The More, the Merrier
The recent decision by the ASUO senate to start an exam
file in the library is considered an important step in improving
the academic atmosphere at Oregon.
Last year the student body voted on the desirability of an
honor code here. The vote was affirmative. Tmt the margin was
so small that the idea was put aside, at least for the time being.
Now this year's successor to the original honor code com
mittee has repeated the recommendation that an exam file be
placed in the library, and the senate followed through on the
suggestion. The thinking is that all students will then have
access to past exams, for whatever they are worth in study aid.
Stress will also be placed on honor in the use and return of the
file's exams.
Such a file would be worthwhile in generalizing the use of
past examinations for study. How worthwhile it will be de
pends partly on how complete it will be. Maximum cooperation
from all schools and departments would be necessary for the
best possible file.
So far all parties concerned have cooperated well. The senate
Las decided to authorize and finance the file, Director of Stu
dent Affairs Donald M. DuShane said his office will handle
getting the exams to the library, and Librarian Carl Hint/, said
Hie library will assemble and maintain the file.
Last spring, DuShane said, the deans of the schools and the
college of liberal arts indicated general approval of the exam
file a plan, but requested the chance to confer with their fac
ulty before a final decision.
If a large enough percentage of faculty members are willing
io release their examinations each term for the file, the plan
■could get off to an excellent start.
This will be limited, though, if many instructors, especially
those who give objective examinations, don't wish to release
their tests. Dean Victor P. Morris of the school of business ad
ministration, for example, says he personally favors the exam
tile idea, and believes his faculty would be willing to provide
their exams for the file—but probably not the objective ones.
Unfortunately, approximately 75 per cent of business admin
istration exams are objective.
The ROTC department, on the other hand, has indicated that
it will be willing to make available its examinations for the file.
V irtually all military exams are of the objective type.
It would appear that the exam file in the library will have
quite a few tests from the various schools and departments.
How successful the plan is in getting faculty members to re
lease their exams will do a lot to determine how valuable the
general file will be.—A.K.
“—An I no sooner parked the car when she wanted to hold hands—
She wouldn’t let £o of ’em the whole evening.”
The Oregon L>aily Emerald published Monday through Friday during the college year
except Jan. 5; Mar. 9, 10 and 11; Mar. 13 through 30; June 1, 2 and 3 by the Student Publi
cations Board 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. Editorials are written by the
editor and the members of the editorial staff.
Jim Haycox, Editor Sally Thurston, Business Manager
Helen Jones, Larry Hokart, Al Karr, Associate Editors
Radio Review » ■ ■ ——■——
Press Conference Perfects 'Dodge'
■ by Don Collin
After listening to a radio's
great attempt to compete as a
disseminator of original-news
the press conference of the air
- picked up some points that
should be passed along to any
one going before these victim
meets-inquisitor sessions and be
ing placed upon the verbal rack.
There are several dodges to be
learned about the method of
playing the question-answer
game, particularly the answer,
i.e. a reply to a question.
First, there's the long an
swer type. Just like the mas
ter's eandidate defending his
thesis, the interviewer knows
the program can’t last for
ever. The more he talks the
fewer questions to he asked.
The peison that utilizes the
long answer invariably must em
ploy the second dodge—the off
the point or don't answer. Rath
er than answer* the question,
choose a part on which to com
ment and involve yourself in some
tangent subject. End by saying,
"You can see how complex this
is; I hope I’ve answered your
question.”
If you can't use this last tech
nique then try the "That's a
good question” dodge. Compli
ment the questioner on asking an
intelligent question, plead that
more intelligent questions should
be asked, like the questions the
audience before you is asking.
For if more intelligent questions
were asked the public would be
better informed and this would
mean, etc., etc.
Then indicate to the moder
ator that no questions have
come from the left rear side
ami surely "there must Iw an
intelligent question or two
hack there.”
. Now occasionally you will find
none of these are applicable. In
that case never, but never, use
the "No comment" resort. This
definitely leaves a bad impression
either you're ill informed and
shouldn't be talking or you're too
well informed and are covering
something.
Instead, your approach should
be “I’m sorry but I can't divulge
that information, yet.” The "yet"
is important. That makes it
sound as though you're the recip
ient of the hot and pertinent
poop from superlative authori
tative sources un«l will release
the floodgates of information
just as soon as possible. But now
just isn't the time.
(■et these techniques down
pat, get that job In Washing
ton (a prerequisite for being
considered for a question an
suer session) and you're ready
to compete with the best of
them.
Tchaikovsky's sixth on KtJGN,
3:30 p.m. Saturday. . . La Bo
heme in Italian with Victoria do
Los Angeles on HASH, Saturday _
at 2:30 p.m.
Dwight Cooke (10:15 p.m.
KKRG) interviews Commander
of Chiang's army Thursday, and
the president of Pekin Unlver- -
sity Friday.
