+ EMERALD EDITORIALS +
‘Busy-work’ Girls
The Emerald has long and loudly com
plained about the non-honorary honoraries
oit campus. These selective groups, we feel,
no longer represent the reward and recog
nition for service they should. Most of them
have degenerated into mere “busy-work"
clubs.
Worst among the offenders, in our opin
ion, is Phi Theta Upsilon, junior women’s
honorary. This group of 20 outstanding
junior women on campus has been con
fronted with a burden of extra-curricular
work that would stagger the imagination of
the most activity-conscious young lady of
the freshman class.
The Phi Thetas this year have been,
are being or will be asked to participate as
a group in the following range of busy
work projects: Ushering at concerts, car
rying suitcases and operating information
booths during New Student week, selling
Homecoming buttons, selling programs
at football games, selling subscriptions to
magazines, serving at all-campus lunch
eons, registering alums at Homecoming,
conducting their annual “Mystie” sale.
•This year the group wisely put its collec
tive foot down and balked at some of the
tasks they were assigned. The line had to be
drawn somewhere.
We are not opposed to the idea of an
honorary, in general, or Phi Theta, in par
ticular. We merely object to having one
group of 20 girls being expected to carry on
so much busy work. The activity load of the
Phi Thetas can certainly not be blamed on
President Germaine La Marche, who in
many instances has probably been forced by
tradition and pressure from higher-ups to
lead the group in its busy work projects.
Many of Phi Theta’s activities are money
making projects, for the junior women's
honorary is expected to sponsor scholarships
each year. This is a worthy idea, but hardly
worth over-burdening the members of the
honorary with money schemes.
Someone probably has to sell programs
and usher at concerts. But why pick
ushers and saleswomen from among the
busiest women on campus?
. Most of the members of Phi Theta hold
responsible positions in various campus or
ganization, such as the ASUO senate, Stu
dent Union board and directorate, Emerald,
Oregana. They are already carrying major
activity loads. Failure to perform assigned
duties in their activity field in order to
jump through the Phi Theta hoop can cause
confusion and harm to the other groups with
which they are affiliated.
Druids, the men’s counterpart of Phi
Theta, has come to a realization of this situ
ation and wisely expects its members to par
ticipate in no major busy work projects.
Druids remains an honorary; activity chas
ing is left to the sophomore groups, which
have both the time and inclination for such
tasks.
Phi Theta Upsilon would do well to re
consider its position on campus. Activities
should not be piled on activities. Busy work
should be left to those who have the time.
Ladefinsky Case
So often we hear the plea: “What this
country needs is more good men in govern
ment.” Bah! The way good men have been
treated lately anyone with sense would want
to avoid government service like the plague.
.The past few years have seen our govern
ment degenerate and give in to the forces
of panic, fear, bigoted Americanism and
short sighted political pandering.
Oh sure, the pure are still there. We like
Ike and we like lots of other good men that
are working their lives out in behalf of their
country.
But what happens when this degenerate
force gets hold of one of these good men—
picks him up, breaks him and smashes him
down upon rocks of dishonor? Who helps
the good man then? No one! Yes, there's a
lot of talk and there's indignation, hut this
does not give the good man his job hack,
his life hack, and it does not clear him of
the smear.
And they want us to go into govern
ment work. They Want us to become good
men and work and give our life to help
ing our country. Why? So we can get
picked up and smashed, dirtied and dis
honored ?
The recent example that excites our wrath
is the case of Wolf I.adejinsky. This man
fled from the Ukraine when the Bolsheviks
took over and eventually arrived in the
United States broke, friendless and 1') years
old. He worked, he learned the language, he
put himself through Columbia university
and finally landed a job with the govern
ment as an agricultural economist.
In 1945 he went to Japan to handle the
farm policy under General MacArthur.
He waded in dung-oozing paddy fields, he
lived in cold huts and he went hungry. But
the result was one of the greatest achieve
ments of the occupation : A sweeping land
reform that gave four million peasants their
own land on easy terms.
Ladejinsky went on to India and Formosa
giving land reform advice. Always he was a
living example of democracy. “Look," he
would say, “I tied from the Bolsheviks. 1
went to the United States with nothing, yet
I was able to work up to a position where I
represent my adopted country in Asia."
