SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1952
PAGE TWO
THE DAILY TAR HEEL
The official newspaper oi the Publi
cations Board of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill where
it is published daily the Colonial
Press, Inc.. except Monday's, examina
tion and vacation periods and during
Athletic Sissies
The following comments are excerpts from an article '
"American Athletes Are Sissies' by Don Iddon, British
correspondent in the U. S., printed originally in Coronet
magazine, ,
The American athlete has become the spoiled brat of
the New World, cuddled and coddled, pampered and
pelicd. Too much money, either in salary or expenses or
both, and too much adulation are lavished on him. He
has become a prince of privilege in the thriving Republic.
It is my belief ihai almost every major American sport
derives from English children's games. . . . Whenever an
American newsreel showing American football players
in their outlandish padded costumes and helmets appears
on an English screen, the audience hoots with laughter.
Why the armor plate? The crash helmet? The shoulder .
and knee pads? . ...We play a type of football similar to
yours. In Britain it is. called Rugby and it is a rugged
game. No one ever wears any padding or a helmet, and
it is even "considered affected to put on a pair of shin
guards or ear protection. ... To replace a man because'
he is playing badly, or even when he is injured, would be
unthinkable in Britain. ...
It seems to me thai the strangest phenomenon in
American Sports is the coach. Apparently he is regarded
as a combination of elder-statesman, father confessor, and
mother superior. From what I hear and see, he is also the
mastermind, a repository of all the-talents. ... As a
British correspondent in the U. S., I have jwatched pam
pering and effeminacy creep into your ball parks and
football grounds. The colossal cult of the American
'Mom' and her mawldsh devotion to her 'boys are sap
ping the fibre of the American athlete.
The Daily Tar Heel hastens to point out (before the cor
espondents can shout the great American slogan, "If-he-doesn?t-like-it-here-he-can-go-where-he-came-from")
that the
above article fairly reeks of an across-the-seas scent.
Nevertheless, a. prophet is not without honor, and all that,
and it is at least of casual interest to note one educated man's
reaction to the great variety show of American football.
But then, our tremendous financial support, gigantic stadii,
colossal crowds, enormous flow of publicity, and stupendous
half-time performances could hardly exist on the dignified
little island that is England.
j by John Taylor
Reviews And Previews
In a week notable for its lack
of worthwhile, new movies we
must look to a re-issue of Shaw's
"Caesar and Cleopatra to find
a film of any real distinction.
It was presented yesterday at
the1 Carolina. :
The filmization of the Shaw
classic appeals to a great variety
of tastes. For those people who
are partial to the "big" picture,
it has the grandeur of a Cecil B.
De Mille epic, but is flavored
with the subtle touch that one
expects of a British film-making
genius like Gabriel Pascal, its
director. For the more serious
minded who prefer movies filled
with sharp, witty, intellectual
dialogue, it is necessary only to
mention that the scripter is, of
course, G.B.S. himself. And for
the devotees of fine "acting, it
is .sufficient to note that in the
cast are such highly acclaimed
performers as Claude Rains, Viv
ien Leigh, Flora Robson, Fran
cis L. Sullivan, and Stewart
Granger.
This Shavian boy-meets-girl
story sticks closely to the play;
and hence does not adapt itself
as easily to filming as one might
think. Any work by Shaw is
inclined to ; be overladen -with
talk, and, , intellectually stimu
lating as this discourse is, over
two hours of it tends to become
somewhat tedious. Only in the
battle against Ptolemy's forces
and the escape by water from
the tower is there any actual
physical aggression. But direc
tor ; Pascal has, nevertheless,
managed to get a great deal of
moving power and pageantry
cut j of crowd.' scenes' jancl ; tri- s
urnphal processions, with which
the movie abounds, and so the
the official summer terms. Entered as
second class matter at the Post Office
of Chapel Hill, N. C, under the act of
March 3, 1379. Subscription rates:
mailed $4.00 per year, $1.50 per quarter;
delivered $6.00 per year and $2.25 per
quarter.
