Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1963)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON Russian Humor Is Reflected in Classical SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1963 By HENRY SHAPIRO United Press International MOSCOW (UPI)-A joke go ing around Moscow these days goes like this: Khrushchev was travelling in cognito in Soviet farm areas. He inquired of one old peasant about local conditions and got a glowing report on agricultural prosperity. The premier inter rupted to identify himself and demand an honest account. "I beg your pardon, Comrade Khrushchev," said the peasant. "I thought you were an Ameri can reporter." Then there was the question and - answer humor show on "Radio Armenia." "What should I do to avoid pregnancy?" an anxious girl wrote. "Absolutely nothing," was the reply. In the Western stereotype, the Russian is often viewed as a morbid, introspective, Dostoyev-sky-like type. There is little in the Western image of the Russian to show A 3 Literary Tradition Problem Facing Educators Reviewed At NOMA Meeting m. . ... ... The pressing problem con fronting all educators today is the ever increasing quantity of material which students are ex pected to learn within the same framework of time upon which schools have traditionally been operating, William E. Ruck, di rector of the Oregon Program in ' the Medford schools, told the National Office Management As sociation meeting here last week. Speaking at the Hotel Med ford, Ruck listed the means by which Medford is trying to meet this problem while continuing to improve the quality of educa tion. As a participant in the Oregon Program, Medford School Dis trict is a recipient of funds made available through a grant from the Ford Foundation. This money can be used only for re search and inservice training of teachers, but it has made it possible for Medford to pursue new practices and techniques which would not have been oth erwise possible, Ruck pointed out. Four Major Steps , Four major steps are being taken by Medford to solve the modern problem. They are to improve the training of teach ers, to make more effective use of teacher talent, to make more effective use of teacher time, and to make more effective use of student time. Team teaching, now operat ing on a limited scale in the high school, two junior high schools and two elementary schools is making more effec tive use of teacher talent. Flexible scheduling results in more effective use of teacher and student time. Teacher aides are taking over many of the non-instructional duties of teachers, mak ing it possible for the teacher to spend more time in the in structional process. The intern teacher proposal, worked out in cooperation with Southern Oregon College, is pro viding additional experience and training that will produce a bet ter trained, more highly quali fied beginning teacher. The grant to the state was $3.5 million, Ruck stated. Med ford received $100,000 for the projects to be carried out here for the improvement of educa tion. None of the money is avail able, for construction of build ings, Ruck emphasized in re viewing the progress of the pro gram in Southern Oreaon. Using grant funds, representa tives c tne Medford schoo sys tem visited 81 schools in 27 dis tricts located in nine states to observe new practices and tech niques in operation. No Ore gon or Medford tax funds were used to finance these explora tory trips. that he can be gay as an Itali an, as witty or ribald as a Frenchman, as humorous as an American. Despite his tragic history and his experience with war and poverty, despotism, revolution and famine, he still can laugh as heartily as anyone. Soviet humor is reflected in the classical literary tradition, in the works' of such great sati'.'al writers as Nikolai Go gol, Mikhail Saltykov-Schedrin and in the short stories of Anton Chekov. The tradition was maintained after the revolution in the works of Mikhail Zoshchenko and the t:am of two novelists who wrote under the name of "Ilf and Petrov." Exposing Abuses But unlike their pre-revolu-tionary pr decessors who were able to defy Czarist censorship and lampoon the very founda tions of Russian society, the Soviet humorists have confined them1 Ives to exposing the abuses of the Soviet system without questioning its funda mentals. Ilf and Petrov have been "the kings of laughter" for al most two generations. Their lat est novel, "The Little Golden Calf." is a good-natured expose of a Soviet con man who man aged to amass a millon only to find he could not use it. The Russian's normal fare of humor, however, is not limited to the literary classics. Nor is it confined to the official type of hu. or published by the week ly "Crocodile," the sole publi cation of its kind in the Russian lang lge. Avoids Satire Crocodile, with a circulation of two million, leans heavily on text and cartoons in ridiculing capitalism ant1 blasting Soviet bureaucrats. But it avoids do mestic political satire. Although it can be funny it is often so heavy in style and content that a Moscow wit wrote a letter to the editors proposing "at. least one weekly column of humor." One could ha'dly expect self critical humor from a magazine publ.'-hed by Pravda, the Com munist party organ. The edi tor's chair cannot be too easy as witnessed by the fact that in the 41 years of its existence, Crocodile .'as changed editors-in-chief 13 times. Another source of fun is the Moscow circus (now touring the United States), a unique, inti mate style institution of its kind whose single ring produces both belly laughs and subtle satire through the medium of its great clowns, Karandash and Popov. Jackson Urges Means at Crater Lake to Get Tourists to Water SALEM (UPI)-Orcgon State Highway Commission Chairman Glenn L. Jackson Friday pro posed a new facility for tourists at Crater Lake, one which would enable them to get down to the water's edge conveniently. The suggestion was made by the Medford industrialist during an address to the convention of the County Parks Association here. Jackson told the group that some means should be provided to get visitors to the water at Crater Lake National Park. He said that half of the 592,000 visitors to the state's