Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1957)
Wednesday, March 20, 1957 Page 2 The Daily" Nebraskan Daily Nebraskan Editorials: HlIJaCXXS ARE VERY CLOUDS ARE VERY PECULIAR, LINUS...SQUETIMES THEY SEEM THOSE AREN'T CLOUDS PECULIAR, LINUS- JHAT'S &Y-U)RIT!N6! Critical Decision SCWTIAE5 THEY TO FORM ACTUAL UJtPb. 6EMTOFCV T ACTUAL WORDS., The prestige of the fraternity system at the University will come to a vote in the Inter fraternity Council meeting tonight. In this meeting the IFC will vote on a pro- . posal to lower the grade average, requirement for initiation from 5.0 to 4.5. The average was raised from 4.5 to 5.0 in the spring of 1953 "as a result of suggestions submitted by the Alumni Council of the Interfraternity Council," accord ing to the May 13, 1953, Daily Nebraskan. The main reason for this raise in average re quirements was that the all-fraternity average was falling near or below the all-men's average and the fraternity system felt something should be done to increase the quality of fraternity scholarship. In raising the average fraternities thought they could weed out some of the chronically low-average students. ' But now, with the all-fraternity average for the first semester barely above the all men's average, the IFC is considering reversing their decision of four years ago, and reverting back to the 4.5 requirement. One of the fundations of the fraternity sys tem and assumedly of most fraternities is the promotion of high scholastic standards. Individ ual houses try to outdo one another in rating high on the scholarship standards. Souses with good ratings take pride in their accomplish ments, and those ranking low are enticed both by their national organizations and the Univer sity to better themselves. Because of this supposed emphasis on high scholarship it would be unfortunate if the sys tem should contradict itself and lower its initiation standards. It would be an admission that fraternities are more interested in filling their houses than they are in assuming a posi tion of leadership in campus scholarship. There are, of course, a number of strong arguments on why the average should be lowered. Small houses have trouble filling their houses if they cannot initiate all or nearly all of their pledges. The average freshman's grades are below the 5.0 mark for the first and the second semester. It takes a man straight out of high school some time to adjust to the University. All these statements are true, at least in part. However, they miss the main point, that fra ternities should strive to keep their scholarship above that of the campus average, and not to go backwards to meet it. There also should be some method formulated to control the scholarship of active members, who often come out as low or lower than pledges. Although a number of houses have legislation or laws pertaining to this problem, there is nothing of universal application. Once a man is initiated his obligation to maintain the standards set up by the system and by his own house is increased, and not set aside. Thus, in ihe battle between the economic necessity of keeping houses filled by lowering averages and the moral necessity of maintaining some sort of standards, it seems only right that scholastic achievement should win out. It may seem unfortunate at first glance, but in the long run it is for the betterment of the system. Having standards and not maintaining them is almost as miserable as not having any stand ards at all One Solution Chancellor Hardin's sobering statement that the salary increases requested in the Univer sity's biennial budget now pending before the Legislature's Budget Committee may prove to be wholly inadequate should strike home with every student in the University. Dr. Hardin reported that 60 per cent of Uni versity employees including a substantial num ber of faculty members are now earning on the average less than $4,500 annually. He said that the faculty is being approached almost daily by other institutions and industry offering them higher salaries and better work ing conditions. . "If this keeps up my estimate of losing 200 of our faculty and professional staff in the next two years may be short of the mark. I have never seen anything like this before," the chancellor exclaimed. The student council is studying a proposal which, would alleviate at least part of the crisis and which, if put into effect, might ease the burden on the state. The "Daily Nebraskan reported that the council had suggested turning the additional funds from the tuition which were added this past semes ter over to ran emergency fund for salary