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THE NEBRASKAN
Wednesday, February 10, 1954
EDITORIAL PAGE
ilf fif ef i cs And Scholarship
A problem which has disturbed The Ne
braskan, conscientious students and Nebraska
educators generally has been called to the
attention of the general public by screaming
headlines in The Lincoln Journal.
The problem is inadequate high school
preparation for college-level work and the
high percentage of students who drop out of
school.
The reason this situation suddenly became
ef vital interest, a topic covered by two,
banner headlines, is football.
Football the most discussed word in the
Buried Capabilities
The greatest inhibition facing our genera
tion is the fear of expressing what be believe.
Because we are constantly told that we are
too young to know what we believe, that we
have cot had experience of our elders, that
we do not have the ears of study behind us,
we are a silent feneration in the face of an
ever increasing necessity to cry out.
An ideology of one foe or another takes
" the controversial spotlight in each genera
tion. In the first half of the twentieth cen
tury, the attention of most people was fo
cused on German nationalism and Nazism.
This focus was maintained through two world
wars. Now, in the second half of the same
century another ideology has taken the spot
lightCommunism. Our socfety once condoned Communism,
In the 1930's, the Communist party was a
recognized minority political group. A person
could register and vote as a communist
without legal or social disapproval. We were
children then, and our parents were ner
vously looking toward Germany not Russia.
Today, the evils of Communism are
whipped into our heads by newspaper head
lines, radio broadcasts, church sermons, and
our parents the persons who, at one time,
ignored and accepted Communism, who failed
to recognise it as a potential threat.
And because of their pains, talking and
belated efforts to makuse realize that Com
munism is evil, they discredit our ability to
recognize Communistic teachings when we
are exposed to them. They send us to a
university to receive a higher education so
that we may be informed of life, yet they
fear that an unwatchful university may be
the breeding grounds for Communist teach
ings and red-tinted instructors.
Therefore they doubt the universities They
condemn knowledge which may help us to
understand our danger better.
In short they adhere to a policy o sup
pression ef the bad in hope ignorance will
protect ns. And because they prefer Ignorance
for ns they refuse to believe we are intelli
gent adults.
It is our generation which has had to recog
nize the evils of Communism and to fight
them. And it is we who will have to con
tinue the battle, for the ultimate control and
victory over Communism lies in the products
of our generation.
We cannot hope to devise ways to cope with
Communism if we are afraid of what we
think, if we are constantly told we are in
capable of thinking. We must express our
selves in order to know the thoughts of
others. Only through combined efforts and
a recognized common goal can we ever hope
to combat and eventually liquidate Com
munism, i
To our elders we say: We are capable of
recognizing the evils of Communism. We
fought against them in Korea. We are cap
able of grasping, the significance of Com
munist doctrines. We are capable of thinking
for ourselves; we have the best educational
chances in the, world. We are capable of
saying "No" to so great a violation of our
American principles as Communism; we do
not want another war for it is we who will
fight it.
Oar capabilities are equal to the task of
combating Communism. But these capabilities
can come into play only if we are not kept
ignorant by "save the " young folks" move
ments by our elders. J.IL 4
Two Views
Much ado over eggs!
The hens in Britain are working in vain.
British farmers have started a campaign to
induce Britons to eat more eggs, now a glut
on the market The reason Britons got out
of the habit of eating eggs during war-time
and post-war rationing.
The situation seems to be the reverse in
Russia. Because of the shortage of eggs on
the market, farmers are required to report
the number of hens that they have, and turn
in all their produce. Those who wish to con
serve eggs for their families hedge a little
on the number of hens they report.
The MVD gets around this, too. Russian
children are taught to count practically. As
homework, they are asked to count the num
ber of hens in the chickenhouse. Woe be to
the farmer whose children report 16 hens to
his IS. G.H.
state in recent weeks. Football the non
academic topic which probably enters more
classrooms than any other. Football the rea
son for which scholastic standing of Univer
sity students becomes important.
