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About The Oregon weekly. (Eugene, Or.) 1900-1909 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1908)
HIE OREGON WEEKLY Published every Monday during the college year by the students of the U N IV E R S IT Y OK OREGON Entered at Eugene postofficc at Oregon, as second class matter. SUBSCRIPTION Eugene, RATES One year, by mail ......................................... $E00 Single copy ................................................... $ .05 1 .IMTOR-IN C H IE F EARL K IL P A T R IC K .................................... ’09 A S S IS T A N T EDITORS H arriet L ane ..................................................’09 O liv e r B. H ouston .......................................... TO E a y C l a r k .............................................................12 B e n j . B ert II W il l i a m s ........................................ TO W. P rescott .............................................08 M ANAGER DEAN T. GOODM AN .................................... TO ASSISTANT MANAGER I- r it z D e a n .........................................................U Monday, November 2, 1908 so ph o m o re ; class tax probious epithets, and generally an editor would not adm it to the colum ns of a paper an article in which such epithets were heaped upon him. But in the interest of fairness, and for the sake of the hum orous value of the com m unication, Mr. G eary’s letter is print- ! ed in full. The m atter was first brought to edi torial attention, when the sophom ore tie a su re r attem p ted to buy o u trig h t a column in the W eekly to be filled with “ new s" calculated to force collec tion <f class tax. lie was inform ed that no reputable new spaper would so p rostitute its new s colum ns. T'hen he asked for a w riteup. A reporter was accordingly detailed to cover the case, and the editorial of O ctober 26 was the result. The Weekly regrets that it has to give the facts, and must denounce the ingenious and ingenuous scheme of blackm ail, devised, as Mr. G eary tells us, by the entire sopho more class. 'To post nam es in a new spaper, would give action lor libel. To post them on a bulletin board is an act no less unwise, even if less courageous. I he W eekly realizes that some m em bers of every class are professional “dead beats," that they attend all class affairs, and try to escape taxes. But the sophom ores should devise some m eans of collecting Whereby they can retain their own self-respect and the respect of »»tilers. M illracing does not am ount either to libel or to blackm ail, and is surely as effective. The W eek ly agrees with Mr. ('»eary that “ an honest end should be gained by honest m eans." In another column appears a lengthy com m unication from Mr. A rthur ('»cars, president of the sophom ore class, taking exceptions to an ed ito r ial in the O regon W eekly lor O ctober Jo. A lthough the W eekly begrudges .so much valuable space, this com m unication is printed in lull, u n CO LLEG E HOUR changed. except tor a few correction*' of glaring errors in spelling and punc tuation. The W eekly does not p ro No student should stay aw ay from pose to descend to controversy. 1\<- the college hour on the com ptts W ed er\ person or new spaper has a right nesday ot this week at ten o'clock. to opinions, although generally they An interesting program will be pro are expressed in a more gentlem anlv vided. but best of all will be the op m anner than that adopted by the soph portunity tor students to m ingle and om ore president. become better acquainted. O nlv bv The editorial in question was w rit some such device can the grow ing stti- ten b\ the editor in chief, who m ust, dent-bodv be held to g eth er and col granting Mr. G eary's contention, be. lege spirit be fostered and preserved a "m alicious." “ willful, “ bom bastic,’ and prom oted. and “ idiotic" liar, respecting no m an’s S tudents should wear any class in religion, and not entitled to an opinion signia that they may possess, such as of his ow n. So be it. The inform a caps, sw eaters and pins. In this wav tion for the editorial was gathered by each one will be plainly labeled, so a regular m em ber of the O regon that “ he who runs may read." Weekly start, who interview ed prom I lie faculty will be there in force, inent sophom ores upon the m atter. If and will probably give a cheer for it m istakes were made, they were made self as usual. Loosley will lead the by sophom ores, who surely ought to veils and songs subm itted in the con know their own class affairs better test and the prizes will be aw arded to than to misinform a reporter upon such the winners. an im portant topic. H aving all of its Inform ality is the essence of the facts from the authority of the sopho college hour. All meet upon the com m ores them selves, the W eekly cannot mon footing ot m em bership in the retract a word w ithout bringing Mr. I niversity, of allegiance to it and love G eary's classm ates into the same cate tor it. No one should come aw ay w ith gory of “ willful." “ bom bastic." “ m a out having made at least fifty new ac licious,’ “idiotic." and altogether un quaintances. desirable citizens as it self. 'I'lie tone I he I niversity is a dem ocracy of of Mr. G eary's com m unication will the purest tyjK*. In it, as in the earliest keep that gentlem an above the im dem ocracies of history, it is possible putation of being subject to such a tor all m em bers of the governm ent to classification. O rdinarily it is not come together to discuss m atters of pleasant for a person to endure op- import and interest. A Communication. T o the E d ito r: In the last edition of the O regon W eekly appeared an editorial w ith the heading, “ Sophom ore C lass T a x ." A f ter g a th e rin g to g e th e r a few facts, an editor certainly has the privilege of w riting upon such a subject. But this editorial, in conventional language, was a m isrep resen tatio n from b eg in ning to end. T he title, itself, belief? the main point b ro u g h t o u t in the a r ticle; to have been co rrect th e title should have read, “ ( h itsid e rs should be excluded from U nderclass D ances." But the m isrepresentation in reg ard to the title was but a sm all fault. In order to b rin g out his m ain point, the editorialist resorted to falsehood, w hether deliberate or u n in ten tio n a l is not know n. He o v erestim ates the form er indebtedness of the class by forty dollars, and after a tte m p tin g to exonerate m em bers for not bearing their share of class expenses, ignored the fact that o u tsta n d in g bills have been paid, and urged in bom bastic flow of rhetoric th at the d u ty of the sopohom ores was plain, i. e„ th a t they should pay th eir bills and clear th eir past record from blot. But what was w orse th an th is m a licious, ignorant b lu n d erin g was the w riter's attack upon the class tre a s urer. who is voluntarily a tte m p tin g to fulfill the heavy duties placed upon him. The tre a su re r was accused of blackm ail, because of his expressed in tend» n to carry out the o rd er placed upon him by his class, th a t of p o stin g the nam es of those m em bers who, for no good reason, refused to pay and have not paid their class -taxes. In stead ot placing the burden of such a m easure upon the class, w here it be longed. the editoralist chose to revile the treasu rer and by aro u sin g ill will against him. interfere with th e c a rry ing out of his duties. 1 would like to say a little in regard to the socalled blackm ail. T h e class is a d o se organization, sim ilar to th a t ot the student body; all business is carried on according to the rule of the m ajority. It is true th at m any m em bers ot the class do not desire p leas ure from dances; also is it tru e th a t many m em bers ot the stu d en t bodv do not derive enough .pleasure from the different college en terp rises to w arran t the expenditure of th eir five d ollar s tu dent body tax. If the m ajo rity of the class do m»t desire class dances, these should be d isco n tin u ed ; c e rta in ly it is idiotic to suggest th a t the m em bers who dance should pay for a hop and give it in the nam e of the class. Contrary to the editorial, the soph omore class respects religious princi ples. If a member consistently says that lie cannot pay the tax because of religious beliefs, he is not bothered further and his name will not be post ed. But it is found to be a fact that a great many who do not pay the dance tax also refuse to pay or somehow escape paying other smaller taxes (Continued on page 5)
