PAGE SIX UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN. LAWRENCE.KANSAS MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1947 As The Kansas Sees It Guest Editorial What Are These Humanities? Many students, when they see a poster announcing a lecture to be given by T. V. Smith next Tuesday night in Fraser theater on "The Humanities in Modern Life," may very properly ask "What are these humanities?" It will be interesting to hear what "T. V." himself has to say about this, for the word is used with a variety of meanings. In our own University the courses classified as the humanities include literature, philosophy, history, and the fine arts. However, you can't distinguish the humanities merely by catalog titles or departmental classification. Certain courses in science may be more humanistic than say, a course in music that teaches only the technique of playing an instrument. What is it, then, that humanistic studies have in common to distinguish them from others? Their Characteristics One distinction lies in their emphasis on values, or as the philosopher puts it, "the good, the true, the beautiful." What is good literature, good music, good conduct; and what distinguishes the best from the mediocre and the bad? These are great problems of the humanist. They were debated by the ancient Greeks and they are still being debated, for the objective of the humanities is not so much "the correct answer" as the development of a capacity for sound judgment, a well-balanced perspective, and a sense of discrimination which will guide him in any situation involving a choice of alternatives. And after all, our lives are determined by the daily choices we make. A sound characteristic of the humanities is that they contribute primarily to the development of the individual mind and personality for its own sake. This is attained through intimate contact with the best that men have thought and said and done—the best literature, the best music and art, the best achievements in all fields of human activity as handed on to us in man's works and in history. Such humanistic studies, primarily personal as they are, can hardly fail to produce not only better individuals but a better society as well. Program For The College But the tragic truth is that, despite our failure, Dr. Myrdal is right. East- Last spring the College faculty passed several resolutions submitted by the Humanities committee, one of which established an annual series of lectures by leading humanists. The lecture on Tuesday night by T.V. Smith will be the first. Another resolution provided for a new Humanities Major with some interesting features concerning which more will be heard later. Fortunately, the Committee did not recommend a required General Humanities course of the type appearing in so many universities today, for it was felt that humanities cannot produce their best effect when they are forced upon masses of students as just another requirement. Humanism is not a mass-produced commodity; it is a personal experience, a product of the individual mind and personality. The Tragic Truth American officials who had been trying to do just exactly that since the end of the war were surprised. Soviet opposition has blocked every move in this direction including the invitation of eastern European nations to participate in the Paris conference which considered the Marshall offer. In an age and society in which standards of value are largely based on immediate material ends, many students will naturally see no "dividends" in the humanities. Not long ago an article in the Daily Kansan said: "Vets want jobs, not Liberal Arts, Liberal arts . . . were considered by the Veterans Administration as not having definite job objectives." This indicates a very common set of values. Yet in the student body there are many who demand more from life than merely a job, worthy as that objective may be. It is for these students, interested in things of the mind and spirit, in personal and social values not measurable in dollars only, that the Committee on the Humanities was established. It is for these students that the committee hopes to provide means of enrichment in those human values to which no measure may be applied. May their number increase! Dr. Gunnar Myrdal, secretary of the United Nations economic committee for Europe, recently gave the United States a bit of undeserved blame. But in so doing he pointed out a tragic truth concerning recovery in Europe. —Charles B. Realey Professor of History Because the United States is concentrating on western Europe with its Marshall plan, Dr. Myrdal predicts failure of the plan. He further said that the United States should promote the recovery of eastern Europe and inferred that we are not interested in such a program. en and western Europe have always depended on each other. The eastern section furnished the grain products while the western part was heavily industrialized. They were interdependent. Now the Soviet blockade (and our failure to breach it) has