Sergeant's Advice
Sometimes we sit in the of
fice and wonder if the occa
sional pieces we scribble oft'
to you are even worth the ef
fort. Perhaps it's permissible
for us to pontificate on local
matters. At least we're close
to them. But when we get out
in the big wide world, it’s
another matter.
Yet the problems facing us
today are not local in charac
ter. And so we tackle subjects
of a larger nature, feeling,
nonetheless, somewhat inad
equate to the situation.
That’s why we’re exception
ally pleased today to be able
to print on page three, “A
Letter to Graduating Senior
Men.” Plenty of men o» this
campus are affected by the
draft. We are hardly the ones
to be giving them advice—
but Sergeant Frank Pleshnik
is.
You may recall a "note to
the editor,” appearing in the
last winter term paper, writ
ten by Pleshnik. It was an en
tirely defensible plea for a lit
tle mail from the girls. And,
at the same time, he told us
he’d be glad to do some work
for us if we were interested.
So we wrote back to the
sergeant, saying “yes, we’d
certainly like to hear from
you. We’d like to know, for
one thing, something about
life in the service. We’re in
clined to think it’s not quite
as bad as it appears to be.”
He replied:
“Your assumption is cor
rect—life over here isn’t too
bad. Everybody gripes, natur
ally, but there’s a saying, ’If
a soldier complains, he's hap
py; but if lie’s silent, look
out!’ ”
He told us something about
what he’d been doing in Eu
rope (he likes it so well he'd
like to stay over as a civilian
for a couple of years) and
then he added:
“The main thing about ser
vice life is to try to make the
best of it. If. you go around
with a chip on your shoulder,
a lot of people will step up
and knock it off—and you
won’t be able to do a darn
thing about it. If, on the other
hand, you make it a point to
get along with people, it’s not
half bad.”
- This isn’t the Emerald talk
ing to you. It’s a 21-year-old
soldier ivho’s been through
the mill and who knows the
score. It’s nothing sensational
he tells us, just basic good
sense as every man on this
campus should be exposed to.
Go into the service expect
ing the worst, and you’ll prob
ably find it. Go into it plan
ning to get something in re
turn and you probably will.
It won’t be up to your draft
board or your commanding
officer. It won’t depend on
where you’re stationed or
what your job is—all it asks
is a positive frame of mind.
It’s all up to you, brother.
Einstein & Liberal Arts
Of particular interest to a
liberal arts institution such
as the University of Oregon
is a recent statement quoted
in the New York Times.
The statement, by the most
famous scientist of this cen
tury, Albert Einstein, has sig
nificance in these times of in
creasing specialization in
learning training.
Quoted in the publication,
“What the Colleges Are Do
ing,” and originally quoted in
an interview by Benjamin
Fine, The New York Times,
Einstein said:
It is not enough to teach a
man a specialty. Through it he
may become a kind of useful
machine, but not a harmoni
ously developed personality. It
is essential that the student
acquire an understanding of
and a lively feeling for values.
He must acquire a vivid sense
of the beautiful and of the
morally good. . . He must
learn to understand the mo
tives of human beings, their
illusions and their sufferings,
in. order to acquire a proper
relationship to individual fel
low men and to the community.
These precious things are
conveyed to the younger gen
eration through personal con
tact with those who teach. It
is this that primarily consti
tutes and preserves culture.
This is what ■ I have in mind
when I recommend the “hu
manities” as important, not
just dry specialized knowledge
in the fields of history and
philosophy.
Overemphasis on the com
petitive system and premature
specialization on the ground
of immediate usefulness kill
the spirit on which all cultural
life depends, specialized knowl
edge included.
These remarks are espe
cially significant, in that they
are by a man who is skilled
in one of the most specialized
fields, science. (Of course,
when scientists expound on
matters out of their field,
they are open to the charge
of being too naive in those
strange — to them — waters.
But Einstein has always been
a man marked by broad con
cepts, a truly liberally-edu
cated man.)
Admittedly, many educat
ors believe wholeheartedly in
this principle. But the current
trend toward more specializa
tion in training physicists,
chemists, architects, (all of
whom are vital to our so
ciety) etc., indicates that the
belief certainly isn’t uni
versal.
We emphatically believe
that a true liberal arts educa
tion means something far
greater than learning a skill
or packing one's head full of
facts in a particular field. Cer
tainly, the student would do
well to prepare for his future
work, but the fullness of per
son gained from acquainting
one’s self with the problems,
thought s, and approaches
of all the liberal arts is even
more valuable in the final
analysis.—(A.KT.J. - ■ • .
Radio Review- ..— —
KUGN Presents Baseball Bloc(k)
■ by Don Collin
Back at the old stand again
this week. Skipped last week be
cause of the obvious seasonal di
lution of program content.
Biggest bloc of new pro
gramming is IiUUN’s broad
casts of Portland Beaver's
Sunday doubleheaders. (FM
carries the daily broadcasts).
To the people from the North
the voices will not be new. But to
the rest, Rollie (apple orchard)
Truitt can present the most ap
palling description of baseball
imaginable. Aside from dead air
and a twenty year fund of
"stock”, but worn phrases, Truitt
will have a batter catching his
own fly ball, a runner scoring
after being put out somewhere
along the base paths, just plain
mixing teams, players and what
they’re doing. Utter fantastic.