One basis, and a primary one, for the two
copyrighted stories in the Journal (a total of
75 inches) was a study conducted by Henry
M, Cox, director of the Bureau of Instruc
tional Research a study which The Ne
braskan reported early in January.
,
This study was based on experiences of
1,184 students who were graduated from high
school in the spring of 1952 and entered the
University the following fall. Its results in
cluded the' following points:
1. Only about half of entering students are
graduated.
2. The highest rate of drop-outs comes dur
ing the first two years in the University.
S. An estimated 31 per eent of the drop
outs occur during the first year.
According to the University Bulletin Board,
source of this information, these findings
show that the attrition rate now remains
about the same as it was in 1947 when the
Bureau made a similar study.
Thus, it may be seen, loss of students from
the University, and particularly loss of fresh
men, is not a recent phenonmenon. .
Another basis which could have been used
was a controversy started last semester by
Col. C. J. Frankforter. The discussion soon
became labeled "What's the Trouble With
Our Freshmen?"
This subject was the topic of a Union semi
nar i held early in December at which Dr.
J. P. Colbert, dean of student affairs; Dr.
J. M. Relnhardt, professor of sociology; Wil
bert O. Gaffney, assistant professor of Eng
lish; Miss Katherine Parks, head resident of
Women's Residence Halls, and others entered
the discussion.
A point brought out at that time by Dr.
Reinhardt was lack of "motivation for schol
arship" when students enter the University.
lie cited the example of high schools dur
ing weeks preceding the state basketball
tournament when "school boards, principals,
teachers and students" abandon all "pretense
of scholarship." ,
The only motivation concerned, he believed,
was to "win the basketball tournament."
The point is obvious and need be labored
no more. More public emphasis is given to
athletics than to scholarship both in high
school and in college.
The Nebraskan believes the sudden front
page attention given the dual problem of
faulty college preparation and of high stu
dent attrition is based on this premise: Ne
braska education is at a stage in which a
football or basketball team is no longer just
an attractive appendage of a school, but the
entire school, in the public eye.
The Lincoln editors recognized this situa
tion and the dual problem suddenly became
front page news.
If Nebraska education, or lack of it, be
comes front-page news copy only when detri
mental effects are felt by the Department of
Athletics, the time has come for some serious
re-evaluation. S.H.
Moter Murder
It's not a pretty picture.
Last year 38,300 Americans lost their lives
in traffic accidents. That is almost one and
a half times as great as the battle death toll
of Americans in the Korean war.
..And the grim figures dont end there, for
not all the motor vehicle victims died. Some
were more fortunate only maimed or in
jured. 1,350,000 people were included in this
group.
Secondary in importance but nevertheless
a factor to be considered is the monetary loss
entailed in such a vast motor holocaust. Ac
cording to the National Safety Council, this
sum was estimated at $1,600,000,000. That's
a lot of television sets down the drain!
The 1953 accident toll is due principally
to carelessness behind the wheel. Human na
ture being what it is, there will probably
never be a time when there are no auto mis
haps. There will always be the sad fellows
who believe crashes only happen to some
body else; and they will always be care
less, angry, speedy, unskilled or drunken
drivers on the nation's highways.
It's becoming more and more apparent,"
however, that whether individuals like it
or not something must be done to save their
lives. Americans don't like restrictions, and
stricter traffic laws would undoubtedly be
unpopular. And yet most people seem inca
pable of realizing the importance of improv
ing their driving habits on their own.
Therefore, if these two conventional solu
tions won't work and they haven't so far
only two alternatives remain. The first, to
abolish said vehicles, would meet with im
mediate protest "from the anti-pedestrian
league which has become a part of our
mechanized culture. i
The other seems the perfect answer. It
would abolish the parking problem, too.
Take to the air! M.H.
UTTlt MAN ON CAMPUS
JIvl Tl&bha&fam
FIFTY-THIRD YEAR
Member: Associated Collegiate Preaa
Advertising representative: National Advertising Service, Inc.
