The Nebraskan
Wednesday, May iu, ivoi
Page 2
EDITORIAL
Life of Professor
Draws New Wounds
The often-probed life of the college instructor has
once again drawn new wounds. This week, two isolated
events, not directly concerned with the University of
Nebraska campus, caused people to sit down and once
again re-evaluate the entire educational system.
The first Incident, concerning an assistant instructor
of English at Ohio State University, was brought to
the attention of Nebraska citizens Saturday, when the
State Normal Board voided the contract of Henry St.
Onge, who was to have taught English next fall at
Wayne State Teacher College.
St. Onge's "crime' revolved around the fact that
he had opened his back yard to a controversial speaker.
The speaker, William Mandel, was a witness U the San
Francisco hearings of tne House un-American ac-uviucs
Committee a year ago.
The entire case, confusing enough In itself, is fur
ther clouded with improper communication between
the Columbus campus and Wayne State. People con
cerned with the Issue are confused. In Ohio, the people
are wondering why the Nebraska State Normal Board
voided St. Onge's contract. In Nebraska people are won
dering about the circumstances that led up to contract
cancellation.
The Daily Nebraskan contacted several Ohio State
Uninversity officials, the news director of the Ohio State
radio station and the editor of the Wayne State Teach
, ers College newspaper, the Wayne Stater, in an effort
to clear up the St. Onge case. These accounts are found
on the front page.
Below this editorial is an editorial which appeared
yesterday in the Ohio State Lantern. It shows, among
other things, their feelings on the Board's ruling.
The other professor-probing incident deals with the
Installation of private eyes in class rooms as a method
of checking against "controversial" professors. The
administration at the University of Nebraska is to be
congratulated for its immediate stand against this spy
ing system.
As pointed out in a news article from the Insider's
Newsletter, the agency "invariably" turns up trouble
makers in the Philosophy, Psychology, English, Liter
ature, Biology, History, Government, Journalism, Speech,
Drama and Religion Departments.
By making this broad generalization, this private
Investigating agency has helped to label every mem
ber of the above departments as "troublemakers." Thus,
another black mark hat been added to the long list of a
faculty member.
The University administration's strong stand against
this investigative aid must be taken to heart and the
statement by Dean Breckenridge should be read and
consumed by every student, parent, government official
and educator. If this spy system is adopted universally,
the entire American educational system will be harnessed
with a dictatorial muzzle.
The obligations of the teachers are to let his students
know what he knows and what be thinks. This is the
creed the educator should follow, or should be allowed
to follow.
The results of a uniform erucational system would be
disastrous.
It would be impossible for us to imagine three or
four professors in the same field, who would be able
to know and interpret the exact amount of information.
Although the two incidents arose in two different
geographical areas, the two ironically met in this
area. The later, the case of the private eyes, will never
arise on the Nebraska campus, according to University
officials. The other case was hurtled back to Ohio by
the State Normal Board when they voided St. Onge's
Wayne State contract.
Here's where we stand today.
Guilt hy Association
I Mitor'i aata: Tlw foHnvrlnf Is nvrtat mt aa nl Hartal wkteh ap
ymumt la the Tmadsr erflttoa af tha OhN) Slate Laatera. Ohla Stale
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It is natural and in the interest of self-education
for an instructor to want to hear controversial ideas
and to want his students to have the same opportun
ities. The fact that he has invited a controversial person
to speak on campus is, therefore, a flimsy excuse for
not allowing him to teach.
The Nebraska State Normal Board Saturday can
celled the contract of Ohio State English instructor
Henry St Onge to teach at Wayne State Teachers College.
The instructor had invited William Mandel, outspoken
critic of the House Un-American Committee to speak
a campus April 13.
St. Onge commented, "I want to know why?" So
do we.
' The cancellation of the teaching appointment is
a glaring example of assigning guilt by association.
If this practice were followed consistently, no instruc
tor on a university campus could invite a contro
versial speaker' without endangering his chances for
advancement or transfer to a better teaching position
at another school
The students, of course, would be "protected" from
subversive Ideologies and from education at the same
time.
