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The Nebraskan
Station A, Lincoln Nebraska
OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION
AND BULLETIN OF THE
1934 SUMMER SCHOOL SESSION
Published Tuesday and Thursday
morning during the summer session
nd circulated free to summer school
students and faculty members from
boxes in campus buildings and book
8t Directed by Student Publcatlons
Board.
Telephones: ,
Day-B6891 J N Ip h -B
B3333 Monday and Wednesday Nights
Bruce Nicoll ..Editor
Wilbur Erickson ....Business Manager
America's Youth
Movement.
AMERICA'S youth, and more
particularly its college youth,
have been the object of biting crit
icisms voiced by some of our more
or less well known national minds
during the past few months.
For the most part, we feel, they
simply decry the absolute indiffer
ence of youth to the tremendous
social changes that are taking
pface in this country today, and if
we believe tnem, America s yuum
movement apparently is, at best,
etill in an embryonic stage.
William E. Berchtold's article
"Tn Seach of a Youth Movement,"
appearing in the June issue of the
Kew Outlook, attempted to probe
the fundamental causes for this
seeming apathy of youth toward
the frantic pleadings of the older
generation to assume command of
the idealism of the "new era."
It will be noted that Mr. Berch
told is a bit vitrolic in sizing up
the average American college stu
dent. Perhaps they are all the
things that he has to say about
them. But an exception must be
made at this stage of the game.
Our college graduates, and under
graduates, are the victims of a so
cial system in which they had no
part in making. Unquestionably it
is true that a youth movement in
America, even in an embryonic
stage, is being carefully hemmed
in by rock ribbed conservatism.
Quite obviously, as the author
points out, our youth movement
must be directed by college gradu
ates, but the real jouth movement
of the masses must come from the
thousands of young men and
women who receive only a high
school education. Here, we feel,
lies the integral part in the failure
of realization of a youth move
ment. But, for the most part, Mr.
Berchtold's summation bits the
nail on the head. We quote:
' "America has never had a youth
movement worthy of the name, un
less we go back to the days of
those youthful revolutionists who
became tired of the tyranny of an
old ruler of empire and brought
the United States into being, only
to surround it with every safe
guard against any succeeding
youth movements' of similar pro
portions. "Can the United States expect
the younger generation, as a ho'
mogeneous unit, to take an in
creasingly important part in our
national political life? The com
mencement orators would have us
believe that our national salvation
lies along some such path, but each
conjures up a vision of youth
squarely behind his pet penacea,
whether it is labeled international
ism, nationalism, communism, cap
italism, fascism or some other ism.
There is a great deal to be said for
the idea of placing youth in the
saddle, but the elders who so glibly
let pleas for a 'youth movement'
slip through their beards may find
that they are due to receive more
than they had bargained for if
youth takes their notions seriously.
"If the United States has the
raw material for such a movement
today it is to be found in the
3,000,000 young men and women
between the ages of 16 -tnd 25 who
have neither jobs nor schools to
occupy their time. Most of this
raw material, however, must still
be classed as that of rugged, al
though somewhat ragged, individ
ualism. Their heads are still buzz
ing with the school-book tale of
great fortunes made by poor men
in an America of unlimited oppor
tunity. The fact that the frontiers
of territorial and business expan
sion (where most of those fortunes
were made) no longer 'exist has
made little impression upon them.
Such facts were not emphasized
during the years they spent in
school and they cling to the most
brilliant pictures" of this land of op
portunity, waiting for a propitious
moment to knock on the door
which they feel certain will be
opened unto them as it was to their
fathers before them.
"Aside from the perennially ac
tive groups advocating communism
or socialism, there are no signs of
organizing the great mass of
American youth who have been en
dowed with no more than an ele
mentary or high school education.
Politics, except for such mild, for
malized discussions as may be a
part of the high school curriculum
in civics classes, has never occu
pied the attention of those youths
who finish their education in high
schools. Can the youth of the
United States expect the students
and alumni of its universities and
colleges to furnish the leadership
which anything approaching a na
tional movement would command ?
"Perhaps no youthful group in
the world has been traditionally
more apathetic to politics than the
American college student. He has
looked upon the study of govern
ment as the piling up of so many
necessary units toward a degree
and concludes, when he reaches
voting age, that politics is a rotten
business which can hardly be made
to smell sweeter through his puny
contributions of black crosses in
white spaces on a cut-and-dried
ballot.
"This all holds true only so long
as the graduates of succeeding
classes are absorbed into business
and industry and are inspired by
the sporting chance of reaching
the seats of the mighty.
"Prolonged unemployment, such
as the members of the last four
graduating classes have exper
ienced, is apt to change this tra
ditional viewpoint of the college
graduate. The tens of thousands
who have failed to be absorbed by
business and industry since 1929
appear on no roster of the unem
ployed for they have never been
employed, nor are many of them
on relief roles or in the ranks of
the CCC.
