PAGE SIX
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1959
Guest Editorial
Marriage For Moderns
Where there is ignorance, suppression of truth and a denial of the normalcy of the human reproductive function, one always finds an avid interest in the dirty story, hidden sexual experimentation, and pornographic literature. This is just as true on a university campus as anywhere else.
Each semester campuses are flooded with advertising about certain sex books which falsify the facts about the relation of sex to marital adjustment, and which makes its appeal to the repressed and suppressed attitudes of students in matters of sex. As a result many copies of such books circulate around fraternity, sorority and other student houses on a sub-rosa basis, and most of the information that gets dispensed in this area of human living carries with it, as a result, a sense of guilt because of the manner in which it is obtained and has to be read. Each semester I have from 25 to 50 students who inquire whether this sex book is what its advertisers claim for it. According to the advertisers, the book formerly sold for $6 (heaven forbid) and is now a bargain for $1.98, that 90 per cent of divorces are due to sexual maladjustment, and so on.
A university cannot stop this kind of advertising. It can, however, take the same scientific and realistic attitude toward human development and relations that it does toward the physical sciences.
The reason literature of this kind flourishes in student houses is because on most college campuses there is the same suppression of and false and unscientific attitude toward human reproduction that one would find in the smallest and most illiterate community in the state. It would seem to me that a university should teach biology, zbology, child development and similar courses in such a way that students would have an opportunity to study and discuss "the facts of life" in an open and scientific manner.
Why in any university, should we teach the biology of man and when we come to the reproductive system, talk about the pig? This is a curious example of the theory of transfer of learning. Why in any university, should we be liberal enough to investigate all aspects of physical science, but when it comes to human social relations take the attitude that certain research studies should be omitted from reading lists, that sex books be kept in the library vault, that sex is a dirty and nasty part of human relations (a 17th century attitude) or that college students are not old enough nor mature enough to learn about such things.
Is the fact of bi-sexuality so abhorrent to the "scientific" mind that it cannot be looked at and discussed factually and scientifically?
God gave man the power to procreate. To perpetuate ignorance of this important function is to degrade it rather than to raise it to higher scientific and spiritual levels. The old Paulist idea that "it is better to marry than to burn" would seem to have been long since outmoded as a dominant theory upon which to base successful marriage in the 20th century. The mixture of this kind of philosophy with science does harm to both religion and science. It would be a healthier practice for libraries to make available to all students and faculty, a number of books on sex and human reproduction so that a knowledge of this particular likeness of man to God is not omitted from their education. There are many such good books available.
In my opinion every fraternity, sorority and all other student houses should have a good selection of books that will give the reader, male or female, essential factual information, a wholesome philosophical view-point, and a sound basis for dealing with his own developing sexuality, both while in college and after graduation.
Courses that are supposed to deal with human biology should be just as informative and helpful to the student in this area as they are about the eye, nose, throat, or foot. Every teacher training institution should see that its teachers are thoroughly grounded in scientific facts and proper attitudes in this field. Our high schools should teach human biology which covers the human reproductive function, and it should be given to all students.
If we want misinformed, guilt ridden, abnormally minded students, who are the prey to all kinds of pornographic literature, and who will pass the same attitudes on their own children, we will perpetuate the attitudes of the past century, a policy that has led to distortion and damage to the lives of so many young couples. Human relations scientists cannot escape the responsibility for the same rigorous attack upon ignorance and superstition in their field that physical scientists have made.
This will take courage, but courage on the part of educators is long overdue. I fear that too many school people follow the example of Peter, who thrice denied his Master, rather than the example of courageous Jeremiah, who was an unpopular prophet, but who had the intelligence and integrity to see and follow implications of the facts of his time. All the Babbitts and boosters and pleasant Pollyannas shouted that they would not hearken to the trumpet. But at last they did hearken, Jerusalem was captured, the temple of Solomon was destroyed and Judah was driven into Babylonian bondage.
Robert G. Foster, Professor of Family Relations, Dept. of Sociology and Home Economics.
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The Jay Hawk yell had its origin over doughnuts and cider at a social gathering following a meeting of the University Science club.
A room in which medical students can read, loaf, and smoke is being furnished in Haworth hall. Equipment is being moved in, and it is hoped that the room will be ready for medical students in the near future, said Paul G. Roofe, professor of anatomy.
Medical Students To Have Own Lounge
"It will be a sort of medical school 'union' for the students," Prof. Roofe said, "but the room will also be used as a histological laboratory classroom in the summer."
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