divided the house of Europe against itself. The question now is whether this house can long stand in such a condition. One-Class Parties The difficulties which workingmen's parties are having in England and Germany show some of the advantages of the present American party system. The Republican and Democratic parties appeal to every class and economic level for votes. Because they are supported by all groups, they do not have to defer unduly to the pressure of any one group. In Great Britain, on the other hand, the Labor government represents in the main one class or economic level. Its life or death depends on the vote of the British workingman and the backing of the trade-unions. Yet the Labor government has had increasing difficulty with both the workingmen and the unions in trying to increase production and get support for the government program. It has even had to break strikes of trade-unions which form its support. Pulls Well On the Downgrade Daniel Bishop, St. Louis Star-Times The Social Democrat party in Germany constantly faces the problem of just how important a "slice" the trade-unions will have in this worker's party. Dr. Karl Schumacher, present head of the party, is guiding the party toward accepting the idea that the party is greater than the trade-unions. That the whole is greater than any of its parts is a basic geometric theorem. This has been true in American party politics. But parties supported by one group or economic level will constantly find this logical fact disturbed by intra-party pressure. The University DAILY KANSAN Member of the Kansas Press Assm. Na- tional Assm., and the Associated Collegiate Press. Represented by the National Ad- ministration Service, 420 Madison Ave. New York City, NY Student Newspaper of the UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Editor-in-Chief ... Clarke Thomas Managing Editor ... William T. Smith Asst Man. Editor ... Martin Minor Admin. Editor ... Alan Wittman Sports Editors .. James Raglin City Editor ... Alan J. Stewart Feature Editor ... A. D. Smith Marketing Editor ... Marty Marinelli Picture Editor ... Wallace Abbey Wire Editor ... Charles Hayes Business Manager Kenneth White Manager Ellison Bacon Classified Adv. Mgr. Bette Bacon National Adv. Mgr. Breuer Reddock Beever Harley Promotion Mgr. Mart Hurt Dear Editor Grade School? Dear Editor, When does a teacher stop being the proper authority in a classroom and become instead a Hitler-dictator? Yesterday in one of my classes the instructor got mad and ordered a student to leave the class room. This student wasn't even arguing with the teacher or anything. In fact, the student was just listening in on an argument and made some characteristic action which had nothing to do with what was going on. But this student was humiliated Streets and Test Dear Editor A person desiring a driver's license should be tested in Lawrence. If he passed that test, nothing could stop him. Tennessee street would be the first obstacle. When a person can go from Sixth to Twelfth without losing the wheels and from there to Eighteenth with the fenders intact, he is a driver. The blind corner at Fourteenth will separate the men from the boys. Fourteenth street should be the next test, Unitil a car with hinges in the middle is perfected, it will be a real chore to travel that street (?). While Jim the patrolman is on duty, the corner of 14th and Massachusetts is not impossible, but when he leaves, it's every man for himself. By this time the applicant is worn down and should fall easy prey to the double parking downtown. Some joker stops and ties up traffic for half a block on the inside lane. Maybe they should put parking meters in the center, too, and make it legal. Assorted blind corners and rough streets all over town will do for putting the final polish on our now exhausted applicant. Donald S. Vaughn College sophomore I think the need for discipline is beside the point. All us students know that the teacher has to be boss if we're going to learn anything. I'd even go so far as to say that a teacher should throw out someone who is ruining his class by inattention or noise. before the rest of us and had to leave the room to save further embarrassment. But even in that case I can't see why a teacher has any right to make a student crawl. We can't fight back because, after all, we've got to make our grade in that class. How are we going to really learn if we don't respect the teacher? Since when do college students have to be treated like a bunch of grade school kids who have to be called down and sent out of the room when they act naughty? I think we're too old for that. Name withheld by request College junior HEALTHFUL 834 Vermont "Tasty Fall Treat, Chi Galloway DELICIOUS Phone 182 Dixie Carmel Corn Shop 842 Massachusetts "THE PRETTIEST SPOT IN TOWN" Assorted Nuts - Carmel Corn - Carmel Apples - Seasoned Popcorn - Peanut Brittle - Hand-Dipped Chocolates - Carmel-Pecan Fudge - Popcorn Balls We welcome Orders For All Your Party Favors 842 Mass. Phone 1330