"They have patiently bided their
time waiting for the economic hur
ricane to subside, but as they wait
they are beginning to wonder
whether they are not the real 'lost
generation.' Their rugged individ
ualism is fraying a bit and they
are watching the straws in the
wind to learn from which quarter
they may expect a leader whom
they can follow, albeit without los
ing their individualistic composure
should the hurricane suddenly sub
side and the sun shine again on
the old laisscz faire world. Can
they find that leadership or outlet
for expression which they seek in
the organizations now active on
college campi throughout the
country?
"Anyone who will set out to
search for the long-heralded youth
movement in America, as I have,
will be apt to conclude that there
is none worthy of the name. If
such a movement ever gains head
way, it is not likely that university
presidents, clergy, politicians, or
commenmement orators who advo
cated it will find it to their own
liking. They would most likely be
swept before it, horrified in the
realization that the canned dog
mas which they had dished out to
the younger generation were not to
be a part of youth's own plan,
The real answer to the question
of the likelihood of a youth move
ment in America lies in the final
appraisal of the new deal by the
3,000,000 young men and women
between the ages of 16 and 25 now
without Jobs or opportunities for
schooling. That appraisal is bound
to be based on whether the new,
THE NEBRASKAN, TUESDAY. JUNE
deal offers them opportunities at
least as good as those which the
cult of rugged individualism of
fered their fathers before the fron
tiers of territorial and business ex
pansion were closed."
Mr. Mencken
On Education,
"In that fat and golden era
(Coolidge golden age) the little
school house of American tradition
almost disappeared," writes H. L.
Mencken in Liberty. "In place of
it there arose in all the country
towns vast consolidated schools
that dwarfed every other local
building. And in every such edi
fice there was a large hall for con
certs, plays, pageants, debates,
and speechmaking, and into it all
the townspeople crowded once a
week or so to hear the padagogs
tell them how much the new edu
cation was doing for their chil
dren. "In these new schools the three
R's were pretty well abolished,
and it was possible to reach al
most the high school grades with
out knowing much about them.
But in place of them there was
a long list of new studies. The
girls were taught how to make
the dresses in Vogue, and to pre
pare seven-course dinners for ten
people; and the boys were in
structed thoroughly in scoutcraft,
salesmanship and parliamentary
law. Both devoted a great deal of
time to learning just how to sa
lute the flag, and both were well
grounded in public speaking.
American ideals, and artificial
respiration.
"This catastrophe (the depres
sion) paralyzed the pedagogs and
for a couple of years nothing was
heard from them save moans. But
with the coming of the new deal
they began to take heart again,
and ever since last summer they
have been busy with plans to un
load the public schools on the
federal government. The chances
seem to be good that they will
never roll again in the catnip that
made them leap and exult so
handsomely in 1928. The schools
will go on, of course, but running
them on the scale of Hollywood is
apparently out. The padagogs are,
taking one with another, very
foolish fellows, but nevertheless
they are probably honest at bot
tom, and in the midst of all their
bull roaring they have probably
accomplished something valuable
for the American public school,
people, for civilization, and maybe
even for God. When they began
their dizzy rise in the world the
schools were the sport of politi
cians, and teaching was anyone's
job.
"The new pedagogy put an end
to all that in most places. It tried
to formulate reasonable standards
for teachers, and to get rid of the
drones and idiots. It tried to im
prove the curriculum so that the
children would learn more than
the bare three R's. It tried to make
the schools more sanitary and
more comfortable. It tried to dis
place the political superintendents
with men who were really inter
ested in pedagogy and eager to
carry it on in the best possible
manner. Above all, it tried to give
teaching a new professional dig
nity and security, and to attract
to it a new and superior class of
young men and women.
"These objectives, in the main,
were achieved. The public schools
of the United States are actually
much cleaner and more attractive
today, both physically and spirit
ually, than they were when the
New Pedagogy got on its legs. Un
fortunately, the poor gogues, once
they got going, didn't know where
to stop. Having made the schools
sanitary, they proceeded to make
them palatial. Having provided
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Croqulgnole and Spiral
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ALL OTHER BEAUTY WORK
302 Sec. Mut. Building
12th and "O" ts. Phone L4949
19, 1934.
th teachers with professional self
respect, they went on to convert
them into uplifters ana wona Bay
ers. And having lifted pedagogy
itself out of its own wallow and
riVpn it a certain intellectual re
spectability, they began turning it
into a profound ana compncaieu
mvsterv and hocus pocus, full of
highly dubious tricks and secrets,
and incomprehensibe to any ra
tional man.
"We need the public schools, but
thPre is no reason why they should
be so intolerably expensive. They'd
be much more valuable if they
ceased being free cabarets and
country clubs and went back to
being schools. In the same way,
the teachers would be happier if
they could dispense with their la
borious cramming for credit and
degrees and be free to devote their
whole time and energy to teaching.
And even the master pedagogs, I
believe, would be safer, more use
ful, and more contented men if
they could bring themselves to
throw overboard all the bogus sci
ence which now crazes them, and
stop making speeches for a while,
and retire from pressure politics,
and give themselves honestly and
wholeheartedly to the great task
of trying to give the children of
the United States the maximum of
education at the minimum cost."
