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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1927)
THE DAILY NEBRASKA N The Daily Nebraskan 8Utloa A. Lincoln. N.braaka OFFICIAL PUBLICATION UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Under dlrartlon of tha Stodant Publication Board TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR FtlblUhod Tuwday. Wadnaadar, Thursday. Friday, and Bandar ornlnsa dnrin tha acadamia yaar. Editorial Of fie Unlvcriity Hall 4. Buain.a. Offioa U Hall, Room No. 4. , . Offlca Hour Editorial 8tafl. 8:00 to 6 :00 except Friday and Sunday. Buainaaa StaH: aftarnoona ucept Friday and TalapBonaaEdltorial and Bnilnut: Bo8l. No. 142. Night B88 Entarad aa aaeond-elaia matter at tha poatodiea in Lineoln, N.braaka. andar act of Congr.., March 8. 187. and at .paeial rata of (IoataBa provided for in eotion 1108. act of October 8. 1817. aathoriaed January 80. 1828. f 1 s year. SUBSCRIPTION RATE Single Copy 6 eanta fl.2( a semester WILLIAM CEJNAR Lea Vanea Arthur Sweet - Horaaa W. Gomon Bath Palmer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Managing Editor Asst. Managing Bailor Isabel O'Hallaran Gerald Griffin lames Rosse NEWS EDITORS Dwight McCormaek CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Evert Hunt Asst. Manaaing Editor Oscar Norllng' Lincoln Frost Dwight McCormaek Robert Lasch would be allowed to wither away in committee, the possibility of the final passage of the bill has stirred up much comment. One consoling feature to the opponents of the bill is the amendment which makes the law take effect only after two years in which time the fraternities and sororities will have time to readjust themselves to the changed conditions. The opposition to this bill has centered around the following two main arguments: 1. That the new bill is ill-advised now in the face of the lack of dormitory facilities. 2. That the bill will in effect make rushing ex- The Campus Pulse win om princea in mu c fa ping out mil libelous tcW "Lon", E. F. D. & Florence Swihart ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS Mary Louisa Freeman Gerald Griffin T. SIMPSON MORTON Richard F. Vetta Milton McGrew William Kearns BUSINESS MANAGER Asst. Business Manager Circulation Manager Circulation Manager WEDNESDAY. APRIL 13, 1927. UNESCAPABLE CONSEQUENCES Another salvo of letters in Campus Pulse this morning. Each one of them brings out some phase of the much-wrangled fraternity problem. D. N. has another appeal. "A Barb" answers with some wise advice to inferiority-complexed barbarians. fiil av. D. N. is all wet. And K. E. W. reviews some southern fraternal history. In this array of four letters is represented a con venient cross-section of campus thought on this ques tion. The letters, two from fraternity men, and two from nonfraternity men, are worth reading. Clarifying somewhat his first letter printed last Sunday, D. N. reiterates his belief in the possibilities of non-fraternity organization against tho grasping power of fraternities. He cites history to show that it was possible in the past, and is confident that the same can happen again. He wants to prod the nonfraternity men from their cowed complacency, and arouse them to some action, some assertion of their personalities, He drops some hints which seem to show that his letter- writing campaign is but the opening wedge in a leal campaign to organize nonfraternity men. Talking and writing alone, as The Nebraskan pointed out Tuesday, will accomplish very little even N. really is going to change campus conditions even for only a short time, his talking and writing will have to be backed up by some form of substantial organi zation. And as soon as that organization is formed D. N. will run up against difficulties. He cites, previous cases of non-fraternity men organizing. If he cited just a little bit further he would also add the fact that most of the leaders of that nonfraternity organization (at least the one of four years ago) became fraternity men themselves a semester or so later, with the exception of one man who became a fraternity man three years later. To make effective such an organization of non- fialeruily men, D. N. would Lave to have the genius to pledge all his associates not to join a fraternity dur ing their college career. That way and only that way could he maintain his organization intact against the fraternities he hopes to fight, because those fraterni ties, as "Gil" points out, have a nasty habit of reaching down and pledging promising nonfraternity men who display any signs of leadership. In fact that's one of the biggest .reasons why they are able to keep aheid in all campus activities. If their men can't get