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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1960)
What’s Happening to Leap Year? We are moderately surprised that the Student Union Directorate is not planning a big Leap Year celebration for the women of the campus today. Being February 29, 1960, this day is specially set aside for all those women who desire to obtain a fellow' with whom they could be matched in matri mony. WE ARE ALSO surprised that the female population of the campus is not more interested in this traditional bit of horse play. This we feel is highly disappointing to the male population on campus. Of course, we don’t advocate any wild rushing parties—we are in favor of more subtle ways, and we do have faith in the female to be subtle. We have the feeling that the women on this campus are not as actively interested in the male race as w'ere their “foremothers” back in Scotland where and when it all started. In 1228, the Scottish laws stated that a woman could legally hunt a man. pierce his heart with an arrow', and marry him. If the man found it not desirable to accept this woman’s proposal, the little lady could go to the law for a little persuasive help. THIS BIT OF LEGAL maneuvering spread and a law was passed in France to the same effect, and in the 15th century it reached to the romanitc Italians in Genoa and Florence. Although it is only a custom here in the r United States for women to observe the leap year tradition, we are appalled that actually no woman believes that this cus tom is really her right to get a man. There are, it is believed, several reasons to sub stantiate this argument. First, a female is always conniving to get her man. It is obvious that she is not going to show some of her secrets by showing her colors when it is the legal time to go hunting. Secondly, by playing naive when it is Leap Year, she might be able to lull some pood chap into complacency and by June the wedding bells would be ringing. And thirdly, we actually hate to suggest this reason, but honesty calls us forth: Has the woman lost all interest in the opposite sex? Is she more interested in a career? in getting high GFA’s? in activities? WE THINK THAT it is fine for the woman to advance herself intellectually and politically, but has she forgotten that she has a cultural obligation too? We should hope not. Thus, what can we do about it? We have brought to you this issue. We believe that the women on this campus can improve their attitude. We do suggest to the AWS that they might set up a rules committee to make the standards by which this custom can be carried forward. AND WE HOPE that Leap Year, 1%0, will be happy and successful. Letters to the Editor Emerald Editor: Although I try hard not to read movie reviews, and extra hard not to read replies to mov ie reviews, I cannot let pass without comment the remarks which have appeared here in the last two days concerning the movie, “On the Beach,’’ which directly led to, or at least hast ened, the untimely death of Nevil ShUte. OVERLOOKING MANY of the points discussed by the ori ginal reviewer and by the previ ous correspondent, I find it cur ious that with all their disagree ments, they should have agreed upon the merit of the film’s end ing, an ending which alone far outweighs any good points the picture may have had, and which by itself stamps “On the Beach" as another Movieland product designed to be consum ed by idiots. If, as Mr. Scholz observes, the cast actually spent two hours building up to such a “powerful” ending, then there is little doubt that they did so with large tongue in their re spective cheeks; for what em erged was surely the shaggiest dog ever to anti-climax an otherwise passable film. HEBE IS VERY possibly the most inappropriate ending ever put to a major motion picture. Here is a finale of seven or eight seconds which serves no visible purpose except, perhaps, to pay off some movie-making brain for having exercised an unusual degree of restraint throughout most of the film, with the understanding that he could, in exchange, do the full treatment on the ending. Here is an ending which senselessly shatters the very ef fective mood development just preceding it, which crudely bur lesques the picture’s entire theme, and which spells out, let ter by letter, what it is that the viewer is supposed to take home with him in terms of a message. One can only wish that the film had ended a few seconds earlier, with a quiet fade-out from the scenes of deserted streets. If the viewer couldn’t get the message by then, with out the benefit of Hollywood’s arty devices, he wouldn’t de serve to get it. E. R. Lewis Graduate Emerald Editor: A further comment on a somewhat different aspect of the Chessman case seems in or der. It seems to me that ques tions involving the fate of Caryl Chessman should logically cen ter around interelated legal and moral issues. AND SUCH ISSUES, I was dismayed to learn, were not pri marily involved in California Governor Pat Brown's decision last Friday to grant Chessman an unprecedented eighth stay of execution. This writer—admit tedly skeptical of capital pun ishment as a valid deterrent of crime — readily approved of Brown’s reprieve action. But the politically expedient reasons the California governor advanced for taking such action I find entirely unacceptable. How can Governor Brown justi fy his use of the gubernatorial powers to transform something that was and should have re mained essentially a legal mat ter into something that could easily become a political foot ball? POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES of this were aptly made in the February 24th Emerald Editor ial on Chessman where it was observed that . . perhaps it will be more difficult for judges in the future to pass sentence if they must reckon with public opinion and foreign relations.” The prolonged Chessman case, extremely involved and highly controversial prior to Brown’s action, now encompasses the added confounding factor of po litical expediency-—a factor that has no place in the dispensation of justice under American law. Bill Kretzraeier Junior in Sociology Emerald Editor: In their letter to