The cancellation of St. Onge's contract appears to be
an act of conciliation under pressure. We are told that
the president of Wayne State received numerous letters
from the Columbus area about the Mandel affair and
was pressured by Nebraska state legislators.
We wish there had been less concern for the welfare
of Wayne State Teachers College and more concern for
the welfare of its students.
Daily Nebraskan
Member Associated CoDegiate Press, International Press
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OPINION
s
I
3
1
Sit lOyv r I )mm
I W, PRINK, AMP ll mKI, FOR TOMORROW W
Reviewers Laud R. L Hough's Book
Portraying Thought of Howells
By Margy Martin I
The following are extracts
from reviews of "The Quiet
Rebel: William Dean Howells
as Social Commentator" by
Robert L. Hough, published
by the University Press.
. ..in this slender volume
we have a well-focused mono-
eraDh on Howells as social
commentator. Chapters five
and six are the heart of the
book and represent the best
available summary of How
ells' mature social criticism
and his perennial reforming
zeal his interest, in nis old
age, in prison reform, woman
suffrage, makes abundantly
clear, Howells was the sup
porter of liberal causes to tne
day he died . . . This book
has the real virtue of sum
marizing a large and impor
tant topic well, sticking to
the announced subject, and
arguing its thesis closely.
James Woodress, The South
Atlantic Quarterly
Hounh makes his greatest
contribution by documenting
the fact that the fourth per
iod of Howells' social aware
ness, 1900-1920, was marked
by biting criticism of the val
ues of the American econo
my .. . Houeh has set as
his tasks the chronicling of
Howells' attitudes on social
problems throughout his long
lifetime: this he has done
well. He has neither tried to
go below the surface in relat
ing these attitudes to How
ells' art, nor in relating How
ells to his historical context.
It is hoped that Hough or
someone else soon will strug
gle with these problems of
major significance. David
W. Noble, The American His
torical Reveiw.
A more specialized study
. ... in which Robert L.
Hough traces the development
Weber Will Pick
Chemical Award
Dr. James H. Weber of the
University is a member of
the Committee of Award
which will select the 1961
winner of the Kirkpatrick
Award for Chemical Engi
neering Achievement.
The award is presented ev
ery other year by Chemical
Engineering and McGraw
Hill publication, to the
chemical processing company
making the most meritorious
contribution to the advance
of the industry and the pro
fession. The award recog
nizes the contribution of
group effort rather than in
dividual achievement.
Electrical Engineers
Initiate 12 Students
Eta Kappa Nu, electrical
engineering honorary, recent
ly initiated 12 University stu
dents from the College of En
gineering and Architecture.
The new initiates are:
Stanley Drasky, David Sor
enson, David Bliss, David
Skoumal, Tad Hammond,
Francis Green, Don Schueler,
Chuck Wahl, Dennis Folkerts,
Jim Osborne, Ed Collett and
Charles Doty.
of Howells' social thought
with scholarly . thoroughness,
demonstrating, among other
things, that Howells contin
ued to be an active commen
tator on social problems long
after he had ceased to em
phasize social reform in his
novels. Modern Fiction
Studies.
This brief book ... is a
concise, carefully documented
analysis of Howells' social
and economic ideas as ex
pressed in his novels of the
1880's and 1890's and in his
magazine essays published
from 1900 to 1920. Contrary
to those critics who believe
that Howells' interest in re
form waned after 1896, Pro
fessor Hough finds in the
magazine writing enough evi
dence of a continuing concern
with social and economic in
justices to justify his conten
tion that "In truth, this was
Howells' social period." . . .
It is, of course, probably true
that any social critic makes
a kind of contribution by at
least identifying, and thereby
perhaps perpetuating, reform
ideas and liberal atittudes.