end result is pictorially satisfy
ing. - :
Essentially, this is the story
of the aging Caesar attempting
to instruct the youthful Cleopat
ra in the ways of becoming a
wise and noble queen. ' Around
this framework are laid a dis
sertation on the theory of gov
ernment and the implication of
the Roman conqueror's affection
fof his most prized Egyptian
possession. Shaw depicts Caesar,
in what many believe to be a
self-portrait, as wistful, soft, and
paternal, wooing exclusively and
platonically with talk. Cleopatra
is depicted in moods ranging
from childlike fear to mature
self-confidence, extreme enthu
siasm to sullen pre-occupation.
She is not impressed with Caesar
romantically (and who can
blame her) and longs only for
the day when Antony will come
.; to her.
The cast is superb. By skillful
underplaying, 1 Claude Rains;
makes clear all of Caesar's hu
manity, sense of humor,, and tol
erance. He handles with . sym
pathy and delicacy the longings
of a middle-aged man for youth."
'? Vivien Leigh is a joy to behold
both visually and dramatically
i as the "kitten of the sphinx," .
tourned into the "serpent of the
Nile." In this film, made six
years ago, she. is creating the
part that she is ; currently i re-,
creating in New York. She is in
turn timid, electric, and drench
ed with a hot, agrressive nature.
Stewart Grangerjs the epitome
of the dandy as Apollodorus,
Flora Pbson is properly fright
ening as5Ftatateetaand the rest ;
of the cast; including Francis L. i
Sullivan and Cecil Parker, are
fine insupporting roles.
Man And His Machine
Is humanity still possible?
This is not a question anent the
possibilities of man's surviving
the atom bomb, except to the
extent to which the atom bomb
epitomizes the mutiny , of human
eulture against the humans who
created it. The question really'
intends to inquire, Is it still
possible for a man to be a
human?
"What does it mean to be a
human? Being born to -human
parents is of course a prerequi
site, but human birth is by no
means tantamount to being
human. The human individual
becomes humanized only in the
dynamic process .of active re
lation to other human beings.
We become conscious only by
means of the presence of other.
' human selves. Human emotions
originate and mature only in
a human environment. We are
able to love in a human sense
only after we have been loved
by human love, and were we
denied this love this particular
emotion would remain at best
only brute animal attachment.
, Our first and perhaps our
enduring convictions,. . our su
preme preferences, are com
municated to us by those in the
closest personal relations to us.
To be human, then, requires
ihat we be related to other
humans by social contact as well
as by birth; ihat we participate
in the most intimate and fre
quent interactions of human
persons. Human life will live
only in a human environment.
It is disturbing, therefore,
that we humans have created a
subhuman culture which re
duces to a minimum those
human relationships necessary
to the development and perpetu
ation of characteristically human
attributes such as love, speech,
creative imagination and pre
ferability. Man has recently out-,
moded himself by giving birth
to the latest and most complex
" link in the chain of evolution
the' machine. Unlike its evolu
tionary predecessors the ma
chine cannot survive apart from
Rameses
Some folks have a way of
making sheer fun a burden. Take
the case of the fisherman. Some
of those guys will stand out in
a cold stream for hours with a
limber piece of steel in their
hands and try to lure uncoopera
tive fish onto a' hook. They use
expensive equipment and need
j modern transportation to take
them to that "perfect" spot. This
location is usually 400 miles f romj
the nearest telephone and next
. door to a fish market. The fish
market is a "must" because they;
can't go home empty-handed.
Now that is no way to fish.
' Fishing is for" relaxation nowa-1
daysi since we can go to any
food store and; buy anything
from blue whale to minnows.
The food motive is out so we
fish to relax. The question is,
who can relax in water up to
their mid-section and an uncon
trollable piece of rod in their
hands?
Down where I come from we
do it the right way. All you need
is a piece of string and a hook.