420 Madison Ave, New York 17, New York
The Ksbraasaa It paMlsked ay the stndiuls tt tha . EDITORIAL, STAFF
fMrtijr ef Nebraska ae aa expreasloa of Meats' ....
ewws aad optntoaa only. Aeoorilni to Article of taw ' " Sally Hall
t-iU votniBg stadent publtratlons aa admlniitmd Editorial Fan Editor Tom Woodward
k the Boar of rnMteatfcwa, "It to tha declared potle Manadnc Editor Jaa Harrtooa
of tiM Board that puMieattoaa ander 11 JorladleUoa afcaJI --
N fro tram editorial esasorsatp oa tha part of too tor V V J5kr
- H'lMi, or oa Um part of any atenber of too facaity of CopJr Editors Janey Carmea, Dltk reltnaa,
ttm Catwalte, bvit tko nemben of tka staff of Tha Mariaaao Bnm, Gram Barrey
0Tir tn,W " " A Marx Peterson
ukertp ratee ara a semester, t.0 malted, o hporU ,Ut' Cmrr "raada
$3 tat tha eoiiirra year, S4 mailed. Slncla copy la flvo REPORTERS
xxitn. l'atSi!fcd oa TneMtay, Wodaeaday and Friday
dwinif Uto octtooi imr, oxetvt vacation aad axamlnattaa Beroty Dem, Harriet Rnrrt, Laelrraea SwHtor, Jaek
awlod. Oao hwaa published durto tit maatk of Aa- Frandaea, WUUametto Dmh, Barbara Eicke, Mareta
w euek roar ky Um Unlmnlty of Nebraska andar two Mlcketiea, Sam Jensen, Barbara Clark.
tIMiriristoa of tiw Committee of fttntient PvbllraMene. raivrmi stiii
rcmnd aa seeond elats matter at U Post OfO la BtsiJiBSS siui
(,team, Nebraska, under Art of Connwas, fttamk S, BmliMM Haaacer ...Staa Slpple
li,. and at special ra'o of . postate provided for la Ass't BbhIbcss Maaafers Chet rXnger, Doran Jaenhs,
fc.k liM. Aet of Congrew J Crt. 1011. aulWUed ' . mJcH
8 yt. It liil. High New Editor daaey carmaa
by Dickjibur - Student Forum
'Boy you should have seen her clobber that guy yesterday.
On The Light Side
So What?
By JERRY SHARPNACK
While rummaging through a
stack of old English themes Sat
urday, I ran across the follow
ing, which, since it is so fabu
lously insignificant, must be re
produced. It is about modern art,
a subject which has never ceased
to confuse, thrill, and amuse me.
Here it is in its two-year old
entirety
a
This classification of art, in re
gard to paintings, will be some
what different, at least, from a
classification by one who may
write with a knowledge of what
he is writing about. Art consists
of small paintings, medium-sized
paintings, and large paintings.
The paintings I shall refer to
(were) to be found at the Sixty
Second Annual Art Exhibition at
the University of Nebraska's
Morrill Hall.
Under the classification of
small paintings (no larger than
8 inches by 12 inches) is to be
found a wide variety of style,
color, and subject A typical ex
ample of this group is a painting
by Corrado di Marca-Relli en
titled Cavallo which is a mis
spelling of "horse" in Spanish.
I should think, however, a more
fitting title would be Detrasde
Cavallo meaning, translated
freely, "Horses Fanny." This
painting quite colorfully situates
an out-proportion horse in a pos-teriol-accentuating
pose.
The medium-sised group of
paintings consists, to a great ex
tent, of the infamous modern
art.
The other medium-sized pic
tures merely are of landscapes,
portraits, and the like, all of
which are found to be disgust
ingly naturalistic, having the
quickly fading and now question-
able quality of having a meaning.
Something, I am afraid, should
be said of the splashing of our
contemporary artists. The pur
pose of their works is, I imagine
to impress. I must admit, I was
impressed.
