+ EMERALD EDITORIALS +
R. L P.
The Red Cross Hoard is dead. May it rest
in peace.
The long-rumored demise of the Red Cross
board is slated for the ASUO Senate meeting
Tuesday evening, we understand. Any action
the Senate may take will be rather anti
climatical under the circumstances.
The death blow to the board was dealt by
the members themselves. In past vears the
Red Cross board has been responsible for
conducting blood drives on campus, checking
fire precautions, and providing occasional
entertainment and favors for the Veterans’
hospital in Roseburg. Weekly meetings were
held to conduct mostly busy work. This vear
the board has not been able to perform these
functions because of local Red Cross rulings.
They have managed to discontinue their
weekly gatherings. The need for such a board
ceased to exist.
The most significant thing is that the mem
bers themselves realized this. In deciding to
disband the Red Cross board they have taken
a positive step toward eliminating one or
ganiatiozn which no longer fulfills a need on
campus. In so doing they have exemplified a
greater interest in the welfare of the campus
as a whole, for they are taking away a lot of
fat personal titles. This, however, will give
them more time ot devote to more worth
while activities. Here is hoping that some
other campus organiations n a simlar situa
tion wiH see the light ami follow the example
of the Red Cross board.—(S.R.)
Revolution
Wednesday the architecture story “broke.”
It wasn’t as exciting as it might have been
earlier—it appeared for a time as if jhere
would be a revolution on that end of the
campus, with the architecture faculty man
ning the barricades against the enraged stu
dents.
The end result was the establishment of
an advisory council of students and a prom
ise by Dean Little to "eliminate specifically
scheduled criticisms.”
Rumors of varying types and degrees had
been circulating on campus about the im
pending "revolution” for several weeks.
The Emerald was placed in the unfortu
nate position of being able to get only one
side of the picture on an “on the record”
basis. The a iews of the other side were kept
“off the record” in a talk with the Emerald
reporter.
Luckily, the time the Emerald felt that
the story could no longer be kept silent co
incided with the time of the settlement of
the dispute.
But we hope that both the students and
faculty members involved in this dispute
have seen that, if correctly handled, the
news of the difficulties in the Architecture
school might have been settled more speed
ily had the story been printed.
It is situations like that that point up the
peculiar position of the campus newspaper.
An obligation exists to the Unversity to
serve the best interests of the institution,
but an equally strong obligation exists to
the students and faculty of the University
—that obligation is the one of printing all
the news.
We don’t think the two conflict. Cer
tainly, they may appear to, but the facts,
correctly written and displayed, can do
much less harm in the long run than can
rumors which circulate all around the cam
pus despite efforts to check them.
W e hope this will be rememlwred in future
incidents like the "revolution” in the Archi
tecture school.
Footnotes
A question : When you meet a large truck
on the Hello Walk, is it necessary to say
‘'hello” to it ?
THE FRATERNITY PROBLEM
Oregon Fraternities Could Gain
By Studying Indiana's System
(Ed. >ote: This is the sec
ond and final article in a se
ries analyzing the strength and
weaknesses of fraternity sys
tems in general and Oregon’s
fraternity system in particu
lar.)
By Dick Lewis
Emerald Associate Editor
Fraternity change—for the
good or the bad—depends first
-on the right kind of leadership.
This places the problem square
ly on two sets of shoulders: first,
IFC and, second, the UO ad
ministration.
Fraternities at Oregon have
come a long way under the
guidance of Ray Hawk, IFC ad
viser. But Hawk readily admits
that fraternities have a lot more
improvements to make before
anyone has a right to feel com
placent.
More self-government by the
fraternities themselves would
seem to be a logical step in
developing a more mature, re
sponsible system. Speaking for
the administration, Hawk says,
“We’re ready and willing to
give the fraternities more self
government.”
After the panning this news
paper gave the last Greek Week,
this may sound ironic coming
from an Emerald writer, but I
believe the key to an advanced
fraternity system may lie with
Greek Week. Scrutinize the fol
lowing Greek Week schedule,
Indiana style:
Activities begin on Wednes
day evening with a recognition
banquet for outstanding fra
ternity and sorority members.
Some nationally prominent
speaker gives the main address,
thus setting the tone for the
whole week.
Thursday and Friday are de
voted to workshops and discus
sions of public relations, rush
week, fraternity officer duties,
etc.
Friday night the Greek Week
committee sponsors a free all
campus dance with the stated
purpose of “creating good will
and bettering Independent-Or
ganized relations." Saturday
morning is devoted to pledges
and pledge workshops and Greek
Week ends Saturday noon with
a pfedge recognition banquet.
Best of all this kind of Greek
Week would serve each year to
refresh and remind fraternity
men at a broad level of the high
er ideals and objectives of a good
fraternity system. An individual
fraternity may have good lead
ership one year and poor the
next. Greek Week could be
strong, bettering influence that
would not run hot and cold.