in creases. We can see two stumbling blocks in the pro posal, however. And if the Council is able to overcome these obstacles, the Daily Nebraskan will stand behind it in the project. It might be noted that the entire ten dollar Increase in a semester's tuition does not go toward the construction of the Union addition. Part of the money has been used in financing the new Student Health Center. And that leaves about five dollars of every fee for the addition. The council suggests that this five dollars be placed in the fund. We wonder whether the accumulation of funds would warrant such an action, however. Simple multiplication of 8000 students by five dollars shows that about 80,000 dollars would be made available per year or $160,000 for the biennium. That this relatively small amount would help ease the salary problem is questionable. The second problem which the council must face is the legality of the situation. An answer to this problem will come, probably this after noon, when John Selleck, the University's busi ness manager, confers with the council execu tive committee. Selleck reported Tuesday that the move might be perfectly legal and yet the cost is retiring the bonds already financed by present funds might be prohibitive from making the plan feasible. The gesture to temporarily defer the tuition money to a special salary fund is a good one on the part of council. The members are to be "congratulated for making a positive move in the direction of easing our greatest problem. From the looks of things at the present time, the proposal is on wobbly ground. We can still hope for relief from the Unicameral. That is our first line of defense of the University in this crisis. And yet we hope that the faculty will realize from this move on the part of the students' rep resentatives that each Cornhusker is behind ihe faculty in obtaining a wage commensurate with their education and value to the State of Nebraska. udenl Voice Squelched The Student Council is looking into the eight day exam period which was passed by the Faculty Senate last November. The Council believes that the majority of the students on this campus would rather have the extended two-week examination period which has been successful in the past. Last year coun cil members took a poll of students and found that they favored the longer period four-and-a-half to one. Originally the Senate called for a one week period for the exams, but the present eight-day system will run from the Monday of the first week through the Tuesday of the second. This, Senate members believe, will give both stu dents and faculty members time to recuperate between semesters. The Daily Nebraskan has stood behind the two week exam period all through the struggle with the Faculty Senate. This paper commented editorially after the action of November when the calendar was passed by the faculty group." Unless the Council or some other organization decides to take a stand, University students are now faced with the prospect of a shortened exam period in 1957-58." The council has taken a stand now, or at least, will investigate the matter. We hope some good will come out of the Investigation. We hope that the Faculty Sen ate will realize that the voice of the student in regards to such matters as examination periods is important. We feel that even as only a matter of good will the Senate should review the results of the poll as taken by the student council so they will know just where the vast majority of stu dents stand on such a vital issue. We are sorry the council waited so long to act on the matter. We know from past experi ence, however, that action can be taken after a time lapse and that the results will favor the students, if the entire student body stands be hind its representatives on the council to rein state the two week exam period in place, of this watered down eight-day rush passed by the Senate. ' Regulations . . . Words of wisdom from the University of Illi nois: Students ranking in the lower quarter of their high school graduating classes will find it harder to enter U of I because of a new policy regarding admissions adopted by the Board of Trustees at a Recent meeting. Students who graduate from their high schools in the lower quarter will be required to take a special test from the counseling Du ress before admittance. They also will be re quired to appear for an interview with the Stu dent Counselor to be advised of their chances of successfully completing four years of college. Even though a student is discouraged from entering, he will be free to do so, if iie wishes. In another stiffening