryland election and opposed
seating Senator Butler, but the
Senate Republicans, under Taft's
leadership, hamstrung that in
vestigation. Is this honesty?
Finally, Taft is now trying to
enter all primaries where ho
thinks he’ll win, but is carefully
avoiding those (including Ore
gon) where he is not sure of a
good showing. At the same time
he has zealously lined up conven
tion delegates.
He is not looking to a vote of
the people to nominate him, but
rather to the politicians in the
convention. AH the while he
claims he wants the people to
choose. Many have done this be
fore, but Is it honest?
About Taft’s “loyalty.” He has
tried repeatedly to undermine
General Eisenhower’s position in
Europe. Even after he lost the
“great debate” and the “troops
to-Europe” issue was settled, he
keeps bringing it up in other
issues. Eisenhower is a genius
with a frightfully difficult task,
on whose success our safety
against Communism in Europe
depends, but all Taft does Is try
to hamstring him.
Taft has failed to show any
feasible alternative policy in
America's interest, which would
justify scuttling Europe, so that
his efforts are purely destruc
tive. Is this loyalty?
Under Taft’s leadership, Kc
pilhlleans reduced Voice of Amer
ica funds, limiting tlie most ef
fective means we have for reach
ing the Russian people them
selves. Does he really want us to
heat Communism? Taft's only
loyalty I can see is to those who
pay his vast expenses for the
longest campaign In recent times.
As to "sincerity," no man who
contradicts himself so often can
be sincere. The ofi’y sincere
thing I can see about Taft is that
he sincerely wants to be presi
dent.
Now-even if Taft were loyal,
honest and sincere, these mythi
cal qualities alone (no other vir
tues are claimed for him) are not
enough. Headhunters are sincere.
Most mental patients are honest.
Your editorial misses the main
point about Taft: that he has
done nothing but opportunistic
criticism (which anyone can do!,
and has offered absolutely noth
ing constructive as an alterna
tive.
In my opinion, he Is a mis
guided front for the most self
ish elements in our society. I
believe his election in this most
critical year of history would
be a catastrophe.
You may rightfully object that
some of my argument la “ail
hominem.” But when the only
virtues claimed for a candidate
are personal ones, this kind of
answer is invited.
Tracy F. Caldwell
Or Was It McCarthy?
I unnerstan ole Prt>f. Snarf made so much dough on hjs book ‘The
Evils of Capitalism’ that he’s writing a new one denouncing it.’’