ahead . they pledge those that have got ahead. We are rather inclined to believe that D. N. is somewhat of a reformer by nature, for only a reformer could have his naive trust in the efficacy of enactment ( and pudden organization to eliminate social and ac tivity conditions which have persisted for thirty or forty years by the very inherent nature of the groups which make them. The esprit de corps, exaggerated and exalted self-opinion of groups which have existed on this campus anywhere from ten to forty years, can hardly be eliminated in two or three weeks or even two or three semesters of spirited campaigning. Even a Billy Sunday revival would fail to have any perman ent effect. No, the conditions against which D. N. is aroused are an unescapable consequence of the frat ernal system which colleges and universities have per mitted to spring up within their gates. While we are "indebted to R. E. W. for giving us definite proof that many people come to university for no other reason than to make a fraternity or sorority, yet we can not escape the feeling that of all arguments in favor of fraternities, his are about the weakest. One of the greatest and at the same time gravest charges against fraternities has always been that they foster a spirit of fraternal loyalty at the expense of loyalty to the University. What clearer proof for this could be presented than R. E. W.'s statements showing tliff foiling off in enrollment at M!aijni and fVint.h Carolina after fraternities were abolished? To make matters worse, B. E. W. shows that Mis sissippi and South Carolina suffered a serious football slump as a result of the abolishment if fraternities. The inference is that athletes preferred to go to neigh boring universities where fraternities were tolerated. Now athletes who love their college or university only for the fraternities it harbors have hardly enough of that good old alma mater spirit so dear to coaches cheerleaders, and bonfire enthusiasts to be worth both ering about. It, would seem quite degrading, in fact, if a college or university should tolerate any particular set conditions simply to increase its enrollment of athletes. That R. E. W.'s arguments along athletic lines and Lis dire predictions that Nebraska might ink to he bottom c the pit in Valley circles need not be taken fcerioctsly, is indicated by the glorious athletic history of such schools as Notre Dame, Princeton, and Harvard where fraternities either are altogether banned or are decidedly frowned upon. To make R. E. W.'s arguments even more ridicu lous might be mentioned the opinions of many to the effect that the continued success of Notre Dame on the gridiron can be attributed in large part to the ab sence of green-eyed fraternity jealousies among the tend over a whole year instead of confining it to onc week early in the fall. At first thought either of these objections seems valid enough. Let's take a look at the first one, though, about lack of dormitory facilities. This reason is in reality quite superficial in the light of the amend- ment which makes the bill operative only after two years of readjustment. Every thrifty fraternity and sorority if it wants to keep the business management of its house on a sound footing will increase its sophomore, junior and senior membership enough to make up for the loss of freshmen. The additional upperclassmen taken in will empty just enough rooming houses to take care of the incoming freshmen. And besides the rooming house situation is elastic enough to take care of any small increase in demand which might result in spite of this shifting of fraternity membership. There is very little basis then for disapproval of the bill on this ground. The second main objection concerning rushing is probably very much exaggerated. Granted that the new bill will result in all-year rushing, is there any more evil connected with that than with the system of all-year and all-summer high school senior rushing we now have in vogue? And is there not just an im mense amount of all-year rushing going on right now in spite of the freshman pledging rule now in opera tion? As for interference with studies occasioned by any of the all-year rushng, it will very likely be a great deal less han the present interference with study oc casioned by fraternity life to which the bewildered freshman is not accustomed, without mentioning the loads of interference occasioned by excessive freshman duties around the house, and without mentioning times of downright interference intended to "take the cock iness out of the freshmen." The chances are that freshman scholarship under the new rule would increase materially because the freshmen would all be on their