Page 2 University Daily Kansan Tuesday, Oct. 4, 1955.
Writer Hits At UDK Editorial
Editor:
Your recent editorial on the Western Civilization course includes nearly every popular misconception that has grown up about the course through the years. Your editorial writer is to be congratulated on the breadth and scope of his misinformation. Concerning his charges specifically:
(a) The hapless student who studies, fails; the wise one who uses a short-cut, passes, "in some instances with an A or B," as your editorial writer notes.
I have had the unenviable task of interviewing a great many students who failed the examination. I have never talked to one who showed the slightest acquaintance with more than a fraction of the original materials. The large majority admit in a few minutes they tried one (or sometimes several) of the short-cuts your reporter extolls.
Many of these unfortunate students must take the course again; sometimes they profess to see the error of their ways, and resolve to actually read the materials for their next attempt. After such a fine resolution the student usually terminates the interview by asking where on the campus the materials may be found.
Looking at another aspect, I have had considerably more than a hundred students under the proctorial system your reporter so deplores. In general the grades reflect the amount of effort expended by the student. Those who become intrigued by the materials and study them thoroughly usually make A's or B's; those who invest less receive less. The exceptions seem largely due to individual differences in ability and background. The department is not responsible for individual differences. Complaints in this regard should be addressed to Providence.
Your reporter is obviously intrigued by the prevalence of the myth that no-work makes Jack a bright boy in Western Civilization; so am I. Tentatively, it is suggested that students making both A's and F's in the course have a tradition to uphold. The unfortunate lad who fails blames the terrible difficulty of the course.
Incidentally, a student enrolled with me has as yet to fail the examination, despite the fact that several became so interested that they made the supreme sacrifice of reading the materials.
(b) The notes and paid-for lectures are "so accurate" in predicting the questions on the test, i. e., for a price you can get the answers in advance.
Of all the rumors this is the silliest. If there were 'leaks' in the examination system the grades would be a lot higher than they are.
(c) The cram course guarantees a passing grade or your money back.
This is hardly on a level with the other allegations, but the UDK has in the past two years printed this five times.
In the same two years the cram course has not, to my knowledge, refunded one cent to its unfortunate students who failed the course, and I have talked to a good many who demanded their money back without success. From this and the general slipshod character of the various "short-cuts" we may possibly infer the attitude of their sponsors toward the students who unwittingly pay them money.
Your reporter is correct regarding the antagonism towards the course; no one can be more aware of this than the instructors involved. This antagonism is almost always acquired prior to the slightest acquaintance with it, and is often coupled with the suspicion that some work will be required and the invincible determination to avoid this work.
It seems to me the efforts of our instructors, and—far, far more important—those of our students, tend to be frustrated by the legends surrounding the course, legends which have about as much basis in fact as the Russian discovery of the airplane. I am sure that one letter to the editor will not dispel the myths. But it seems equally sure that no good purpose is served by the senseless repetition of the myths by the UDK.
The foregoing represents an irate personal reaction; as such it does not represent departmental ophions or policy.
Larry Brunk
Larry Brunk Western Civilization Proctor
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
*THIS IS A POOR CLASS TO TAKE FIRST PERIOD—SO NOISY YA CANT SLEEP*
U.S. Males Have It Easy In Paying For Brides
Bv HARMAN W. NICHOLS
WASHINGTON—(U.P.)The going rate for a marriage license in the United States still is around $2. But the price of brid other lands is running into a lot of moolia.
For example, in West Pakistan, brides aren't bought much any more because parents are money hungry. The price now is so high that 13 to 16-year-old-girls are being abducted by swains who can't afford to pay the tab.
In Eastern Nigeria, the purchase of a wife has become so dear that a government committee has suggested maybe a price control, or worse, a rationing. Half a century ago, a tall, lush Ibo girl cost only $50, and an old hawk could be bought for as little as three goats. But as of now, according to the latest survey, an ordinary Ibo gal is a bargain at $300, and if you want one with some kind of learning the price runs as high as $840.
American gents have it pretty nice. All we have to do is ask the gal's dad if it is all right. If he agrees, it's fine. If he stumps his foot, there always is the other way out. Down a ladder from the lady's bedroom and off to the nearest justice of the peace.
With the Kenai, Alaskan Eskimos, all a man has to do is come to his lover's house with howdy and then start in as a cook, bottle washer, and sweeper of floors. Aside from that, he has to heat the bath water, no mean trick in Eskimo country. Then if the old man gives the nod he can claim his bride—if he is willing to continue to play servant for one year.
Even today, a would-be bridegroom in New Guinea kicks in a bunch of dog's teeth to his future father-in-law.
And better still, there like as not is no mother-in-law trouble.
Of course, once the bride is bought and paid for, some of these primitive husbands have it all over us.
