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Poge 2
THE NEBRASKAN
Tuesday, April 6, 1954
EDITORIAL PAGE
'JoJ Ends ? Fbemselues
Today marks the twenty-sixth annual ob
servance of Honors Day at the University.
The program this year will include the usual
speeches and ceremony that attend the an
nouncement of those students who have
reached the heights scholastically at an in
stitution aimed toward helping each student
do just that
' la addition to the speeches honoring those
Who have shown outstanding ability to make
kith marks, there will be remarks by Univer
sity students after or during the ceremonies
as they consume their morning cups of coffee.
Thongh not as carefully phrased or flowery,
these remarks carry fully as great import as
those made at the speaker's podium.
The comments, if they run true to form,
will follow one of two channels: 1. the, "Gee
I wish I would have studied harder," variety
r 2. the, "Ah, grades who cares about
grades? It's what you know that's impor
tant," For the speaker in the first dase, The Ne
braskan can offer little more than sympathy.
The complaint is a common one, but will
never be changed on other than the individ
ual level by the person making the remark.
Before Easter
The University this year will have one
Easter observance on a large scale the Uni
versity Singers concert Thursday evening.
Special Easter effects and songs should
combine to produce an inspiring end beauti
ful program an item often lacking in the
student scene. Although it should not be a
chock, it often is one to discover that stu
dents ani their teachers are capable of pro
ducing a work of beauty. The yearly Mes
siah concert is an example of that beauty of
Which talented students are capable.
The Nebraskan urges attendance at Thurs
day's concert. It would be a fitting way in
which to begin Easter vacation. S.H.
Common Problem
Strange as it may seem, Russia has many
f the same internal problems that have been
perplexing Americans for years. While po
litical differences may be great, human na
ture and human problems prove to be com
mon the world over.
The common problem in this Instance is
Juvenile delinquency. It seems that Russia's
Young Communist League disclosed Friday
that the Soviet Union, too, is hating its diffi
culties with juvenile delinquency.
Radio Moscow broadcast a critical resolu
tion approved by the twelfth Congress of the
Komsomol, The resolution was aimed mainly
at those responsible for the work of the Pio
neers, a Communist organization of school
children too young to join the Komsomols.
The resolution declared, "Some of the
Pioneers have behaved badly at school, at
home and in the streets. They are rude to
their parents, teachers and their elders. The
Komsomol and the Pioneer organization must
carry on a determined struggle against lack
f discipline, rudeness and improvidence in
their attitude toward Socialist property."
The reference to the Soviet property is
the Communist way of saying school children
are breaking, smashing up and not looking
iter state property.
Strangely enough, the Komsomol resolu
tion also called for the elimination of, "harm
ful influences and religious prejudices,"
among Soviet school children.
The generally unknown life inside Russia
becomes even more mysterious. It could be
true that Russian people are trying to express
a desire for relief from another common
problem war and strife. The particular de
sire shown through their apparent dissatis
faction with these problems seems to indicate
that not everything runs with the machine
smoothness and efficiency proclaimed by the
Red propaganda machine- J.C.
The second statement, however, is a glit
tering bit of half truth, often used to defend
a poor scholastic record.
Fortunately, it is also used by students
who realize that grades are not as important
as some of their friends believe. Grades, as
mfiny University faculty and administration
members will admit, are not the sole end of
the four or more years each student invests
toward a degree. What the person "knows"
is the important dividend of the investment
of time and energy. But this argument,
when used to defend a poor scholastic record
or to deride the excellence of another indi
vidual's achievement is, at best, stupid.
More than a few would argue that grades
are over-emphasized at this university. Per
haps the stand is a valid one, but the fact re
mains, that grades are important.
The view that grades are not significant
in themselves can swing too far to the other
extreme. Complete disregard for marks can
result in failure to graduate, disqualification
for campus activities, honoraries, etc, or
pressure from home, the source of financial
support for a great majority of students.
To argue that grades are all-important or
non-important is not valid.. They have sig
nificance for but one reason. They are the
outward measurement of what the student
has learned (or failed to learn) in any course
in the opinion of the person responsible for
presenting the course material. They are
nothing more. A high grade is not any in
surance the student has learned more than
the individual with a low mark and both re
ceive the same number of hours toward re
ceiving a degree, provided the grade is not
too low.
Thus, trades are significant and should
be treated so by the conscientious student,
To be a really successful student, it is not
enough to have the "inner satisfaction" that
"I understand what it's all about" and yet
receive a low mark in the course.
An axiom that students might do well to
observe is simple. Grades are important, not
in themselves but as measuring devices or
estimations of the student's ability to learn,
but are not ends in themselves.
