+ EMERALD EDITORIALS +
An Open Mind
The “fearful, conformist atmosphere”
which pervades so many corners of security
crazy America in the “H” (for Hydrogen or
Hysteria) Age is apparently making no head
way in Oregon.
On the heels of the announcement that J.
Robert Oppenheimer’s scientific lecture ser
ies had been cancelled by the president of the
University of Washington came the an
nouncement by Chancellor Charles D. Byrne
of the Oregon State Board of Higher Edu
cation that there is not and has not been any
question of cancelling Oppenheimer’s invita
tion to come to Oregon.
Scheduled to deliver the Condon lectures
on science in late April and May, Oppen
heimer was invited before the Atomic En
ergy Commission’s “hearings” on the sci
entist’s status as a “security risk.”
Anti-Oppenheimer feeling in the scien
tific-military world of atomic energy was
brought into the open when he opposed the
development of the thermonuclear (“H”)
bomb — fearful of what this new force
would do when unleashed in the world.
The charges against Oppenheimer were
threefold.* “Persistent and continuing asso
ciation with Communists,... substantial de
fects of character,... and persistent and will
ful disregard for the obligations of security.”
Many of Oppenheimer’s associates on the
Manhattan project, professional security
agents as well as fellow scientists, testified
to his loyalty to the country. A relatively few
were able to sincerely question Oppenheim
er’s loyalty to the country for which he had
done such monumental work during the de
velopment of the atomic bomb.
We are happy that the State board, ap
parently with the support of the institu
tions 'of higher learning, and, we hope,
with the support of the people of the state
—has left its invitation open.
All the evidence points to the fact that J.
Robert Oppenheimer is not a “security risk
he is undoubtedly one of the world’s most
- brilliant physicists.
He will not speak on matters concerning
the investigations, only on scientific subjects.
We are happy that Oregon has kept a level
head and an open mind in the midst of the
hysteria which surrounds it.
Barrington Report
Oregon’s legislature will make an import
ant decision when it votes on the Barring
ton Report. This report directly effects em
ployees of the State Board of Higher Edu
cation and all other employees of the state.
The 122-page report is the result of a sur
vey made by the Barrington Associates of
■ New York City. Its purpose is to categorize
state employees and give salaries or wages
commensurate with the duties and responsi
bilities o{ each category.
\\ e wish to pose two questions in regard
to the report:
First: Will employees of the State Board
of Higher Education, from the chancellor
on down, wish to be categorized and have
a number signify the type of work they do?
Second: Has justice been done to all
state employees when their jobs were cate
gorized?
In answer to our first question, we can
not see how members of the faculty, in par
ticular. would allow a Roman numeral from
1 to XXIII to signify their duties. It would
seem to he a slap in the face to the academic
world to have such a thing happen.
In answer to our second question, we
state a resounding "NO.” In one particu
lar instance (that of printers, pressmen
and compositors) some wages would be
lowered below the prevailing rate by as
much as 45 per cent. This would hardly
show that the report had given proper con
sideration to all jobs. We have been un
able to ascertain whether this is an isolated
case of injustice or the general rule.
l'he State System of Higher Education
could be very seriously hurt by the adoption
of the Barrington Report. We do not believe
that the elimination of a few overpaid jobs
is worth the evils which would be brought
on by its adoption. — (P.K.)
Press Battle
(Eugene Register-Guard)
Up on campus the Oregon Daily Emerald
is embroiled in a "freedom of the press" battle
with the Inter-fraternity Council. A reporter,
given his choice of reporting only what the
fraternity boys wanted printed or of leaving
the meeting, stomped out in a huff. That’s
what he should have done.
Because the council is a private club, the.
reporter had no •'right" to be there. He could
be kicked out, if the council members wanted
him kicked out. And he was right in refusing
to stay and “cover" the meeting by printing
only what the members thought ought to be
printed.
It was a good example for student journal
ists. and it w a> a good lesson for campus
politicians who liave got to learn sometime
they can’t control everything that goes in
the paper.
J his reporter s going to be a good man to
have on a city hall beat some dav.
Footnotes
Footnotes get results! Have you noticed
the new flag on the SU flagpole. Thanks,
Si.
* * *
Recently installed at the Side is a "hi-fi"
juke box. The machine has three speakers in
front and one on either side. It’s the greatest.
Letters to the Editor
Court Called 'Farce7
Emerald Editor:
The Student Traffic Court is
a farce and an utter failure in at
tempting to do a job for which
it is incompetent and incapable
of handling, for;
1) It lacks any complete of
ficial vehicle and traffic code
against which to punish violat
ors (but this it proceeds to do
regardless pf this deficiency).