The Greek Week awards ban
quet might supply enough incen
tive to make fraternities actively
work for some of the higher
goals such as grades, community
service, etc.
IFC by-laws at Indiana uni
versity motivate scholarship
by virtue of a rule that any
fraternity that ranks among
the bottom five in scholarship
three terms in a row goes on
social pro until it pulls its
grades up. Why wouldn’t this
be a good thing on our cam
pus?
Even Hawk admits that you
can’t justify fall term rushing
in terms of welfare for the in
dividual ru8hee. The administra
tion does not fhvor fall term
j-ushing in principle, but has gone
along with it for these reasons:
1. Rushing all fall term is too
expensive for fraternities in their
present financially weak condi
tion.
2. Winter term rush week de
stroys the incentive for summer
rushing. And summer rushing is
responsible for persuading many
students to come to the Univer
sity instead of a competing in
stitution.
Until increased enrollment
makes fraternities stronger, per
haps rush week should be left
where it is. In the meantime
there are many completely posi
tive projects upon which the fra
ternities can concentrate.
Hell Week ranks near the top
of the list of things that give
fraternities a bad name. In 1948
Indiana university gained na
tional recognition for abolish
ing Hell Week and institutng
Help Week. But it is interesting
to note that their IPC by-laws
still allow for "informal initia
tion’’ although it is limited to a
Friday-through-Sunday weekend
and restricted to the chapter
house.
In short this means: (1) In
diana has Help Week and good
public relations (2) On the sly
they still have a short Hell
Week known as informal Initia
tion. Fraternities at Oregon
(C ontiinu’d on paye seven)
INTERPRETING THE NEWS
Conservatives Set
Own Time, Terms
In Election Campaign
By J. M. ROBERTS
AP New* Analyst
The British elections Thursday
wound up a campaign which has
been dull, with a Conservative
victory generally expected from
the start.
The Conservatives exercised
the majority prerogative of pick
ing its own time for the vote.
They chose a period of prosperity
rather than gamble that pros
perity would last until the nor
mal time for an election, next
year.
They chose a period wfcen
the Labor Party was going
through a serious internal up
heaval, due to the conflict l»e
tueon the Attlee moderates
ami the Bevantte left-wingers.
They also chose a time when
they could display regard for
public confidence by seeking its
approval of Anthony Eden's suc
cession to Winston Churchill as
prime minister.
They gambled a year of their
present term in office against a
five-year extension.
Important issues in the cam
paign were few and not well de
fined.
Eden knocked the critical
props from under the Laborites
so far as international affairs
were concerned when he obtain
ed United States agreement to
a top-level Big Four conference
on European settlements.
Many Laborites had depended
upon criticism of the Anglo-Am
erican atom-bomb program and
th#* rearmament of Germany to
appej.1 to the great mum „f
p#*are sentiment In the country.
But the majority of the party,
for the aake of national security,
went along with the Conserva
tive* in Parliament for manufac
ture of the atom bomb and rati
fication of the Pari* accord*,
foreclosing the matter* a* cam
paign Issue*.
Labor i* also handicapped by
the fact that all the dir#* thing*
they predicted in the 1951 elec
tion*, if the Conservative* won,
have not happened. The Conser
vatives contended then they had
no intention of turning the clock
back on the welfare state, but
that they would give It better
management and not let it go
overboard at the expense of the
general economy. That, they said,
would produce prosperity.
Whether it waa produced or not,
prosperity arrived.
All this contributed to a feel
ing during the campaign that
the Conservatives would walk
in. and detracted from public
Interest.
Britain, however, haa demon
strated several time* since the
war that she t* very closely di
vided, politically. A* the cam
paign came to its climax, there
were sign* that the Conservatves
were not quite so strong as they
had thought. The party leaders
were beginning to recall that, In
1951. they had gotten a Parlia
mentary majority less than one
fifth as large a* they had ex
pected.
Never Trust a Woman
i must tfil a (onvinclnj; story—1 told him my father owns
a big horse ranch/'
of'-'eqonfwgi
l<4
PICCOLO
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r, expresxed on the editorial page. are tho«e of thr writer and do not pretend to
[he HttJr inZlTd> ,h',AvSt ° w*hc r,,iv"«»y- fnoimd editorials arc written by
the editor, initialed editorials hy -member* of The editorial hoard.
JERRY HARREI.I., Editor I)6nNA RI^NBERG, Bu.ines.Mar^S
Dirk LEWIS, SALLY KVAN. Associate Editors
PAUL KEEFE, Managing Editor
GORDON RICE, News Editor
BILL MAIN WARING, Advertising Manager
-- -T— -_______ NANCY SHAW, Office Manager
ft—_JERRY CI.AUSSEN, CHI CK MITCUELMORE, CVSports Ed.t...i
Httrrd1, PaUl k«rf*VDick *-ew'»> Gordon Rice, Ja7k.«