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Page Two
February 15, I9S7
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A college English professor named Ellsworth Barnard had total stran
gers tell him to “drop dead" after he delivered a speech on English
grammar. In the “New York Times Magazine" (January 27) Barnard
lists some of his apparently radical points.
1) “Shall" and “will." The traditional rules were dreamed up by an
eighteenth-century pedant who, avowedly disregarding usage, sought to
create a “rational grammar.” The truth is that “shall" is rarely used
except in questions like “Shall we go?"
2) “Who" and "whom.” Even educated people get hopelessly confused
about these forms, and probably “whom" will eventually pass out of the
language. Nobody says, and only English teachers would write, “To
whom did you give the book?" We all say, and most people would
write, “Who did you give the book to?”
3) “I" and “me," “he" and “him." Nobody ever says “It is I”
without feeling uncomfortable. And who has ever answered a telephone
inquiry with “This is he" without feeling like a fool?
4) A preposition at the end of a sentence. Everybody knows Sir
Winston Churchill’s crushing comment to an underling who tried to
make a Churchill sentence conform to the nonsensical notion that this
construction must be avoided: “This is the kind of arrant nonsense up
with which I will not put."
But one of my freshmen, in all innocence, recently illustrated still
more vividly the folly of teaching such a rule. Writing of how much
he missed his girl friend since going to college, he lamented: “T never
stop worrying as to with Avhom she’s kicking up her heels now."
5) The subjunctive mood. This is being replaced in modern English
by the indicative. We do not say, or write, “If it be true," but “If it
is true."
6) ^ The case of “ain’t," in which many people seem to have a morbid
interest, is different. Authorities disagree on its status, but Mencken
says that “in the negative, whether singular or plural, “ain’t" is employed
almost universally “in the common speech.’
Beyond The Snunro—By Carol Campbell
For the troubled souls who saw
Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia and
left the theatre pondering whether
the woman she portrayed really
was the real Anastasia, the answer
has been found at last. In this
week’s Time Magazine, there was
an article recalling the events of
this mystery and announcing the
final solution made a week or two
ago by a coprt in Berlin.
According to the facts in thi,
case, (which differ slightly from
the movie) two years after the
brutal killing of the Russian Czar
and his family in 1918, the half
dead body of an unidentified
woman was dragged from a Berlin
canal who later claimed she was
the fourth daughter of the Czar
Grand Duchess Anastasia Niko
laev Romanova.
After being treated in a mental
institution for some time, she
I claimed slie had escaped from the
Barnard makes his point: “Teachers ought to spend their time on , men who had murdered her family
matters related to meaning: making sure that the reference of every
])ronoun is clear; making subjects and verbs (in general) agree in num
ber; writing complete and coherent sentences or using sentence frag
ments for a specific purpose; putting sentences together so that the
emphasis naturally falls on the important idea; using plain, direct, con
crete words instead of vague, flowery and redundant words; arranging
materials according to some kind of logical pattern and making that
pattern clear."
This sounds sensible to me. Other readers respond differently.
One called the article “a determined if not very convincing apologia
for the slovenly blend of gangster argot and Hollywood i^atrois that
now passes for the English language in America."
Another took this angle. “While Mr. Barnard is emphasizing the
idea of clarity in communication, our college graduates are still coming
forth with such expressions as, “This is strictly between he and I," and,
“I done pretty good in the test yesterday." Both these sentences ex
press a thought with absolute clearness, yet, is clearness enough?"
Loosening up on grammatical rigidity is, of course, risky. But, as
one college student reacted, “If our present-day English courses were
rid of the nonsense of ‘shall-will’ and ‘who-whom’ and ‘f-me,’ there
would l>e a marked increase in interest by the student in his English
courses."
Letters To The Editor
"!‘o the editor:
Re: “One Big Family"
First, you might be interested to
hear soTue reactions to your clever
satire. After supper on Friday
someone came to my room and
asked me if Bd read the editorial.
1 said that I had and asked, “What
do you think about it?" To my
astonishment she said, “1 think it’s
a wonderful idea and I’m just sick
that I forgot to sign up tonight."
That Avas the first time I realized
l)eople Avxre really believing it.
