Page 2
Editorial Comment:
Frivolity Inherent in College
But Free Choice There Too
A story in this week's Saturday Evening
Post by Jerome Ellison, journalism teach
er at the University of Indiana, throws
down the gauntlet to university students
Real Rush Rules
App
ear at Last
Congratulations to John
pany for proposing a rush week schedule
that gives some meaning to the words
'rush week" that are not completely lit
eral. In the past "rush week" has been just
that The rushees rush, the fraternities
rush and from this turmoil an unsuspect
ing freshman is expected to make a deci
sion affecting his entire life.
The best addition to the schedule is a
definite system of bidding.
At last the poor but honest clod who
struggles through rush week may Vnow
definitely which houses he has managed
to impress.
Under the proposed system, a rushee
must have a bid card signed by the rush
chairman of a fraternity to pledge that
house. In addition as an added check at
pledging time this card is matched with a
duplicate card filed by the rush chairman
with the central authority during rush
week.
What could be finer. Instead of having a
half hour of vertigo trying to interpret the
meanings of bids all the way from a down
the throat "we'll just curl up and die if
we don't see you walking over here at
4:00" to casual "we'll see ya" the cards
are literally on the table and for a re
spectable period of time.
Not only will this system if adopted re
lieve the cause of hurt feelings and re
morse among the rushees but it will re
quire each house to have a definite idea of
who they have asked and who they
haven't, something which we understand
has not always been the case in the past.
In addition to avoiding inner conflict this
system will also avoid the rushees having
to run the gamut of houses after hesitat
ingly making up his mind.
For under this system the decision is
made, signed, sealed and delivered during
the meditation hour.
This is done by matching the rushee's
card with the card turned in by that fra
ternity's rush chairman. The rushee pays
his dollar and can pureed unbothered to
move into his house.
In addition to this just addition the open
house time has been doubled having eight
hours instead of four, giving each fratern
ity and each rushee a better chance to
make the choice that will so greatly af
fect the future of both. J.H.
everywhere.
Mr. Ellison says that these concerned
The Spectrum
Look as if a couple of things have gen- underage drinking," drinking on public
erated a little activity and conversation on highways all these things are prohibited
campus in the past few days. ' by state law and the University, a part of
One is the house contest to try to get the the state's system-certainly can't be ex
Kingston Trio for dinner the night of their pected to condone violations of these laws.
Lincoln visit and another A student can't expect special privileges
has been the increased de- t, because he is a student. But the darker as
bate on the drinking and pect of the situation is the double Jeopardy,
social problem the cam- I - , the lowered morale and the feeling of per
pus reportedly has been Jb pe r ' action that arises when a "crack-down"
facing. - h really is in effect on the studentnot just
The" Trio competition ZZL in his natural habitat of the campus, but
has amounted to an activ- Y - . anywhere he goes,
ity in itself in some fi K The University feels it is looking out for
houses, with functions, If J to good name by putting restrictions on the
etc., planned if the soror- l A 71 student in places other than the campus
ity-fraternity combination where he is arrested for an infraction of
can come up with enough Kraus the law. So in addition to whatever local
tickets sold to win the visit. or state punishment meted out to the of-
And besides these coalitions, the entire the University adds their own
campus has seemed to show quite an in- h the student sweating
terest io seeing the group perform. douKbly rd- 1 he s a,ctlvlties he aPl
x . . ' . ... ,. to be out if he s caught for some alterca-
But what about these soaUed coall- ti for
Hons? A few comment, have been made u a amQunts mQrc frustrati
that if a house cant win a contest by which m about haj some
themselves, they fMWt have another extent aU the u at', rf according to
house act as a crutch for them. my psych text
But what can really be wrong with a de- cmr . cin'.,ta
sire for a pleasant thing (the Kingston oin"Ke uouua
Trio visit) and competition (which actual- y request:
ly is occurring constantly, from rush week " informal study of the smoking habits
through intramurals and activities). of NU students shows that it's quite an ex-
And if a fraternity happens to be allied ve habit' accordin to a p"re
just a little more to one sorority than any v;'a-:n a twi . a , i. u u
other, certainly there is little wrong with JnR8 9', slude"l,s' hal( of "ho
mSng together to earn what would be a T"" 'at
; 76 w8 reasonable price of a quarter a pack,
wor - bacco each year.
