RE Evaluation
The Emerald and its columnists have, on
several occasions this year, inquired into
the function and value of many of the extra
curricular activities which appear to plague
students and impede real progress in the
more educational aspects of the University.
An extra-curricular event which ended
last Thursday, Religious Emphasis Week,
is one activity' which violated the rules
which seem to govern most campus extra
curricular activities—RE Week actually
performed a service to students and had
some educational value.
Those who went to the major addresses
will attest the high quality of the speakers
and the value of what they had to say.
They frankly discussed some thorny prob
lems in the topic area of “love and mar
riage.” And through the discussions, fire
sides, morning worship services, students
could see the what, if not the why, of the
different faiths in relation to marriage.
We have only one real quibble on the
week. The name should be changed. It is
not the business of any state university to
“emphasize” anv religion, but only to
evaluate it and relate it to society'. Last
year. RE Week was called “Religious
Evaluation Week.” And it should be so
called next year.
Double Standard
M estern observers have always suspected
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev of two
faced tendencies, but now definite evidence
has been uncovered to prove the pudgv
Communist boss talks out of both sides of
his mouth.
The Associated Press reports from Mos
cow that Khrushchev has scathed Russian
farmers who have been converting the
peoples’ sugar beet crop into home brew,
and then drinking it!
“The time has come to declare^ war on the
drunks and moonshiners in Russia,”
Khrushchev told an agricultural conference
at Minsk recently.
' This view hardly measures up to
Khrushv’s own performances at embassy
parties, state receptions and other vodka
laden occasions. Or perhaps Khrushchev is
just borrowing a little from aristocracy in
condemning home brew while personally
quaffing vodka.
Perhaps Khrushchev following a familiar
ly-heard charge in our own political sys
tem—expediency.
Enrollment Up
With perhaps much of the credit due to
a freshman class which fall term earned a
high 2.25 grade point average, winter term
enrollment here at the University has in
creased from 5,807 a year ago to the present
figure of 6,259.
Interesting to note is the senior class in
crease—a healthy 21 per cent—which in
dicates that many upper-classmen are
transfers from other schools. Conversely,
the sophomore class this year decreased
one per cent from the winter term regis
tration of last year.
The added number of students is, in
most areas, still reasonably imperceptible.
But when the ‘‘World War Two babies”
start hitting the colleges*about 1960, en
rollment increases will be painfully felt by
everyone.
The need for “limited enrollment,” to be
started next fall, will then be evident to
nearly everyone.
Footnotes
Apparently the partially-clad male who
has been strolling near women’s living
groups during the wee morning hours lately
hasn't checked up on the groups’ “man
hours” schedules.
Sneaky Trick
r
srr vai hm: rue- same answers as ^mith — v<?Lie
A£& VV&2N6 PECAUSf YOU VXXs A WfSKENT T£St*
Letters to the Editor
Emerald Editor:
Ninety-one concerned upper
class women signed a petition
requesting that Carson be an
upper class dormitory next
year. The petition now rests
with Dean DuShane. Most of
us signed because we felt the
present dormitory housing for
upper class independents and
transfers (which now includes
lower classmen i is most un
satisfactory.
We feel that the new dorms
are better suited for that all
important group living which
is so desirable for freshman and
sophomores.
As the occupant of a single
room which is poorly situ
ated by the entrance, I am
disturbed by piggeis and im
mature ami thoughtless people
who shout and sing with en
thusiasm outside my window
und in the lobby and hall* when
entering, departing, and good
nighting. .
Women who desire prlva< y
to the point of paying extra for
the privilege of n aingle room
have a serious purpose of con
ceitrating on thcer studies)
IX»rm meeting* and activities
fail to fit in with heavy study
loads which require many hours •*
of preparation.
For these reasons, i feel that
senior women over 21, who are
screened for maturity and pur- ,
pose, should be permitted off
campus housing or have dormi
tories facilitated to the.r needs,
(Name withheld by request) '
<
‘Vigilance Committee’ Poor Method to Clean Un Countv Newsstands
The censor's hand is about to
be felt on the reading matter
available to residents of Lane
county. District
Attorney Eu
gene Venn has
announced his
intention to
“clean up” coun
ty newsstands
by ridding them
of lewd and in
decent publica
t i o n s — par
ticularly “men’s
magazines” which contain sug
gestive pin-up pictures of wom
en.
Venn seeks to encourage all
news dealers to voluntarily quit
selling publications which fall
under the nebulous and sub
jective definition of being “lewd
and indecent.” He is prepared,
however, to prosecute dealers
“who wish to ignore the simple
dictates of decency as embodied
in the law.”
According to a letter from the
district attorney’s office to the
dealers, Venn has two main
reasons for his newsstand clean
up campaign:
First, he is "genuinely con
cerned with the effect such in
decent publications have on the
young people of the commun
ity.”
