+ EMERALD EDITORIALS +
Trial Run
Saturday will witness a flurry of activity
for Campus Greeks as Panheilenic, the Inter
fraternity council and the member houses
stage their first ('.reek Week.
The plans for the activity have come a
long way since their inception, but in some
ways not far enough. A noxious phrase in
•the initial plan of the I PC which stated that
the purpose of Greek Week was .. To ele
vate the Greek Houses and put them a little
apart from the rest of the campus,” has been
eliminated, and the event has been trimmed
down.
IFC and Panheilenic leaders envision an
expanded Greek Week in the future, and
explain that the current plan, which
stresses only social activity, is merely be
ing run as a test. Should the Greeks, and
the campus, receive Greek Week enthusi
astically, the plan is to be expanded in the
future.
We hope that the campus will suspend
judgment on the event until it is past, the
groups have held their critiques, and plans
and recommendations for future observance
of Greek Week are formulated.
Should it expand into what the more seri
ous. idealistic members of the sponsoring
groups envision, Greek Week could be valu
able as a public relations project for the en
tire University as well as for the fraternity
system at Oregon.
We've been unable to get excited about a
day filled with athletic events and social ac
tivity' alone. We remain unexcited about the
plan, except as a test.
We’d like to see a real Greek Week,
featuring serious contemplation of the
place of the fraternity and sorority in con
temporary college life, as well as social
functions. Certainly, the latter are as much
a part of fraternity life and of all college
life.
But these things alone cannot, to our way
of thinking, justify another major activity
weekend.
We wish the first Greek Week success.
We'd like to see a positive, constructive
Greek Week "become a part of the Oregon
tradition.
In a sense then, Saturday will be a test of
the Oregon fraternity system. We hope it
passes.
The Voting Age
Should 18-year-okls vote?
Stop and think about it, for there’s a good
chance that we’ll be asked to vote on the
question a year from November. The Oregon
Senate has passed a proposed constitutional
amendment to reduce the voting age and
the House is expected to concur, thus placing
the question on the 1956 ballot.
We’re for the 18-year-old vote.
The question is closer to us than to the
majority of the voters, and we’re right on the
edge of the age group in question, but there
are many strong reasons for our choice in
addition.
The first argument in favor of the mea
sure is, of course, “Old enough to fight, old
enough to vote.” This argument is mote
than an appeal to the emotions, it carries
considerable moral weight.
Is it morally right to send men to war to
enforce a policy which they had no part in
establishing?
• But this Only bears on whether or not 18
year-olds deserve to vote.
Whether or not they are qualified to vote
is another question. We believe they are.
When the United States was founded, most
young people were with their parents until
the age of 21. Farmers stayed on the family
farm. Apprentices to artisans were likely to
adopt the political opinions of their masters.
This is certainly not the case in contem
porary America. We have hangovers from
those days in laws which prevent persons
under 21 from obligating themselves for
their own debts and from entering con
tracts, but the case for continuing these re
strictions is not the strongest.
Today's average 18-year-old has approxi
mately five years more schooling than the
18-year-old at the turn of the century. New
trends in education have given him a greater
civic interest along with a keener under
standing of things political.
It is basic in Democratic thinking that
those who are affected bv the actions of
government should have a share in govern
ment. This could be carried to extremes, but
in our times, 18 i> as good a place to draw
the line as 21.
Another factor is the non-voting habit
acquired in the three years between which
modern Americans gain freedom of action
and receive the right to vote. It has been
proven that the age group between 21 and
30 exercises its right to vote less than other
age groups. The three years of political
dormancy between 18 and 21 certainly con
tribute.
Oregon's Senate has taken a step in the
right direction. We hope the House w ill fol
low suit, and the voters, given the chance,
will do likewise in 1956.
One To Go
From the speed shown in the student af
fairs checking lines in the Student Union
ballroom Monday morning, registration time
was really cut down this term. Only one
problem remains : the lengthy lines for de
partmental stamps.
At 7 :45 a.m. Monday English lines ex
tended from Friendly hall out almost to
the street. Over 50 people were waiting in
line when the political science department
finally opened registration at 8:15 a.m.
And the usually lengthy physical educa
tion lines were even longer with the rush
for tennis and golf classes.
somewhere there must be a solution to
the problem of lengthy lines, for each term it
is the same lines which are notoriously long
and slow moving. As a start, there fs no ex
cuse for the departments not to be open at
8 a.m. if 8 a.ni. is the time set for them to be
gin business. The larger departments could
use more people to check the cards, possibly
separating the lower division from the upper
division classes.
