Pcge 2 Friday, October 21, 1955 THE NEBRASKAN Ncbraskan Editorials: UTILE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick libler 1 - : 1 ! -,1 i 1 llw Time For Reconsideration The Faculty Senate will be once again faced with the controversial one week exam resolu tion at its Nov. 8 meeting. A majority report of the calendar committee, which contains provisions for the one week exam period, will be submitted to the Senate. Also, a minority report drawn up by the two student members on the calendar committee will be filed with the Senate. This report will give reasons for student opposition to the one week proposal and also reasons for main taining the present two week period. Thus, the issue will be placed squarely before the members of the faculty assembly for either final support or repeal or possible compromise and change. But the exam proposal cannot be disregarded, evaded, prolonged or drawn out any further. If the majority report is accepted en toto, the 195&-57 calendar will provide definitely and fin ally for one week of examinations. " Even though the Senate 'is confronted with the proposal again, however, they need not reconsider it fully. The two reports can be submitted, and an immediate vote can be taken to accept the majority report without sufficient discussion -or debate. The Nebraskan hopes this will not happen and tirges, as we have in the past, this year and last, that full reconsideration be given to the proposal. We advocated the present system of two week examination periods, but more im portant, much more important, we have advo cated reconsideration editorially on the basis of these three points: 1. The exam resolution was handled poorly in the Faculty Senate last spring. 2. Student opinion was neither sought nor cc sidered. S. No justification for nor explanation of the exam proposal was made to the student body. We also urge reconsideration in the light of the only available Jf acts, the 1950 Faculty Senate Poll. (However the Council is conducting a sim ilar poll which wall be ready soon.) These facts, being five years old, can be no more than an indication. Yet three professors of the original '50 committee, T. J. Thompson, W. F. Weiland and J. L. Sellers, told a Nebrask an reporter Thursday that the findings in 1950 were still a valid reflection of faculty and stu dent opinion today The chart made four important observations: 1. MOST FACULTY MEMBERS AND STU DENTS IN 1950 FAVORED LONGER EXAM INATION PERIODS. 2. THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS USED THE TWO DAY READING PERIOD. S. A MAJORITY OF THE STUDENTS DO NOT LEAVE TOWN DURING EXAMS. 4. MOST FACULTY MEMBERS AND STU DENTS FAVORED A MAXIMUM OF TWO EXAMS A DAY. In the light of all these above points the Nebraskan has been and still is first of all con cerned with full reconsideration of the exam resolution by the Faculty Senate. Next, and only next, we support the present two week system of examinations. We feel the basic issue, which shall be elaborated in a series of editorials next week, is the disposition of the extra week which would be chopped from the normal period. The Nebraskan feels that whatever be the disposition of the one week whether it be vaca tion time, classtime, or laboratory time the cut will not in any way justify the lack of time students will have to synthesize theif course material, the haste the professors will have to undergo in grading' the exams and the lessening of standards which will result in some of the colleges, particularly the Arts and Science Col lege, and ultimately the University of Nebraska. B. B. ' Mice Goto', Kids Midst all this fuss about getting off for Little Dixie, The Rag has afew kind words for all who are Council members by trade. Kiddies, we has been telling and telling y'all to speak up. At times we been pretty nasty, shreikin' about silent delegations and printing charts. A local cartoon compared you subtle-like to a bunch of scare crows. We was wondering in there if you could talk. Now you have spoke out and lo and behold, y'all found out you could think and talk at the same time. What you had to say was pertinent an' pointed. Wuffo weren't you talking before? Last Wed nesday's meeting was a lively affair, fun for contestants and spectators alike. v Accurate, reliable talliers were amongst you taking it all down. There isn't a chart this week because just one issue was hashed over but here's what all we found out: Two-thirds of the council membership spoke at least once during the meeting. This is a hundred per cent increase over the week before, and a bigger increase of participants over un official observation last year. Contributions were pretty well distributed. More important, comments were made for more than just to accumulate marks on