The student intelligent enough to realise
that grades are not all-important should also
b intelligent enough to note that they are
important T.W. f
Hope Reaffirmed
Last week the press of the United States
blazed forth with headlines capable of bring
ing shivers of fear to the stoutest of men.
Nuclear weapons, already considered obso
lete, literally devoured an island in the mid
Pacific French fighters, led by a colonel,
valiantly defended what they could, as rebel
Vietminh hordes launched attack upon at
tack. Yet, there was one item in the news that
should bring momentary relief and renew
hope for man's future.
A scientist, working in Pittsburgh, an
nounced there is now a vaccine that might
be able to cure the scourge of childhood
polio.
The vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas E.
Salk, will be ready to be given to one million
children in the near future. Monday, Dr.
Jonas resubstantiated the safety of the new
immunizer, after it had been momentarily
shaken by a scare news broadcast, and said
that each batch of the drug will be triple
checked. Dr. Salk has innoculated his own
children, among the 5,000 given vaccine pre
pared in the laboratory. Commercial vaccine
will be perfectly safe. Dr. Salk assured the
public.
This announcement, peaceful and helpful
to all of mankind, seemed to regenerate lost
hope after it was severely shaken by darker
news. Science once again demonstrated that
it could produce just as effectively for man's
benefit as it does for man's annihilation.
Yet, it is a pity that each new benefit is
counter-balanced by an equally potent lia
bility. D.F.
by
his
he
Behind The Wheel
Attention pedestrians: There are good
tlrivers and bad drivers and then there are
these two, who defy classification.
A motorist in Tulsa, O, was stopped
policeman to complement him on
cautious driving. As an afterthoutrfet
asked to check the fellow's driving license
wraea out he had been driving seven
years without one.
la Philadelphia a youth was picked up for
xactly the opposite reason. He had been zig
zagging his car recklessly up a street. When
confronted by the police, he explained that
he was only trying to scare a case of hiccups
ut f his girL Some solution!
Margin Notes
Careless, Clumsy, or Cross?
Was It temper or just bad manners?
A Norfolk man was given a 10-day jail
term on charges of disturbing the peace. He
threw a cup f coffee on a waitress in a
local cafe.
How extravagant with coffee at these
prices!
Thank Heavens1.
Universe students have many com
plaints, but one which has Brown University
buzzing hasn't cropped up yet Half a dozen
pocket books and magazines were banned
from sale in the student union there recently.
Removal was prompted by the fact that a
dean read one and called it "disgusting."
'Can't Happen Here'
Communist fanatics in East Berlin have
a new purge. This one is directed
at East Berlin high schools, and thus far
nineteen teachers and eight students have
been named.
The party newspaper Neues Deutschland
complained that even card-carrying teach
ers had not realized yet that the Commu
nist "class fight" applies to schools as well
as every" other field of public life.
It looks as if "academic freedom" is a
touchy subject in Germany as well as
America. Wonder who's copying who?
FIFTY-THIRD YEAS
Member: Associated Collegiate Press
Advertiser representative: National Advertising Service, Itte.
421 hU&ion Ave, New Yerfc 17, New Turk
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books 5t I S 70
T35
by Dick E.'bler The Student Forum
Tftt ui miwh nnnf W'KH i 1 VaI ca . Ala
, , Ah-ha-pep-ah ...
much
Slide Rule
Social, Spiritual Changes
Equal Technology Gains
By JOHN MARKS
It appears to me that many
essays, and books which have
appeared in decades past and
those that appear today are
critical of man's technological
advance. There are those who
would claim that we have met
a series of technological and
economic triumphs in a society
barren of spiritual and social
advance.
In other words, our atomic
age of today has been depicted
as an age of the robot, the push
button life. Engineers are often
associated with the problem of
technical without sociological
advance, or at least are con
sidered to be among the lead
ing contributors to such a trend.
All of us are aware of the pres
ent university picture which
might include the engineer with
clouded wits who sits and pushes
pens and pencils.
Many authors would call at
tention to the present muddle in
human affairs called Commu
nism vs. Capitalism as evidence
ef our inability to deal with our
fellow men. At the same time,
we are certainly aware of the
tremendous technological ad
vance that has taken place in
the past 50 years, and partic
ularly the last 10 years. Auto
matic devices have come to the
fore and are aldinp us in every
area of life from that ef house
keeping to that of scientific re
sarch. Thus, since we are all par
ticipants in the use of scientif
ically designed gadgets of to
day, we can no longer hold but
a few scientists, technicians, and
engineers accountable for our
use of their developments. All
of us are living in this modern
age, and we must explain to
ourselves the supposedly empty
technological advances in the
past 50 years. We must prove
or disproved achievement in the
realm of the mind and the spirit.