Then I met a group of girls around
the Coke machine. They turned on
me suddenly and protested vigor
ously. “We don’t have a Avhole
hour to spend.” “I’m certainly not
going to like that." Etc. After I
explained I Avas sure the editorial
was just a satire they cooled doAvn
a little. 1 don’t think people get
the ])oint, do you ?
If 1 got the point that it Avas a
satire on the attempt of the I.R.S.
to answer the conscious (and un
conscious) pleas of the students to
break down group barriers, T 'must
j)rotest. Not many people on cam
pus are so self-centered that they
are content in a group of eight or
nine or so out-going that they have
broken doAvn the barriers of the
classes and the dorms.
! have seen Salemites at frater
nity parties frantically Avhispering
around trying to find out a girl’s
name that they recognize as a
Salemite. but can’t possibly intro-
(luce. Why ? Because she is not
in the same class. Usually by the
last of your freshman year you
know the names of the girls in
your class, but outside of that you
are lost.
Also, I feel that Ave should be
more like “one big family." With
Salem having a student body of
only 350 in it, it is ridiculous for
one Salemite not to know—even if
just by name—everyone on campus.
It is a shame for a senior to have
to rely on an inquiry, “Well, I
think I know the name, but I be
lieve she’s a sophomore so I
wouldn’t know her." Every day I
hear someone say, “I’ll declare, I’ve
never- seen that girl before."
The idea of mixing at one meal
a Aveek seems to be a very good
one to me. Anyone is perfectly
free to go out to dinner that night
if they Avish, but someday we must
face the public and broaden our
acquaintances. Is this not good
training for us, too? To use one
meal-time a Aveek to eat with some
one Ave’ve nodded to on campus,
then to he able to say, “Hi, Mary,”
or, “Yes, I knoAv Betty Tones"
seems to me the least a Salem girl
can do.
Martha Duvall
To the editor:
Is the social honor system work
ing as it should? Despite pleasing
surface appearances, I feel that
there is still need for improvement.
There may be considerably more
evidence of school spirit on cafh-
pus so far this semester. Upper
classmen may be less aware of
violations because of their increased
privileges. However, I feel that I
am safe in saying that illegal over
nights are still being taken; that
illegal evening engagements are
still being taken; and that girls are
wearing burmudas under their coats
to Sunday night supper and lying
to I. R. S. members about having
them on.
Every year, people indulge . in
midnight discussions about this
problefn, but nobody does anything
about it. This is not the problem
of the administrative council of the
Student Government. It is the
problem of the student body, the
real Student Government. There
fore, the students themselves
should solve it.
I feel that increased student
participation in the campus activi
ties and that some revision of rules
may help the matter.
Needless to say, one girl’s opin
ion is not adquate; therefore, I
would like for Judy to place a
suggestion box in the Committee
Room Avhere students may submit
their ideas on the question, “Is the
social honor system Avorking as it
should?” These ideas should be
reviewed by a student council com
mittee and the results should be
presented to the student body.
I feel confident that a few people
will talk about this sometime to
night. HoAvever, I wonder how
many will ever take the trouble to
place their ideas in the suggestion
box.)
—Martha Tarvis
with the aid of two brothers named
Tchaikousky and had fled into
Rumania. Many doubted her story
when she said she liad married one
of the brothers and no Tchaikousky
ever showed up to verify the con
nection, but there were others who
accepted her story as truth.
Ifven though others claimed to
be the missing Duchess, Anne An
derson, as the girl called herself,
found many champions and in 1920
she Avas warmly received by Long-
Island society. At this time she
was accepted by many distant rela
tives of the Romanova family, but
rejected by a near relation, the
House of Hesse, who were deter
mined to remain the sole benefac
tors of “the money left in London
by the Czar before his death.
In 1941 Anna began her suit
against the House of Hesse for her
legacy which dragged on until this
month. At this time the 83rd Civil
Chamber of West Berlin, after
studying mountains of testimony
and evidence, informed Anna’s
lawyers- that, in their opinion, their
client was not the Romanov
princess and had no claim to the
late Czar’s estate.
