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University Daily Kansan
Friday. Sept. 20, 1963
Outdated Whims
The chairman of the psychology department at Park College, Parkville, Mo., resigned recently because of the traditional hazing of freshmen at the church-related school.
The president of the college said he was sorry to see the chairman leave, but could not agree with his reason for resigning.
It seems illogical that a modern-day educational institution would condone the archaic practices of making first-year students go through unpleasant antics to please the sadistic whims of upperclassmen.
IT SEEMS EVEN MORE illogical that the president of a college, a man who holds a Ph.D., would not only stop such activity as "Hell Week," but would speak in favor of it.
The president said it was better for the students to have their fun with the blessing and supervision of the administration than to resort to hazing behind the faculty's back—which is about like saying brainwashing is fine as long as you tell everyone you are doing it.
Hazing small-college freshmen and fraternity pledges was common 30 years ago, but institutions of higher learning have changed.
No longer is college a place for hep people with hip flasks to get a cheap sheepskin before stepping into the family business. Today, college is a highly competitive, taxing grind. Not only are the entrance requirements more difficult, but with more concentrated teaching methods and tougher assignments, it is becoming more difficult to stay in school.
SINCE THE EMPHASIS in college is changing to a more serious academic pursuits, why don't these archaic practices of orientation make a similar chance?
Some people say the hazing of a group of students helps establish an espirit de corps. They reason that the Army uses similar methods in basic training, but perhaps the Army is not as interested in training its "students" along educational lines as a college should be.
Other people say that hazing is the best way to make the new student realize he is no longer under the protective wing of high school and must make a psychological change to the hard ways of college.
A few say that hazing is good because it makes the student realize his need for the school or house, as the case may be, and makes him want to belong all the more.
WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS, however, is that the freshman carries into his upperclass years a desire for revenge—the most common, though least admitted, reason for hazing.
The upperclassmen are not, of course, returning the punishment to the persons who hazed them, but the idea of seeing freshmen eat raw eggs, do calisthenics at 4:30 in the morning and rub molasses in each other's hair seems to ease pent-up, sadistic emotions.
But, then, watching a freshman mechanically back up against a wall when an upperclassman walks by might give the old ego a real boost.
Mike Miller
The People Say...
Sir:
I read with great interest Blaine King's editorial of the 18th, "Provining the Wrong Thing." I would like to say that I consider it a prime example of muddled thinking, and I would like to explain why.
Mr. King states that "the bearded boy-wonders are prostituting Thoreau." (By the way, one of Mr. King's greatest objections to them seems to be that they are bearded.) Thoreau went to jail for not paying taxes. Now, I think that we can assume that the payment of due taxes by all is necessary for efficient government. This is appreciated in the Constitution, Article I. Section 8, where among other things, we read: "The Congress shall have power: To lay and collect taxes." I think that Thoreau saw, as anyone today can see, that it was necessary for him to go to jail for this offense of non-payment of taxes, because, if he could refuse to pay and get away with it, the next citizen could refuse also. The worth of the objection behind the refusal is not important; if one wants to change the purposes for which taxes are spent, he should do it through the proper channels, his representatives. This way, the entire social structure is not disrupted, and the order which is essential to good government is preserved.
However, I don't believe that even the most rabid rightist can maintain that this Cuban trip has been disruptive of our social structure, or that innocent people have been harmed thereby. On the contrary, it seems to me that contact with other peoples who profess other ideologies is just what is necessary in this conformity-mad and intellectually dead country. Surely, therefore, Mr. King cannot believe that the law which Thoreau broke and the law which the Cuban visitors broke are truly comparable. (I wonder, as another sidelight, where in the Constitutional travel bans are sanctioned.) Thoreau's breach of tax laws could have set a dangerous precedent; the only precedent set by the Cuban visit is that of free and unrestricted search for knowledge through personal experience.
LET US ADMIT that Mr. King says that the travel ban is wrong and that the visitors were right in going to Cuba anyway. What is truly amazing is that he says that they should be punished for obeying a law which is unjust. Mr. King describes HUAC as "essentially a fact-finding process." Later he says: "... no body governmental or private, should have the power to take away the freedoms of any man..." (Carefully analyzed, this last statement becomes ridiculous in itself, because government of necessity takes some of man's natural freedoms away.) Yet HUAC served notice on these visitors to surrender their freedom of movement to come to Washington to testify on matters which do not lie in government's domain in the first place, and Mr. King thinks that they do not deserve what freedoms they have for objecting to this.
On the one hand, man is perfectly and absolutely free, and on the other, he is told that he does not deserve any freedom at all for objecting to the encroachment of government upon one of the admittedly most important freedoms which he has.
