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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1961)
Random action A month ago the ASUO Senate recom mended that the Associated Women Stu dents investigate the desire of women to have a more liberal system of closing hours. At that time the Emerald raised the ques tion of whether AWS would carry out the Senate’s request or simply continue to echo the conservative desires of the administra tqm. * AWS DID CARRY out the Senate’s re quest, but the manner in which they did seemed to exhibit either carelessness or reluctance in sampling University women’s opinion. Apparently they are leery of opinion that is not originated in and run through the already established channels of AWS and perhaps the administration. The questionnaire in its pro-status quo wording lacked any satisfactory concept of objectivity. And even the faculty question naire was administered in a slipshod way. Through Heads of Houses 1.000 question naires were distributed. And of that number only 430 were returned, far from an ade quate number to insure the representative sample Senate requested. THE RESULTS, therefore, could prove nothing more than that more study is still required. That is to say, the results indi cated more than a casual interest in chang ing the system of closing hours. More than half of those answering expressed dissatis faction with the present closing hours. Ap proximately three-fourths supported the idea of a quota system of closing hours. Ap proximately two-thirds supported the idea of the senior keys system. Despite those returns, however, the AWS officers have said that they will not investigate further. They complain that the quota system cannot he legislated without imposing impossible hardships on those doing the legislating, and that senior women are not responsible enough to operate under a key system. AND TO OUR surprise and dismay, the ASUO Senate, once again seeming to re verse a decision, decided to ignore the re sults of the questionnaire they requested. We are disappointed that the AWS offi cers and senators refuse to acknowledge the wishes of their constituents by refusing to follow through on what so obviously calls for further study. Because this question deals with a Uni versity ruling, and because the matter was dropped at such an inappropriate time, we cannot help but wonder if the administra tion does not have more influence on stu dent government than appears on the sur face. Editorial Sovereignty A responsible newspaper is always ready to accept suggestions. A good newspaper always wants to know how it can better serve its readers. If for no other reason than to preserve what's left of our sanity, we like to feel that we are a responsible newspaper. Despite our feeling of responsi bility, however, we do not take all sugges tions offered us. ONE OF THE T^ROBLEMS with mi nority groups is that they are so minor. We get people from various clubs on the cam pus who ask us to be sure we get a bold face box on page one about their little or ganization. We get publicity chairmen from various events and activities who ask us three days in advance to reserve so much space on page one for their big story. Quite frequently people in student government ask us to play down stories and de-empha size certain news events. And well they might. But that is beside the point. One filing our student advisors fail to realize is that there are more people on campus than them, more clubs on campus than theirs, and news events of importance to people they don’t even know. PEOPLE ALSO DISAGREE with our editorials from time to time. Many of them, however, rather than write a letter to the editor, will come into the office and try to argue with us for half an hour. They invar iably fail to win our sympathy. We are tempted to tell people that if they really feel so strongly about things they can ask to be on the editorial board. And if they’re really seething with ideas, they can petition for editor. After all, someone's bound to make it. And so, while we are always open to sug gestions, we do not always accept every single one. You see, we’ve been at this job longer than other students on the campus, and we like to feel that experience has taught us more about campus newspapering than intuition has taught most everyone else. Right to privacy (The Emerald reprints here portions of an editorial recently run in the Michigan Daily. The problem discussed is specifically somewhat dif ferent than any we have here. But we feel it makes an excellent point—that everybody has a right to privacy—and it’s sometimes hard to come by on a college campus.) Perhaps some day we will hear an explanation of the unique mental infirmity which makes a freshman girl incapable of formulating and fol lowing a personal code of ethics. . . Or perhaps some day the administration will open its eyes and see that eighteen years of fam ily life may provide almost as sound a guide to action as a year’s exposure to the sterling code of values of the University community. BUT PROBABLY NOT. Freshmen women have always been denied the right to cross the thresh old of a boy’s apartment and they seem about to be denied privileges of visiting rooms within the quads. It is interesting to try to exact an answer from someone in authority as to just why fresh men, who have usually been quite unrestricted during high school, are suddenly herded into the harem on the hill and guarded jealousy lest they stray from the straight and diagonal into an apartment or quad. “WELL, THE FRESHMEN need time to learn the way we do things on campus so that they don’t get the wrong idea.” This is as far as the polite discussion with the authority will go and the unspoken meaning is left vibrant in the air. As one of the best professors likes to put it, “sex rears its lovely tousled head.” The "local parents” do all they can to see that the wide eyed fragile freshmen girls are not left alone for a moment in a situation that might allow for any real physical intimacy with a boy! THE DEFENDERS of the faith