Both the students and the persons regis
tering for the departments should be aware
of what is to be done. Perhaps a list of the
cards to be filled out, how they are to be
filled out, and where they are to be filed
should be included in the registration pro
cedure material.
Certainly the person who is registering
for the department should be instructed as
to whether he is to check the adviser’s sig
nature and what he is to do in case of
schedule conflicts. Rather than holding
up the lines, the latter should be referred to
the department office.
Even the old dog senior is likely to feel like
a frustrated freshman when faced with regis
tration. More aging doesn’t help when new
systems are'tried and new cards added each
year. There ought to be a simpler way. Stu
dent affairs has improved its service im
mensely just this past term ; the departments
should be able to take similar steps.
Take Care
College people are more or less mature and
settled down. At least, most of the time they
are. .
But we always like to be careful on a day
like today. (It’s the first day of April.)
On April Fool’s Day only 14 years ago,
one of our classmates brought some goodies
to class which he was quite willing to share.
Many of us wondered why. We found out—•
the goodies were cakes of soap coated with
chocolate and covered with coconut.
Moral: Even though that was 14 years
ago, be careful, because it is April Fool’s
Day—and you never know.
INTERPRETING THE NEWS
Officials Reluctant
To Reveal Policy
By <1. M. ROBERTS
Associated IVess Nw« Analyst
The fog of wordH which en
closes American policy, or lack
of policy, toward Quemoy and
Matsu Islands grows denser all
the time, but one little sugges
tion of what the United States
may be working toward has
slipped through the murk of con
flicting opinions.
That is the Idea, which may
have reached Peiping through
one channel or another, that
Nationalist Chinn would la* re
i|Ulrc<| to gl\e up the small
offshore Islands in return for
guarantees against an armed
attack off Formosa.
After that, some think the Chi
nese Reds could bring their
claims on Formosa before the
world in peaceful fashion, either
through the United Nations or
in direct negotiations with the
interested powers. There seemed
to be little chance they would
get more than a hearing.
Whether anyone has gone very
far even on these lines of thought
is unclear.
As for the possibility that the
Reds are determined to start
keeping their threat to take
everything, three important
viewpoints have been made pub
lic.
Admiral Carney, chief of na
val operations, is reported to be
lieve the Reds will attack Matsu
in two weeks.
President Elsenhower says
he doesn’t rule it out, but in
dicates strongly he doesn't l>c
lleve it. At any rate he wishes
people \\ oiildn't go around
making that kind of idea pub
lic since nobody in Washington
hut tiny crystal hulls on I lie
subject, It embarrasses the
commnnder-ln-rhlcf, mid it
doesn't hr Ip peace.
The Chinese Nationalist com
mander on Matsu la leas optimis
tic and more fatalistic about the
prospects than the President.
He says It looka as though the
Hed.s "Intend to come pretty
soon, maybe tomorrow, maybe
next week, or It might hi- next
year. You can't tell."
Out of the conflict of opinions
in Washington, with Carney, Ad
miral Radford, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a num
ber of Republican congressional
leaders wishing the President
would take a tough stand which
he isn’t yet ready to do, one
thing seemed likely to emerge.
The business of "anonymous"
spokesmen for the government
seemed ripe for review. On
March 8 such u spokesman In
Tokyo, who can hardly have
been any other than Command
ing l.eneral Hull, said I he |(eds
were ready. That's what Car
ney pinpointed at one of those
“Jon cun safely say tint don't
quote me" dinners with re
porters.
The issue between Carney and
the President was drawn with
out Eisenhower saying a public
word, by a White House briefer
who himself demanded the re
porters leave him in anonymity.
That brought a touch of farce to
one of the world's most critical
situations.
Despite the dim suggestions of
a trade of the small Islands for
peace, American policy on the
subject remained largely anony
mous. too.
Made It!
wo—I got INCOMPLETE'’ In Math 100, “WITHDRAWN’
In Comp, CONDITIONAL In Wnttern Civ, and a “D” In I’K_
Boy: Thank goodnegH I didn’t flunk anything thltt tenn.
oreqor7i
iMeQOLD
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JEHKV HARRELL, Editor. .DOXXA 'rTnHK-KG. HusinesT Man^T?
_ RK K LEWIS, SAt.LV KYAXTAs'wiate Alitor* ""-*
f'AJVL LEf.EF.. Managing Editor HILL \l AIN \Y AKINfiTAiivei tTsim M. .,
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Kice, Sally Ryan,