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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1958)
Poge 2 The Dailv Nebroskan Wednesday, February 5, 195 3 Editorial Comment Hell Week Antics Bomb Frat Life; Change Needed Wayward Wanderings By Ron Mold University fraternity members are busy quil ting their pledges now oa grade averages. It's 11 part of the annual informal survey that typifies these organizations in order to deter mine how many of the neophytes will be eligible for the mystic initiation rites. But before initiation, even if the pledge does make his average, he must face Hell Week. The name Hell Week may have disappeared from the literature of many fraternities, but here and iiiere throughout the country and round the campus the "stunts" that character ized this week of hazing still prevail when time arrives for the pre-initiation triaL" Eating goldfish, spending nights in haunted houses, walking back from country road excur sions in pajamas or shorts, and similar Hell Week pranks do not play an important role at the University. Most campus fraternities realize the foolish Bess e such juvenile escapades. II k possible, however, that all of them do rot Thus, the pause for consideration. The fraternity in America is facing constant criticism from hawk-eyed observers who feel that fraternities contribute little or nothing to student's college life. Jf the fraternity a student belongs to forces him to do indecent and malicious acts in order to determine his "worthiness'' for initiation, the fraternity actually doesn't help him. Not only do these sort of pranks hurt the student, but they damage the reputations of all other fraternities and the college as well. Hell Week ran and has been made to mean much more at many campuses across the country. "Help Week" is the name it has acquired in many fraternities. This "help" is aimed at bo;h the student and his college. It may also be beneficial to the community. The student may benefit if the fraternity uses time during this "trial week" to emphasize scholarship, better intra-fraterr.ity brotherhood, and improved personal traits. The college may benefit by being assured a better student, scholastically and personally. Again, the college benefits because it need not fear bad publicity as a result of acts instigated by over zealous but poorly motivated fraternity members. The community may benefit by work projects and cleanup campaigns carried out by the pledges during this week. Numerous civic or ganizations such as the YMCA and the YWC. caa always find ase for the efforts of tea to thirty fraternity members. And surprisingly enough fraternities that have tried this have discovered it does not take the "fun" out of the event. Instead, it often adds much deeper meaning to fraternity li.'e. All University fraternities might make con scious efforts this year to give "Help Week" a "trial." Points For Our Gals For the benefit of the AWS and the students who must be burdened with "points" while being troubled with the problem of working their way through college, these comments: As far as the Daily Xebraskan is concerned, we believe the use of points with regard to our staff is outmoded, outlandh and should be outcast. Fortunately, we have only three girls on the staff who have to file points with the AWS. Because they are copy editors, they are handed three points each as they work their way through school. A little letter from the AWS has asked us If we believe the positions are overpoinied, and if so, what suggestions should be made. Well, mama's little girl has come to college, presumably to throw off the yoke of childhood, aad she fs immediately burdened with the yoke f activity pouts. In all fairness we might mention that the purpose of the point system (according to the AWS) is to increase the efficiency of campus organizations by proviiLng them with officers who will have the sufficient time to devote to the organization, to benefit the students by pro tecting their health and assuring them the necessary time to meet their scholastic require ments, and to benefit the campus as a whole by distributing the offices among the many students capable of assuming the responsibility. This, ia effect, means (or so it seems) that girls hare no common sense, the most qualified, the best leaders, shouldn't lead, responsibility should be doled out whether one is most quali fied to accept it or not The AWS states its purposes as, 'to encourage women to achieve aad maintain a successful balance of scholastic endeavor social life aad extracurricular activities ... to promote high ideals of conduct in University women." But only if this a.