Hence, we are faced with a
quandary: is the progress of
American know-how properly
tempered with spiritual and
moral understanding? Has the
field of human brotherhood re
ceived proper development?
Frederick L. Allen has treated
this paradox with a good deal of
sensible deliberation in his book,
"The Big Change." Allen makes
use of a host of statistics to il
lustrate what he thinks to be
progress in the first half of vhe
20th century. The fact that,
"The Cardinal." "The Robe,"
"Peace of Mind," and "The
Seven Story Mountain", have
been best sellers is cited as be
ing indicative of spiritual curi
osity, not decay.
a a
The average American's inter
est in his neighbor is on an up
ward trend; his interest in city,
state, and national economy is
treated as a tendency towards
real social advance. An increase
from a handful of symphony or
chestras in 1900 to 659 sym
phonic groups in 1951 is an ?s
tonishing evidence of interest in
music. The yearly sale of art
supplies is - reported to have
jumped from four million dol
lars in 1939 to 40 million in
1949.
These facts substantiate the
"big change" of which Allen
speaks. The significance of this
change certainly does not point
towards a conglomeration of
barren economic and technologi
cal triumphs.
On the contrary, I think we
have developed and repaired our
government and our social atti
tude to fit the age. Governmen
tal patchwork in labor laws;
social patchwork is evident in
the large number of organiza
tions devoted to good works in
the broadest sense. Time spent
in Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Amer
ican Legion, Rotary, World Fed
eralists, and League of Women
Voters is incalculable.
Perhaps mere significant than
ever is the fact that this chanre
has not been effected by a mall
number of socially trained in
dividuals. This Is the work ef
large communities ef people, in
which the individual cannot
seek to advance purely as an
Individual, but rather as a re
sponsible member ef society.
Copped Copy
Student Senate Meeting
Invaded By Masked Gunmen
By BRUCE BRUGMAXN
Two masked Oklahoma A&M
gunmen, students complete with
firearms, created pandemonium
in the school's student senate by
loudly proclaiming, "Free Clod
felter" and firing blank car
tridges into the rabble. The
stunt was taged following the
conviction of Ron Clodfelter,
student senator, for election
irregularities.
The only casualty of the
prank, patterened after the re
cent shooting in Washington,
D.C., was a student senator who
bumped his head while ducking
under a desk.
Romance often has strange be
ginnings and K-State eems 9
be no exception. A starry-eyed
freshman student, describing his
blind date for the eventnr in
glowing terms, was asked where
he met her. He explained that
he was In one of bis classes and
had caught his eye ths first day.
"She was sitting there with her
shoes off," he added, "and I
decided that there was a girl
with individuality
A student at the University of
Georgia, habitually tardy to his
eight o'clock class, entered the
class about five minutes after
the bell had shounded and mur
mured sheepishly, "Started a
little early this morning, didn't
you?"
"No, we started on time," an
swered the prof. "Why didn't
la Halifax, Michigan, coeds at
Maritime university suggested
following the chiorphyll tooth
paste Idea with green chloro
phyll lipstick but the male
population voted it down.
The Syracuse university news
paper has become peeved at the
use of initials to replace proper
nouns. They give the example
set by the House of Representa
tives: the SCCSIAMRNASNPW
PPFPP. This hocus pocus stands
for: Select Committee to Con
duct a Study and Investigation
of All Matter Relating to the
Need for Adequate Supplies' of
Newsprint, Printing and Wrap
ping Paper, Paper Products, Pa
per Pulp and Pulpwood.
"OppsrlnrJibs fcr Sdsncs Oradnfss
interested in .careers with
Geophysical Service Inc.
Which is a leader in exploration for oil and gas
throughout the world. Mr. W. T. Hudson will be
on your campus on Wednesday, April 7, to inter
view prospective spring or fall graduates and will
be patricularly interested in men majoring In En
gineering, Physics, Math, or Geology.'"
A Second Glance
By PAUL LAASE
America the land of opportun
ity. This is the international prop
aganda slogan we use to illustrate
the advantages of the democratic
way of life. To enslaved peoples
throughout the world its sounds
appealing. But to some groups
here in America this slogan is
outright hypocrisy.
a
Unfortunately, not all groups
find equality of opportunity here
in the United States. Our min
ority groups, particularily the
American Negro, know first-hand
the unreality of "equality of op
portunity." Discrimination is pre
velant throughout the nation in
political, social and economic
fields. Perhaps it is in the eco
nomic aspect that discrimination
hurts our minority groups the
most in the pocketbook.