2) It claims to be an appel
lant court to which one ap
peals traffic tickets, but in
order to have a court of ap
peals you must first have a
court of original jurisdiction
(of which there is none). Thus,
a holder of a traffic ticket is
considered guilty in the eyes
of the court before they even
hear his plea.
3) The court itself is a most
informal and arbitrary body
which takes the ticket and its
citation at face value, so that
it is the student’s word against
the scribble on a piece of paper
which the court deems free to
interpret and so put words in
the mouth of the officer who
issued the ticket and who is not
present at the court’s meetings.
The accused stands alone. His
accuser is not present.
Indeed, the court itself is
in sheer confusion as to its
duties and jurisdiction. One
member claims that the court
is an “administrative” body.
Another tells you that the
IE
court makes no claim to a fair
knowledge of the law (and
justice for that matter), and
when the accused tries to point
to rules of common sense of law'
or justice, the court members
accuse him of trying to “trip
them up.”
And as a grandiose example
of the unorthodox nature of the
student traffic Court, it proceed
ed last Wednesday night to hear
cases and pass judgments with
four members present instead
of an odd number (such as one,
three, five, etc.), as is common
to judging bodies. Such a situa
tion forces a member of the
court to arbitrarily change his
mind when he sees that a “hung”
judgment is in the offing.
Benton C. Flaxel
CAMPUS COMMENT
'Which Came First?'
A Mqtter of Relativity
By Sam Frear
Emerald Columnist
It's all relative, somebody said.
You car't really tell which did
come first, l'egg or le chicken.
Some kiddles were like the way
they ate now before they became
what they are now and so forth,
if you get what is meant. And
vice versa.
Take, for example, that great
huge shapeless glob of human
iry mat forms
a grotesque
reservoir of
non-entities
people with
the vague ma
jor called "lib
eral art s. ”
Were they al
ways ao insig
nificant ?
A large
part, ot course, are transients,
casuals, vagrants, little boys
lost, and little girl3 the same
way, and mobs are freshmen in
the process of finding the easiest
major.
Liberal arts majors are peo
ple "stopping by" until they
move into a new maW field. It
Ip perhaps, a valuable stopping
off place, but many, no doubt,
wonder just why in hell they are
here. Others are the compatible
type they like "everything"
Anyhow, they all move on. soon
er or late;, and many, we wondeb
why, move on to the School of
Business Administration.
Business majors an* very
sensitive to the fact that they
are wasting their I'me here
at the University. Upon being
ridiculed for la-ing a burden
upon his parents ami the state,
thi BA mainr is apt to retort
that "at least I won't starve
after graduating."
Thu* it would seem th*t the
BA school mrs produce* anient
materialist*. It is, perhaps, a «md
commentary on American higher
education thul business f;ra• 111
at c« form one of the largest
group*'- of collage graduates.
Briefly subjected to a super
ficial indoctrination of cultural
courser while ircshmen, these
c ussi-educated people are ground
out by the thousand* each year
to form a bulwark of American
society.
Were business majors always
intellectually stagnant or did
then frightfully dull field do this
for them ?
The Journalism School leans In
the othei direction. A profession
al school that limits the profes
sional courses its majors ran
take, it set* standard* so high
that of the mass that start as
freshmen only a bare trickle
matriculate some four years
iHter.
1 hi* tends to bring about n
sort of intellectual snobbery
among .1-majors that cannot
be just’fted In the quality of
the newspaper which many of
tb-rn help to produce. And
journal sin student* present n
p trade' that is Inexplicable.
They should abhor closed so
cieties and yet they form one
of the tightest cliques on cam
pus.
Are J-majorr extroverts be
cause they are J-majors or arc
they J-majors because they arc
extroverts? Or i* it all. like the
mar *aid. extremely relative?
Next week we will investigate
whether speech majors are rc
ouired to be dirty joke experts,
U psychology majors really
analyze themselves, and who
those *» range people are that,
lurk in the dingy confine* of Con
don hall.
Phone Duty
“SheV Retting up off the Hundeck now—nhut« turn to phone
her next time?”
Th» Oregon Paily Emerald i* published five d«y«t a
examination and vacation periods, by the Student Pubiieath
Entered an se< ond class matter at the post office, Eugen
school year; tJ a term.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are those of the writer and do not pretend to renre.
sent the opinions of the ASUO or the University. Unsigned editorials are written by the editor*
initialed editorials by members of the editorial board.
JKKRY_H A HUE I. ^Editor_BONN A KIM! K KG;iFusi,le8» Manner
. K LEWIS, SALLY RYAN, Associate Editors
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