-chiac points business is dropped could the AWS add, "To encourage col lege women to come out of the crib and diaper stage." From the Editor private opinion dick shugrue A Despite our personal feelings regarding the guilt or innocence of Charley Starkweather (who needs no introduction) I might make a few comments about the treatment the press gave the search and capture of the accused mur derer. Marderer Caught," "Mad-Do Killer Nabbed," "Punk Kiler Shot ia Wyoming." These were just some of the headlines splashed across papers from Newport News to Oakland. The kid was convicted long before he reached the safety of the Kebraska Pen walls. Aad the press was respoa-' -"" sJble, Certainly television . ,v journalists, too, share the5" blame for the miscarriage ol I Justice. John Daly referred 1 "J f to Charley as a "teenage murderer" Others of less &' note made similar mistakes. It is all well and good to toss the blame on someone, on Starkweather, for thatl matter, if he has admitted the killings. However it must be remembered that the initial confession extracted from the swivel haired Loncolnite was out ia Wyoming before lie had been given a chance to consult with an attorney. Certainly I would be naive to say that be should have yelled for a lawyer when he was disarmed and dragged in. But the end result of the pre-coirrictiog by the frees and the electronic journalists leads me So believe that Starkweather will never find aa obiased Jury ia the U.S.A. Perhaps he doesn't deserve a jury trial. And yet there's something basic- perhaps it's contradictory in our concept of justice which maintains that every man is innocent until Miminnir aMafaanf proven guilty. I suppose this means before a court of law and not before the journalists of our land. A fine line raa probably be draws between decent graphic journalism and the kind which was used to the Starkweather business. Pictures of the young Ward boy mourning and the family and friends of the youths from Ben net will linger in the minds of any citizens in this neck of the woods who might be called t9 sit on a jury. Just a loak st the res-ohs of the Nebraskan poll to find out what the feeling regarding capital punishment is will tell you that the vast ma jority of the students on the campus have been prejudiced by something. And speaking of miscarriages of justice ... Around the University, often, the feeling that a student is guilty until proven innocent seems to prevail. Just take a look at the last card you got from the library which tells you to bring your bank book right over; you have lost a book. Or even worse, glance at the last letter you have received from the Division of Student Affairs which tells you to pay your library fines or don't graduate. This sort of letter doesn't take into consideration the notion that the li brary might have misplaced a book, or that you never had it in the first place. Another example comes to us from the Uni versity Police. They, too, have a habit of sending out nocuous letters to the students tell ing them they are guilty, pay up, or get out. Not, "You are to appear in court . . ." Perhaps the inclusion of a student tribunal into our youthful lives will help alleviate such medieval practices. At any rate, I hope our friends in the plush new offices in the building across the street can see the student's point of view. EUTI-KLVLM TEAES OLD any Member ef Chr faeoltr of the t'nHrerettr. The - . . member f the Keimakaa mff mre cmouUr - Member: Associated Collegiate Press eeoaeintr tar wbm ttr, w, e te be Intercollegiate Press "rtn- t . SubeerhHiaa rate m S2-M aer lemeeter er S for Representative: National Advertising Service " bemdmue x. lnnnnuiMt.il Rroerea ae eeeenS else matter at the Beet efftae Ml incorporated Lnieeie, Webraeaa, anser the act at Aasant , 112. Published at: Room 20, Student Union evitoeiax. ststt linnnln. Kehraska Miter Itek Mincrae sancoin, Jeorasaa Miun-mj Miter Lmw Have 14th b. K Maoatinc roller .................... Meek UaMmn Nmi .dltir ........ Hub Irflaiie The Inf W-tarnekM 1 pnbu.h. Mnnaay. Tuesday. il,!Z rtu thr acta. ,-ar, eeeept lLi,'' w''ba," faiir win vmeathMw and am (m-b.de. and ear fern le TVa L, "InmiBraa, Kimnte JLtonne BwXhibeS aarUMT aairaet, r etuerate of the fialtrraltr fcdltor beorae Merer of ftrHraeks ander tue autborlxatioa sf tbe 4mnilttee M'bINF.bH KTAf F n itndrnt affaire ae aa eim-xeakia of tudnt nplnliia. Bnnlnree Manager ferry M-llentla pafeliratMne tmlr thr Jurhutirtfain of the huneeinmKOe aenietaot Maeuieee Manacera . . . Tom ieff, blue Kalmen. a Mtudmt hulillmlhme ahull lw frre fritm editorial Hok fcoitdt imnneaie the pan at the Muheunimlttee ar ea the Clrauntlua Manager im Trope The University of Utopia has just completed a new student un ion at a cost of Sll billion. It was opened last week at a cele bration a school sponsored beer blast which was climaxed by 10,- 000 students' gathering on the steps of the new building anJ shotting in unison, -Ve may be ignorant, but we've got entertain ment !" e e e In a speech on the union steps. 