fcase 2
THE DAILY TAR HEEL
Thursday, September 21, 1967
Hugh Stevens
t iatig ar
Mickey Mouse
75 Years of Editorial Freedom
It tiwr i a it u il
Bill Amlong, Editor .
Don Walton, Business Manager
A Campus 'Honorary'
Anachronistic Tradition?
Sometime during the next few
weeks, assuming campus history
repeats itself, the eerie crashing of
ongs will resound through
women's residences in the dead of
night and hooded figures will
snatch half a doezn coeds from
their beds to tap . them for mem
bership in- the, Valkyries,
"Carolina's highest women's
honorary." .
Following the enactment of
dark, mysterious ritual in equally
dark and secret places, the chosen
few will have the privilege of ap
pearing on campus on designated
days (including the 13th of the
month) wearing, special golden
pendants. Occasionally, they and
those who chose them will meet for
picnics or, '.'secret" confabs.
Then- next spring they will
sponsor the "Valkyrie Sing," ah
anachronistic occasion at which
Carolina's look-alike, thinkalike
sorority girls will prove that they
sin alike, as well.
I- And if history repeats itself , v;
that is all that the Valkyries will
do.
In short, the Valkyries is a self
perpetuating, non-democratic .
organiztion which exists only to
sacred-cow tradition as a secret
honorary.
fjThe Valkyries is part of an
"American collegiate tradition that
goes back to Yale's "Skull and '
Bones," the nation's oldest secret .
society. At campus after campus,
these groups perform their annual
rituals of "tapping" campus
leaders, thereby endowing them
with the recognition and prestige
merited by their achievements. At
best, such organiaztions may be
useful, especially if they help
develop common bonds between
collegiate leaders and provide,
goals toward which potential
leaders may aspire. At their worst,
such honoraries may be negative
influences, causing schisms and
injured feelings.
The Valkyries is not yet a
totally negative influence, but
there are signs that it is unhealthy
in some of its aspects.
For example, the Dean of
Women's office has become pertub
ed in the past because the
Valkryies' membership has failed
to grow with the female population.
' Reportedly, the administration told
the Valkyries that other women's
honoraries would receiye Universi
ty approval unless the organiztion
became slightly less selective.
A more disturbing trend may be
seen in the career of one recent
graduate. Having been elected or
appointed , to a series . of in
creasingly important positions in
Student Government nd the
judiciary, she found that she was
slightly below the minimum
academic average required for
consideration by the Valkyries
(reportedly a 2.5). She im
mediately revamped her academic
schedule to include several "sure -fire"
crip courses. Then she
launched an ambitious "apple
polishing" effort, basing her re
quests for special consideration
upon her "important extra-curricular
responsibilities." When her
Q.P. average had improved suf
ficiently, she was duly tapped -just
as several of her sorority
sisters had assured her she would
be. Never mind that this coed pro
stituted her academic goals and
did a mediocre job in the positions
which she held she was a
Valkyrie. '
, These examples are distressing.
But other, more basic questions
Don Campbell, Associate Editor
Lytt Stamps, Managing Editor
Hunter George, News Editor
Brant Wansley, Advertising Manager
may be raised about every self
perpetuating "honorary." The
most important is that any
organization which sets its own
standards, makes its own mem
bership selections, and relies solely
upon tradition to justify its ex
istence fails to "honor" anyone. Its
membership lists necessarily
reflect the prejudices, whims and
even the political attitudes of those
within it. The Valkyries are
toothing more than a gilded sorori
ty. ' - : ' w
No doubt these criticisms will
bruise the feelings of many deserv
ing coeds, - past and present, for
whom membership in ; the
Valkyries has been a treasured
part of a college career. But the
deserving ones do not need the
Valkyries, or anyone else, to honor
them. They have created honor
(and, perhaps incidentally, fame)
for themselves by being unselfish, .
devoted members of the University
community. .They 'have accepted
.responsibility ah(iandled it with
skill and energy, while applying
themselves diligently to their
academic pursuits. They honor
themselves by being themselves.