of the admission regula tions, the Board announced that henceforth, no students ranking in the lower half of non-Illinois high schools will be admitted to the University. The new regulations, though only a "matter of formality of what we have done for years," are a step towards alleviating crowded condi tions and remedial courses. The University of Illinois has done some extensive research in the field of students who are unprepared for college. It is a fine thought that a university's doors are open to each and every citizen of the state. It is a finer thoughifhat admission to a univer sity is a reward which may come easily to some and not so easily to others. But the restriction of admissions would save some years for many high school graduates and may eliminate some broken hearts. The Daily Nebraskan rXFTT-FTOE TEAES OLD Member: Associated Collegiate Press Iistprcoiiegriate Press Representative; National Advertising Service, Incorporated FfciTl'.ljea at: Eoom 20, Student Vv'wwt Uneoln. Nebraska Uth & E The fklty JMimnkna M pwtilMwd Monday. Tum4m, tun0rtgr ftrt4 i'ritifty (turlng ttt wihmil year, ricet'it E""-r w t"n jMirf emra r-ff-trwl. mn4 ne t-iw to fuumifthnd firmr Aormt, timiir nf the (intverwtty f tmlr lift auflMfrrNtkia "I til :omrnilin tm M.m''nt f tniTft cm mi i-Ktr"Hiua uf 4turtttt MiitNta. t'oi lim Jarteri'fttua of tlM Haheommltt mi h-T'tt v&ikiMw atititl b frm from t aoriaJ r-'-"irf. ';. on thi pjsri. of ttte fcubnomnitU or on tim t'if ul tmv trimilwr of tru Itwuitv of tar i ntversity, nr on t'ie ve "1 tf any --r!n ii.tr th tntwrmr?. T! ef i h "nmmn v.H at 3immuu;iv ww " v-dM t" ). mt & at ruM W .m.r4. i iirijf H, li.a. Tnti-irt Sftttnnd rttuw mattwr at a iot tfWtan Hi Lkwum, titiurwm, nnour u at Amwm , wot. EDJTOE1AL STAFF editor.... frwl Oaljr Managing Editor .lack falloeh fcdttnrlal Ptn .dltor. IHnk hirru w &riltr. ................. .Kara June, Hat) Inland (ni-w r.ditor feuk Martial liy Kdttnra. ............. .Art Blankman, Oaroie I rank Cwa Mover, Rmb WarrHilmkl F.dlfnr Walter fattdnun xtaff 'KiTntIi ..................... ..Omf trwla Mtrht fifwm I clitur ..................... .Art rliarkuian (KflfW twrrtr Millie flownll iM-l.'i I .rilinr un amn ttntt Wrltwra .. .Judy flutnr Mrllra Minora. IHinnMWi Tartar, Diana Maittrptl, Sandra Wnalrm, !nrtty Hall, Utanna (imM, Kill CiMiimr. Kill DUna, Oarr feteraun, Mary I'at t'Tmia, Itranna Barrett, l.mmw 1lmna. Vlrc. Oary luidgara, JoAna aliixrua. fttea Wldman. Baportan aau Itthong. Cjrntaa tacltaa, Bod EUSISXSS STAFF ttosiranM Wanar Aanistaad IMaalneM Maaaoara... . 3-20 the iconoclast . . . ClrauJatMMI MMaf er. . ftmree Madmm . . . .Irry f .tKn Notf, inm ltttn You may have noted that Letter io bas exploded within the last week or so. Everyone with a pen cil and a tongue to lick it has been writing newsy little notes to the Rag. Some of them have even signed their epistles. One of these non-anonymous notes repeated the often heard charge that fraternity men are a bunch of sheep in Ivy League clothing being blithely led down the primrose path of conformity by their belt buckles. The writer whose name escapes me at the moment viewed with alarm, and sputtered. I am, of course, being sarcastic and sisparaging primarily be cause I think that the "fraternity men are all from the same mold" argument deserves that kind of treatment. It would be foolish to deny that sport coats and haircuts in the Greek houses are monoton ously uniform. But anyone who judges men on the bases of their tailors and barbers is guilty of the nastiest of generalizations. To badly misquote Hamlet, the late prince of Denmark, "There is that within that passeth show." Remember that fraternities choose their men carefully. Rush ing looks haphazard to the outsid er, but certain criteria are being considered throughout the entire process. And one of these criteria is strength of personality. I think steve schultz it is understood in most 'of the houses on campus that if a man cannot go through pledge training and the four years following with out preserving his individuality, his 'self," that he is not fit to be in a fraternity or much of any where else. Moreover, the theory works in practice. I defy the critics bf the system to point out one fraternity man who beneath his standard crewcut is not an individual sep arate and distinct from his broth ers. I for one, remain the same person I always was. This may not be althgether admirable on my part, but it is a source of some pride. One of the feature writers took it upon himself the other day to give instructions to would-be speu-do-intellectuals. He proved that it is not