No Privileges ' And my cigarette cough is getting worse
As far as the drinking or social scene and worse
stands, it seems a little silly that the Uni
versity student should expect special ft .,J(7 V njjjts
privileges because he is a student. KOJUlrx
Drinking on campus (state property),
Daily Nebraskan
EIA'I T-HGHT TEARS OLD aanaJtr raaponalbla for what tfcrr mi, ar aa ar niu t
. printed. February 8, ism.
Member: Associated Collrriat Press nabaemrtioa tr are u m n u the
IntercollerUt Pre,, IStS' "" - " - -
EcpresenUtiTe: NstiooaJ Adverturinc Service, Ncoruka, u f aiut . 1111.
Incorporated editorial staff
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Glynn and com
with the youth of the present and the fu
ture they are making for themselves would
like to see "some love of truth and intel
lectual achievement, of discovery and
high adventure, of beauty, harmony and
design and great precision, of mankind
and its farthest destiny."
This is a noble wish one worth the ef
forts of students all over the country. For
formulating it just so Professor Ellison de
serves a nice pat on the back.
Unfortunately, however, Mr. Ellison has
fallen Into a trap that no journalist can
ever afford. He has taken specific In
stances and from them drawn a generali
zation that is not consistent.
Mr. Ellison has attempted to label all
college students playboys, not serious
enough about education to accept the chal
lenge inherent in his wish.
This is a sorry thing because there are
many students who share Mr. Ellison's
wish. What is more important, however, is
the grain of truth which rescues his ar
ticle from the shifting sands of innuendo,
aspersion and generalization.
When Mr. Ellison says that all college
students are entirely too interested in the
frivolous "second curriculum" he strikes
home because even the casual student
reader will recognize that frivolity plays a
large part in college life.
So let's consider his main thesis aside
from the inherent weaknesses of the "ev
erybody in college is a party doll" gen
eralization. There is no doubt that a Russian style
educational system produces results. The
Russians are dead serious about going to
school so much so that most American
college students would find it a somewhat
joyless existence compared to their own
institutional way of life. '
But then, there was a fellow who once
said that if a nation fighting a tribe of
barbarians had to resort to barbarous tac
tics to defeat them, the war was a victory
for the barbarians.
In other words, there is no freedom at
all if there is no freedom to be frivolous
as well as noble.
This is no justification for frivolity when
it is carried to extremes. And some of the
frivolity on this campus is pretty extreme.
Wee, too, elect a queen at the drop of a
hat, we, too, hold our Derby Day and
Spring Day, our fraternities still cling
petulantly to their hell weeks and every
one puts in their share of tobacco stained
Union time.
But there are still PBK's and Sigma
Xi's; there are still Futtbright scholarship
winners; Scrip hasn't yet been laughed out
of business; Sheldon Art Galleries are on
their way ani University Theatre still
maintains its excellence.
And the individual still has his freedom
to choose.
The Doily Nebraskan
LITTLE. MAN
WNtl -ai MJ3 f IfTJaJ I
vVaJ(J fNTKAMCf fAM mCkTZZ YOJ HAVE A HIGH IQ.
- HtfWi JT HAPPEN YOJ WANNA P6 A TCACHgK 1 f . :
Letterip
Howler
To The Editor:
To judge from the howler
which appears on page two,
column two, line three of
the Daily Nebraskan for
March 6, 1959, a study of
the dead languages is not
a prerequisite for a position
on your editorial staff. The
root of the "live" word con
sensus is, of course, the
"dead" Latin "consensus"
and not "con" plus "cen
sus" as your scribe ap
parently believes. It is pos
sible that the proofreader
or typesetter is at fault and
that the manuscript read
"concentus." This would be
both correct and appropri
ate, but not bloody likely.