For such people the only
really "deserving" ones
membership in the Valkyries is a
tawdry trinket. It is symbolic of the
fact that a few like themselves, and
" many others far less worthy, had
the audacity to decide to bless their
presence on campus with a golden
pendant. v
A Frenchman who was" once
asked why the Eiffel Tower was
built replied, "They built it so they
could put a red light on it so the
airplanes wouldn't run into it." The
Valkyries exists for an equally
Worthy purpose.
Twinkle, Twinkle
little Star
A, headline in Wednesday's
Raleigh News and Obsrver stated
"Reagan Aware His Star Rising"
and the story began: "Gov. Ronald
Reagan frankly acknowledged
Tuesday his sudden emergence in
to the front rank of potential Re
publican candidates for president."
The story went on to say that
Reagan had declared that his pro
minence in the candidates race
was "none of his doing."
" Considering some of the
statements Reagan has made late
ly, we would tend to believe that in
deed his prominence is not of his
doing.
Back in July, Reagan was quoted
on the Vietnam war as saying that
California was his beat, and "I
have not declared war on Vietnam
here in California." .
That's true. Neither has the
United States as a whole. Reagan
was quoted further as saying:
"The way to win a war is to win
it." That statement may go down
in the little book of quotable quotes
as the least ambiguous of all time
but it is hardly the type of political
rhetoric from which presidential
stuff is made.
We'll wait 'before hitching our
wagon to Reagan's star.
Heel Prints
. We heard a nickname for that
brand new psychology building,
Davie Hall: The Rat Palace. The
moniker is reinforced by the pla
que in the main lobby which shows
a psychologist with what else
a white rat.
Stone icalls do a forced freshman coed study period make.
Letters To The Editor
- A Brief Question
For. Otelia Comior
To The Editor of The Daily Tar Heel:
Dear Miss Otelia Connor in c-o the
DTH: Doesn't a real lady ignore bad
manners?
Sincerely yours,
. Laurel Lee Shackelford
GM Policy
Explained
Dear Editor:
I .greatly appreciate the clarifying -story
about the Judy Collins S.D.S.
Concert that appeared in the DTH Tues
day, Sept. 19. What the policy is is more
clearly understandable because of it. At,
this time I Would like to help everyone-:
. understand why the policy is what it is.
Graham Memorial is the pro
gramming arm of Student Government.
G. M. has as one of its "prime
responsibilities the task of providing a
comprehensive ' selection of major
cultural and entertainment programs.
Some of these are presented free of
charge and many carry on admission
charge. Admission programs sometimes
yield more revenue than the cost of the
concert, sometimes less Frequently they
will not yield enough revenue to cover the
cost if every ticket is sold. G. M. accepts
this programming responsibility to pro
vide adequate opportunities for UNC
students year after year. Students control
the programming and When profit occurs
it is used for the benefit of all students
' through additional programming op
portunities! When admission is charged,
the G. M. policy is to make the charge as
reasonable as possible in regard to costs
of the attraction and the entire year's
program. G.M. is for and by every stu
dent on the campus.
If other student organizations were to
program in this major concert area
many problems would arise. First, all
student organizations would have to be
eligible. Second, profits if made would
accrue to a narrow segment of the total
campus population rather than to the
campus as a whole as when G. M.
programs. Third, the comprehensive pro
gram now provided by G. M. would be
rendered less effective if a profit seeking
organization placed a program so near to
one in the G. M. Series as to impair at
tendance. Fourth, private promoters
could secure the use of University
facilities through any campus organiza
tion. These promoters' could offer the
organizations "profit at no risk", but
their motives are to make as much
money as possible for themselves by
making ticket prices as high as possible.
Profit making is not wrong, but UNC
facilities are best used as we now
do first priority for students a t
minimum cost to them for the benefit of
all.
There are more reasons than these,
including some of legal nature, but I will
not take more space. If programming
chaos is to be avoided, the existing policy
is essential. It protects the interest of
ALL UNC students from those who would
The Daily Tar Heel is the official
tews publication of the University of
North Carolina and is published by stu
dents daily except Mondays, examina
tion periods and vacations.
