by David 'Along nder
1'
Over The Hill
eviews
by Weft-Bear'
ar
1
I
t
f0
In
Analysis-
We laughed at the above cartoon. Then we wondered why.
The situation suggested is funny. Most students, on cam
pus will find it so. The humor' in it is of course, the essence
of :f tjn in all humor ... a loss of dignity.
It is not our intention to go into a dissertation on humor,
but it may be pointed out that the banana peel, custard pie,
or Charlie Chaplin forms of humor all revolve around this
one element. The human animal without his protective coat
ing of dignity.
- Just where the loss of dignity lies is a more interesting
question. Certainly "Ata Beta Pi' does not appear in a dig
nified light, with an apparent, brawl taking place under its
banner. Nor is the young lady bearing the label "import" an
example of that particular form of diginty becoming to fe
males. Her escort is essentially undignified, as he is caught
in the age-old stage trick of the double-take,, or some sort
of stupefaction. 7
The young lady at the right bears the brunt of the humor
in the situation. She is the slighted one, the dateless one, the
unacceptable, one. The reason is obvious. She is not partak
ing of the partciular form of social intercourse the universal
beverage which unifies all those around her.
Now we all know that the situation contains an important
element of fiction. The "coed" never, ne"ver, never, must see
a Fraternity Man's Drink, in a fraternity house. This gal
should be at a cabin party.
Aside from that point, the cartoon, depicts the true situa
tion. The dateless coed blames her condition on the regula
tions which effectually make her an unpleasant, and incon
venient presence in any fraternity house on any weekend,
z Who appears undignified? We believe it is the University
administration and the student government which allow the
ludicrous situation to exist.
Letters
Madam Editor:
.You recently published a
letter bv D. M. Kerley clarify
ing the status of certain re
solutions passed by the Phi. It
elicited a reply from Mam Hor
ton which you published Tues
day. Aside from its character as a
malicious personal attack upon
Mr. Kerley, Mr. Horton's letter
' contains specific statements
which I believe to be contrary
to fact.
O) Mr. Horton alleges in re
ferring to Mr. Kerley 's letter
that "Mr. Kerley speaks only
for himself." (He-does not say
for whom Mr. Horton speaks . . .
and I wonder!) The fact is that
Mr. Kerley writes on Phi acti
vities at the specific request of ,
'the Speaker of the Phi and of
the Phi Publicity Committee.
Mr. Kerley's letter servejl the
sole purpose of , correcting an.
erroneous impression given ear--her
publicity, written at least
in jpart ,by Mr. Horton. It was
not necessary ; for anyone to
"speak for the Phi' since the
Phi had already spoken quite
pointedly.
(2) Mr. Horton asserts that
he understands that the two re
solutions protesting racial dis
crimination were passed almost
without debate. He has no rea
son to understand this. An en
tire evening was devoted to this
subject. The debate was the
most thorough, careful, and or
derly we have had all fall. Mr.
Horton could easily have learn
ed all this b y talking to the
members who attended the
meeting or by listening to the
minutes at the next meeting.
(3) Mr. Horton asserts incor
rectly that "Fourteen members
-in all were absent, 13 present."
He is . presumably challenging
the presence of a quorum in an
effort to discredit , the proceed
ings of the Phi. There was a
legitimate though small quorum
present, as he could easily have
learned by inquiring of the
speaker of the Phi..
If Mr. Horton still doubts that
these resolutions ax the official
policy of tkc Phi he i referred
to the miaute o the . Society. I
re&res U&at fce aw. fit to write
his ill-tempered, inaccurate, and
irresponsible "tcHovr fnr H r
O VERHEARD "I'm thirsty,"
first words from student who
had; just seen "Come Fill The
Cupr" a minor takeoff on "The
Lost Weekend1 . ;
- - - -
Took a walk around the Vets
Club the ether day to see what
has happened to the former
favorite nightspot of many stu
dents. The building is now com
pletely full with furniture,
supplies, and leftovers from the
old club equipment. It's now a
storage room for equipment that
was. shipped for the new Med
School buildings. Since the Uni
versity had no space anywhere
else,' it was decided that the
Vets Club- and the Tin Can
would do the trick. Incidentally,
watch out when you take a look
" in from the porch. Some of the
wooden steps leading up to the
porch have rotted.
The storage room story just
goes to show how one thing
affects another. The . strike
changes the completion date of
whe construction job. It, throws
important facilities, planned for
occupancy, out 5 of use, thereby
necessitating the use of other
. places. That's why we have two
gym periods a week instead of
the three we use to have. The
Tin Can was used extensively
for gym classes.
'--.,, - ; ir , '
AUSTERITY OBSERVATION:
As the ROTC units " parade
, around the campus, we note
less quips and remarks by on
watchers. A couple of years
ago, people laughed as the
Middies or Airmen passed by,
but now, students most of whom
have heard whispers from their
draft board, react somewhat
differently to the military
marchers. .' ..
Students got an inkling of
what . student government was
all abouflast week "as "Student
Government Week" was official
ly celebrated. But it seems to
me we've Jbeen celebrating it
ever since the last week in Sep
tember when Bowers made his
statement concerning the Uni-
barrasing to the dignity of the
Phi. I sincerely hope he will in
the future check his facts before
he writes and will refrain from
making further false statements
- and irrelevant personal attacks.
W. T. Hough
Madam Editor:
I have been faithfully reading
The Daily Tar Heel and am dis
tressed to find the campus as
well as the editorial staff is so
torn up over the question of
what size to make the paper.