Paintings such as Emerson
Woelffert's "Hour Past Two" im
pressed me as being a reasonable
facsimile of what the mind of a
man might contrive immediately
prior to, or more likely, after
being smashed by the local mail
express. As far as I could dis
cern, the intention of the title
of this colorful framed blob was
to be as confusing to the viewer
as the painting itself, and thus
keep within the general theme of
the maze.
The large paintings are few,
but startingly noticeable. "Woman
of the Crucifixion" is a huge
eerie painting by Rico Lebrun.
It features a standing figure
which fills the canvas, thus elim
inating the bothersome need of
a background. The figure's facial
expression is that of horror,
which is the same expression as
that of the viewers of the paint
ing. I expect the purpose of the
large paintings to be that of cov
ering unseemly and embarras
sing smudgey walls.
oao
The exhibition (then) showing
ft the University ... is an ac
umulation of colorful canvasses
painted by many notorious mod
ern artists. I must not neglect
to mention, however, the numer
ous contorted welded and bronzed
figures, and the bent pottery
which are also a part of the ag
gregation. These works of art are gath
ered together to mystify, amuse,
confuse, horrify, and in a few
cases, by those educated to the
deep secrets of art, to convey
pleasure. t
But, then, I am a layman.
From Detroit U.
Inter-Collegiate Football
Pnni ilnrit fTtarlinmriO
I 0 ! W B VI 1 J Bmr WSiBI III a
fRonriiatrd from fke letterf-lo-ttie-dilor
strttoa of Hie "Yaretr Nr-i" of the I si
enlty of lerolf stadeat aewaair.) '
To the Editor: "What possi
ble connection is there between
inter-collegiate football and aca
demic endeavor?" This is a sub
stantially correct quotation, not
of a disaffected undergraduate
QhkklsitL.
. POME:
She used to sit upon his lap,
As happy as can be. i
But now it makes her seasick,
He has water on the knee!
A man ambled into a tennis
tournament and sat down on the
bench.
"Whose game' he asked.
A shy young thing answered,
"Not me."
A bunch of germs were hitting
it up
In the bronchial saloon;
Two bugs in the edge of the
larnyx
Were jazzing a rag-time tune.
Back in the teeth, in a solo
game,
Sat dangerous Ack-Kerchoo;
And watching his pulse was
his light of love
The lady that's known as Flu.
"Swear that you love me."
"All right, dammit, I love
you."
a a
,A divorce case was being held
In court. The aggrieved husband
told the judge:
"I came home and there was
my wife in the arms of a strange
man."
"And what did she say when
you surprised her?'.' Asked the
Judge.
"That's what hurt me the
most." , said the indignant hus
band. .
"Sfce turns and says, "Well,
look who's here. Old Blabber
mouth! Now the whole neighbor
hood will know!"
.U
Frosh: "I just brought home
a skunk."
Roomie: "Where ya gonna keep
him?"
Frosh: "I'm gonna tie him un
der the bed."
Roomie: "What about the
smell?"
Frosh: "He'll have to get used
to it like I did."
or of a discouraged faculty mem
ber, but of a second-generation
sports writer, John Lardner.
a
If there has been one con
sistent theme running through'
the masterful essays appearing
on the sports page of the
VARSITY NEWS lately, it is to
the effect that student support
fif the teams is not what it might
be.
It might be time to look into
the possibility that the elimina
tion of this phase of campus life
would not be attended with too
many ill results, and perhaps
seem even to be called for.
No doubt the question has bean
considered by all the faculty
members, a majority of whom, it
would appear, could suffer the
absence of athletics quite stoi
cally. e o a
The silent majority of the
students who are yet a ma
jority by staying away from
the games cast their votes against
athletics. If faculty and students
agree, why cannot appropriate
action be taken?
oao
What happens to a school when
it loses its national ranking or
when it abandons intercollegiate
competition altogether?.
We still, occasionally, hear
about Chicago (Seems they had
something to do with atomic de
velopment.), and Wayne, even at
this distance.