toes to make a credit able enough showing to be asked to pledge a fraternity. They would really have to "make" a fraternity in stead having the supposed honor thrust and forced upon them before they have even enrolled for a single class. Now for some positive benefits of the proposed bill. In the first place such a measure will eliminate at one stroke a large number of pin hounds who come to the university just long enough to make a fraternity or sorority. In the second place such a campus reform will mean that there will be at least one year of equality for all students in the University. This is a benefit recognized by the alumni committee on dormitories which made its report a few months ago. It is a benefit which was well described a few weeks ago in a lead editorial in the Omaha World-Hearld. If tue second-year pledging bill is passed, it will mean that young men and women will form their first contacts with the University through the Univer sity rather than through organizations 99 per cent of which originated at other schools and all of which -are dominated by selfish interests which nearly always have precedence over University loyality. There will be a closer and more healthy relation of every student with the Uiversity direct, instead of vaguely by way of a fraternal group. And the fraternities, themselves will benefit in the end. Membership in them, and especially the pledge period, will become the result of merit openly recog nized on this campus. It will be something to work for (if it is that valuable after all). There will be fewer broken pledges, and fewer ex-pledges who had to leave school on account of poor scholarship or other difficulties. There will be fewer mal-adjustments such as we now have as a result of our mad, irrational sys tem of rushing. The biggest reason of all why so many on the campus are opposed to the bill is that it is something new. There will be new and strange chapter problems to wrestle with. No fraternity is quite sure of the course it will have to steer, probably not quite so sure that it can stand out over a whole year of rushing wherein the freshmen could have their eyes open and cooly survey the field. Whether the bill is ultimately passed or not makes little difference, though. The basic advantages and disadvantages of the fraternal system will still remain. In Other Columns ZZCO:iD-YEAR PLEDGING r$ itf.t Cr.r.iUe yftsfcwfojr pWd on second rcad- '. l 3 ft bill nakii mandatory second-year : .t ile UuiveraiLy. The decisive vote Indicates a I '1 v '. :i rrcbably pass on third reading. From I'; v 2 i j i i V. e lionise where its fats is problero- ' r-"h r, a frprSs to the campus 1 i had to I'Aiev that the bill Lass "Society" In spite of the dictum of Arthur Brisbane that a dog biting a man is not news but that a man's biting a dog is news, the evaluation of news is not merely a matter of "playing up" tho unusual or that which will be talked about. No doubt tatloiJa most nearly carry out Mr. Brisbane's remark; college papers, on the other hand, should and do the btet of them recognize the fact that news is of two sorts that which createj much gossip, conversation, and comment but which really does not report an event affecting the lives of many purple and tnat which, though it may pass almost un read, is a report of an event fundamentally changing the mode of life of many persons. Thus, if the college paper wereto follow Mr. "Jrfbane, it wouH taie in heavy nead-ii:e that a ncpnt survey of Iht campus showed that nine coeds remained unkissed, and in a corner of tha back page it would report tin fact that one of the icadmg edu cators of the coun'ry had been added to c;e faculty. Thtre is no doubt but that the campus wou'.d be agog m its conjectures a to who the nine coeds were and '.'. it would fail to remember, even if ij should see, the name of the eJucator. Of course no college editor, no matter how much of an idealist he mighi be, would for a moment con s.'riei the e!iminatii ci all news except that which uttally affected thj jhysical and mental liva of his readers; no newspipe- would be read if It failed to recognize "human interest." But there is much more thtr lists of guests at fraternity dances to lz cast into linotype slugs. Consequently, The Silver and Gold, at least during the spring qnarter will curtail its society page. Men fai ciMds about the tampus (Thank God and the board of readmissions that there are not very many of them), who care only for the "society" in The Silver and Gold must be satisfied with rather brief reference to that phase of collegs life which affords excuse for legis latures fn their faiinre to ps educational appropria tion bills, Colorado SlWer and Gold