Since you have gone this far
why not solve the question once
and for all? You have argued
f the advantages and disadvant-
ages of the tabloid and standard
size, but you have overlooked
several other possibilities.
How about makjng the paper '
notebook size so students can
. sit in class and read the paper
while the professor thinks they
are reading notes? There is the
idea of making the paper comic
book size so that the students
who read nothing higher . than
the funnies may be tricked into
a little higher learning. Why not
put it on a scroll so that a stu
dent who .enjoys reading the
paper by himself f can keep.'
people from reading over his
versity'E policy on the segrega
tion question. ,
We've gotten an earful on the
executive brancb-the president
anJ recently the attorney
general, the judicial-Honor and
Student Councils, and the leg-islative-the
Legislature, all in
the first part of the year. Along
with the many rhubarbs and
conflicting issues, this paper has
published several articles on the
why and wheref orees of student
government! If you donH like
what you've- heard, if you don't
know what its all about,, find
out. Legislature meets every
Thursday night. You can speak
on anything when it comes "new
business' time. Student Ccun- ;
cil meets when there's an appeal
from one of the lower courts or
a question of constitutionality.
Here's one to ask the Ciuncil
or the special student committee
on judicial systems-, Why are the
court sessions closed? We have
one idea on the subject but
what's yours? . v
The people who run student
government,, as' one of our colu
mists said, amount to about five
per cent of students here. But
they're not up in smoke-filled
rooms plotting schemes to voice
their power. They're accessible
and ready for complaints. They
might agree if you told them
that some of the S.G. work is
unnecessary, that some of the
agencies overlap in their duties,
that some operations should be
worked out differently, but they
don't know about it until some
one tells them what may be
wrong.
Tar On My Heels
And so another popular belief
of the students goes down the
drain.
Ever heard of the "flunk pro
bation" that instructors are put
on if they fail too many stu
dents? Well, according to the
most dependable sources, there
is no such thing.
I have heard of this much
cherished (by the students, at
any rate) flunk probation ever
since I entered the portals of
Carolina. Every time I get a
particularly hard instructor,
there . is always someone who
will tell me he is on flunk pro
bation. Being thus endowed he
will have to watch his steps this
quarter..
I have, therefore, lived in a
sort of dreamers's paradise, or,
as Jimmy Durante says, ! have
been "laboring under a mis-a-hap-prension."V
: ,
When I called Ray Jeffries,
Assistant to ' the Dean of Stu
dents, I asked if he knew of a
flunk probation. ' Back over the
receiver came a quick, "Yes." I
hurriedly took out a pencil to
gestion about the campus that
it be put on microfilm and buried
in a time capsule. !
However, I don't think that
any of these are the true solu
tion. The real answer 4s to print
the paper on thin rubber sheets
and then the student can stretch
the paper to arfy size that he
wants. Nevertheless, even the
best material can be stretched
too thin and you have to know
when to stop.
Tomorrow afternoon at the
Varsity Theater, "Thunder a
the Hill" will make its initial
Chapel . Hill showing. The film
stars Claudette Colbert, Ann
Blyth, and Robert Douglas.
From the play Bonaventure",
Universal-International Studios
have patterned a film which ap
proaches a pastoral. From the
start of listing player's credits,
a pastoral scene is developed
and a mood of foreboding estab
lished which is maintained
throughout the film.
Claudette plays a nun vho
goes out of her authority by
managing to get Ann Blyth's
fiancee in, across high flood
waters, to see her. Playing Val
erie Kairns, Ann is a woman on
her way to the gallows for mur
dering her supposedly worthless
brother. What these three peo
ple find in this convent-hospital,
I cannot tell you, but I will say
that there is excitement in 'store
for you when you see this film.
Ann Blyth turns in a fair per
formance, improving with each
film she makes, and as usual
Claudette Colbert proves her
versatility. You don't see the
beautiful hair which has always
been one of her biggest assets,
yet when you behold her ex
pression of understanding, you
don't object. Others in the fiim
are Philip Friend, Gladys
Cooper, Connie Gilehrest, and
Anne Crawford.
If you are looking for real en
tertainment, "Thunder on the
Hill" will be two hours well
spent.
by Bill Brawn
get the real low down about ;
how the beloved set-up was set
up.
I listened as he explained
flunk probation. But it w
the. right flunk probation. The
one he had in mind was the pro
bation students are placed on
when they fail too much.
After I explained this to him,
he pondered a mintue. Then he
said he believed it used to be
that a department could, if sir
instructor failed over 20 pvr
cent of his class, demand 10
know the reason. The best poli
cy, 'he said, would be to call a
few of the departments. He
named a couple of good exam
ples' - 1 ieft six department wonder
ing what "flunk probation'" is.
One department's secretary be
came quite flustered, and toi J
me I had better call Archer
House for a little booklet. After
a few moment's more cozn ora tion,
she said I had better call
for the booklet RIGHT AWAYf
Each department had in rr lnd
someone I could call for further
information. One call lead to
another Until I worked myself
around to - Chancellor House's
offiee. .
The secretary there knew no
more of the imaginary flunk
probation than any I the restJ
As I hung up, though, she. told
me, "If you" find out anything-
about it, how about calling back
and let me know."
I shall, therefore, reitersta
Chancellor House's , secretrry's
words, "If you find out anything,
about it, how about letting me
know." .