Russian Students
Want Freedom, Too
By ROBERT COHEN
Collegiate Press Service
LENINGRAD. U.S.S.R. — The
life of the Russian student is a
most fascinating phenomenon for
an American student to see.
Surprisingly, the desire for
more student freedom, which is
so basic to student movements in
America and abroad, is also pres
ent to a large extent in Russia.
This period marks what could be
a most important change in re
lationships between the Soviet
student and his government.
Students are not satisfied with
the status quo—they want rapid
change and are living a life which
centers about learning as much
as possible about Russia and the
world.
Were an American student to
meet his Russian counterpart on
the street, he would be immedi
ately surprised by the great West
ern influence. His clothes are
Western, often purchased from
foreign students although this is
illegal.
Western Mannerisms
The Russian's mannerisms are
those of the West, and one is
instantly surprised at his knowl
edge of the history and current
events of the West.
Attending a party at a student's
house means listening to the Bea
tles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis
Presley, and Fats Domino, not to
mention the almost fanatical at
tachment the students have to
American jazz.
These students may seem to
be, as some observers say, “in
Student Benefits
To Be Explained
Representatives of the Eugene
Social Security Office will dis
cuss benefits for students under
the 1965 Amendments to the So
cial Security Act, today in the
Student Union. Time and room
will be posted.
The representatives will also
help students file for benefits.
Unmarried full-time students
under 22 years of age may be eli
gible for the new benefits under
two conditions:
1) If he received benefits on
either of his parents social se
curity accounts and those bene
fits stopped when he reached 18;
2) If one of his parents has
retired, become disabled, or died,
and the student was 18 at that
time.
Dean Haley, District Manager
of the Eugene Social Security
Office stated that there should
be about 600 claims for student
benefits and only about 500 have
been received.
Nielson to Speak
In Lecture Series
“Elements of Interior Design”
will be explored during a winter
term lecture series sponsored by
the University’s Office of Con
tinuing Education.
Taught by Jerry L. Nielson, as
sistant professor of interior ar
chitecture, the course will be
held Wednesdays from 7 to 9
p.m., Jan. 5 to March 9. in Room
132, Lawrence Hall.
Course enrollment is limited.
Advance registration with the Of
fice of Continuing Education is
necessary. Checks for the $15
fee should be made payable to
Continuing Education.
The lectures are open to any
one who wishes to enroll. No
examinations, grades or academic
credit will be given.
„ Dorm Space Open
For Women
A few spaces are now avail
able in women’s dorms, accord
ing to Miss Hilda Yee, counselor
supervisor. However, several men
are waiting to get into the men’s
dorms.
An accurate count of dorm
residents cannot be made until
next week after those who are
leaving school have moved out.
revolt” against the customs of
their system. However, they are
greatly dedicated to a life under
Communism—but they want it to
be a life where they are free to
formulate their own opinions and
! to debate over controversial
ideas. They want to know the
whys and hows which were so
! often unknown, if not unknow
ables, under Stalin.
They are in the midst of a new
: kind of life, where the consum
er has a greater voice in produc
tions of goods, where incentive on
an individual level is no longer
a violation of state policy, and
where experimentation with
Western ideas is not heavily
frowned upon.
Literature Available
There is a significant amount
of uncensored literature available
to Soviet university students. In
the large public and university
libraries, students may read The
New York Times, The New York
Herald-Tribune, Newsweek, Time
Magazine, the London Times, Le
Monde and the Daily Telegraph,
even though there are few copies
: available and long waiting pe
riods at many places.
In addition, there is a weekly
, news digest of articles printed in
the Western press, which have
been translated and printed in
their entirety, which is available
at the universities.
Although none of this literature
is available on the street, and the
articles translated into Russian
are usually critical of the United
States and its allies, these are not
their only source of information,
for students are dedicated lis
teners to the Voice of America
and other Western stations. Most
of their Western songs are on
tapes made from these broad
casts.
Few Questions Asked
Surprisingly, there were few
questions about President Ken
nedy’s assassination since por
tions of the funeral had been tele
cast nationally, and had left quite
an impression on those of college
age.
From the beehive hair does of
the Soviet girls, to the modern
sports clothes worn by their male
counterparts, the youthful desire
for rapid progress—Russians are
urged by large signs to “catch
and overtake the United States"
—is readily seen throughout Len
ingrad and Moscow.
This rush towards a new life is
coupled with a search for more
empirical fncts to support the
basic tenets of Communism. He
cently, the famous experiment of
Solomon Asch on the conformity
of an individual to a group's be
liefs was repeated at Leningrad
University, and ,students and foe
ulty are now using this experi
ment to argue for placing little
importance on the individual in
their society.
Talk of Elections
Also, there was talk of a modi
fication in the system of elec
tions; the possibility of present
ing the people with a slate of two
candidates in the next election,
both of whom would be Commu
nists, was seriously discussed by
faculty members and students
But in large measure, the So
viet government has recently pre
sented these students and their
society with several disconcert
ing problems—it has denounced
I.ysenkoixm, a biological theory
of heredity, changed its view on
incentive in the economic struc
ture. and relaxed its ideas about
the control of students.
Now that the students have
this new freedom, they ore try
ing to discover why the changes
were really made, where the so
ciety is going, and whether they
may exert some kind of InlUienee
over the future course They are
faced by a (treat barrier the
(treat number of politician* now
in power who are products of
I the Stalin era
But the winds of change are
spreading over the land, and to
some degree these changes are
due to the searching and probing
that the new Soviet student is
constantly involved in. These stu
dents are fully dedicated to the
i Communist system but they
want to infuse their nation with
new vitality to be gained by free
discussion of issues and experi
mentation with alt kinds of new
ideas.
Viet Nam
The Faculty-Student Com
mdtee urges you to write
or telegraph the President
immediately expressing
your approved of the sus
pension of the bombing
and encouraging him to
prolong it until a settle
ment can be achieved.
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