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.
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Eugene,
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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)