only na tional park in 1962 stayed less than an hour. "Crater Lake is an outstand ing national park The unfor tunate part is that it is a huge picture with no animation." Jackson said if people could get to the surface of the lake easily it would open the way for boat trips, fishing and other re creation. "If we provided something to do and facilities to get people to the lake it would increase the number of people visiting the park and the length of their stay," Jackson said. Scenic Values "I don't think it would be out of line to ask the National Park Service to design some kind of service to get to the lake which would not destroy its scenic values," he said. Previous proposals to provide mechanical tramways from the edge of the one-time volcano to the water have met with strong opposition from outdoor groups, who fear the lake's beauty would be destroyed. Jackson said Oregon now has more parks than any other state and noted that 60 per cent of the visitors are from out-of- state. He said California parks "are rapidly becoming coney islands" and that Oregon is "gradually falling heir to the recreational responsibility for many Califor nians. The Soviet clown, unlike his American counterpart, sneaks as well as acts. He mimics, jokes and quips. He ridicules many aspects of daily reality but he manages to maintain a delicate "tight rope" balance by staying away from political touchiness. This is equally true of the humorists on the vaudeville stage and on radio and televi sion. Moscow television has re cently introduced a popular 10 minute skit called "The Wick," produced by poet and fable writer Sergei Mikhailkov. "The Wick" can be funny as it is vitriolic in lampooning So viet life r- the insolence of bu reaucracy, managerial ineffi ciency, institutional corruption and economic wastefulness. S" i t derand for humor is further fed by occasional car toons in newspapers, regular columns of jokes and cartoons in the weekly magazines, comic strips in children's newspapers and satirical short stories in the literary monthlies. Probably the most important outlet for the off-beat type of humor craved by Russians is the anecdote. Many of these word of mouth jokes are attributed to the mythical "Radio Armenia." At the time Allen Dulles re signed from his last major post in the government, "Radio Ar menia" reported "Dulles was fired because the CIA could not locate our radio." Current Favorites Here are a few of the more harmless anecdotes making the rounds. A man knocked at the door of Yuri Gagarin's apartment which was opened by the space man's child. Gagarin was still in orbit and the child promptly replied, "Daddy will be back in an hour." "When will your mother return?" asked the vis itor. "I cannot tell," the child said, "because Momma has queued up to buy oranges and you never know how long that takes." "A cautious bureaucrat was asked by a job-seeker what kind of work he could do to avoid trouble. "It docs not mat ter what you do," he advised, "as long as you do nothing." China looms large in the re cent crop of jokes in reflection of the Sino-Soviet split as illus trated by the following stories: Hotel Peking, one of the new hostelries in central Mos cow, has been renamed "Hotel Washington." After the outbreak of "The Sino-Soviet War" the Russians capture one million Chinese prisoners the first day, five mil lion the second day and 10 mil lion the third day. On the fourth day the Russians "capitulate." A man in a cafe asks for a cup of tea. "Is it Russian or Chinese tea that you want?" says the waitress. After hesitat ing a moment the customer de cides, "On second thought I would rather have a cup of cocoa.". , . Geo. Grabow 1365 Kings Hwy., Medford Phone 772-8560 Ultrasonic Cleaning Electronic Timing WE BUY 01.P GOLD! Area People Attend Credit Conference Representatives of the Med ford Credit Women's Breakfast Club of North America and credit departments of local bu reaus and firms attended an Oregon Columbia Regional Credit Conference in Eugene recently. Attending from the women's group were Mrs. Alice Theis, president, Mrs. Zoe Theis, Mrs. Doris Johnson and Mrs. Caro lyn Russell. Mrs. Russell also attended as a delegate from the Jackson County Retail Credit Association and Mrs. Johnson also represented the Grants Pass Credit Women's Breakfast Club. Charles Roberts also was a delegate for the retail group; Hugh Rogers, manager of the local Credit Bureau attended, and Rod Robinson was Credit Bureau Customer Service representative. 5 Percent Interest On Prime Residential loans Jackson County Mortgage & Escrow Co., Inc. 1005 E. Main ft. Medford, Oregon Suites 14 and 13 (Mall Building) 773-7467 Do-it-Yourselfers! Paint 'Em! Varnish 'Em! Stain 'Em! Decorate 'Em! Heavily built, all wood (no cardboard) sanded smooth, ready to be decorated in your favorite finish and color. Large selection of sizes in chests, desks, night stands, bookcases, etc. Look at these LOW PRICES! 24" CHESTS 3- DRAWER 13.95 4- DRAWER 17.95 5- DRAWER 19.95 6- DRAWER 21.50 30" CHESTS 3- DRAWER 16.00 4- DRAWER 19.95 5- DRAWER 21.50 6- DRAWER 24.00 36" CHESTS 3- DRAWER 21.50 4- DRAWER 23.50 5- DRAWER 25.50 6- DRAWER 27.00 7- DRAWER 29.00 45" CHESTS 8- DRAWER 29.50 9- DRAWER 32.00 60" CHESTS 12-DRAWER 36.50 -1 1 y 7 t f. T-7V i i -ii i SEfllY (Twin Size Only) mm EACH BED COMPLETE SALE! Includes Hollywood Head Board and Legs, Plus Famous Sealy Quality Firm Innerspring Mattress and Matching Box Spring. Buy 2 Complete Sets for Only 114.94 - Save Even More! 3 DRAWER . ......... 19.95 7-DRAWER . 29.00 7-DRAWER ......... 36.00 NIGHT STANDS 1 .DRAWER . 1.7.25 3-DRAWER 9.00 BOOKCASES 30" High by 36" Wide 9.95 36" High by 36" Wide 12.50 CORNER CABINET WITH GLASS 48.50 EASY TERMS Convenient credit terms arranged with no carry ing charges or interest we carry our own con- , tracts - AT WEEK'S & ORR you pay ONLY for the merchandise. Shop and save at Southern Oregon's oldest and largest furniture store. Special Savings on Braided Oval Rugs Over 14 left to choose from. Visit our newly remodeled Car pet Department now with larger selections of fine floorcoverings priced to fit every budget. Come in and look. OPEN FRIDAY NIGHTS 114 West Main Street Phone 772-9351 'earn B8 war
