Newspapers / Salem College Student Newspaper / Nov. 16, 1956, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Salem College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
November 16, 1956. ^cUlo-Hal CducatlaH . . . There is a lot of repetitious talk today that threat to liberal edu cation is specialization. But below the surface hovers a deeper and more frightening threat. The very name “liberal education” involves the word for freedom. We are given freedom to elect courses, after a certain basic require ment is fulfilled, and we are free to choose the other areas, academic or otherwise, into which we want to delve. There is a real danger that we are incapable of coping with this free dom. That we are lacking something which the theory of liberal edu cation assumes we possess. Intellectual apathy, unconcern, complacency, call it '^hat you will— it is all too present right here on campus and few of us are exempt. It is not merely the lack of attendance at concerts and lectures that points so sharply to our trouble—though this is painful enough. There exists the almost belligerent attitude toward anything with an academic ring. To hear college students begging for free cuts, like fourth graders who want to get out for recess early, must be something for an out sider or for a serious professor to hear. ^ The round of applause that accompanies the postponement of a quiz has the same devastating ring as the honest-to-goodness statement, “I’m not going to the lecture; he’s talking on politics and that s not one of the things I’m interested in.” The implication of each is the same. Perhaps there’s nothing we can do. Some people blame it on this anxious age we live in. Nothing’s certain, they say. Our generation is destined to be the mixed-up product of a mixed-up, unsure century. And things do look pretty bad. Everything has so many sides and we feel the need of finding a right one as soon as w'e can and holding on to it. • . j u The present is so hard to understand and so complicated and the future so helpless looking. But, when you get right to the bottom ot things, we really don’t have any choice but to stay with it. Whether we decide to shoulder the responsibility or not, it s ours. And we 11 be living with it for quite a few years yet. These may well be “the best years of our lives.” But they are on y part of our lives. If we give up when we’ve got it so good what can we do when the chips are really down? j j * i When we have everything right here for the taking and don t take it, what kind of people can we possibly be when, a few years from now we have to give our children some reason for wanting to grow up at all. It’s sort of a bother but it’s something to think about when you wake up too early some morning. j g German Students Have Their Problems, Too By Christa Menzel Over the portal to the University in Hamburg you can read the words; “for research, for teaching, for forming’ man.” Since the first two terms concern the professors, I want to put emp hasis on the third one, that ex plains what the University shall be to the students. The great aim of this institution is to form men who are able to think correctly and clearly, who are open for the truth, and who know themselves responsible for the nation, for Europe, for the en tire world. It is obvious that no professor, even the best one, can form the student into such an individual. That is a task the student himself has to solve. This grown has to take place in himself and the pro fessor can only help by showing some w'ays. Therefore, the presupposition for all successful study at a university is that the student loves to study. It is not enough that other people want him to study; he has to long for study. It must be joy for him. . The very structure of German universities expects this attitude of the students. Because of this basic require ment there is no need for any kind of compulsion. Out of 1400 lectures and courses the student can choose which and how many subjects he wants to take. He chooses freely the books out of which he w'ants to study. It is the student’s decision to go to listen to the lectures or to sit at home and study there. Beyond The Sc^ore—By Carol Campbell A Reminder Russia’s Embassy in 'Washington is across the street from the Philip Murray Building, headquarters of the International Union of Elect rical Workers. Guests leaving an Embassy party last week faced this grim reminder—a six-story cross of lighted windows with a sign reading, “In Reverent Memory of Hungarian Workers Who Died for Freedom.” One last look at the election re sults. Popular vote: Eisenhower— 36 million, Stevenson—26 million. Electorlal vote: Eisenhower—457 in 41 states, Stevenson—74 in 7 states. U. S. Senate results—49 Democrats, 47 Republicans. House results—234 Democrats, 200 Repub licans (net Demo, gain of 3) Gover nors elected—29 Democrats, 19 Re publicans (net Demo, gain of 2). Finally we see a shift away from the Republicans in the farm states but a gain in the industrial East. This is probably, due to the drought and low prices in agriculture which the farmer has blamed on the last administration. An excellent summary of what to look for in thei next four years is found in the latest issue, of U. S. and World Report. Their pre dictions run like this: Cold War— No end in sight. Hot War—No World War III, little wars to keep on flaring, more revolutions. Busi ness—Confidence to stay high. Wages—Uptrend to go on. Big new increases, however, to meet more resistance. Living Costs—Creeping rise ahead. Spending—To go on rising in federal, state and local governments. Taxes—No general cut of income taxes in sight—Total tax bills to creep up. Stock Prices —Peak may have been seen for time being. Next trend may be moderately downward. Interest Rates—To hold high well into 1957. Building—Trend likely to be down ward. Farming—Outlook not im proved, Prices weak. candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency do after the elec tion ? The losers who headed the Democratic ticket seem to have already made their plans. Steven son says he will return to his law practice. Rumor has it that he is also being mentioned as a possible college president. Kefauver, already being men tioned as a contender for the pre sidential nomination in 1960 is re turning to the Senate where he is on the Armed Services and Judi ciary Committees. Another little job is to pay off the debts acquired during his nomination campaign which add up to a tidy sum. Under the threat of Soviet in- trusian in Egypt, Britain and France have joined Israel in yield ing to the intervention of a U. N. Police Force. Before withdrawing their troops from the area, how