To the Edit Campus: There seems to have been a gen eral misunderstanding of the mean ine which I meant to portray in Mon day's article on "Wake up Barbs." In reality, no plan was submitted at all no campaign of organized op position suggested in a systematized way, as one which would alter the present social status. My real object was and is, "to get the attention of the 'Barbs' and to instigate a little feeling of independence and self- ex pression in their midst." Only after this has been done can the present condition be in any respect mitigated. I appreciate the editor's com ments and yet take issue on one of his statements for Mr. Editor Don't you think that if the feeling which is current among Fraternity men the feeling which they think justifies them in occupying their fic titious position were to be stamped out and the fraternity and sorority houses made not as mere eating houses but homes, that after all this would be a better school for it? Would not this weed out the "small town social recognition?" And I ask you "Don't you think it possible if not to enact this state of affairs, ! at least in some respects to curtail the monopolizing grasping of the Fraternity in all fields of endeavor at the University and at the same time give the "Barb" a chance to as sert his independent personality? I admit it has been conceded an al most impossible task' and yet all that would be a "Barb" organization. Now to "Lon". and E. F. D. what refreshing tonics to soothe the minds of literature absorbing stu dents yet it savors as does most written and unwritten speech on this campus it savors of fraternity pol ish, a polish which is indeed glossy the outside. What food for on thought from those on the other side of the fence not a high board fence but a picket fence and what facts and conditions are so hard to see as those that are so glaringly present before the very eyes of people! What notable lines and passages! What profound words "Lon" quoted and used to denote the anticipated opposition. I should feel totally ob literated in a sea of sarcasm and yet I am only amused at "Lon's" jesting wonder if he capitalized his hidden genius by participating in the late staged "University Night"? At the same time I wonder if "Lon" was sitting across from the University of Nebraska, at the bookstore -enjoying one of those delicious (5) min utes of eating, joshing, study forget ting entertainment while he was so engrossed in portraying a hidden aoi ioz o Q Davis Coffee Shop 108 N. 13 Doubled Decked Sand- o wiches, Home made pastry, Unexcelled 1 Coffee Day & Night onoi loraot D o 01 Talks of eating at the The Potato Little more than four centur ies ago the potato was unknown to the civilized world. It can truly claim to be a 100 per cent American food. First cousin to the tomato (and to that "black sheep" of the nightshade family, the "bull nettle") it rivals in importance rice and the banana as a universal food. Here in America the potato is regarded as essential to a meal ts is bread. Probably 99.44 per cent of the population would resent being asked to eat a full meal without the ubiqui tous potato cooked according to individual preference at the time. At the Central Cafe every three-division plate dinner con tains one portion of potato. Sometimes mashed; at other "American fried",; at still others, Lyonnaise. The potato is included in the same manner as bread and butter that is, is not specially charged for; but , of course, it makes up part of the cost of the meal. French Fried, 15c, Shoestring, 15c; American Friad, 10c; Hash Brown, 15c; Lyonnaise, 20c; Cottage Fried, 20c; and Mashed, 10c are' listed in the Central Cafe's printed menu. These prices are for a la carte orders. , The Central's equipment for turning out French Fried and Shoestring potato was designed from plans originated by Man ager Harris and built specially for liiin. This equipment insures the beautifully browned, mealy, delicious French Fried and Ghoestring which all lovers of potatoes yearn for. Come in any time and learn for yourself. 