After the purchase, their wives are kept in huts, or lean-tos and there is none of the problems American men have. No rent to pay, no $20 girdles to buy. They can shoot down a wild turkey and use the tail feathers to make their ladies a bonnet.
In the remote sections of Australia, Aborigines trade lady relatives for brides. And in Jammu, a daddy with only men around the house has a hard time getting a wife for his son.
But times are better over there. Time was when he had also to dump in a couple of human heads.
Polar Regions Worth Study
Natural scientists have casually estimated that if the Antarctic ice cap should ever melt, the surface of the world's oceans would rise by about 200 feet.
The polar reaches were once thought to be solid rock covered with a thin veneer of ice. Now the scientists are talking about a 10,-000-foot ice blanket.
This and other gaps in weather information, as far as the scientists are concerned, make the frozen wastelands of the South worth another look. And the way they are going about it should not be allowed to escape attention.
Scientists from 40 countries are embarking on an experiment known as the international geophysical year, 1957-58. It is expected to cost about $300 million.
Part of the endeavor will be establishment of 21 observation bases in Antarctica. Eleven countries, including the United States, Soviet Russia, France, and Great Britain, will participate in this phase.
Dailu Hansan
University of Kansas Student Newspaper News Room, KU 251 Ad Room, KU 376 Member of the Inland Daily Press association. Associated Collegiate Press association. Represented by the National Ad Rep. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $4.50 a year (add $1 a semester if in Lawrence). Published at Lawrence University varisity year except Saturdays and Sundays. University holidays and examination periods. Entered as second class matter, Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan.,
NEWS DEPARTMENT
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NewspapersWar On Censorship
WASHINGTON—(U.P.)—Newspapers,pressing vigorously for the facts about government, wage a continuing fight for the people's right to know.
Controversy over this fundamental right breaks out in so many places that the battle against suppression could hardly be waged from any central point. But sometimes it takes central action to bring particular incidents to national attention This has been the main virtue of the ASNE Freedom of Information Committee, and similar groups.
Since 1949, when this committee assumed a more active role, it has been involved in a great many tussles with agencies trying to withhold information. Some of its notable interventions indicate the scope of its operations, and the nature of the whole problem. In 1949, it protested Argentina's imposition of wire censorship; intervened as a friend of the court in a case against a Baltimore Supreme Court rule restraining crime reporting; protested censorship in Japan; denounced censorship in Guatemala; asked the defense establishment to re-examine rules under which names of peace-time casualities were withheld; obtained modification of Department of Justice instructions under which U. S. marshals interfered with photographs; defended the right of a local newspaper in Minnesota to vital statistics figures, and opposed requirement of non-Communist oaths for police passes in Detroit.
During 1950 the Committee fought for access to relief rolls, successfully over-turned a Washington State censorship by injunction, obtained the help of the National Safety Council in persuading local officials who misinterpreted the uniform traffic code as a warranty for secrecy in accident reporting.
Since 1950 controversies with federal agencies have become more and more frequent. The committee in 1951 dealt with some 65 cases, including controversies with the RFC, the Department of Labor, the Federal Security Agency, the National Military Establishment, the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Board of Parole, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. There were many disputes over the treatment of photographers trying to get pictures of accidents involving military planes disputes which finally resulted in orders by all branches of service banning physical interference with photographers by military personnel.
In 1952 and 1953, these efforts were climaxed by the publication of Dr. Harold Cross' book "The People's Right To Know," commissioned by the ASNE.
The FOI committee obtained access to some tax settlement and abatement records. The defense establishment modified its policies governing the release of casualties. A campaign to open proceedings of committees of congress was commenced. (One third of all committee meetings are still secret.) By the end of 1953, freedom of information committees of editors were operating in all states but one.
Efforts to gain access to legislative proceedings were stepped up in 1954, but met with reverses. The first session of the 83rd Congress closed 44 per cent of its committee meetings. At the state level a serious setback was met with in North Carolina where access to appropriations committee proceedings was limited for the first time. There were local skirmishes with the Redevelopment Land Agency in Washington, the Miami University Board of Trustees, the State Literature Commission of Georgia, the Citizens Advisory Council of Washington, the County Boards of North Carolina, the City Traffic Department of Los Angeles, the State Conservation Commission of Wisconsin, the Illinois Budgetary Commission. The Department of Agriculture was persuaded to release loan and aid facts. A fight to gain access to congressional pension lists was lost. The first classification order was withdrawn and replaced with another which reduced the agencies having power to classify, diminished the right to delegate this power, redefined the security classifications, and eliminated the restricted category. The committee had its first skirmishes over Canon 35 banning photography in court rooms.
All these things have been undertaken and yet there is still much to do in the fight for the people's right to know. Newspapers will continue to defend this right.
J. R. Wiggins
Washington Post and Times Herald
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