ever, they are insisting on a defi nition of the ‘mission’ of the Force. Forced to back down by the combination of Russian threats, and U. S. and U. N. criticism, none of the three nations have really achieved the objectives that sent them into battle. In addition, the Arab world is convinced that Rus sia’s tough stand forced the in vaders to accept a cease fire. Rus sia is seen as a champion and now has an opening to extend her in fluence in the confused nations of Asia and Africa. With the Soviets again in con trol. Budapest is a City of Blood. Her streets and squares are littered with thousands of her bullet ridden people and her buildings are torn by the Soviet blasts. The latest news is that the youths that led the revolution are being deported to the Soviet Union — not even , being given the time to inform their parents of their fate. In retaliation, the U. N. has pro posed sending investigators to Hun gary and asked for the withdrawal Ever wonder what the defeated of Russian troops. Both proposals have been rejected. Latest de velopments are that Secretary Gen eral Hammarskjold has even of fered to go to Hungary himself to arrange for the distribution of aid. Is a trend back towards Stalinism seen in the Soviet dictatorship? The Nobel Peace Prize Commit tee announced last week for the second consecutive year that it could find no one worthy of its annual award. Bad News—The Census Bureau estimated Monday that females (Outnumbered males in the U. S. by about 1,381,000, but at least the greatest disparity is in the age groups of 25 or over. (That gives us a few years). Two possible reasons': the mortality rate is his'her for men and immigration h•■s declined and only two-fifths of the peo'ile coming in are male. Visitin'' as a house guest in the home of Elvis Presley and parents last week was doe-eyed starlet Natalie Wood of Rebel Without a Cause and Burning Hills (recently reviewed' in the Salemite). Posed in front of his white Lincoln for the press, Nat and El looked quite chummy, but don’t worry fans, Elvis says he’d be crazy to get married right now. Last week at the annual Royal Command film performance, Mari lyn Monroe was presented to the Queen of England. Remembering' that Marilyn’s country manor is- near Windsor Castle, Queen Eliza beth beamed at the 30-year-old star rippling in gold lame and remarked “We’re neighbors!” Three cheers for the college fraternities. Soon after young Sherman Wu, son of Nationalist China’s onetime Formosan Gover nor K. C. Wu, was pledged to Northwestern University’s Psl Up- silon he received a little note. Thus he w^s informed that the eight other pledges had requested his absence from the fraternity be cause he was an ‘Oriental’. Bowing to the wishes of his ‘brothers’, (Continued on Page Three) When after at least five semes ters the student feels ready for the only and final exam, he asks the professor to test him. But if he wants, he can study for twenty years and never take any exami nation. The student is even allowed to leave any lecture whenever he wants and by knocking on his table or by hissing he expresses spontaneous approval or disagree ment about the lecture. Everyone can go to the univer sity at least as a guest _ student. Gray-headed people are sitting at the sides of teen-agers. In some lectures the professor has an audi ence of 500 students but sometimes only five come to hear him. The professor lectures and will never know whether you are listen ing. You can put down notes or read the newspaper, though the latter one is not too polite. There are no assignments and there are no questions, neither from the pro fessor’s side or from your side. But that means that it is en tirely your responsibility whether you ever learn anything. As a student at a German uni versity you have about five and a half months of holidays. Officially this time is not called “holiday” 6ut “time without lectures” in order to indicate that you are supposed to study in this time. And you really need five more months to learn all the material you have heard during the semes ters. You cannot just memorize your notes to get ready for your examination, but you have to study the subject and not only the dis course of the professor. Often the student will be tested about things which the professor never even mentiofied. That makes study so difficult But on the other side so extremely exciting. The student himself be comes an explorer. But there are some weaknesses in the system itself. Our students don’t live together in dormitories but each one rents a room in the town, where he can study during The semester. Be cause of the size of the univer sities (now often 9(X)0 students) they cannot have close contacts with the professors and unfor tunately even not with the other students. These factors have two conse quences: 1) the student is often confronted alone with problems he can’t solve without help; therefore, a lot of students become indif ferent against any academic ques tion while others are lost in the pleasure districts of our cities and only a few penetrate to the solu tion by creating new ideas. 2) when the students leave the uni versity, they are frequently extra ordinary in knowledge but they have not learned how to get along with people and how to live a good life. But the greatest danger for the German university system is the attitude of the students themselves. Many study not for studying but for earning money afterwards. Economic difficulties force some of the students into this attitude. They specialize, therefore, from the very beginning at the univer sity. They are only interested in their faculty, their subjects, their lecture instead of integrating and filling their special knowledge with wider and deeper thoughts about the subjects taught in other facul ties. And this attitude is against the highest aim of the university: “to form not machines, but men. Salemite Published every Friday of the College year by the Student Body of Salem College Subscription Price—$3.50 a year Business Manager OFFICES—Lower Floor Main Hall Downtown Office—304-306 South Main St, Printed by the Sun Printing Company Editor-in-Chief Jo Smitherman Assistant Editor Martha Ann Kennedy Managing Editor Carol Campbell News Editor Miriam Quarles Feature Editor Marcia Stanley Pictorial Editors Oottie Ervin, Nancy Warren Make-Up Editor Jeane Smitherman Assistant News Editor, Mary Ann Hagwood Faculty Advisor Miss Jess Byrd Ann Knight Advertising Manager Martha Jarvis Circulation Manager P®99Y Ingram Assistant Business Manager, Suejette Davidson
Salem College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 16, 1956, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75