Page 2 University Daily Kansan Thursday, April 3, 1952
Editorials
Language Problem Core Is Poor Instruction
(Editor's Note: Earlier in the semester the Daily Kansan carried an editorial and much comment concerning the value of the foreign language requirement. Here is a view on how some of the present failings might be remedied.)
The core of the foreign language problem in American colleges is improper and ineffectual instruction. Because language courses are not conducted correctly, students rightfully complain that the study is worthless and that they can better apply their talents with other subjects.
Opponents of this premise must face this basic fact. Most students do not learn how to speak, read, or write foreign languages after two or three semesters of training.
The study might be purposeful in oiling a student's mental mechanism and it might give him a better understanding of his own language but these objectives do not convince the average freshman and sophomore of the worth of the study. Students want foreign language to be their tool and in most cases, the present method of instruction precludes this.
The services soon discovered the best way to learn a foreign language is to live it—to do nothing else but speak, think, write, read, eat, and live that language. The plan was successful.
During the war, the armed services needed interpreters. There were no credits involved, no minds to develop, and no attitudes to shape. Linguists were needed and with the help of educators the military men devised methods to train them.
The colleges could do as well. For one semester, they could set up an intensified course of study of one foreign language. In this course the student would study language, language and more language without any disconcerting influences.
Monotony could be relieved by employing different teachers, by using different techniques during the same course, and by studying the culture and history of the country involved.
To make the plan more effective, students should live in separate houses for the semester where strict rules regulating language could be enforced. The inconvenience would be more than offset by the results. Foreign students from the respective countries might be invited to serve as proctors to facilitate discussion and study of the language.
By using the language in concentrated effort, the student would learn how to read, write, and speak it fluently instead of carrying away a few useless phrases, eight credit hours, and frequent complaints about their wasted time. —Chuck Zuegner.
Short Ones
It's difficult to see why everyone is so worried about the basketball players keeping up with their classes. No one else has been keeping up with them since the tournaments started.
A professor named Chafee speaks at the University and we hope that his words of wisdom will not disappear like you-know-what before the wind.
POGO and his friends
Interpretive Articles
Sen. Robert A. Taft is back in the presidential candidacy race after pulling away from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in a writing campaign in the Nebraska primary and sweeping up 24 of the 30 delegates in Wisconsin.
With his name on the Badger state ballot, he polled considerably more votes than his closest opponent, Governor Earl Warren of California.
Twin Victories Put Taft Back In The Race
In the Democratic race, Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, swept victories in both state primaries. Sen. Robert Kerr of Oklahoma provided some competition in Nebraska but Kefauver seemed to remain the more popular.
Taft's revival was an indication of his strength in the Middle West after he suffered defeats by General Eisenhower in New Hampshire and Minnesota.
Wisconsin defeats to other presidential candidates in years past have given the state the name of a "graveyard." Some persons predicted Senator Taft would suffer the same fate encountered by the late Wendell Willkie, whose bid in 1944 was turned back after a defeat in Wisconsin.
Senator Taft considered his win of the 24 delegates a "tremendous victory." He had previously announced if he won 20 delegates he would term it a victory.
Before the primary Harold Stassen announced he would give one-half of his delegate votes to General Eisenhower in the event that he won. A similar agreement was claimed to have been made by Warren but was denied by Republican campaign leaders.
Through the means of sharing delegates, the people had a round-about way of voting for General Eisenhower, his name wasn't entered on the ballot and write-ins can't be counted in Wisconsin.
In Nebraska Senator Taft maintained a steady but not overwhelming vote over General Eisenhower. Neither of the two men's names were entered on the ballot but they met directly as the result of an extensive write-in campaign.
Mr. Stassen, following the return, pointed out that he and Governor Warren piled up more votes together than Senator Taft had. But the Ohio senator was more interested in counting delegates than actual votes. General Eisenhower watched the returns closely but offered no comment.
Senator Kefauver, who had been conceded to win in both primaries, got an extra boost when President Truman announced he would not seek the nomination. In Wisconsin President Truman's name was not on the ballot but men were running as representatives to give the chief executive their delegates.
Senator> Kefauver, who has been campaigning vigorously, modestly said his vote "exceeded my expectations. . . I am thrilled . . . I believe it sets a pattern for the whole country."
Senator Kerr made a good showing in Nebraska against Senator Kefauver but the coonskin cap senator just seemed to be the man they wanted
Mr. Stassen's strength for the president has declined since a victory over both Senator Taft and Gov. Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 in Nebraska. In the same year Mr. Stassen won in Wisconsin when he took 19 delegates to General Mac-Arthur's 8.
Both Mr. Stassen and Governor Warren have announced they will continue to campaign despite their defeats. Mr. Stassen is looking to the Illinois primary April 6 as the "most important test in the Middle West." —Lou Fry and Charles Burch.
Comments
THE RACE IS OVER . . .
At Phoenix college there has been a successful "anti-Red" attempt to drive the textbook, "Basic Economics," off the college booklist. The student newspaper Bear Tracks fought the ban, which was pressed by the American Legion. Here are excerpts from the Bear Tracks editorial following the ban:
"The race is over and apparently we put our money on the wrong horse. A segment of the 'people' has succeeded in driving the textbook, 'Basic Economics,' out of the college curriculum.
... The American Legion is a great proponent of American tradition and democracy, yet in this case we feel it used most undemocratic means in passing the resolution ... How many members of the Legion had an opportunity to read the book?
" . . Hereafter the college will have to walk on Christmas tree balls, so to speak, in order not to arouse the hysterical wrath of the Legion, which seems to have picked the college as its particular 'target for tonight.'
"The American Legion has succeeded in banishing this book. What or whom will they hit next in their 'democratic' system of 'improvement.'
The Mustang, Western college, New Mexico, is a bit skeptical about student intelligence. In a survey on knowledge of current events, students at Western college put in a rather dismal performance.
STUDENTS ARE BRIGHT? . . .
How many U. S. senators does each state have? Out of 100 students asked this question 17 missed the question. One student said 369, six left it blank.
Who is Anthony Eden (Britain's foreign minister)? Forty-four missed this question. Where is the Suez canal? Twenty-four wrong. How many 3-cent stamps can you buy for 75 cents? Ten students "missed it a mile."
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