Second, he is concerned with
the effect of such publications
“within easy reach of a border
line abnormal individual who
may find the additional needed
stimulus (in them) to make him
a real menace to your commun
ity.”
* * *
Under existing Oregon stat
utes, Venn has ample authority
to earry out his campaign. The
law (ORS 167.150) provides
that anyone who in any way
traffics in “ ... any obscene or
indecent book, paper, writing,
printed matter, picture, draw
ing, photograph or engraving
— shall be subject upon con
viction to imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than
six months or by a fine of not
more than $500 or both.”
Under the statute, the same
penalty can be meted out to
anyone connected with any play,
show or drama or with ”...
any book, paper or other publi
cation that contains accounts
or stories of crime or lust or
deeds of bloodshed ...”
If the statute were to be
strictly enforced, all Oregon
newspapers, many magazines
and books (including the Bible),
and numerous radio, television
and movie news and dramatic
productions would not be avail
able to Oregonians.
The statute, in effect, pro
vides the legal sanctions for a
zealous district attorney or
other state officer to conduct a
genuine, Inquisition-style book
burning. His problem, however,
would be to convince a jury of
the rightness of his charges.
But Venn is not working in
accordance with the law. He
has compiled a list of 21 “lewd
and indecent” magazines (not
including- "Playboy”). Instead
of charging the magazine deal
ers with violating the law by
selling the listed magazines,
Venn is trying to pressure the
dealers into allowing him to
judge what they can sell.
Venn’s method—in which the
community has no vdice—could
lead to many varieties of cen
sorship with all its inherent
evils.
Yet it is not hard to sympha
thize with what Venn is trying
to do. Certainly, the county
would be better off if some pub
lications now sold W'ere banned.
The almost-insolvable problems
are to decide which publications
should be prohibited and by
what means the prohibition
should be effected.
Where should the line be
drawn between, on the one hand,
public safety and morality and,
on the other hand, individual
l ights and freedom of the press ?
And who should decide where
the line should be drawn ?
* * *
The Eugene Register-Guard,
discussing the problem in an
editorial last Friday, advocated
the formation of a quasi-official
“citizen's committee” to compile
a list of “acceptable” publica
tions. Dealers who adhered to
the committee’s list would be
awarded a seal to display.
The committee, said the R-G,
should represent a cross-section
of the community. “It should
have no authority to pull maga
zines off the newsstands. It
• J
could only withdraw the seal
which it bestowed.”
The K-(i observed that "most
merchants, we think. Mould find
the value of the seal far greater
than any small profit they
might make from a few maga
zines.”
The R-G believes that such a
committee would better fulfill
the function of deciding what
is lewd and indecent than would
any district attorney and jury.
But the paper quoted a Su
preme Court decision from a
case involving indecent publica
tions which said that "... the
jury... is the exclusive judge
of what the community is, and
in determining that conscience
you are to consider the commun
ity as a whole, young and old,
educated and uneducated, the
religious and irreligious -men,
v/ome 1 and children.”
The citizen’s committee, if it
followed the rules prescribed by
the K-(», might do some good.
But numerous objections are
obvious which make the plan
inferior even to following the
method set up by law.
• The committee would prob
ably be drawn from the -'‘do
good” set in the community—
clergymen, society matrons and
other self-appointed peepers of
the public morals. For these
persons would be most inter
ested in serving on such a
group. The R-G admitted this
possibility and said this would
be "unfortunate.”
• The committee would be an
swerable only to itself. Its legal
1
status would be comparable to
old-time "vigilance commit
tees," or, nt worst, lynch mob'.
• If, us the it-G hope*, the com
mittee's seal of approval gained
enough community prestige to
Convince reputable merchant*
that it tins to their benefit to ‘
display It, the stage would Ims i
set for the committee to make
the list of acceptable publica
tions ever smaller.
The minority of merchants .
who didn't display the seal
would, for u time, enjoy a mo
nopoly on the racier publica
tions. But those dealers would
then be easy marks for the dis
trict attorney. «
• The committee, if it were
successful, might take up larger
goals and, as the R-G feared,
“go into the book business, to "
poking into libraries and com
piling lists of wrong books'."
• The committee- and this is
most likely might be held in
low regard by the community.
f Continued on page 3)
OREGON DAILY EMERALD
The Oregon Daily Emerald it* published >
four times in September anil five <!».*' a
week (luring tin scliuol year, except ‘bring
examination and vacation prriods^iy'ha
Student Publications board of thy Kniver- A
sity of Oregon. Kntered as second cla-s
matter at the post office, Jiqst?nc, Oregon.
Subscription rates: $5- per year, $2 per *
term.
Opinions expressed on the editorial page •
are those of The Kmerald and do not pre
tend to represent the opinion of the ASUO
or the University, ’
ALLEN JOHNSON, Editor
GAKY CAPPS, Ilusiness Manager i
WILLIAM COOK,
Editorial Page Editor
PHIL HAGER, Managing Editor
GLEN GRAVES, Advertising Mgr.