Michael Morris
(Editors note Thats
right Mr. Morris, it is very
unlikely. We meant consen
sus.) Hope '3Iotlicum,
To the Editor:
(The following is in ref
erence to a Daily Nebrask
an column of last week.)
Dear Little Judy,
Yes, there is a Santa
Claus, but he doesn't have
to be found by looking
through a beer bottle. It is
those kind of people who
are unable to cope with the
problem of studying and
having fun in the same
week and have to turn to
turn to the bottle. Sure, a
beer down at the Grill is all
right; maybe two or three.
But when it becomes nec
essary to throw away your
books and forget study to
turn to the contest of chug
ging beer and seeing who
hits the floor first, then one
is definitely maladjusted to
the strain of present day
society.
If it is necessary to go to
the back roads to do your
drinking then your actions
show the contempt you hold
for your embarrasment at
having to satiate your un
controllable urge to drown
your worries, "apathy and
torpor."
The only reason a person
might find a "starry-eyed
thing" at his side is be
cause she is probably drunk
or sick of the stench of the
"cow pasture." If this is
your idea of having f u n,
then it might be good for
you to spend a tired eve
ning reading a book on life
by Dr. Peale or such.
I can see why "harrang
ing" is not your line be
cause there is no such word
in the dictionary. But it is
disgusting to find what is on
little girls' minds goose
pimpled chorus girls danc
ing on the front steps of
the Union and .2 beer. If
that is all I had on my
mind, I'd worry also about
the little green papers that
come out at the end of each
semester.
f a "universal author"
is able to take your world
in his hand and turn it in
side out, then I would be hit
ting the bottle,' too, because
that would be the only thing
left of which I would be
certain. But most mature
people can use moderation
in tneir life and this seems
to be the crutch that you
are missing the most. You
never had the other crutch.
"How does it feel to be
crawling about on your
hands and knees groping
for the bar? At your rate
it will take "fifteen years"
of college to begin to learn.
Yes, little Judy, there is
a Santa Claus, but he isn't
going to visit you this year
because you have been a
bad girl. But then there's
next year and there is a
"modicum" of hope.
Santa Claus
ON.CAMPUS
Plwtoplay
Last Friday's sneak pre- a definite originality with an
view of a new and delight- excellence of production val
ful Walt Disney opus, "The ues. Their appeal is univer
Shaggy Dog,"prompts some sal. But, not all of the Disney
reflective thinking on a ca- output has been worth of mer
reer that has not only been it. His "Fantasia" (1940), a
successful but brilliant, financially unsuccessful at
Some Flops
There was a time (the mid
1920i) when Walt Disney,
movie producer and distnb-
utor, television personality,
toy
industrialist, educator
oy way 01 ms, -cience nu
nature films), and amuse-
ment park operator was only
Disney, the struggling car-
toonist. His employees num-
bered about 10 and together
they labored six weeks in the
S5-a-month corner of a Hol
lywood real estate office to
produce a single six-minute
cartoon.
A decision to star a there-
. . r t : 1
mhoix uuumuwkhiu .,.,
a mouse, pui Disney on wc
map. "Steamboat Willie" was
released in 1938 and Mickey,
the mouse that Walt built, 1m
mediately built Walt. Studio
space, employee numbers a
and production expanded. Kellaway again. Charles Bar
Walt Disney had to borrow ten directed.