The other day a prof was lec
turing about U. S. magazines and
brought up Time anil Life, part
of the Luce chain. One student
didn't catch the pronunciation of
the chain’s name and went on to
attack the obscene, lewd litera
ture in America.
Henry Luce's talk this Friday
is to lie taped by KUGN for play- ,
back sometime that night. f
-The College Crowd
1 ■■ . . .. Campus Headlines Elsewhere
By Rae Thomas
Mon at Northwestern Univer
sity staged a series of spontan
eous snowball fights two weeks
ago. When the fun was over,
about 200 windows were broken
The dean of men says dam
ages will be paid for by every
one concerned. Meanwhile, with
as many as 64 windows out in
one house, members are enjoy
ing the fresh winter air.
* * *
Students at Lewis and Clark
College received their semester
grades on last Friday the 13th
Police cracked down on a
gambling-thievery outfit working
in a dorm on the North Carolina
campus.
The fellows would gather reg
ularly during the week, and one
fellow was winner for sometime.
His luck changed and he began
losing, heavily. Then the present
winners began to be robbed every
A.M. after the games.
A trap was set and the for
mer winner was found to be a
thief, too. The other hoys
called the police rather than
tackle him thougii, for it was
known that he carried a .38.
This is the first serious -stu
dent gambling condition on the
campus since 1949 when one fel
low shot and killed another over
a gambling debt owed by the
killer. This man is now serving
a 25-year sentence in the prison
The residents of the dormitory
involved in the present situation,
said their dorm should not be
singled out for special criticism,
as “gambling goes on in nearly
every dorm on campus.” As one
noted, “A man can get in a game
any night he wishes.” Good old
education.
On the same campus, anoth
er fellow has been booted from
school for shooting off fire
crackers. The Interdorm court
action came in the midst of a
current firecracker barrage
which has rendered several
dorms almost inhabit liable.
Excellent educational movies
advertised in OSC's Barometer
this week. Showing at the VAR
SITY— Adults Only. Picture of
doe-eyed female in scanties, lur
ing: for "No Greater Sin," and
blonde babe being carried off by
South Pacific^ aboriginal "Prim
itive ‘The Blonde Captive.' "
So!
* * *
The Michigan State coed who
answered the phone at one of the
sororities was sorry, but they had
no one there by that name. The
male voice at the other end of
the line demanded that the kid
ding cease as he knew his date
told him to pick her up there.
The two argued for six minutes
when the solution was finally
found.
The young man from the
East was at the wrong college.
He hadn’t made it quite clear
to the bus company that he
wanted to go to the 1,’niver
sity of Michigan, not Michi
gan State.
Meanwhile, hi.s date waited,
miles away, at Ann Arbor.
• • «
When the Turkish professor
Maheschi Helai recently ap
peared at Oxford University,
England, to speak on opium, he
had a packed house.
When he dwelt, moreover,
for an hour on the joys of
opium smoking and wound up
by recommending opium for
mass consumption, he had a
fascinated audience.
Hut when Professor Helai
turned out later not to be a pro
fessor, but an Oxford student in .
the theater group, he and the
school had a lot of explaining to
do to the public. "
notes to the editor
i
The University of Oregon,
through its assistant business
manager, has presented to the
tenants of Amazon Village an
opportunity to ^express an opin
ion concerning the “legality" of
pets being maintained in the
area.
The resolution, on the face
of it, seems a genuine effort
by tlie University to obtain
information on which to base
regulations. liut much of the
beauty of this thought is de
stroyed by the wording of the
resolution, for in it, in the
fashion of a velvet-covered
blackjack, are enough exam
ples of semantics to keep a
speech class busy for a term.
First of all, the resolution pre
sents as a fact the University's
right to make discriminatory
regulations against certain stu
dents, for it proposes, in effect,
that certain students may be per
mitted to have pets in Amazon
Village while others may not
have this privilege.
Second, in the wording of tin*
resolution the University au
thorities iiave inserted a con
siderable amount of misleading
material. For example, the let
ter accompanying the resolu
tion warns:
“Please be advised, however, ^
that if the majority of the ten
ants m Uie project desire to have
pets, neither this office nor the
project manager will accept com-. ,
plaints concerning nuisance, per
sonal injury or personal propeity
damage which may be inflict'd
by cats, dogs, etc,”
This passage seems to indi
eate that a “YES” vote will re
move* some manner of protec
tion tlie tenants now enjoy.
That is falgt?7 for the Univer-.
sity does not now nor has if-0011- _
fessed to a responsibility for
damage done by pets to eitli ;r *
property or persons in any of the
housing areas.
But mote important than the"
manner by which the Universi- -
ty's administrators seek to in
fluence a “public opinion" vote
is the assumption that a state
institution has the right t.o en
force class legislation upon- •
those who, in theory, live in .
equal status in government
owned housing areas. If a place
remains where human beings are .
to be afforded equal treatment,
it should be in the environment" '
of a state university.
Yours truly,
HOYT BARNETT
Class of 1953.