must realize that their efforts would be unjustified even if they were not in vain. They must realize that mortality is a private issue and that they, by their narrow suspicions and militant vigilance, are offending the laws of decency far more than any of the moral culprits they seek to re strain. But the basic issue is more than a right to moral self-determination. There is such a thing as an inalienable human right to privacy which is systematically denied by the very nature of the University. Everyone needs 'privacy—and not just when he is planning to subvert the University’s glow ing moral code. People need to know that there is some place where they can be absolutely alone—not alone on a bench on the diag with people milling past, not alone wandering in and out checking to make sure all feet are on the floor and all hands on deck, not alone in the Arb with other students straying by but alone in a place where they can close a door and be certain that no one will enter uninvited. It means that no one has a right to ask any questions about what you are doing or even to care. YOU DO NOT have to be doing anything im moral behind the door to want it closed. A closed door can provide a comfort and relief from ten sion that all students need, and freshmen most of all. Everything in the University is enmasse. Eat ing or studying, going to class or buying books, the student never forgets for a moment that he is a bit player in a mob scene which runs on ad infinitum without a break. Wherever you turn you are surrounded; from vacation to vacation there is no escape. >yg SBEN 0)f * ...HIAA^ELf... .. MI6 gceWAAAflg.. ■■ MAJOfc .HtiUaaTifffriAPvtfrg \M PIANW \H6WCM Letters to the editor Skipped history Emerald Editor: Your witty editorial on t h e “symbols” in Commonwealth Hall failed to mention the His tory Department. Numerous sources. Journal of University Antiquities. XVI (193-1). pp. 211 213; and Red Brick Encyclope dia (n.p., n.d. i prove that the History Department does occupy space in Commonwealth Hull. Now it may be that your symbo lism did subtly convey its pres ence a) by hinting that the unseen and the unmentioned is the most real; or b) for want of an ideology to classify history. Points a) and b> are logically complementary. Less logic at tends the supposition that the phrase "an empty passage through which the wind blows” really refers to the History De partment. Textual criticism proves that the association is inconsistent with the author's keen intelligence and ruthless logic. William O. Shanahan, Chairman, Dept, of History. • * Offers help Emerald Editor: Ah, alas, Mr. Starr, alas! You have been rebuked and scorned by mankind. Everyone has dis dained your request, and now you lie there, crumpled in the dust, trampled by the very masses whom you sought to save with a simple equation for life. What future is there for a meek man in the onslaught of cruel Mankind? "Blessed are tne meek, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."—Christ What philosophy may I grasp with which to guide my life? . . NOT TO RUN after this school or that, but to love, and seek, and pursue, and clasp, and never let go Wisdom her self wherever I found her . . ." — Cicero "Then let thine aim be to ex alt the Lord, in all thy work! Yet ev’ry man is free to make the most of what is best in him, if he hut does what is ordain’d by Love.” Petrus "... .the real normal man . . . I envy such a man till I am green in the face. He is stupid. I am not disputing that, but perhaps the normal man should be stupid, how do you know ? Perhaps it is very beautiful, in fact.’’ F. Dostoevsky. “IF YOU have food in your jaws and you have solved all questions for the time being.”— F. Kafka. But, is there a God? you say. “Who asks the twitt’ring bird of what it sings. If it but charms us with Its tender song?" I. Madach. "I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, how ever different that opinion might be to mine. He who de nies another this right makes a sjave of himself to his pres ent opinion, because he pre cludes himself the right of changing it.” T. Paine. AND WHEBEIN lies the sal vation of Mankind ? "How wondrously in woman we find The base and noble mingled - gall and honey!" (Adam i "I am a mother, Adam!" (Eve) *. . . Woman, th’ideal human poem . . ." (Adam) (The above three quotations, not in sequence, from Imre Madach's "The Tragedy of Man") AND FOIt MYSEI-F: What good, existence, devoid of love and strife? I hesitate to add a base note to this otherwise noble premise, but I’m somewhat perplexed by that peculiar rationale of Mr. Starr. If you are really this lost child, this ‘voice in the wilderness," you would do bet ter to ask the policeman for a philosophy of life and the phil osopher to show you the way home. For I would suppose there are many contented policemen and few contented philosophers. And if you still find yourself in a quandry, I refer to an ad which appears daily in the Portland Oregonian: “Why wor ry? Consult Shelly. Gifted Psy chic tells, names-dates-true facts without question-advice help on all problems satisfac tion or no charge. CA 3-9711." And yet another: "Anyone in need of a friend, contact the Salvation Army . , Keith Jellum, History Junior. OREGON DAILY EMERALD 'I he Oregon Daily Emerald is published seven times in September ami five clays a week (luting the school year, except dur ing examination and vacation periods by the Student Publications lizard of the University of Oregon. Entered as second class matter at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscription rates: $5 per year; %-Z per term. Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of The Emerald and do not pretend to represent the opinion of the ASUO or the University. DAN PEAKE, Editor LEE TURNBULL, Business Manager RON BUKL, Managing Editor 1< 1 ( K MILLER, Advertising Manager KEITH POWELL, News Editor 'I I*.I) MAHAK, Editorial Page Editor PHIL COGSWELL, Asst. News Editor YVONNE KGGKRS, Assistant M imaging Editor DAVE SANDS, Photo Editor JOE BERGER, CHRIS CHURCH, Co-Sports Editors