the Emerald Editor. President Taylor and Secretary-treasurer Ross of the IFC made the statement, re ferring to Elliot Carlaon, that "had he come to us with ques tions we could have told him many things.” I understand this to mean, and the rest of their letter would imply, that they are in possession of a great deal of information that would be of interest and value to those of us who are concerned about the current discussion of possible racial and religious discrimina tion in fraternity and sorority chapters. THE I.F.C. and Panhellenic are both therefore invited, through the public medium of this newspaper, to provide an swers to the following ques tions: • What are the names of the fraternities and sororities on this campus that have restric tive clauses ? • What is the nature of these clauses ? • What effort is being, made by the fraternities and sorori ties concerned to have these clauses eliminated? • Which fraternities and so rorities have removed their re strictive clauses “in the past few years?” • What action has I.F.C. and Panhellenic taken to expedite the removal of these clauses ? • Does the University of Ore gon give any form of official recognition to fraternities and sororities on this campus, i.e., does it have any control at all over whether—and if so, which —fraternities and sororities will be allowed to operate here? Does the University provide fa cilities of which these fraterni ties and sororities, as organiza tions, avail themselves ? Does the University provide, or has it provided, more tangible forms of support to fraternities and sororities such as loans which have enabled them to continue operating at critical times? If the University has done or does (Continued on page 3) Little Man on Campus i.ox n Mt i -VE-^. CD, T WISH 1 HAD BEEN A0LE It? GET A COLLEGE EDUCATION. IT GlN/ES A MAN THAT CERTAIN SOMETHING THAT SETS HIM ABD^E AND APART RZCM THE AVERAGE - - - * Ron Ml... ‘On the Millrace,’ or Shute, There Goes Population! (Part 1) Because their body systems were hyper-adapted to atmos pheric precipitation (l.c.. raini, the Oregonians were the very last to go when the planet Earth suffered the final and ul timate effects of radioactive fallout. Soon, however, the news (or rather, the lack of it) came crackling over the wires even from points close to home: Port land was gone; Medford was gone; all quiet in Baker and Coos Bay; nothing in Talent or John Day; the end came to Bend and things in Sandy were far from dandy. EUGENE, HOWEVER, hung on 'til the very last. As a matter of fact, among the residents of the Willamette Puget trough during those last days, perhaps none were caught in a more embarrassing position than the people of Springfield Eugene area. Caught, as it were, between the Scylla of installing new street lights and the Charyb dis of proposed consolidation, the city council members of those two cities were faced with the problem of clearing up what was rapidly turning into a muni cipal shambles. Nothing loathe, they threw themselves into the battle; knowing their days were num bered, they organized a "Leave a Better City Behind You” cam paign and tried to rush through the consolidation amendment. Old-time residents, of course, were having none of this non sense. A letter to the editors of the Register-Guard (who, by the way, had taken a definite stand on nuclear fall-out), while by no means typical, was yet repre sentative of the way some peo ple were reacting to the crisis. “To the Editor” (It read) “Seems like every time a body turns around there’s a heap a people tryin’ to start in a-fixin’ and a-changin’ things, if a per son who was born and raised here can offer some advice, though I suppose those same people would call me just a "small-town” hick except if they'd spend more time readin’ the Book and less time talkin’ about makin’ one city where the good Lord put two, you can bet this world would be a better off place to be at. “WHAT’S ALL THIS talk anyway about the end of the world? S«cmii like the same people ail het up about the world cornin’ to an end from this her* fell-out are the same one* who been raiain' taxes and a-trytn to put in new roada almoat ainde a body can remember, though I suppose 1*11 be called "Just an other" crank, except if they don’t like it here why don’t they go back to where they come from and take their doga with them, them that can’t learn to uae lenahea ao’a a body can keep a flower garden, and who doea thia here johnny-come lately Congeraman think he is anyway, a-tryin’ to change the way nature fixed up Crater Lake and if you want a name for the new city why not call It Eulanefieldspringemiand ? ••THINK IT OVER.” I Incidentally, it waa finally a coalition of houaewivea who solved the consolidation prob lem. Pooling the combined trad ing stamps of 30,000 households, they were able to buy Lane County in its entirely. They promptly established a female hegemony and by the time the last days descended the govern ment waa so messed up that many people frankly admitted that they were better off dy ing.) Though Eugene was on the brink of chaos, order finally prevailed and the last days of the human race were punctuat ed with about as much excite ment as a Joseph Cotten movie. (I was going to say Gregory Peck but I hate to labor the obvious.) Nevertheless, some scenes stood out in stark contrast. For example, a group of students from Reed arrived in town and ran stark naked through the streets of Eugene, carrying pla cards that said, “We Protest!” I When they were apprehended by the authorities, they admit ted that they really weren’t pro testing, but that “we had these (Continued on page 3) OREGON DAILY EMERALD The Oregon Daily Emerald is published four times in September and five days a week during the school year, except dur ing examination and vacation periods, by the Student Publications Board of the University of Oregon. Entered as second class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscription rates: $5 per year, $2 per term. Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of The Emerald and do not pre tend to represent the opinion of the ASUO or the University. LARRY KURTZ. Editor WARREN RUCKER, Business Manager