Discrimination in employment
Is the most common form f in
equality in the economic field. In
the hands f its practitioners it is
a potent weapon which can be
wielded against minority groups.
Not nly the Negw, but the Mexican-American,
the Puerto Rican,
the Japanese-American and the
Jew, as well as others, suffer
from discrimination in employ
ment. In some cases discrimination in
employment is evidenced by an
outright refusal to hire members
of minority groups, in spite of
the fact that they meet all the re
quirements for the job. In other
instances well-qualified minority
group members are hired but re
legated to inferior jobs. Finally,
we find cases where members of
minority groups are given "de
sirable" jobs, but paid at a lower
rate than non-minority employees.
The 1950 census would reveal
some interesting statistics. The
American Negro family, for ex
ample, has, on the average, an
income only half as large as the
white American family. Where the
educational level was equal, the
Negro family's income was only
about 65 per cent of that of a
similar white family. While the
majority of our Negro population
lives in the south, northern Negro
families find their income 30 per
cent to 40 per cent below that of
comparable white families. Even
1 Ik. C111 th there is a rfis-
tinct income differential between
comparable white and Negro fam
ilies. If there is any one factor which
is in large measure responsible
for this tremendous difference in
income levels, the blame may
be laid at the poor education af
forded our minority groups. Pri
mary and secondary education is
often on a segregated basis, with
minority groups receiving inferior
instruction in inferior facilities.
A higher education, at a college
or university level, is often be
yond the means of minority group
members.
This is a vicious circle lack of
education, poor jobs, no money
with which to secure a better ed
ucationand it must be broken.
There is good reason to believe
that by raising the income level
of our minority groups, they will
be able to raise their own educa
tional standards. This is as good
a place as any to begin.
Behind this discrimination, of
course, lies something known as
prejudice. From our prejudices
stem the actions that cause dis
crimination. What then, can be
done about prejudices? Only a
long educational process can at
tack prejudices, but there are
means of curbing the overt ac
tions resulting from these pre.
judices. It is possible, by law, to
regulate discriminatory actions
without removing prejudice. As
Roscoe Pound, ex-Nebraskan and
former Dean of the Harvard Law
School observed, "Law makes
habits instead of waiting for them
to grow."
We could alleviate much dis
crimination ia employment
through the enactment ef a fed
eral Fair Employment Practices
Law, modeled after the successful
New York state law. This would
establish a regulatory commission
to deal with the problem of dis
crimination tat employment, work
ing mainly through education, but
with punitive powers to speed the
slow process f social reform
when and where it was necessary.
Then and nly then will America
truly be the land of opportunity
equal opportunity fr all, regard
less of race, eelor r creed.
Lelterip
Reader Raps Nebraskan Columnist;
Pepper Challenges Friedman To Debate
Dear Editor,
Friday' March ISth a certain
REPORTER started his column,
Ho hum. I'm tired." Well some
of the students are getting pretty
tired, too, of DEL HARDING
and his column. When he said
he could not think of anything
to write then he should have
stopped there because what he
wrote was not worth writing.
a
Talkjng of Godfrey getting
"too big for his britches," so is
Harding when he makes such
stupid remarks as he made in
that article. If Elgin girls are
dumb, Mr. Harding, apparently
you have met a choice few or
did you give them all an IQ
test. Just remember, Del,
"It is a far wiser man who
Judges himself than one who
Judges others.
G. Robert Eno
Debate
Dear Editor:
Marvin Friendman's latest
Lettertip is complete hogwash.
This is easily seen. For example,
he says that he doesn't feel that
this column is the place for
"personal religious polemics,"
and yet he has used it twice for
exactly that purpose. He is
worried about insufficient time
and space; but he took the time
and space to write a letter that
was, by actual measurment,
three times as long as either of
mine. His seemingly open
minded proposal that we both
join a study group is just a plug
for the study group sponsored
by the Student Religious Coun
cil, of which Marvin Friedman
is now the president.
The plain fact ef the matter
Is that Marvin Friedman is not
interested ia knowledge at alL
This is understandable, since
religion breeds upon ignorance.
However, I shall be charitable
enough to assume that Mr.
Friedman at least thinks his
position is reasonable. There
fore, I challenge him to debate
the topic at the Student Union
before an audience of any in
terested students or faculty.
Though sponsorship is un
necesary, there are many or
ganizations interested in spon
soring such a debate. Or, if the
Student Religious Council hat
the courage of its convictions, it
should be happy to be the
sponsor.
F. Jay Pepper
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