$1,500,000 to put "Snow White Caine Mutiny'
and the Seven Dwarfs" on ...
the screen. Despite a tremen- w The Union offering this
dous eight-year success with Sunday is the Stanley Kram
sound and color short sub- fj P?"10" of "efrma.1!
jects. most of Hollywood was Wouk' "The Caine Mutiny
dubious in 1937 about the Presented by request, the
chances of success for a full Picture nicely portrays navy
length cartoon feature. Upon !fe''0YfT- wf.r and muUny m
completion, the picture im- world war 11.
mediately snagged eight of Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson,
its creator's 10-some Oscars. Fred MacMurray, Robert
Its world gross (and as the Francis and May Wynn star
picture is timeless, it will and, of course, Humphrey
continue to make money), Bogart was perfectly cast as
from initial relpase through the tortured and neurotic
numerous re-issues, has al-
ready .surpassed a reported
$17 million.
Recent Disney success is
well known. The reason for
his success should be obvious.
His pictures have combined
Porcupines
It's too bad our legisla
ture, regents and factions
of our administration still
do not realize that some of
their horse and buggy
ideas are
being lost
in changing
times.
S 0 c I ety
d e m ands
that our
rules and
r egulations
b e modern
ized. The
f i r s t of
these de
Prokop
mands is social drinking.
Modern business and state
have diverted from th old
idea of enterprise being ac
complished over the desk to
the present method of sell
ing at cocktail parties and
social gatherings.
Regulations at school
have hindered this side of
education. In essence, we ail
know present drinking reg
ulations and can sympathize
with our administrative en
forcement since their hands
are tied.
But I cannot sympathize
with our rule-making bodies
and our governor who now
seems to be. more interested
in cutting his throat in na
tional politics. Since they
are so old-fashioned, it hurts
us education-wise.
Nebraska University for
the last four years has been
turning out intellects which
are by no means educated
in the fields of modern day
social graces. In the past,
the word alcohol has not
been taboo. Today, however,
fraternity, sorority, and in
dependent parties are not
able to mix drinks for peo
ple so inclined.
What are the arguments
and amendment w h i c ;i
would alleviate the above
" ":...i
Considerable
by Ken Freed
An article appeared In a
magazine during the past
week that aroused a great
deal of interest among
people connected with col-
aaa and thA
various ac
t i v i t i e s
that sur
round c 0 1
lege life.
Jerome El
lison, writing
in the great
family jour
nal. The Sat
urday Even
ing Post, at
Freed
tacks everything in univers
ity Life that moves outside
of the classroom. Mr. Elli
son indicates that all extra
curricular life is detrimen
tal and leads to the lower
ing of the academic stand
ards of a university. Upon
close inspection, Ellison's
argument crumbles and ex
poses itself as the usual
tempt to illustrate classical
music with pictures, was Dis-
npv imaainatiAn in nn sirpa
in which most le pre.
fprrH tn ..mr.lv r.hir nu
His afternoori television pro-
gram despite its popularity
jc pmKarrassjn!
The Shagn, rg.. ls Dis.
at his v Com.
bini Uye action wkh , falry
quaUty of sl0ryline, we
... wilh Sftmo far.
,,k1j 1
,
fetched, and yet hilarious, sit
uations.
The story, based on Felix
Hound of Florence," deals
with a teen-age boy turned
by medieval magic into a
parMime Bratislavian
sheep
dog.
Fred MacMurray, Jean
Hagen and Tommy Kirk are
excellent in their roles and it
Captain Queeg. The picture
is in Technicolor
problem?
First, it is interesting to
note that since 1954, the year
of the big crackdown on
University drinking, student
arrests by the local city po
lice have gone up percent
agewise. The reason is quite
obvious, the rigorous en
forcement of rules on cam
pus has caused people to go
outside" of University con
trol. Controls by campus per
s 0 a'n e 1 would better reg
ulate this University prob
lem. Basically, overindulg
ence would not be a prob
lem for a person Is more
likely to have one brew than
one case.