As long as the Notre Dame
spirit is impossible to obtain
on a streetcar campus, why con
tinue to tax students and fac
ulty in a futile pursuit for a poor
substitute?
University
Bulletin Board
WEDNESDAY
Pershing Rifles Pledge Smok
er, S p.m.. Military and Naval
Science Lounge.
AWS Mass Meeting 5 p.m. Un
ion, Room 316.
Ag Union Workers Mass Meet
ing, 5:30 p.m. Ag Union.
Joint YM-YW Public Affairs
Discussion, 3 p.m. Ellen Smith
Hall.
Mass Farmers Fair Rodeo
Meeting, 7:30 Ag Union.
THURSDAY
Faculty Recital,' 7:30 Union
Ballroom.
Phi Sigma Iota, 7:30 Union
Faculty Lounge.
BABW Interviews, Ellen Smith
Hall.
Where ke We?
By BERT BISHOP
To paraphrase T. S. Eliott, the
dominant attitude of the admin
istration has been: we decided
that if the giggling in the cor
ners could be stopped, some
fragments of the four-year pe
riod might be salvaged, and we
set ourselves subtly to that end.
And it is not their fault; for the
inherent silliness of the univer
sity student is appalling to any
one who knows that his job is
educating.
The two prime groups of out
standing foolishness are the "so
ciety crowd" and the so-called
"avant-garde." Each one holds
the other in utter contempt; each
one is guilty of a kind of mis
direction which is defeating to
the idea of, seriousness at a uni
versity. THE RATIONALIZATIONS of
these two groups are extensive
and belong to the group itself, not
necessarily to all individuals
within the group. Hence there
are the speech students, but no
typical speech student, the fra
ternity system, but no typical
fraternity man. With the avant
garde, individuality is the key
note, with every action designed
to advertise "I won't conform."
With the society crowd, "all
work and no play" justifies plaid
belts and "cool" maneuvers in
the back seat. The individualists
sit with crossed legs, sipping
from a martini and chanting
James Joyce to the background
of Alben Berg's twelve-tone
nonsense.
The social set finds a wicker
chair, a pitcher of beer, and a
background of "Ricochet" more
soothing and probably just as
enlightening In the long run.
A moon-faced, not yet mas-cara-ed
freshman coed is a
worker for YWCA, when she
probably has not yet discovered
whether she is a Christian or
not. Coming from high school
into the social whirl of rush par
ties, dates, pinnings, and Mor-
tar Board as a misty, ethereal
absolute, she soons picks up the
jargon of the system and its af
fectations before she can real-x
ize Just what an institution of
learning is and why it exists.
Within a semester she has
reached the ideal of performance,
having been schooled well by her
sorority in social-matters, and
cannot be confronted with a situ
ation for which there is no pat
answer.
On the other hand, for instance,
an intelligent, sensitive person
arrives and is filled with disgust
at the shallow determinism of ac
tivitles and fun. .
He seeks out those who are ob
viously different and vociferously
intellectual, and escapes into Bo
hemianism before he comes to
know that learning first of all re-
quires compromise with culture.
At the end of his first semester,
he has either come to terms with
self-disgust or has attained a new
high of "transcendental knowl
edge" in a vacuum, where there
is a divine (or rational) ringing
in the ears nd "beauty in the
abstract."
Meanwhile, the dowdy old men,
who must first of all break down
the superficialities of students in
their late adolescence before
they can begin to teach, sigh
thoughtfully and wonder how far
they can go in lowering stand
ards to make their job consci
entiously possible. It is no won
der that professors welcomed the
influx of veterans; after all, ideas
of "dear old Rho Rho Rho," "Da- -da-ism"
and a bloody foxhole are
incompatible, and the blood was
recent in the veteran's memory.
The Challenge
The Hidden Side
By DR. W. I. BRILL, M. D.
dir. Brill b the eklef of the VelYtnltr de
partment of awalal krteae. He was appelated
to Ihe potlltoa approximately a rear aae to
act la co-opeiaiioa wtia the Valverdty Sta
deat Heailk ceatar.l
College education, in itself, is
a gauarantee of exactly" nothing.