necessary to be literate if you can drop the right names. Unfortunately, he left out the ulti mate goal of the pseudo-intellect, the climactic peak of the art of succeeding in conversation with out having anything to say. I would suggest that all you culture spong es read some obscure book by a well-known author. I myself have just finished The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. Now, when I mention the book it gives the impression that I have read every thing well-known and have moved Mekashan Letlerips To the Editor: After reading the editorial per. taining to a 4.5 initiation stand ard in the Daily Nebraskan, I feel it only fair that the proponents side of this proposal be presented so that its advantages can also be weighed. There are as many, if not more, reasons why the ini tial on requirement should be low ered to a 4.5. The following factual material will validate this state ment. A study of the most recent ma terial available (1954-55) has shown that the freshman average after one complete year in the Univer sity is 4.6 for all colleges com bined. Averages such a 4.5, Busi ness Administration; 4.6, Engineer ing; 4.7, Arts and Sciences are typ ical of freshman achievements. From these statistics it can be seen that the freshman, in the sec ond and third quarter of his gradr tisting high school ' class is only able to make a 4.5 or thereabouts. I feel the reason for this is main ly a problem of adaptation and adjustment to the University. The All Womens' freshman aver age is 5.B, one .full grade" point higher than the AH Men's aver age, yet the sororities also initi ate on the 5.00 standard. It is known that girls coming out of high school adapt more readily to college life and are a great deal more conscientious about their school work than are the male students entering college. It has been found that lowering the initiation average is not going tc affect the overall averages of the fraternities. According to a national scholarship chairman of ore of the houses, and who is also a member of the faculty, fraternity averages have not changed, but instead remained almost constant since the IFC placed the initiation standard at 5.00. It Is thought that a man who makes an average of 4.5 il of no value to his fraternity and that he possesses no leadership ability. This argument is entirely false, for there are many men who have exceptional qualities and capabili ties even though their first semes ter average may not be a 5. Even considering that the Uni versity eliminates men with very poor averages after their first year, the verall sophomore averages are almost one full grade point higher (4.6, freshman; 52, sopho more). In most cases a man will improve himself over his fresh man year. That ia, he will sur pass a 5 average his second, third and fourth years in school. This is, of course, the result of scho lastic adjustment and adaptation to the University. There are persons who are con cerned about lowering the initia tion standard to a 4.5 because they frel it will hinder fraternity schol arship on the basis that a man initiated on a 4.S will never make a 5. However, it is more unusual for a man to improve his scholar ship, not remain the same or regress. If Ibe does not he is elim inr.fed by the University. It must be realized that there are a limited number of outstand ing scholars available coming out of the Nebraska high schools. Not every fraternity can have an en t:re pledge class of men in the upper fourth of their graduating high school class. Bather, each house is forced to take men in the second and even third quar tiles. The chance of these men making the average, in the second and third quartiles.is much less than those in the first quartile. There is no alternative but that the fraternities take some of these men with inferior scholastic abili ty. There are just not enough good high school scholars to go around to all of the houses in the system. In the college of Business Ad ministration for the year 1955-56, 11 out of the 106 men made above a 5 average after completion of 27 hours. Also the Biz Ad college a man could obtain a 4.9 average after completion of 27 .hours and be classified in the upper fourth of the freshman class. This shows that if we were to initiate on a 45 standard the fra ternity system would not be giving membership to below-average men. As was before stated, placing the average at 45 would sot lower the standards of the ' University, be cause there has been zut increase in overall averages since the S'l point system was instituted. Keaneth Groves FASHION. . As I See It Judy Ramejr Year XU