Secondly, our state legis
1 a t u r e should re-examine
their present position a s
compared to our neighbors,
Kansas and Colorado. There
is no doubt that our ad
jacent states have had tre
mendous success with 3.2
beer fotv eighteen year
olds. Universities at Kansas,
Kansas State, Missouri, and
Colcado have not had the
problems Nebraska has had
in the field of drinking.
Of course, as long as our
misinformed legislators and
our governor continue to
listen to the minority whose
major object is to distort
facts about alcohol, we
won't get any place. Religi
ous convictions which have
been misconstrued by t h 0
opposition also give our
rule-making .bodies a wrong
impression, of the true
view.
Logically, anyone could
take anything and construe
it to appear evil.
Third, we must face the
problem, are students able
to think for themselves.'
Contnlline a student's kk
clal actions ? y rigid, unjust
rules prevents the individ
Tuesday, March 10, 99
Speck
pedantic? tired attack of
men who cannot see life as
anything but a book.
Assuming the University
of Nebraska to be a com
mon college, I can look
around me and note that six
of the seven members of
this year's Phi Beta Kappa
Pledge Class were mem
bers of fraternities or so
rorities and very active in
extra-curricular affairs.
While this does not prove
that being in activities will
make a student a top schol
ar, it does seem to negate
the Idea that participation
In activities other than those
of an academic nature will
necessarily lower scholastic
standards.
Another thrust is made at
universities where more
than 50 per cent of the stu
dents own automobiles. The
University of Nebraska is
included as being a mem
ber of this evil group. While
maintaining that driving a
car lowers grade levels, Mr.
Ellison forgot to mention
the reason why this phe
nomenon occurs. In fact,
he overlooks this aspect
continually. While insisting
that fraternities, sororities,
activities and cars all tend
to lower academic stand
ards, Ellison never relates
conclusive proof that direct
ly connects low scholastic
performance and extra-curricular
activities.
Human Element
It appears to me that Mr.
Ellison fails to account for
an important factor, the in
dividual human element.
There are students who are
excellent students, activity
minded and drive cars.
Then there are students
that continually pull poor
grades, never participate in
activities and do not own a
car. All of this proves no
thing except that scholastic
achievement depends pri
marily on individual ability
subject to the drives of the
person.
I fail to see where a gen
eralization can be made
logically correlating good
grades and abstention from
extra-curricular activities.
Certainly not the extreme
generalization made by Mr.
Ellison.
I have a suggestion to
offer to the Student Council
Committee of Beautification
or whatever it is called. I
have noticed that immedi
ately after a snow storm
the campus looks almost
nice. The gravel and mud
parking pits cannot be dis
tinguished from the patches
of grass that surround the
sidewalks
the drafts ob
scure the view of some of
the buildings, and what is
even more pleasant, people
stay out of sight. Therefore,
if the committee could ar
range. , .
by Robert Prokup
ual from acquiring reason
ing powers from within.
What are some of the an
swers? First, a forum or meet
ing of the regents, gov
ernor, if he isn't too busy
keynoting Harry Truman's
visit, and the chancellor
should sit down with a few
of the more knowledgeable
individuals on campus and
see what solutions could be
brought out. The columnist
would love to see this prob
lem brought to light and
reasons for decisions be
made explicit to the gener,
al student body.
Second, let's stamp out
minority rule in our legisla
t u r e w i t h majority rule.
Maybe mother's Uttle boy
Isn't so little after all. It's
time Carrie Nation was
axed but good.
Third, let's not blame
Dean Colbert, Dean Halgren,
or the so-called "campus
gestapo" for carrying out
policies they are required
to enforce. These gentlemen
are doing a fine job in their
capacity.
Last, let's have a little
better communication be
tween student and adminis
tration. Let's all get together and
straighten out this miscon
strued problem. With the
regents, chancellor, gover
nor, and proper student rep
resentation, a better solu
tion of social drinking could
be brought about.
He who represents the
people, must share the ideas
of the people.
KINGSTON
TRIO
March 18