the little yellow sheets. Though no chart appears this week, there will be one of them next week and each succeed ing week for quite a spell. We congratulates you, Council members. So we wishes you a real roaring migration down to Little Dixie. LET'S GO SOUTH! M. S. m mm m Mm There is a little man wandering around some where who is a good friend of mine, just as he is a good friend of many fortunate souls. He isn't very "big nor especially, strong.. He wouldn't be a good foot ball player, nor could he coach a professional collegiate team. He probably couldn't even edit a paper such as this, and if he could, he would surely find much to change. This though widely, little man, al- he has traveled has never been at the University, or if he has, his trip was in cognito. He understands a great deal more than most of us do and yet he seems so simple. In his journeys ,, which have . taken him from his own little planet to the earth, via many other planets, he has seen and heard and learned a lifetime's worth of wisdom and understanding. This man, as you must know by now, is the Little Prmce. Now, as far as The Nebraskan knows, he isn't planning to visit the campus. One wonders, though, if he is planning to go on the informal migration to Columbia or whether he prefers Ames..More than that, one wonders what he would think of this terrible Migration Mess in which we have been entangled. The Little Prince, to the best of my knowl edge, has a favorite phrase he would use, symbolizing the entire fif f 9ir "Balderdash," he would say, in a voice not too loud and not too soft. He would look at the AWS Board and sympa thize with tbe well meaning and hard-working ladies. But he would think how sad it is that they could not have honestly tried to judge the real wishes of their coed constituents, that they tied themselves needlessly to a set of rules and that they were just a bit naive in think ing there was such a great difference between the two destinations. Then he would look at the band and begin to think like this, assuming he would be thinking for the band. "Maybe we really weren't invited. Maybe the band director at Mis souri needs a break, so we'll stay away and help him keep his job. Maybe it would be nice to visit Iowa State because they usually visit us." But then he would undoubt ably add: "G r o w n u p s never really understand any thing. What a pity it is to be a grownup, even a college-grownup." Then the Little Prince would look at the whole migration mess, in one grand picture. He could only utter one thought. "These must be mat ters of consequence." And then he would laugh, a great big laugh, all by himself. He would think that with all the ability among the stu dents and faculty, with all the slide-rule knowl edge, with all the quot ing of apt phrases signi fying nothing, there must be a simpler and better way of solving this mess. He would suggest that right away somebody, and 'it could be the Council, get to work so that next year and in the years to follow, this will not happen again. You'll notice that the Little Prince refused to ask questions. He thought things to him self. If he were here now he would think: "I must hurry down to Columbia right now. My friends are there and they will be having a good time. I don't have much time on this planet, so I'd better join them." he SMebraskan riFTY-ITVE TEAKS OLD ' Member: Associated Collegiate Press Intercollegiate Press Representative: National Advertising Service, Incorporated rul&fhed at: Room .SO, Student Union 14td & R , University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska ftm KHrailrn to twiMlfd Toayt Wroiieaoay and Ftt.say n tn oehnol year, exmvt anrtna Taoarlmia pat Mm jwTtotfn, find one Ih ta poblJohod during Aojnmt, fcv nta o the tlnWrlty of Ntirka mi1r V awtv.r n.tinn of the lmi!tte en ".ttidwtt Affairs w Mr'riilon of atmtant ontnHm. Puiiilrafinna nnrter ttt of ttie ftnheommtttee on fttmtont fonlta- ttona wy lie free from aoitorlal nnnnlp en the wMt nt the ftwhremmlrtee, or on the oart of any member mf H ftantiljy of the tintTemlty. or on the par of "7 fiermW! ot4- the Nnlvewlty. The memhern of the TNennwken ataff mr- pnllv rCMmntlhle r what they r, or du er tauiw to be printed. Fehrutry S, Dtek Penman . .Bmee BnitKmnn KntwreA m aaooaa ctaaa matter at the poet hrrtee tm Lincoln, Nebraska,, under the aet of Auaatt , 1912. EDITORIAL STAFF F.iMtor Kdttorlal Pore Editor Managing Editor ......................... .Ham Jensen News Editor Fred Italy Hnort f'rtltor Bob ('nnk Copy Editors Judy Bast, Bans JeUrarhuis, Mary SheUedy, Uieigraas Clwltawr Ar Editor Jim feather Mfht Mews Editor lAtttfraco S witter Reporters. .Barbara Rharne, Beverly Heaps, Artene Rrheh, Shnrl lewla, Hunt Alexander, Oarnlyn Butler, fieorire Moyer, Wes Plttaeh, BUI Olson, Gary Prensel, Bob Ireland, BUI Pitta, Hen Peterson, Mirk Keutllnirer, Walt Swltser, Pat Drake. Edttorial fieeretery Maurlno Newhowse BUSINESS STAFF "EYESTRAIN -HE WROTE HIS IBN01K SO SMALt 7 tuuiu HAKPIY REAP EM.' Monthly Series University Physicist Reviews Huxley Book Exam Argument Forgets Values Uo OOdltor'a note: Thk ts the first til monthly series of book reviews conducted under the auspices of The Vebrakan and the Religious Kmplunts Meek Committee. The first reviewer Is Herbert Jehle, profes ses of physics, who disomies Aldous Hwc iey'l "Perennial Philosophy.") Rnslnem Manaaer s't Business Manager CLrofllatlon Manager ........ . . . Oeorsre Mtulaen . .BUI Bed well. Her Dura t:rue. Connie Hurst, IMIr f-tt leu Book By HERBERT JEHLE Aldous H'lxley needs no Intro duction. Who has not got a kick out of reading me of his novels, essays, short stories or poems. Behind this brilliant writer there is a deep religious thinker not so well known now but really transcending our secular civiliza tion. Huxley is one of our contemp oraries who is great enough to live in the face of death, one who needs no distractions to shield him from the ultimate questions of life, a man who is aware of the pur pose of our existence. Instead of writing more about him, let me better quote passages from his "Perennial Philosophy" to give an idea of the book. "The word '"Perennial Philoso phy" was coined by Leibniz (the philosopher and mathematician), but the thing the metaphysic that rcognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the psy chology that finds in the soul something similar to, or even identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places man's final nd in the knowledge of the imman ent and transcendent Ground of all being the thing is imme morial and universal. Rudiments of the Perennial Philosophy may be found among the traditionary lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions." This book of Huxley's is a mon umental work, an anthology of the Perennial Philosophy. "I have brought together a number of sec tions from these writings, chosen mainly for their significance but also for their intrinsic beauty and memorableness." "For example, the -being of a child is transformed by growth and education into that of a man; among the results of this trans formation is a revolutionary change in the way of knowing and the amount and the .character of the things known. "As the individual grows up, his knowledge becomes more concep tual and systematic in form, and its factual, utilifarian content is enormously increased. But these gains are offset by a certain de terioration in the quality of im mediate apprehension, a blunting and a loss of intuitive power . .. .. "Nor are the changes in the knower's physiological or Intellec tual being the only ones to affect his knowledge, what we know de pends also on what, as moral be ings, we choose to make ourselves. " 'Practice', in the words of Wil liam James, 'may change our theoretical horizon, and this in a twofold way: It may lead into new worlds and secure new powers. Knowledge we could never attain, remaining what we are, may be attainable in consequences of high er powers and a higher life, which we may morally achieve.' 'To put the matter more suc cinctly, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God'. And the same idea has been expressed by the Sufi poet, Jalal-uddin Pinnings 4 Fresh Tobaccos Cigars for Lincoln's Most Complete Lighter Line 'Lighter Repair Pipe Racks SMOKE SHOP 121 No. 12th Rumi, "The astrolabe of the mys teries of God is love'." The book quotes St. Bernard: 'God who, in his simple substance, is all everywhere equally, never theless, in efficacy, is in rational creatures in another way than in the bad. He is in irrational creatures in such a way as not to be comprehended by them; by all rational ones, how ever, he can be comprehended through knowledge; but only by the good is he to be comprehend ed also through love.' And William Law: "Byjove I do not mean any natural tenderness, which is more or less in people according to their constitution; but I mean a larger principle of the soul, founded in reason and piety, which makes us tender, kind and gentle to all our fellow crea tures as creatures of God, and for his sake.' The quotations in the hook are interspersed with comments both on philosophical and on a down to earth plane so characteristic of Aldous Huxky, "So long as the organized lovelessness of war and preparation for war remains, there can be no mitigation, on any large, nationwide or world wide scale, of the organized love lessness of our economic and po litical relationships. "War and preparation for war are standing temptations to make the present bad, God-eclipsing ar rangements of social