In conclusion, I wish to express my hope that Mr. King does not consider the dignity and decorum of a congressional hearing more important than a demonstration of man's freedom to do what he wishes and go where he pleases as long as he does not inflict harm on other people or unduly disrupt society.
F. A. Whitehead Pratt sophomore
(Editor's note: While I do not agree with all that the New York Herald Tribune says in the editorial reprinted below, the editorial does bring out part of the truth. I was not wrong about Wrong Thing." I do not object to the right of the "bearded boy wonders" to object, or even to their beards. But I do object to the immature idea that the New York Times would jeer committee members. Mr. Whitehead and other interested parties might read the Sept. 13 and 14 issues of the New York Times for descriptions of the incredulous rogue surrillness and irresponsibility of the Cuba visitors..-BK)
New Yorkers are, praise be, not familiar with the sight of black-halmeted riot police. It took a group of youths from a number of different parts of the country, who defied their government's ban on travel to Cuba and then came to New York to brag about it, to bring this ominous sign of civil disturbance to Times Square.
The young travelers made a great fuss in Washington about infringements on their rights and the activities of the capital police—who had to use force to eject disturbers from sessions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The New York police also had to use force. This time it was to protect the misguided tourists
from Cubans who maintained, with justice, that they knew more about Cuba than the pampered guests of Castro.
we are sure that Dr. Castro explained to his immature visitors that revolution cannot be fought without violence. Perhaps, if they looked on the faces and listened to the shouts of the anti-Castro demonstrators yesterday (Sunday, Sept. 16), they caught a clearer picture of what violence could really mean, and what the civil disobedience they lauded could lead to. If so, they should have been grateful for a lesson in the values of freedom under law. And grateful, too, to the police who uphold both.
—In the New York Herald-Tribune
Sir:
Last night I witnessed something which I consider to be a potential detriment to a possibly great football season here at KU. Perhaps, if attention is called to this problem at this early stage, it might be corrected before it is too late.
Because I am an avid fan of the Jayhawks I, like other students, am able to recognize some of the prominent members of the 1963 football team. Last night (Wednesday) three players whom Jack Mitchell considers to be key men on his first and second strings were in a campus tavern drinking beer to a point which would upset the metabolism of any athlete who considers himself to be in top condition. Anyone who is aware of the common-sense rules which players should follow knows that intoxicating beverages rate at the beginning of the DON'T list. This is especially true when the crucial and traditional opener with TCU is only two days away.
Many sportswriters are currently respecting the possibilities for the 1963 KU football season. They say a great deal depends on our powerful offense. What would they say if they were aware of the conduct of these people? I am sure all KU football followers will agree.
Shawnee-Mission junior
Jack Zinn
The Kansan will print all letters received from readers, insofar as space allows. Letters should be kept as short as possible, to insure printing soon after receipt. The laws of libel and the rules of good taste must be observed. Letters must be typewritten and must be signed. Letters published in "The People Say" do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Kansan editors.
THE WASHINGTON POST
"And Remember, Nothing Can Be Accomplished By Taking To The Streets"
BOOK REVIEWS
THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE and WEIR OF HERMISTON, by Robert Louis Stevenson (Everyman's Library).
In some views these rate at the top of the Stevenson list, even shunting to one side the fine adventure books he wrote for boys. The first is a tale of the Scottish highlands that has the flavor of Scott, though more perception. The second is an unfinished novel that is considered to have some of Stevenson's best writing.
The author considers here the Stuart uprising of 1745, and the implacable hatred between two brothers, a feud culminating finally in America. "The Master of Ballantrae" is a wild and romantic tale.
The suggestion is made that this novel was only preparation for "Weir of Hermiston," which is more devoted to character and psychological detail.
THE TALISMAN, by Sir Walter Scott (Everyman's Library).
Scott remains the writer for the young in heart, despite efforts, often unsuccessful, of critics and professors of literature to undermine him. "The Talisman" may not be the best Scott, but it is a rousing story of the Crusades, of Sir Kenneth of Scotland who goes to the Holy Land as a knight under Richard Coeur de Lion.
But Sir Kenneth, though nominally at center stage, has to yield to Richard and to the infidel Saladin, as Ivanhoe had to yield to most of his supporting cast. This may be a commentary on Scott, who frequently creates sharper characters in the lesser roles.
ROMOLA. by George Eliot (Everyman's Library).
"Romola" was the lone historical novel of George Eliot, and it also is her most complex and developed story. It is not merely historical in the conventional sense in which we understand the term today in relation to historical novels. The book is complex and intricate, and the author's understanding of social forces and the then developing realistic mode is marked.
The setting is Florence at the time of Savonarola. Romola is a woman who finds consolation in the movement behind Savonarola after the failure of her marriage to a weakling. Miss Eliot depicts the contrast between good and wicked in her portraits.
Dailij Känsan
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