For his work, the Japanese government
gave him a plaque for “great and lasting
services." MacArthur awarded him a Cer
tificate of ^Achievement and the U.S. Agri
culture department gave him the "Superior
Service award.” _
Two weeks ago, with no warning or ex
planation, Ladejinsky was fired—picked
up, broken and discarded.
Repeatedly he had been checked and
cleared by the State department. Hut in No
vember a new law transferred U.S. agricul
tural attaches from the State department to
the Agriculture department.
Ladejinsky was publicly blackballed by
the Agriculture department oir the same
charges that the State department’s rigid se
curity department had evaluated and dis
missed. Reasons : 1). he had never been close
to American farming operations and prob
lems and 2). he was a security risk (He had
once traveled in Russia before World War
II and has two sisters living there).
This man who’s most effective anti
communist argument had always been
“look at my success in America,” now
wonders “what will I tell them now?”
Other good men who have recently been
disgraced by the government’s tail-chasing
security investigations are J. Robert Oppen
heimer and John Patton Davis. Oppen
heimer, the man behind the atomic bomb,
was brought to trial on the basis of informa
tion that had been known by security offi
cers for years. He was proved unquestion
ably discreet and unquestionably loyal, yet
he was condemned as a security risk and
disgraced before the world.
Davis, a 23-year veteran in the diplomatic
service, was recently fired on a “defects of
character" charge. He was three years short
of retirement and had survived eight gov
ernment security checks. The main charge
against him was disagreeing with the ad
ministration's China policy 10 years ago.
When men like these can be discarded
and disgraced, it seems rather foolish for
our generation to rise idealistically to the
challenge of government service. If we want
to bloody our heads and dirty our reputa
tions we can surely find easier ways.
—(D.L.)
’Show Business Film
Dull and Too Lengthy
By Len Calvert
Emerald Columnitl
Twentieth-Century Fox has
taken some old and new Irving
Berlin songs, added several stars
frosted in Deluxe Color and come
up with a mixture called “There’s
No Business Like Show Business'’
and if all business has to be like
that, there’s just no hope for the
human race.
Taking a rather tired plot of a
vaudeville family, "The Five
Donehues,” its successes, break
up and inevitable reunion, the
plot has been stretched by more
than CinemaScope. We felt that
it was from 15 to 30 minutes too
long
Berlin's songs, Including such
standards us '‘Alexander’s Kug
time Band," “Heat Wave,"
“Play a Simple .Melody,” and
the title tune, of course, are all
enjoyable except when Mari
lyn Monroe tries to breathe in
rhythm and Dallas ls»y Johnnie
Hay contorts his facial muscles.
Ethel Merman, long a favorite
of ours, literally belts out her
songs in her inimitable way.
However, those who do not like
Merman’s style won't like her any
better in this show than those of
the past. As Uie "Mother” of the
Donehue brood. Miss Merman
provided some the brighter spots
in the extravaganza.
Fresh, relaxing and fun to
watch were Donald O’Connor and
Mitzi Gaynor. As the "younger
Donehues," these two blight stars
added a lot to the movie, parti
cularly In their dunce number*.
However, It must be added that
Mr. O’Connor's acting left mm h
to be desired In Ids big "dra
matic" scenes.
One factor which we regretted
itlsiut the movie was that Dan
Dailey, who played the "father"
of the family was not given more
of an opportunity to show his
acting wares. He was definitely
hampered in the smallness of the
part.
Although “Alexander's llag
tiine Hand" ts an admirable
song and enjoyable, the song
and danee sequence based on
It was far too long, but per
haps this was In keeping with
the rest of the movie. The
"ragtime" was awfully "dull
time” after the song was sung
the "regular” way three times
In Scotch, French and Swiss
dialects and In the “Johnnie
Kay manner.” It was just too
much.
However we particularly en
joyed the number done by Ft toe l
Merman and Md/.i Gaynor to the
song "A Sailor's Not a Sudor
Till He's Been Tatooed." Their
harmony was admirable, the
number was well staged and the
dancing excellent. Also well
staged was the "Heat Wave"
number featuring the ratiier
plurnp ex-Mrs. DiMuggto.
"There's No Business Like
Show Business" Is an elaborate
frame for Irving Berlin's music.
But. to paraphrase a phrase, "if
you don't like ‘Alexander’s Hag
time Band,' there’s not much for
you."
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