1 M. Tepid, president of the Uni versity of Utopia, recounted the fund-raising drive. He explained that funds for the new building had been acquired through three means: (1) each student was re quired to sign a twenty-year note pledging 15 per cent of his inccm? until 1978, (2) money was saved Dy economy cuts in classroom facili- Just Between Us By Doc Rofjsers "We've got one up there. It's somewhat late and it's only a smidgen, but it is Hying high and is apparently prepared to stay up for some time. Politically, the U.S. satellite, the Explorer, has much international significance. It has regained for us much of the prestige which we lost at the time of the earlier Russian successful launchings and our own failures. Frcm behind the iron curtain as well as from allies, have come the messages of con gratulations. Bargaining with the Soviets will no doubt be a little easier now. Already Russia has set forth new terms for its proposed summit con ference. We are ags;n on an ap parently ec,ual footing. BUT let's not get too COCKY! They still may be as much as five years ahead of us in m,sse development and research. Our own experts have tula us that. But they also tell is of pending missile projects. It seems the Xavy will soon launch a sat ellite of its own and the Air Force has considered the rmon as a tar get with a launching date set some time this year. We have come a long way. For this, the Eisenhower administra tion deserves the kudos. Very little had been done when Dee took the reirns in I9S2; Trunvan had prac tically neglected the field. Thus S3 per cent of all expenditures for research in this field thus far were, appropriated during the first five years of the recent Republican ad ministration. The blame for the lack of earlier success which Democrats have tried to place oa Republicans seems to fall on their own shoul ders. Their criticisms of Sherman Adams' enlightenments seem to fall short in light of these facts. Seriousness a.?ide, I hear our satellite set for an April launch ing will house nut a dog or man but six Hoistein steers. It will be the Herd Shot Around the World. ties hogsheds, chicken coops, rab bit hatches cr.d cjt'uojses are to be utilized as classrooms following a report by a team of U U. effi ciency experts, (3) instructors de manding more than $2,500 per year are not to be accepted. I had just joined the crowd as Tepid was reminding them of the purposes of the new student union. "We all know" he said, "that the prime purpose of this new building is to provide entertainment. There are two o'.'.ier purposes, however; first, to promote better relations between the students and the citi zens of the state; and second, to make sure that we are keeping up with the other meirbers of the Big EighJ in the rare to see who can provide the mast lavish enter tainment facilities. e e e Following the speech, the crowd rushed forward and, hoisting Tepid onto their shoulders, surged through the doors to break in the new facilities. Each student was personally greeted in the foyer by Sherman Billingsley, student union 1 manager. Since I had been linger- j ing in the background during the speech, I was one of the last to! get to him. As I was shaking his hand. I said, "It seems awfully dark in here." I "It's because our full crew isn't working yet," he said. "We have a unique power system here 500 i students running on treadmills in' the basement. This generates all the power we need to operate the j lights and the 5.10 automatic pin- j setters in our bowling lanes. Each j student here at Utopia spends s j minimum of to hours a day on a treadxill. Their payment is a generous 20 per cent discount on ' all cups of coffee." "Clever system," I said. "I won-; der if it would work at Nebraska "We have a tremendous esprit de corps here at Utopia," he said. Rm i I started to tell Sherman that he needn't feel uppity about the whole thing because we too were erecting a magnificent addition to our stuaent union, and that ther was even wind of an addition to the addition. "This," I told him, should demonstrate to everyene how progressive we are at Ne braska U." When I chanced to mention ttie million and a quarter bucks we had raked up for the thing, my bragging was interrjpted. It was Sherman. He was laughing up his tailored sleeve. "Do you mean to say," he snick ered "that you simps could on.y muster up a million and a quar ter?" "I'm afraid so," I said sheep ishly. "Cultural lag, you know." I wer.t oa to explain to him that only recently had the folks in our state begun to realize what a bor ing Lfe university students weie leadir. I told fcim that our in structors worked us until we were in a state of nervous exhaustion. e e e "Lately," I said, "Nebraskans have become increasingly con cerned over the lack of entertain ment at the University. The situa tion has got