1323 P (Te be saaiUeued) touch of humor which I em sure that he possesses? ' Now as for E. VF. D. who I feel really has a refutation to my prema ture article of yesterday. Yet how he mixes absurdity, bias, white lies and spring! I wonder if he wrote in inter ludes or as inspired? He mentions implied, latent possibilities of the "Greeks" to alter the social status which was taken up with strict cor rectness by the editor. He, the editor, is indubitably right when he states that the present condition will re main as it is, if left to the discretion of the Fraternity yet the editor as well as the campus cannot conceive, it seems, of an organized "Barb" yet is it not possible? Look back to your annals did it not occur. a few years back? And it can be done again! E. F. D. may find loopholes in the contents of my articles yet he must admit the possibility of that which I advocate. Lets hear from the "Barbs"! Again I say "Wake Up Barbs"! Note How true was Monday's article on "White lies" how strikingly true and apparent in the relation between the "Frat" and "Barbs"! Signed D. N. To the Editor: Inasmuch as there seems to be a barb versus fraternity discussion going on in the Daily Nebraskan col umns the time seems appropriate to express an idea that has long been in my mind. It seems to me that the difficulty reaches back into high school days when the senior class is looking for ward to the . institution of higher learning. Conversation is almost ex clusively of "next year" and the uni versity, and nine-tenths of this con versation is about fraternities and sororities. Now until thi time the h'h fchool senior may never have heard of the greek letter organizations. They are (pRISTTEt) rt line B-ma Capilal Er jnirirj Co. 3IS 6X 12! ST. LINCOLN. NEB. Permanent Waves THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE COMFORT OF NATUR AL CURLY HAIR. Gif fin Beaute Salon B3273 1340 M 2000 Records yet to sell in our bargain close out of Columbia & Brunswick cut out, new, popular, classical and dance rec ords. Fill your library while they last. The crowds are coming. See for yourself. THE BIG HOUSE Schmoller & Muel- ler Piano Co. 1220 O Street Lincoln, Nebraska mysterious, and that Is always in triguing. The rumor goes out that one must "belong" in order to be of any importance on the campus. As though membership in any organiza tion could automatically increase or decrease ones real value! In fact I have a vague memory (which I can smile at now) of being told that greek letter members would no con descend to speak to non-fraternity students. -.. I haven't an idea in the world where these rumors come from. It is not improbable that they originate in the minds of these same higli school seniors, who, knowing very little about it all, enlarge and elab orate on that very little. Now the high school senior grad uates and comes to the university. He doesn't make a fraternity I ob ject however to the inference that this was necessarily because he never had the opportunity. He remembers the rumors. He is very proud, and very sensitive. He highbrows the fraternity man first. He isn't going to give the Creek, and opportunity to snub him. tht Where he ml3 his mistake. The fraternity man has S desire to snub him. but after tio or three attempts to continue ths nM time friendship in the old time wav decides "Well, Jones ha, chan since he came down here," and lt. Jones alone. 13 If the barbs weren't so eerlaat ingly sure of their own . they wouldn't have any difficulty whJ them would get out and do some thing instead of whining because th greek letter organizations hold them (Continued on Page Three.) Freshman men at the University 0f Colorado study an average of three hours and fifty minutes daily, ac cording to figures compiled by Fred E. Aden, vocational counselor. The figures were taken from the time budgets of ninety freshman men kept the first and second quarters of the present school year. Take off your coat! Remember the excitement the prospec tive combatants squaring away and circling round each other? Then always would come the old cry "Take off your coats!" A small chap had to take his coat off in those days even to play. A coat was a tight, binding sort of thing something that might be split or torn at any time. Some men keep that same idea of clothes right down through the years. They think of clothes as necessarily binding uncom' fortable. As a matter of fact, a present day suit if it's correct in cut is about the easiest, loungiest thing a man can slip into. But it has to be correctly cut! Next time you buy a suit, watch that point. And with that point in mind invest? gate our SocielySBrund Clothes You've heard them called "the clothes that are fa' mous for their cut. That means they're not only the finest looking but the most comfortable clothes you ever dreamed of. Once you try them out youll never go back to the old sort again. $40 to $60 Exclusive Patterns also at $35 MAYER BROS. CO. ELI SHIRE, Pres. 501 :rv:c Select your EASTER HAT from our displays Fine crocheted straws, silks, soft felts, and combinations of these materials are fashioned into becomingly smart models for youthful faces. Many of our models are those created by expert and well known designers, and all are beautifully new and becoming in effect. 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