But it may also be true that
Howell's kind of genteel,
"gadfly" approach to social
and economic problems was
in part responsible for the
sorry record of liberalism in
this country from 1870 until
1932 or until today if one
is appraising the impact of
Howells' brand of "secular so
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cialism." This is only to say,
however, that the social his
torian will find Mr. Hough's
book more useful liberalism
than as a reinterpretation of
Howells' importance as a so
cial critic and reformer.
Paul J. Carter, The Mississip
pi Valley Historical Review.
With his imaginative litera
ture the work has almost
nothing to do; this at once
impoverishes it, and at the
same time enables it to make
its contribution to the growing
body of knowledge about
Howells; for it carries its de
tailed examination into the
period after 1896 when How
ells divorced his interest in
social change from his art,
and confined it to a large
number of magazines and
newspaper articles which
Mr. Hough categorizes for the
first time . . . Mr. Hough
. . . limits himself to a clear
exposition of the non-literary
opinions of an important writ
er. Everett Carter, The
New Mexico Quarterly. .
The Quiet Rebel increases
what we know about the later
Howells' effect outside of lit
erature, A sober, sympathetic
study ... it is most original
when it surveys Howells' mag
azine articles after 1900
typical prices w h i c h no one
much cares to read today,
but which must be weighted
in any whole view of the nov
elist. James B. Stronks,
Ohio Historical Quarterly.
ON CAMPUS
YOU & THAT IT CAMS
Satyr
On Spring Day it was my
pleasant experience to sit in
the presence on a goodly
number of spooking Mortar
Boards. The topic of con
versation turned to Rho
Delta and the shocking ac
tivities and more shocking
revelation of membership
of that group. So I decided
to ask my only friend what
the deal was with this
group. After a careful study
of the facts and premises
that were revealed by this
conversation, it is my con
tention that they should not
be plagued and persecuted
by sorority sisters, Mortar
Boards and Dean Snyder.
In the first place, Red
Dot was founded at Tuskee
gee University by Elizabeth
Stanton, Claire Booth, and
Mrs. Albert Switzer. The
historical founding took
place on the fourth floor of
the library in 1897, May
Day. The group was
founded to honor girls who
exhibited outstanding traits
of motherhood and scholar
ship. As a matter of fact,
Rho Delta stands for the
Reading Diana embody
ing both scholarship and
chastity.
From Tuskeegee, the
group spread quickly and
secretly to all points of the
globe. In the spring of 1904,
Nebraska was introduced to
Rho Delta by Amelia
Hotair who was forced
down by bad weather and
a crack in the handle of
her broom. The practices
and initiatory rites of the
group were picked up al
most immediately by the
student nurses at Lincoln
General and from thence it
came to the University.
It would be unfair for an
I
town
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unmember such as myself,
being only the Sweetheart,
to reveal any of the secrets;
hut I will say that they
still practice meeting at the
fourth floor of the library
on May Day. They are still
devoted to Diana, in a mat
ter of speaking, and read
on ocassion.
Thus the group goes on,
honoring young girls with
membership and University
expulsion. It seems high
time that the Mortar Boards
recognized the efforts of the
group and did something to
show their worth to the rest
of the campus.
The group is primarily a
service organization like the
Peace Corps and practices
affability and dissension in
their separate houses. They
send roses to honor hon
ored people, they send cards
to frighten hopefuls, they
put marks on mirrors and
desks to let girls know they
.are being considered or are
being considered naughty,
and a number of other
worthwhile undertakings too
numerous to mention.
It is a shame that they
are forced to secrecy by
standards boards and puri
tanical administrative offi
cials. If they were allowed
to come out in the open,
they would no donbt be a
greater service to the Uni
versity community and the
fraternity system.
In these days of dogged
McCarthyism, groups who
try to operate in compara
tive secrecy, are persecuted
by conservatives and unin
formed, prejudiced aspiring
spinsters. Why do we allow
such people ' to stifle the
freedom of groups like Rho
Delta? Do your part take
a Red Dot home to meet
your mother.
o
& campus
Phone HE 2-3645
f how aMa-H
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v y