to the point where students have been known to spend as many as three consecutive hours studying! "Incredible." said Sherman "Come oa, 111 buy you a cup of coffee." I followed him down the ball, trying to look interested as he poi.T.ed out the mam attractions of the new building. "On our right," he said, "is the swimming pooL On our left, the steam baths. Down this hail to tbe left is the super market, liquor store, beauty saon, and new car showroom." At the end of the hall, we went through a swinging door and found ourselves in a large room. Glanc ing ax the students sitting at tables gorging themselves, I said, "Tt must be tbe lunch room." e "I can see you're a Phi Beta Kappa" he said, stepping up to the counter. "What would you lie?" I told him that I'd just like some coffee. He said that he'd like some too. "Two coffees please" he said to the woman be hind the counter. IU get them," I said in a rare moment of generosity. ThatU be fifty cents please, stie said. "That's where we've got it over you Utopians," 1 said to Sherm 'coffee's only a dime in Nebras ka." PRLVTCVG fraternity. Sorority & Organiza tion Letterheads . . . Letters . , New Bulletins . . . Booklets . . . Programs GRAVES FEINTING CO. 312 North 12th. Ph. 2-2957 WELCOME NEW STUDENTS TO NU The Place to U fsr Yclt Kzlrcut Is BOB'S BARBER SHOP 1315 "V Sreef Norfhside of Phone 5-9323 Stuart Eldg. Flattops Our Specialty University Young Republicans Meeting THURSDAY 7:30-9:00 p.m. Student Union Room 313 Typewriters For Rent Special Student Rates NEBRASKA TYPEWRITER CO. 125 No. 11th Phons 2-4284 13TH & M LINDELL HOTEL 121 NORTH 12TH ! LaLsiii Oa (feasts kith (S th Authm of "RaUf Round Ou flag, BoyaS" and s try . r. -i i i. i. m A SCHOOL AWAY FROM SCHOOL Students majoring in science, like all other American MudeLts, have a wild yearning for culture, but, alas, when a student is after a degree in engineering or math or like that, he simply does not have time to take all th liberal arts courses his heart pines for. And what L being done about this unhappy situation? HI tell you what: Enlightened corporations even-where are setting up on-the-job liberal arts programs for tbe newly employed science graduate courses designed to broaden his cultural ba.e for the enlightened corpora tion realizes that the truly cultured employee is the truly valuable employee. Take, for example, Lambswool Sigafoos. A week after his graduation, Lambswool reported to Mr. Femur, the personnel director of an enlightened cor poration eng&ced in tbe manufacture of cotter pins and i-irig nute. "How- do you do?" said Lambtwool. "I'm Lambswool Sigafoos and I've come to work." "Sit dow-n." said Mr. Femur, chuckling kindlv. "Hav a Marlboro." "Thank you," said Lunbswool. "I like Marlboros. I like their filter and their flavor." "Me too," said Mr. Femur, blinking humanely. "And I like their flip-top box. WLen my Cip-top box of Marlboro is empty, I a-e it to keep fish books in." "Know what I do when my fiip-top box of Marlborat is empty?" aked ItmbswooL "What?" said Mr. Femur, sniggering graciously. "I buy some more Marlboros," said LambfwooL "A sound idea," said Mr. Femur, vibrating fetchinglj. "But enough chit-chat. Come along to the campus." "Campu?" fe&id Lambs-wool, puzzled. "But I've come to w ork. Take me to my draw ing board." "This is an enlightened corporation," said Mr. Femur, yodelling viciously. "First you must get your cultural base broadened." Mr. Femur took Lambswool to the training campus, which looked like any other campus. It had ivy-covered buildings, dormitories, fraternity and tsorority bou, a f tadium, a deer park, and a moat. Lambswool was given a roommate, a beanie, and copies of the company hymn and rouser, and the enlightened corporation proceeded to fill tbe gap in his culture. "... .... J - 4 First he was taught to read, then to print capital letters, then capital and small letters. Then there was an attempt to teach him script, but it was ultimately abandoned From these fundamentals, Lambswool progressed slowly but eteadily through the more complex disciplines. He w as diligent, and tbe corporation was patient, and in tbe end they were rewarded, for when Lambewool finished, he could play a clavier, compose a triolet, parse a sentence, and identify the birtbBtone for every month of the year. His lengthy schooling finally over, Lambswool was assigned to an important executive position where he nerved with immense distinction. . . . Not, however, for long, because one week later he reached retirement age. Today, still spry, he lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he supplement hie pension by parsing sentences for tourist. em... Bert1 $ a tntenre that' easy to parte: Subject you. Verb tet- Object lot to like in a Marlboro, who maker$ bring 0ou this column throughout tint ochool year. . "t. f i ' mm be i a. a a. -a