progressive ly worse as technology becomes progressively more efficient." All the editorials, discussion and argument on the one-week versus two-week exams question leaves this writer wondering whether students and faculty members have a sense of values or not So t&T, nearly all that has been said about the Facnlty Senate ac tion is that the action was hasty, ill-considered and done without regard to students' wishes. However true these charges may be, they are greatly overshadowed by the consideration of what the proposed change would do to the standards of the University. Yet, to read the sentiments of the campus in the last few weeks, an outsider would think that the only issue was who pulled a quickie on whom in the Faculty Senate last spring. The real issue is what effect would a one-week e x a m period have on the value (of finals and ultimately on the whole grading system. As I understand the situation, the one-week period was advocated by many faculty members in Agri culture, Engineering and Teachers College. Engineering instructors claimed their students needed mora class time while the other two colleges felt their students saw too many movies and went home too much during finals, I am told. On the other hand, the move was actively opposed by the faculties of the College of Arts and Sci ences. These people felt that the value of the final examination would be impaired by forcing the instructor to grade his tests in one week. They aiso pointed out that many departments would, from necessity, resort to objective tests of the "'multiple guess" and true-and-false type. Another objection was that the shortened testing period would re duce the length of the exams to two hours each. In this time it is not possible to cover an entire semes ter's work so the value of the final exam would have to be reduced. Many Arts College instructors saw the proposal as a move by the followers of '"progressive educa tion" to fveaken the position of the liberal arts courses by forcing the use of shoitnswer tests. The arguments of Arts College appear stronger than those of its opponents. It would seem disas trous to find English, history, po 1 i t i c a 1 science and philosophy courses being tested by an IBM machine. The objective test may have a place in courses in which the stud ent is taught merely to parrot the The Silent Majority instructor and text But it has na value in a course requiring inde pendent thought and judgment. If we allow the school to get the name of being one which makes its tests shorter and makes its finals count less just to be easier on its students, the University will not hold the position of respect it now enjoys. As a solution to the problem fac ing Agriculture and Teachers Col leges, I recommend that they put more material into their courses. Then, if they will give a compre hensive final over this material, their students' time will be occu pied with study and review. In this situation two weeks wfll not be too long for final exams. an As for Engine College, I suggest that if class time is so short the college should consider a five-year curriculum in order to gain the needed time. One week could be gained in the second semester of each year by abolishing the so-called "E-Week." It seems that when engineers ara grabbed by industry as fast as they can be turned out there is little need for a week devoted to sell ing engineering to the public NORTH AMERICAN AVIATIO'i, IKS. has many permanent positions available In Contract Administration, Production Scheduling, Purchasing, Accounting, Digital Computing and Programming for students majoring In Accounting, Business Ad ministration, Economics, StatTstics, Mathematics or Physics. Contact your Student Placement Office for detail. 210 Social Science. Phone 2-7631, Ext. 4159. A representative from North American Aviation v?H be on campus for interviews on October 25, 9:00 a-m. to 5:00 p.m. Off to the Halls of Ivy Off for a day of classes are Gene Christensen and Sandra Saylor . . just as you expected , . . clad touch of Ivy, iiijjj til::: :::::: m ;::!: tijijj iiiil! iiiiil '" A ' 'ft ,J I ""Chris" is dressed right for those brisk mornings -with his all -wool tweed Wagon Coat in finger-tip length ($25). His slacks are the ever popular 4lkhakieEn with plain front and strapped hack. Strolling along with Chris is Sandy Saylor, wearing the coed's version of the touch of Ivy. This three quarter length cotton poplin coat comes in pink, Hue and khaki shades, and is an exact copy of our au thentic Swiss Chalet jacket ,($19.95). Her skirt is an all wool tweed with & stylish kick pleat in frpai. Stroll in style to the H&Ha of Ivy. ill HI :!::: !!!!:: i"!!! iilii 111! iiiil! IS II II 111! ::: lis m m II 111 ill ;!::: ... ft ? . . i i ' hum;, i 'i aam i i -