University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 9, 1955
Little Honor Seen In Honor System
(Ed. note: The Kansan Editorial Board is opening the editorial page for a discussion of the proposed UVO honor system. The Board itself is opposed to the present plan as it now stands, but we are more than willing to accept suggestions as to other honor systems or modifications of the one now proposed.)
Honor is not a quality that may be imposed on any individual. You can prevent a person from being a cheat, but you cannot make him honest.
The proposed honor system of the University Veterans organization seeks not to make the student honest but to prevent him from cheating.
Under the system proposed by the UVO an honor committee, composed "primarily of the ten presidents of the schools of the University" shall have final jurisdiction over any infringement of the honor system. Pray tell what is to insure that these ten persons are honorable themselves?
In the explanation that precedes the provisions of the honor system, it is suggested that a student who suspects someone of dishonorable activities should work in conjunction with two or three other students to catch or trap the suspect. The details as to the methods of apprehending a suspect sound like a handbook for the amateur detective.
Cheating, in all its various forms, is certainly not unknown at KU. However, the faculty and administration take ample precautions in most instances to keep cheating at a minimum. In cases where students are actually caught in such activities the penalty is severe.
The explanation is also quite explicit in listing the activities which the honor committee would deem dishonorable conduct. Included in these activities are sexual immorality, failure to pay debts and the transfer of athletic tickets. Who is to point the finger in the first instance? As to the second and third the laws of the state and the University cover such actions quite adequately.
Ideally such precautions should not be necessary. The feeling among the student body as a whole should be such that a student would rather flunk honestly than be caught cheating and suffer the social disapproval of the majority.
In a school the size of KU such an attitude may best be fostered in comparatively small living groups. Sororities and fraternities should impart an attitude of scrupulous honesty to their initiates; scholarship halls are pre-supposed to encourage such an attitude, but there is probably room for improvement. Freshmen living in dormitories are under the guidance of upper-class women who are selected on a basis that certainly includes scholastic honesty. If such an attitude prevailed in these living groups the feeling would surely be impressed upon the remainder of the student body.
As for veterans, many of whom live in private homes or university dorms, the UVO should certainly be instrumental in fostering an attitude of scholastic integrity.
Honor, in every phase of life, is certainly to be desired. Suspicion, intrigue, and fear, however, are not the best methods of achieving this end. In the final analysis honor is the responsibility of the individual and by developing and maintaining it in ourselves we will best serve the group. —Margot Baker
Like father, like son—or—both Edward G. Robinsons are in the dog house.
"In afraid you have the wrong idea obout our marriage and family relations course."
One Woman's Opinion
Everyone knew it would happen. It just took a little time for Moscow to get out the reports on its educational advancement. It has now, and some are becoming much more concerned than they have over the past reports of excellence from the Soviet. They are rightfully concerned, for Moscow is simply pointing out the faults in the American educational system which have been known all along.
Sen. Lister Hill (D-Ala.) recently called for a bill of rights for teachers and warned that Russia is outstripping this nation in technical education. The senator went on to say that the United States's edge in "superior brainpower" is slipping away, particularly in the field of engineers and scientists.
He predicted that Russian facilities will turn out approximately a quarter of a million technicians in non-engineering categories this year, while American will number only about 10,000.
The bill of rights for teachers might be a helpful step in solving the problem which school administrators all over the country are facing. Good teachers make a vast difference between an alert, curious, and bright student and one which is dull and indifferent to learning.
This difference is not accomplished on the college level, where the engineers and technicians are ultimately produced. The difference is accomplished in grade school and junior high, where a student's attitude is first molded. It is there that good teachers are needed, and plenty of them.
Half of the children who start school in the United States never finish high school, and only about half of the top talent in high school goes on to college. Economical factors cannot be so well argued as they once were, for scholarship and aid are available to the interested and ambitious students.
The principal fault in the educational system is the low salary scale which has kept good prospective teachers from entering the field for years. H. E. Chandler, director of the teachers appointment bureau, said that the average salary for a teacher with a degree but no experience is $3,200 to $3,300 per year.