The usual Truitt error percent
age is way above par for a sports
caster.
On a local scale, KWAX will
be broadcasting the Docks’
home games. No decision on
who’s going to do it—but that
decision Isn’t too pressing until
direct wire is laid Into Howe
Field.
A contender for the ballcasts
is John Bree, a KWAX regular,
who handles a sportscast at 8:45
p.m. Monday eves. This show is
piped into KOAC as well as the
new 4-D network.
During vacation Portland po
lice found a headless department
store dummy floating in the Wil
lamette River with this note at
tached: "Good bye, cruel world.
They took my brothers and sis
ters to use in the atom bomb
test. That's not for me. Good
bye.” If J.V. has his way, the old
college hoaxsters will be back
this term.
Programs worth noting:
Curt Massey and Martha Til
ton (KOBE, 4:80 p.m., daily)
present a delightful song fest'
( average seven per day) that
utilizes a new approaeh—sing
It as written. No echo cham
bers, frills or fancy arrange
ments. Very llstenable.
Musical Souvenirs (KASH,
10:30 a.m., Saturday) spins the
very light classics. Best part of
program is the music which there
is much of. Only one commercial
break.
Invitation to Learning (KERG,
Sunday morn at 11 a.m.) has
started a new 13 week series on
"Man and His Passions.” The bas
ic passion of jealousy will be dis
cussed from Shakespeare’s "Oth
ello" this Sunday.
Time Capsule (KASH, 7:30 p.
m„ Sunday) will record for pos
terity the “Language of our
Time.” Special feature will be A1
Capp on teen-age slang.
This week saw the passing of
the daily “Hob and Hay Show.”
It-G’s “Mike highlights” didn't
seem to think an explanation
was needed for them losing a
sponsor. It’s the same problem
“newness” encounters any
where. Any uttempt to alter
established patterns will meet
disaster when commercialism
Is Involved.
Leaders can attempt to keep
people from going astray, but
it's difficult to lead them into the
unknown. Headstones of "new
ness’ include — Henry Morgan,
Kenton’s progressive jazz, mod
ern art.
But when air time is released
the gaps are quickly filled. Last
week another sad event occurred!
—the ‘Gab’ Heatter of Hollj
groaned inbaii quarter hour i
Walter Winchell once suggest
because of Louella Parsons’ lonj
stay in Hollywood that it be
named “Lollywood.” (By the,
same token N. Y. city might be
called “Weepchell Ville.”) Some,
touching observation Walter
thought of when he ran out of
stuff on FDR, Valley Forge and(
World War Three.
Special Report on--Ge*M*H4,i
By Gunther Barth
Dusseldorf-Gerrebeiin,
Germany
Within the last week General
Chuikov, Soviet commander and
head of the Russian Control com
mission in Germany, has sudden
ly changed his tone in one of the
first moves in the current Soviet
conciliation strategy toward the
West.
He invited the three Western
powers to join in talks to prevent
future East-West air incidents
over Germany. Besides this, he
stated that his government is
fully in favor of a four-power
conference to consider the reuni
fication of Germany.
His declaration took the form
of an open letter to Dr. Josef
Wirth, 73, who was Chancellor
of the Weimar republic in the
early 1920’s. Dr. Wirth signed
in 1922 the special treaty be
tween Germany and Soviet
Russia at Rapalio, the first dip
lomatic agreement between a
European country and the So
viet Union. lie is now leader of
a West German Communist
front organization called the
“German Rally.”
General Chuikov’s letter was
printed as the main and leading
item on the first page of "Freies
Volk” (free people), the official
newspaper of the West German
Communist party.
General Chuikov’s statement
was made in a manner that cre
ated considerable doubts as to
whether it constituted a new step
in Communist maneuvers to con
ciliate the Western world. The
letter gave at least momentary
prominence to the German Rally,
an organization that was until re
cently utterly insignificant, with
as little popular support as any
Communist-front body in West
Germany.
In the past two months, how
ever, it has begun to rereive
more attention from the Com
munist papers in East Ger
many. Dr. Wirth has been pic
tured by them as a new cham
pion in the propaganda fight
against the European army
treaty and the Bonn peace con
tract. -
Dr. Wirth. chief -representative
of the Rapallo spirit, mi the
leading advocate of a clique of
Germans who wanted to
strengthen their country against
the West after the First World
War by making friends in the
East. Thus he followed the main
conception of Prussian diplomacy
in the 19th century and Bis
mark’s policy which was based
on an “entente cordiale" between
Germany and Russia.
Dr. Wirth, who lived abroad!
from 1933 to 1948, mainly ini
Switzerland, neglects in his
thinking the political developJ
ment in Europe since 1939. Nevj
ertheless, he seems to be unabliJ
to resist the temptation of beint
once agtln a champion in a worldl
completely changed. Further
more, he doesn’t recognize so faJ
that champions in our time ar|
the creation* and creatures
managers today.
Darwinism
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SENIOR
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STUD5NT
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Orman Dazlzr
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