It is no guarantee against the
many unpleasant and bothersome
feelings that any human is likely
to experience. It is no guarantee
against disappointment, inferior
ity feelings, inadequacy feelings,
feelings of emptiness, depression,
futility, guilt, anxiety, tension,
restlessness, excessive worry,
loneliness, estrangement, lack of
sustained interest in anything or
anybody, or feelings of our own
rejectability to name only a
few. It is no guarantee that we
will live an enjoyable, emotion
ally rich life. College education
is occupied primarily with teach
ing us about things but very lit
tle about people and their very
human feelings and problems. To
get some satisfaction from life
we must feel some relationship
to people around us, or life will
be sterile and impoverished.
The problem, then, is our emo
tions emotional health, adjust
ment or whatever terminology
you nse makes little difference.
Emotions are with all people at
all timea and in all situations,
awake or asleep. They exert a
profound influence on our life.
Consider a few of these in
fluences. To some extent they
determine: 1. Our choice of work
or study; 2. Our ambitions; 3.
Our ability to concentrate n
studies; 4. Absurd mistakes on
examinations; 5. Our manner of
walking and talking; - 6. Our
choice of a marital partner; 7.
The way the reader reacts to and
understands this article. Emo
tions may actually contribute to
physical illness and they exert
an influence on everything we
do or want to do.
a a
The usual tendency is to avoid
or hide the emotions or the feel
ing side of the individual. There
are several reasons for this, but if
we recognize feelings in others
then we must recognize them in
ourselves. This may not be plea
sant to the individual, even
though his emotions" might be
quite normal. One of the few
times emotions are acknowledged
is when they cause mainfest and
recognizable illness. Emotions
then, are not something added
to the individual. They are there
and exert a profound influence
very often an unhappy one.
The problem, then, is first an
awareness of emotions; an
awareness that an Individual Is
not purely a surface phenomenon
but has within himself a very
complex feeling life which may
be pleasant or unpleasant. Fur
thermore, that the Individual is
not what yon see of him at the
moment, but a continum of many
life experiences. One reason we
are not aware of the problems In
others Is that we are largely
occupied with our own strug
gle. Next we must appreciate the
significant force of emotions and
make a concerted effort to help
and be interested in every in
dividual by a deeper understand
ing of him. When this comes
about there will be a different
rea c t i o n between individuals
with more sensitivity to each
others feelings..
a a
This will create an atmosphere
or a soil for emotional growth.
Such emotional growth, we
would hope, would better en
able the student to enjoy and
become more interested in the
educational process. It might in
crease receptivity to the subject
matter taught, and lessen the
aspect of drudgery involved. Per
haps the student could then leave
college having gotten something
out of it and achieved a matur
ity in his relationships that will m
help him substantially for the
remainder of his life. -
This of course, is an Ideal, bat
to be healthy one needs to be
emotionally as well as physically
and mentally healthy. Too often
we hear the statement that the
Physical sciences and technology
have outstripped the understand
ing of the individual to that we
are threatened with atomic de
struction. The methods of bringing about
the goals set out here are some
what more difficult and require
time for achievement A Mental
Hygiene Program, integrated
with the Student Health Service
because of the close relationship
of physical and emotional health,
is in operation. Our program is
many sided, ranging from atten
tion and help to the individual to
research in basic emotional prob
lems. oao
We are particularly aware of
the special difficulties that may
bother the college student. Be
cause of age, relationship to home
and studies, he is in a very sped -clal
situation. College time is a
crucial period in which to con
sider the emotional well being of .
the Individual.
Our goals represent an ideal.
Inch by inch we hope to come
closer to them.
Use
Nebraskan
Want Ads
for
BEST RESULTS
Phone Ex. 4227
NORCROSS
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i a 1 1 aaai nan (amaiaajei m WWaiBtW' 'a'TgPWPOwi-- ,rr w