PAGE SIX
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1949
The Editorial Page-
A Guest Editorial—
When asked why he is in school one college Junior replied, "It's the thing to do. It used to be that everyone went to high school, but now everyone goes to college." When asked why he happened to be visiting the Museum of Art, he said because he had nothing else to do at the moment.
He is hardly unusual in not knowing his exact aim in this life, but his implication of getting by as somnolently as possible is disquieting. This is not the place to wonder why most people wander in Academe, but it may be well to inquire into phases of the citizen's private life as they exist beyond biological exigencies, perhaps to find the worth of such a "useless" object as an art museum.
One might tell the Junior the reason for going to an art museum is that it is the thing to do, a reason which at first sounds as odd as his for going to school. An ultimately valid reason really is the Junior's "didn't have anything else to do at the moment." Unoccupied, he dropped in from curiosity, and if the museum was at work he stayed, diverted. A tragic dichotomy is that which now exists between amusement and elevation: modern man too often pays lip service to the spirit and then sneaks off to the movies.
Amusement once had deeply spiritual values and a holy purpose, from Aristophanes through Shakespeare to Shaw. An art museum is both a Delphic treasury and a spot for diversion, a place in which the lifting up of the mind can be sheer enjoyment. Enjoyment is the word; education is one goal of the museum, but it is education far removed from facts aimlessly inculcated. It is education for relaxation and enjoyment that the heart may be civilized. An art museum is a warehouse of which the main commodity, beauty, is one of the few constants left in a world challenged of survival.
Antique splendor endures in the loveliness of artifacts as surely as in ideas, and the beauty of a Coptic tapestry may be far more accessible than the contemporaneous and grander notions of Origen. "But," scream the sociologists or psychologists, "so what! Both are trivial and unimportant." Trivial they may be, unimportant, no. Today the beauty of a Coptic shroud or a Winslow Homer oil is unquestionably trivial but thoroughly important. Such beauty is a noble thing to beguile the vision and in the doing to relax the spirit.
The Junior was right in visiting the Museum of Art because he had nothing else to do, for he could find many splendid, mysterious things to pique his curiosity, surprises for the eye, sparks for the intellect. The Museum of Art is being rearranged to present its best things at par and to show study pieces in sequence; it is not a curio cabinet but a place where nothing is ever quite the same.
All future special exhibitions are planned for the Junior's pleasure, of which two scheduled for the spring, "The world of Goethe" and "Art in the Teacher," are but a start. By the second semester, it will be possible for the Junior to look at a Korean pot, read the New Yorker, and drink a cup of coffee all in a half hour in the Museum.
These unconscious pleasures grow on cultivation to stand ultimately among the major ones of life. If the Junior realizes this fact then he may go to the Museum (as well as to college) because it is the thing to do.
—Dr. John Maxon, Director. Museum of Art.
A psychologist recently reported that homely women often have superior personalities. Some might call that rationalizing.
Some people keep on a diet most of the month. Veterans in school usually limit to the last few days of each month.
A Legislation Aid
The new procedure rule, adopted Jan. 3 in the opening session of the House of Representatives, will speed legislation through the lower house at least. This rule allows the speaker to introduce legislation to the floor if there has been a delay in the committee's handling. Formerly, 218 signatures were needed to petition the speaker to call a bill for a vote before the committee is ready to release it.
With this rule, the elected majority may carry out the administration's program more easily because they can circumvent any unnecessary delays by the committees in bringing proposed legislation to a vote. The record of the "do nothing" 80th congress shows what can happen under the old ruling. At it was difficult to acquire 218 signatures, a senior committeeman opposed to a bill, could table it until too late for congress to act. At
This rule will also be particularly valuable in that it will strengthen the hand of the administration in the event State's Righters combine with the Republicans. A combination of those two forces in the lower house would prove an effective bloc of votes.
The need for speedy legislation was pointed up in the recall of the 80th congress for an extra session. Legislation that should have been handled in regular session was "supposed" to have been handled in the extra session. However, with the new procedure ruling, chances that the 81st congress will be a "do nothing" congress are definitely lessened. —Gerald V. Fetteroff.
To the average 18-year-old, the term B. C. has taken on a new meaning. Now it designates Before Conscription.
The first lady of China picked the wrong psychological time to approach the Americans for more aid to China. With current Christmas shopping expenses, the mere mention of more donations sends the average taxpayer into convulsions.
"China is a big subject," says the Russian bear as he licks his chops.
Daily Kansan
University
Student Newspaper of the UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Member of the Kansas Press Assn, Nac-
ton, and the Associated Collegiate
Assn., and the Associated Collegiate
Press. Represented by the National Ad-
dress Service. 245 Madison Ave.
New York, NY
Editor-In-Chief ... Maurice C. Lungren
Managing Editor ... Hal D. Nelson
Asst. Man. Editor ... Nate Murphy
Asst. Manager ... Brian B. Kelly
City Editor ... Robert Newman
Asst. City Editor ... Nora Temple
Asst. Editor ... James Dean
el. Editor ... Richard D. James
Asst. Tel. Editor ... Larry Funk
Asst. Editor ... Rory M. Sault
Sports Editor ... Osmere R. Lawrows
Asst. Sports Editor ... Marvin L. Rowlands
Society Editor ... Rosemary Rospaw
Business Manager
Advertising Mgr.
Natl Adv. Mgr.
Circulation Mgr.
Classified Mgr.
Classified Mgr.
Asst. Class Mgr.
Asst. Class Mgr.
Promotion Mgr.
Don L. Tennant
Don Welch
Charles O'Comor
Ruth Clayton
Dean Knuth
Don Waldron
Yvonne Cook
William E. Beck
Richard Reed
Jay Janes Appoint Dance Chairmen
Committee chairmen for the annual Vice-Versa dance to be held March 5 were appointed Wednesday at a meeting of Jay Janes, women's pep organization.
The chairmen are Peggy Shannon, decorations; Mary Hercules, Pep King committee; Mary Louise Fischer, program; Emily Stewart, publicity; Phyllis Debus, refreshments; and Jean Sullivan, tickets.
Jay Janes will give a rush party in February to select women to fill the vacancies in the organized and independent houses the second semester.
- Auto Glass
- Mirrors
- Glass Table Tops
AUTO WRECKING AND JUNK CO.
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LINDLEY'S KANSAS CLEANERS
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Quality Cleaning at Reasonable Prices
Men's Suits, Cleaned and Pressed - - 75c
Ladies' Plain Dresses, Cl. and Pressed - 79c
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MOST WELCOME!
Make This Your Week-End RENDEZVOUS Come and Meet Your Classmates and Enjoy Yourselves
MARTIN'S HIGHWAY CLOVERLEAF
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Savor The Flavor!
When you savor the flavor of our juicy steaks, broiled to your order—rare, medium, well-done served upon a sizzling platter you'll admit it's as good as it looks.
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Rose's Rancho
2 miles north on Highway 24
CLOSE OUTS
After Inventory Sale!!
Black leather zipper notebooks, were $6.95, now $4.25.
★ Sheaffer's dip desk sets, were $2.50. Now $1.50.
★ Boxed stationery, was $1.00, now 45c.
★ White indelible ink, was 90c, now 25c.
★ Scripto pencil, eraser and lead sets, were 40c, now 20c.
★ Leather billfolds—1/2 price.
★ Colored Scotch tape, was 10c, now 5c.
★ Automatic Giant pencil sharpeners, were $2.50, now $1.75.
Lawrence Typewriter Exchange
735 MASS. ST.
P. S. $1.00 ball point pens—50c.
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