Lincoln Journal.
SWART IS'EITZEL OIS
ARCIIEOLOGICAL TRIP
Group Will Investigate
Burial Mounds in
Illinois.
stnart Ttfpitjwl Falls Citv. who
just completed his course at the
university has joined an archco
logical party from Chicago Univer
sity. The group win spenu uie
summer investigating: burial
mounds of an extinct race in south
ern Illinois.
whiio in thp university Neitzel
accomplished Prof. Bell of the
archeological department on sev
eral summer trips into various
parts of the state. He was also
business manager or tne jrraine
Schooner during his undergradu
ate life.
DR. BILLING GIVES
SECOND GROUP OF
SCIENCE TALKS
(Continued from Page 1.)
Stury which are Appropriate for
Junior High Levels and which In
tegrate this Work and the Science
of Elementary and Secondary
Schools."
Two special lectures are to be
given during the week, the time
and place of which will be given in
Thursday's Nebraskan. The first
will be on the subject "The Place
of Science in the Public School
Program" and the second will be
on "The Responsibility of Teach
ers and Supervisors in the De
velopment of a Science Program."
Open group conferences will
follow each class period and spe
cial group or individual confer
ences may be arranged by appoint
ment. A general conference on
science problems at elementary
and junior . high levels is also
scheduled each day at 11 o'clock in
T. C. 323.
Dr. Billig, who is a member of
the National ; Council of Super
visors of Elementary Science and
other professional groups, has been
active in research for the develop
ment of science materials which
are appropriate at the various ele
mentary, junior and senior levels.
The first group of lectures for
science teachers was given last
week by Dr. Wilbur L. Beau
champ, assistant professor of Edu
cation in the University of Chi
cago. Dr. Beauchamp, who has
been prominent in the educational
field for many years, devoted most
of his lectures to the Unit Method
of teaching sciences.
Rasmussen Drug Store
Takes pride in offering the
best in Hot Plate Lunches
Our location 13th and P Streets
Also Tasty Sandwiches
ALL DAY SERVICE
fTiwfti
BY CLARK C. BRADLEY.
Summer that Deriod d urine"
which we plan to do all the things
wa didn't find time to do duriner
the rest of the year may provide
A J S
an opportunity ior a nine reauing,
and it is certain that we want
what time we do spend at this to
be well spent.
It is taken for erranteu mat no
r,n at least not university stu
dents read merely for the sake of
reading. Consequently, intelligent
and careful selection of reading
material is to be expected, and we
believe that this can best be done
by basing our selection on the
comments and opinions of unbiased
critics.
fa rn zlnes will no doubt com-
r,ria n nart of the reading done on
th mmniis this summer, and with
the large number of publications
available consiaeraoie tnuuuu
nnoHoH If one is to avoid spending
his valuable time wading - thru
material really unwortny or nis
attention. ,
t tviia field a blanket rule can
be made to apply in almost all in
stances, and that is stick close to
th. HtPrarv field with the excep
tion of Esquire and possibly a few
technical magazines. The reason
for this is simply that popular
magazine editors do not edit for
the university reader, but because
of their wide circulation are iurteu
tn nhsprve numerous restricts re
garding style and content. (
The quality of the news-magazines
has increased remarkably
within the last few years; so much
in fart that thev afford one
of the most authoritative, sources
of information about the niany im
portant events that are ejecumng
these days.
It has been said that bqoKs mat
make one think are better for the
reader than those that! merely
force particular facts upon him.
rrk:. ninmn ia much in ! accord
with such an opinion. jDidactical
writing is far less enecuve uvc.
long period of time, than that type
of composition that stimulates the
development of the reader's own
idea. . ,
H. L. Mencnen s latest book,
"Treatise On Right And Wrong,"
is certainly a book of the latter
sort. You may not agree with the
theories the former editor of
"American Mercury" presents in
this work, but you will agree after
having read it that the caustic
critic of the American scene has
made you think. Furthermore, if
you aren't entirely disinterested in
this thing we call "Life," you'll
find the tome very absorbing read
ing. .
No doubt many have postponed
reading Hervey Allen's "Anthony
Adverse" until the summer
months, and in many cases it has
probably been a wise thing. Con
siderable time is needed to appre
ciate this bulky work, but it is by
imnossible task, and
it is certainly worth the effort.
Further comment or explanation
about this book is. of course, need
less. Those who are not familiar with
the University of Nebraska's own
literary publication, "Prairie
Schooner," should look forward to
the appearance of the, Rummer is
sue, which will be out in the near
future. Nationally recognized in
the literary field, this- magazine
presents the work of many Ne
braska writers as well jas others
from this part of the1 country.
O'Brien's latest collection of short
stories contains high praise for the
magazine, wh?ch is edited by Prof.
L. C. Wimberly.
EASY
STARTING
GASOLINE
14
HOLMS
14th & W 30th Year B3998
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