Offices on the second floor of Graham
Memoria. Telephone numbers: editorial,
sports, news 933-1011; business, cir
culation, advertising 933-1163. Address:
Box 1080. Chapel Hill, N. C, 27514.
Second class postage paid at the
. Post Office in Chapel Hilt, N. C.
benefit a few at the expense of many.
I will talk to any interested student
about this and if there is sufficient in
terest will schedule an open meeting for
this purpose.
Most sincerely ,- v
Howard D. Henry
Director, Central Reservations.
Why Closed
Coed Study?
Dear Editor:
I do not drink. I do not carouse. I do
not procrastinate until 8:00 p.m. to do
lesson assignments. Sometimes I need to
take a shower. Why am I locked in my
Vroomiiortwal-.andone half 'hours three
nights every week? I love this campus,
but sometimes I could cry. Like three
, nights every week.
It is 8:00 p.m. on Monday night and
there is something I do not understand.
My work for tomorrow is finished, except
that my clothes need to be washed. I can
not wash them. I would like to say good
night, Sweet Prince, but I cannot see
him. I can go tosthe library, but first I
would need to shower, which is not allow
ed. I am puzzled. Why can I see freshmen
men playing tennis in the courts beside
our dorm? Why are they allowed to play
kick-the-can in the parking lot? Why are
they allowed to play stereos in their
rooms?
I could go to sleep, but I would be
awakened at 10:30 p.m. by the mass
screech celebrating the end to another
closed study.
Won't someone please explain to a
mixed-Hp freshman who has been
organizing her study time rather well for
the past 4 years why she has to be
"grounded"? I would be so happy to be
told that more fresknen women drink
than men. Or is it because more
freshmen women than men fail to pass
the first semester? It must be for a good
reason isn't it?
But closed study does leave time for
some good things. Like writing letters.
Sandra Saunders:
West Cobb. .
'Sure there9 s meat
What It's
(Editor's Note We received the
following letter recently:
Dear Editor of The Daily Tar Heel:
There is one American word I cannot
understand its meaning: It is the word
"Mickey Mouse." I see sometimes it used
Derogatorily. To c 1 1 something a
"Mickey Mouse" is bad. But Ihave been
understood that "Mickey Mouse" is a
small hero of United States culture.
Please can you explain this discrepancy
to me andto others who have it difficult
to understandb
I am sincerely yours,
Bharani Kuryat, Dept. of Physics.
jWe asked the worldly philosopher and
columnist-about-town Hugh Stevens to
answer Mr. Kuryafs letter. His reply
follows.) '
Your letter asks a question, but it also
serves as a commentary on the aspect of
'American culture which you find so baf
flingour tendency to burn our heroes
behind us. Your statement that Mickey
Mouse is a "small hero of United States
culture"- would be more accurate if
couched in the past tense.
Mickey was an American here of
sorts but he was the symbol of a less
sophisticated age, and our psychedelic
culture no longer has a place for him. In
our urge to repudiate his times and his
society, we vilify him by attaching his
name to those things which we consider
unduly trivial or smaltzy. -
Mickey Mouse was born about the
time of the Great Depression, when a
young cartoonist named Walt Disney
brought him to life through the medium
of anmratedtovies. During the 1930's,
when Mickey was indeed an American
hero, movies provided escapist fare for
millions. For very little money perhaps
a few cents broke or unemployed
Americans could lose themselves in a
world where all the women were
beautiful and all the men were rich.
In this haven of fantasy, Mickey
Mouse epitomized the American ideal. He
was friendly, sincere, cute and happy.
His was a world of eternal bliss, whether
he was piloting his choo-choo train
- through the . bucolic countryside, or
wooing the coy Minnie (whose rela
tionship with him, fanciful as it was,
never needed explaining). In Mickey's
world, one need not even be rich to be
happy he simply was not concerned with
money at all. He seldom worked and if
he did he whistled alt the while. He did
not stand in bread lines, he did not collect
unemployment,' and he did not worry'. .
