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0 EMERALD
Election Reform
Now that the smoke has cleared trom the
freshman election and everyone can lean
back and objectively view the results, we
would like to make a few comments about
the ASUO election board and the prob
lems which are now facing its jurisdiction.
THERE ARE THREE basic flaws which
become evident from the experience of this
fall term election. The first of these is the
difficulty the board must face in enforcing
its rules right down to the letter. The candi
date's word must be believed in almost ev
ery case because it is next to impossible to
check each purchase made by each candi
date in the race.
Anyone can report that he has spent less
than the expenditure limit.
SECONDLY, it must be decided how
strong the board’s punitive measures should
be. If a candidate were to go a nickel over
the limit set by the board, would he be dis
qualified or is some other less drastic pun
ishment in order? In other words, the board
must make a definite decision as to how
close the expediture limit should be adher
ed to by the candidates.
Another factor, which results in the third
problem, is the possibility of another party
seeking the elimination of a candidate by
spending money for that candidate while
claiming good intentions.
THE ELECTIONS board is stuck with
the expense limit. The difficulties in the fall
election are tlie natural result ot experi
mentation of a new system. We would like
to see the elections board learn from the
mistakes which showed up in the election
and define the system more clearly for the
spring election.
The board should make it quite clear ex
actly what will and will not be considered
campaign expenses. For instance, the board
must decide what to do with expenses in
curred during coke dates which are used to
influence female votes. Should gas used in
cars in the noise parades be counted as an
expense? Is it fair for some candidates to
obtain materials of equal value for less mon
ey than their opponents because of influ
ence or connections they possess? The prob
lem of gifts should also be resolved. That is,
must materials given to the candidates free
of expense be included in the candidates’ ex
pense account?
ALONG THIS LINE the board should
decide what to do when a fraternity house
buys materials and then gives them to its
candidates free of cost.
These questions boil down to this: should
the money spent for or bv the candidate
be the “expenses incurred" or should the
actual value of the candidate’s campaign be
considered.
We hope the elections board will either
find solutions to the problems which arose
during and after the fall elections or seek
to change the system.
The American Negro
(Editor’s note: The following article
is the second in a series taken from the
Daily Kansan, University of Kansas.)
The Supreme Court decision of 1954 baf
fled the Negro. After centuries of indoctrin
ation in the spirit of inferiority, he was slow
to assert himself. He could not fully real
ize that the decision of the court represent
ed the apex of a century-old movement to
ward racial tolerance as a guaranteed right.
The Negro looked about him fearfully and
hesitated long—but at last he began to act.
THERE WERE THOSE of his race who
had studied integration in detail, prepar
ing themselves for this day. They were his
leaders. The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People led the
assault on the bastions of prejudice. They
did not seek so much to change attitudes
as to force them to conform with the decis
ion of the court. They felt, and still feel,
that if equal opportunity and the removal
of conditions which lead to feelings of in
feriority became reality, then hostile atti
tudes could be overcome. But they said this
last could not be done unless equality and
integration in the broad sense were estab
lished, even though protests were vehement.
The NAACP was aggressive. Its lawyers
brought scores of cases before the bar in
many states, and began to extend the court
decision to any and all matters involving
separation of the races. Often they were
wrong, or their accusations were unfair;
but they also exposed many an injustice.
The South, its heritage and entire way of
life threatened in the eyes of its citizens,
fought back. The Klu Klux Klan, long dead
as an influence in the South, enjoyed a
brief revival, but soon lapsed back into vir
tual inactivity. The people of the South had
advanced beyond use of the Klan as an ac
ceptable arm of action. Instead, the com
munities of the South organized White Cit
izen’s Committees, dedicated to the idea
that the mixing of the races was unnatural
and evil and contending that the Supreme
Court overstepped its bounds in forcing on
the people of one area a decision that they
alone had the right to make. Some of these
committees operated with perfect sincerity
and conviction; others became sounding
boards for men like John Kasper, who hid
sick hatred tor the Negro behind a veil of
states-rightisms and implications of racial
inferiority ordained by the almighty. All of
them led their communities in maintaining
segregation in the face of mounting pres
sure. The battle was joined.
IT WAS NOT LONG before the massed
power of the federal judiciary and execu
tive branches began to weigh on the South.
In 1955, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its
decision of the previous year, and warned
that the law at all levels must be made to
conform to the idea set down by the origin
al decision. This reaffirmation led to a pro
cession of cases brought before the courts,
cases involving segregation in eating plac
es, on public transit systems, and, of course,
in schools. The South (and parts of the
North) were watching their powers of self
determination chipped away by the court.
Tension increased.