THE NATION
The return of King Saud to Saudi
Arabia brought to a close one of
the most spectacular visits this
country has ever witnessed.
It isn’t often that we have a
state visitor whose arrival causes
a furor unprecedented in the his
tory of New York, brings along a
three year old son to receive medi
cal attention for his paralyzed arm
and leg and is presented with a
doctor from Walter Reed Army
Hospital to teach the court phy
sicians corrective therapy for his
disability, and is accompanied by a
retinue of sixty Arabian aids w'ho
left even blase Washington agog
when they strode into a local
restaurant and rang up a $750
luncheon bill with a $500 bill and
two wrist watches for the tip.
But the real purpose of the visit
was to explain the Eisenhower
Foreign Policy Doctrine to the
king and to promote Arabian
friendship. The talks between the
President and Saud went Avell, the
King announced that he Avould per
sonally try to pass on the correct
impression to the Mid-East count
ries and he issued a joint com
munique with Mr. Eisenhower
which stated that Saudi Arabia
would agree to give the U. S. a
five-year extension of its lease on
an air field it built at Dhahron and
that the U. S. will give Saudi
Arabia equipment to build up its
forces.
The real test of King Saud’s
intentions Avill be seen in the next
fe\y months—if he is able to in
fluence Nasser towards Western
alliances or disassociates himself
from Nasser and Communism and
joins the pro-Western countries of
raq and Lebanon.
* * *
It looks like the scandal of the
Marine Boot Training Camp-at
Parris Island over the tragic
drowning of six recruits in 1955 is
about to be repeated. Just after
Marine Head Pate told authorities
that great progress had been made
tOAvards eliminating harsh treat
ment at Parris Island, a letter was
received by the father of Marine
trainee David Lee Porter which
stated that he had been beaten
over the head with a steel bar
when he walked into the office of
his drill instructor Avith his hat on.
The incident was admitted by camp
authorities but they denied the
charge that they had employed a
steel bar. The case is expected
to go to court soon.
Vice President Nixon, who has
been one of our most successful
ambassadors of good will to foreign
countries since he has been in of
fice, has noAv been given another
mission. Mr. and Mrs. Nixon will
leave March 6th to attend cere
monies marking the granting of
independence to the Gold Coast in
Africa. This country will now be
come a member of the British
Commonwealth under the new
name of Ghana.
THE WORLD
The situation in the Middle East
stands pretty much as it did last
week. Israel still refuses to aban
don two parts of the territory it
has occupied since the end of the
Anglo-French-Israeli attack fifteen
weeks ago—the Gaza Strip and
Sharm el Sheikh. They wdll with
draw from these areas only when
it receives a U.N. guarantee against
resumption of Arabian raids.
The U. N. tried to push a bill
that Avould place U. N. forces in
the tw'O areas but the Arab nations
opposed, so there is now a move
to force Israeli withdrawal by get
ting other countries to discontinue
all aid to them. The President
told reporters that he personally
thought that Israel will withdraw
but the United States is pledged
to back the U. N. decisions. No
solution has been found so far be
cause if the U. S. backs a resolu
tion to force Israel to withdraw
no one knows what the Arabian
reaction will be..
PEOPLE
When reporters asked Elizabeth
Taylor what she had given her
groom, 54 year old Mike Todd, in
return for his Wedding gift (a
diamond studded bracelet, earring
and ring set valued at $80,000) she
mistily replied, “My eternal love.”
At Avhat price is this valued, Liz?
Jjj *
Poet T. S. Eliot returned last
week from a three week honey
moon on the French Riviera with
his second’* wdfe Valerie Fletcher
and proved the possibility of a
dream held by millions of working
girls the world over. Miss Flet
cher, you see, is a secretary who
married her boss.
>it ^
When an outraged lady consti
tuent of New' Jersey’s Senator
Clifford Case demanded to know
f crooner(?) Elvis Presley will be
permitted to keep his sideburns
Avhen he becomes a member of the
United States Army, the Senator
demanded an answer from the
Army. After a brief meeting, the
Army reported that on no con
ditions will Mr. Presley receive
special treatment and thus settled
one of the nation’s most compli-
(Continued on Page Three)
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