"We have lagged behind other professions, it is true, although I believe progressive steps are now being taken," he said. "Of course, it's doubtful whether teachers will ever earn as much as plumbers, for instance."
This year there are 50 per cent more jobs to fill at the placement bureau than there were last year. One of the main difficulties is the number of women students who are either married now or are planning to be immediately after graduation. But why does the profession have to be practiced by women, as it has come to be?
The answer lies in the steps which will be taken in the future. Although it is noble, it is not appealing to young men who could earn more money elsewhere. Until the profession is developed to meet competition with other fields, Russia will probably continue to outstrip the United Sates in technical education.
—Irene Coonfer
Daily Hansan
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3. 9 POST HALL SYNDICATES
... Letters ...
What's wit dis hon System? If dose Vets feel so honorable, whyn't dey stay in da Army, where dey coulda served dere country?
Dishonorably yours Jim Murdock college freshman
Us red-blooded American boys is for broads, booze, and bullets. We ain't ready for no reform yet. What dist campus needs is more guys like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.
Dear Sir:
This letter is a complaint against the publication of advertisements in the Daily Kansan which contain the letters T.G.I.F. I understand these letters generally stand for Thank God It's Friday. Isn't it blasphemy to say "T.G.I.F." and mean "Let's drink beer."
These advertisers operate evil places. Why does the Daily Kansan cooperate with them?
How many of us who say, "TG.-I.F." also say, "TG.I.S." and mean "Thank God It's Sunday?" How many of us donate more money to Christ than we spend on alcoholic drinks?
William Thordarson,
Assistant instructor of
Geology
Dear Sir:
It is inspiring to learn of the active participation of so accomplished a person as Mr. "Rip" Collins in so worthy an assembly as the Model United Nations conference the other day (UDK, March 7, 1955, p. 1). Let no one henceforth assert that we in Kansas—and perhaps especially here on the Hill—are not aware of our responsibilities toward our fellow men the world around. We too have some sense of the great heights yet to be scaled before we may reach a decent brotherhood of all men. We too know that the way is steep and dangerous, that we may perhaps sometimes slip and fail and be hurt. We too know that there may here and there be snakes among the rocks—or, when it isn't too dry, even in the grassy places. But we try to keep our heads up, our eyes fixed on the stars, or as we say in Kansas: "Ad astra per aspera."
It is horrifying, however, to learn that so eminent a Democrat, student of law politician, United Nations advocate, mountain climber and herpetologist should—if he is quoted correctly in the feature story about him on page 6 of Monday's UDK—have so disastrously and publicly slipped in his quote remark. If he did express the headhunting ambition quoted, may we hope that he is unable to obtain student rates to Africa and that, perhaps, he strip his fangs before appearing as even an unofficial representative of Kansas at Geneva.
Very truly yours,
George Herman
Instructor of English
Undoubtedly every KU basketball fan and admirer of Chamberlain was filled with hope by Bill Mayer's "Sport Talk" in the March 1 issue of the Lawrence Daily Journal World. Mr. Mayer examined the merits of the University in light of the supposed criteria which would determine Chamberlain's selection of a University, and concluded that KU has "an excellent chance to land him." Think what that would mean to KU!
If Wilt (The Stilt) Chamberlain had stated the need for fair treatment of his people as a requisite for the place to which he would go, Lawrence, Kansas, would have a better than excellent chance "to land him." However, as suggested by the pace of progress in the elimination of racial discrimination in Lawrence, and the too frequent opinion that "it takes time" Mr. Chamberlain, in order "to do something for his people," would not choose KU. In this "cultural center of the Midwest," it would appear that democracy is awaiting the athletic development of Father Time, and the subsequent proof that the old man has at least 1/16 Negro blood.
Yours truly,
Phillip White
Fine arts sophomore
The Army Dog Training Center at Fort Carson, Colo., is the only military training installation of its type in the United States.
FREEZIN' REASON
The last ditch method of stopping on ice is to jam on the brakes — because it's usually the last ditch you will ever skid into. In the first place, stay out of situations which may require a quick stop. When you are in a zone with no traffic or mittens, You will stop quicker, and you will maintain better steering control while doing it.