Representative to GOLD'S Advisory Board Cute and comfort able . . . that's how youH feel in these Schrank short pajamas. The little boy shorta are so cool for summer wear. Peppermint stripes , are in. pink, blue or navy on white. "Satin Set" batiste Is wonder ful to wear and to wash. This shortie pa jama comes in sizes 32-38, just 4.S8. See the gay collec tion of Schrank pajam as in Gold's lingerie Department, Second Floor. W,. .S3 ii-. m , on to perusing the seldom noticed books. To tell the truth, I have not read Goeth's Faust, but if all I want to do is play a role, I will never have to. Seriously speaking, this sudden upsurge of the pseudo-intellectual is, in many ways, a healthy symp tom. The mental parasite is of him self dangerous. But the fact that he chooses to imitate true intelli gence shows that that intelligence must be attractive "and, must carry a certain amount of ; prestige. This is reassuring if one should become alarmed about the battle against intellect which was waged in the late, lamented political cam paign. Gesides, the pseudo may be come tired of himself as a fake, and actually get some learning so he can atop his masquerade. little man on Campus by Dick Bibler Liil LLLJ UJJ feks ' r x7 1 CH, iNTtf 0ACK WNlX5 HAVE THAT 'GRUB' MMfiZME UP HERE iH THIS BASKET (Ator f " Bart f est Be Witk Chttk," tU.f THE PULSE-POUNDING SAGA OF DE WITT CLINTON, AMERICAN Let us today turn our eager young minds to the in spiring story of De Witt Clinton, one of the greatest figures in American history and unaccountably one of the most neglected. vf ,lfr ILn ' J-- if A "D or ffW $ HOKE NAtHSUL 'if I X v De Witt Clinton (sometimes called Aaron Burr) first made himself known to fame in 1756 when Governor William Penn commissioned him to 6urvey the forests of the Western Reserve. (One is inclined to wonder what in the world Governor Penn could have been thinking of, for De Witt Clinton was eighteen months old at the time.) However, the little chap did remarkably well He surveyed as far west as Spokane, teaching phonetic English to more than twelve million Indians along the way, and then, tired but happy, he became Johnny Appleeeed. Later, he became a keelboat and sailed home to enter politics. He tried to join the Greenback Party, but his back wasn't green enough, so he joined the Whigs. He was offered the Whig nomination for the presi dency, but declined with the celebrated statement: "If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.' But the Whigs only nudged each other and said, "That old fox, he's just playing hard to get" So they nominated him anyhow, and sure enough he did not run, but he was elected anyhow, and sure enough he did not serve. In fact, he was elected to a second term, which he also did not serve. However, only a few top Whigs knew there was nobody in the White House. The rest of the country thought that the President was confined to his room with a wrenched knee. For a while people sent "Get Well cards, but soon everyone forgot and turned their atten tion to important matters like opening the west, inventing the buffalo, and the Black Tom Explosion. After two terms as President, De Watt Clintofi entered Yale and took up smoking. He tried several brands of cigarettes until he found the one brand that pleased him in every particular-Philip Morris, of corral (You knew I was going to say that, didn't you? Well of course you did, especially if you are a Philip Morris smoker, for if you are, you know what a sweetheart of a smoke Philip Morris is - how full of rich, natural flavor, how natural and mellow, how long size and regular. And if you are not a Philip Morris smoker, you've got a treat coming. Light one soon. Light either end.) Upon graduation from Yale, De Witt Clinton became commissioner of baseball and smoked and loved Philip Morris Cigarettes for the rest of his long and distin guished life, and when at last he was called to his reward, his friend Old Hickory (Daniel Webster) stood up in the Senate and said, "How sad that De Witt Clinton must now be forever separated from his beloved Philip Morris !" "Nay r cried Pitt the Elder (Henry Clay )' bounding LB'iSet ? not separate De Witt Clinton and Philip Morris. I know how to keep them together always J" And, sure enough, if you will look at the blue federal tax stamp on your pack of Philip Morris, guess whose picture you'll see. De Witt Clinton's! That's whose! eMiu Shuhnan. 19ET Th maker of Philip MorrU, Iuj bring rom this column each week, don't mbtcribe to Old Max', historical data, but we urm admire hit Uute in cigarettei. You will too. Try turn natural Philip Morrit today!