Don Campbell
On Letters And Problems
We appreciate the interest that has
been shown, by way of letter writing, in
two major problems at the University:
the parking sticker system and women's
rules.
Unfortunately, many of those writing
about the T sticker have chosen to try to
be funny about the whole thing, lie, put
ting stickers on shoes) rather than treat
the subject with the seriousness it
deserves.
The absurdity of one aspect of
women's rules is pointed up most vividly
by a letter from a freshmen coed on this
page. We would be willing to bet that
more freshman men flunk out during
their first year here than do freshman
coeds. Yet, the freshman coed is virtually
"locked" in her room for two and a half
hours three nights each week, supposedly
? to study. Since the necessity of this prac
tice is not clear to us, we can only ask
why? '
The letter writer says that
"screeches" of joy erupt at 10:30 each
night in the frosh coed dorms when the
forced study period is over. Perhaps the
letter writer exaggerated somewhat, but
the whole thing sounds a little inhuman to
us.
left on the bones , but I'm not
All About
about feeding his family. He ate cheese,
he danced, and he smiled.
Mickey's world of fantasy is gone
now; even his creator is with us no
longer. And the ' creative corporation
which Walt Disney, left behind has ad
justed to the high-pressure world of
technology; now its chief products are
movies about flying cars, and space-age
amusement parks.
In shcrt. 4r.2ricans are no longer
content to escape to a world of cartoons
and dancing mice; one would feel slightly
ridiculous to be found watching. Mickey
Mouse -when the bomb drops. And so,
iconoclasts that we are, we refuse to
allow Mickey to fade away as the
obsolete symbol of an obsolete era.
Instead, we dredge up his name and at
tach it to a myriad of supposedly
ridiculous things Student Government,
women's rules, loyalty oaths, sorority
ritual, campus policemen. By so doing,
we demonstrate our feelings that such
things lack intrinsic worth that they are
idle pastimes or unnecessary im
pediments. Your letter demonstrates that" you
have not yet become fully acquainted
with the capacity of the average
American to poke fun at himself. If we
have any lasting virtue as a collective
culture, it is this ability not to take
ourselves too seriously. Thus, when we
call something Mickey Mouse, we do not
intend it as completely derogatory-we
do not think it "bad" in the sense that it
is evil or ugly. Our use of the term simp
ly demonstrates that we recognize and
tolerate our own foibles or even like
them. v
"Mickey Mouse" has come to have
highly stylized and specific con
American slang. All of us know, for in
stance, that Georgia Tech is "gritty" and
East Carolina is "high school" but those
terms in themselves carry no trace of the
disdain Which we convey through them,
. By the same token, as a prospective
lawyer I do not wish to be called 'Terry
Mason" even though he never lost a
case.
In conclusion, Mr. Kuryat, "Mickey
Mouse" is a term whose meaning lies in
the mind of the user and the hearer. And
whatever else itaiay be, it is a symbol of
the fact ' that in "hip" America
nothing not even Mickey Mouse the
small American hero is sacred.
KughStevens ... . -- L
If anyone knows on what basis the
University forces these study periods,
we'd like to hear about it r
The parking sticker system, especially
the T sticker, has come under attack not
only by this newspaper but also by stu
dent government and many; many
students on campus, including some 1500
who signed a petition protesting the in
equities of the sticker system.
The petition was presented Tuesday to
Chancellor Sitterson by Student Body
President Bob Travis and the two
originators of the petition Dale Saville
and Ray Saunders. In spite of our bet
ter judgment, we are optimistic to the
extent that we feel that the Chancellor
will try to obtain a compromise on the
T sticker.
The parking problem on this campus
is just as real as day and night, and the
commission which deals with parking
problems has many headaches. And we
sympathize with them in their work.
But in the case of the T sticker they
made a bad decision in slapping such a
steep cost on them, 'again decision which
cannot bjeustified. The T sticker, as
such, can be justified. The $5 cost cannot
be.
paying 70 cents V
St