In 1957, schools in Little Rock, Ark., were
shut down in a desperate attempt to fore
stall integration. In Virginia, Gov. J. Lind
say Almond, declaring he would never per
mit integiation, slammed the doors of
schools in that state in the faces of the pu
pils. There had been a brief lull in the ad
vance of integration, but now the choice was
clear—integration forced upon the South by
the government, or failure of the govern
ment to enforce it, leaving the field to the
individual states in matters involving sep
aration of the races.
Footnotes
Not to be outdone by the United States
Olympic team, Oregon cross-country men
will leave Saturday morning with torches
in their hands for Oregon Cow College. The
last two men will carry the torch 10 miles.
That is a long ways.
Maybe it would be a good idea if all of
us would run over there and all the Oregon
Cow students would run over here.
That way everyone would be so tired
there would be no danger of the vandalism
which sometimes accompanies Civil Wars.
Little Man on Campus
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Prof Rates Other Props:
Names Three Categories
(Reprinted from the Ohio
State University laintern.)
By CHARLES B. WHEELER
Assistant Professor of English
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
are the names I shall give the
three professors on this campus
whose portraits are briefly
sketched here. The men are fic
titious but not imaginary.
BY A long - standing tacit
agreement, every student who
enrolls in one of Professor Wyn
ken’s courses is spotted a “C”
to b<*gin with, and only in cases
of flagrant ahsence or failure
to turn in assigned written
work is there any danger of a
lower grade. "A's” and "B’s"
are common.
Professor Wynken is not a
fool: he knows that his students,
by and large, are nothing to get
excited about, but he is a kind
ly man who believes in live-and
let-live. He is also a great sports
fan and unsparing in his crit
icism of sloppy playing on the
football field. Luckily for his
peace of mind, our athletic de
partment enforces the highest
standards of performance.
PROFESSOR BLYNKEN is
not the drooling petty sadist
portrayed in “Little Man on
Campus,” but he manages to
harass his students quite as ef
fectively by simply being ob
tuse to their feeling. He never
stops to make sure that his as
signments have been understood
after he gives them.
When he lectures he goes so
rapidly that note-takers are left
hopelessly behind, and when he
holds a class discussion it usu
ally turns into a tete-a-tete be
tween himself and some fa
vored student. He adheres to
his office hours so literally that
he is almost inaccesible.
THOUGH he insists that pa
pers be turned in on time, he
never returns them when prom
ised. He habitually comes into
class late and then holds it with
his glittering eye until 30 sec
onds before the final bell for
the next hour. He is a very
prominent man in his field.
Professor Nod is not a boring
lecturer, droning over dog
eared lecture notes compiled
twenty years ago. His method is
entirely different. It may be
called ‘teaching the text," that
is, sitting in front of the class
and reciting the text out loud,
with interpolated comment*,
while the student* slump, numb
and disgusted, working on their
arithmetic under pretense of
reading the Lantern.
HE NEVER assign* paper*
that require more than a sen
tence or two of consecutive or
iginal writing, and the paper*
are returned bearing grades but
no mark* or comments on their
faults. He will pan* Illiterate
writing if the technical content
is satisfactory.
He is very fond of multiple
choice tests, though now and
then he will extend himself by
giving a *hort-an*wcr test to
see how well the students have
memorized "facts” (a word that
he would never dream of putting
in quotation mark*, i He believe*
that his courses are intellectual
ly demanding.
THESE men are faculty fail
ure*. They are not localized in
any one department or college—
they can be found all over t h o
campus. Perhaps we faculty
members might turn, for a
change, from criticizing the
shortcomings of our students to
considering how far short we
fall of meeting the challenge
that they present.
This challenge is not only In
their numbers: it is in their se
riousness, their receptivity,
their candor, it is in their woe
ful inexperience, their confused
aims, their clumsiness at ab
stract thought all their quali
ties, good and bad, call for the
best in us. We cannot succeed
v.'ith less.
OREGON DAILY EMERALD
rhe Oregon Daily Emerald ia published
four times in September and five day* a
week during the school year, except dur
mg examination and vacation periods, by
the Student Publications Hoard 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 Kmerald and do not pre
tend to represent the opinion of the ASUO
or the University.
KERNAN R. TURNER, Editor
STEVE Ml ELI KIN, Business Manager
JIM BOYD, Managing Editor
TED MAIfAR, News Editor
LOUIS TURK, Advertising Manager
DULCY MORAN KEITH POWELL
Assistant News Editors
AL IIYNDING. RON BIH5L
Sports Editors
BARBARA CHANTRY, Women’* Editor
HAVE SANDS, I’hoto Editor
FRED CRAFTS, Entertainnuent Editor
editorial hoard
-II *r,nn Tu,rnt'r. Tod Mahar, Feith Pow
ell, A1 Hyndtng, Marge Langenea, Fred
Crafts, Jim Boyd, Ron Buel, Gary Salk
Howard McGlasion, Sue Hut,ter.