We use cigar butts and roofing
tacks for bait and enjoy it. All:
man: It does the work of man,
making particular men unneces
sary, but at the same lime it
substitutes for human persons
in such a way that many hither
to human relationships become
its immediate progenitors. The
fate of the machine is insepar
able from the destiny of man.
Yet the machine makes an
insidious two-fold assault on
man-lo-machlne relationships
which mechanize man and
atrophy his humanity.
The modern man's day is not
. a day at the office with persons
but with machines. You leave
home at 7:45 in the morning,
station yourself at the corner
bus stop till 7:49 when the bus
stops right before you and the
doors open automatically. (Auto
matic is our culture's word, for
miracle.) You would speak to
the driver but a sigh tactfully
saves you this faux pas by say
ing, "Do not talk i;o the driver.
Your safety is his job." You are
highly honored to have a par
ticular body guard and you
proudly reach out your hand in
tending to give your fare to the
man wh6se job is your safety
but a machine intercepts the
dime with a couple of mechanical
grunts which you interpret to
be "thank you" in the Machine
Dialect.
You ride the bus to your
destination, push a button which
somehow informs the man whose
job is your safety and he brings
the bus to a stop. Due to your
childhood conditioning in a
superstition-ridden rural com
munity you start to leave the
bus by the same door you
entered but another polite sign
whispers the decorum, "Leave
by the rear door." You conform
and find the back door as cour
teous as the front, opening it
self for you just at the right
time and closing behind you.
You cross the street to the Post
Office to get stamps. You don't
"wait in a long line nor do you
linger at the stamp window
"chew the fat" with the man
behind the window. You go
By RoHo Taylor
you have to do is find a dry
place on the bank of a . river,
throw in your line, and go to
sleep. That is relaxation. If the
fish is so unkind as to take the
bait you can always give him
to some fella that is hungry. If
the fish decides to let well en
ough alone, then that's allright.
Remember, this is a relaxing
sport.
j Two of the finest fishermen
I ever saw come from my home
town. The last trip they made
took three months to prepare.
They only had a small boat so
they had to apportion weight
ever so correctly. They put a
case of beer oh each side to act
as ballast. Up in the front they
had a big ice box to keep the
nose down a little. After a test
run they decided on a couple
of more cases just for appear
ance. Then they lit out up
stream and stayed three days.
Didn't catch any fish: because
they left the tackle in the car.
''Just; didn't have room," was
the excuse. Man, that is fine
fishing.
by Dr. Edmund Ferry
straight to a machine, deposit a
dime and a nickel and the ma
chine hands you five three-cent
stamps, just the number you
needed. You stamp your wife's
letters, put them back in your
pocket and leave.
You look for a newsboy; not
one in sight. You swear ai the
newspapers and the younger
generation, starting off down the
street, but you are stopped by
another understanding stgji
which says to you. "Good
morning, Get your Morning
News here. Deposit , five cents "
You deposit five cents and take
your paper from a machine. You
stop at the bank but of course
no human banker is on the
premise at 8:29, but a mechanical
receiving teller has been on duty
all night It takes your deposit
and you go to the office.
At the entrance of your office
building the doors automatically
swing open for you and you go
straight to the elevator" push a
button, the elevator door opens,
you get on, push another button
and the elevator delivers you
to your office. When you arrive
your secretary is listening to a
machine and of course you are
too polite to interrupt, besides
being concerned that .the secre-
tary type out accurately every
thing the machine says. So you
begin talking to another machine
which remembers everything
you say and will repeat it to
your secretary as soon as you
leave the office.
You get tired talking to the
machine; you want a coke. You
don't go to a fountain where a
pretty girl mixes you a drink
just to suit your taste and then
talks small talk with you for
; half an hour. Instead you go
down the hall to a machine, put
a quarter in a slot, get a coke
and four nickels in return. For
five minutes you stand there
drinking your coke, talking to
no one, but looking at yourself
in a mirror provided by the ma
chine. At lunch you are in a hurry
so you go to an automat, deposit
50 cents and a machine serves,
you a toasted sandwish, potato
chips and a cup of coffee. Since
there's no more work for you
to do at the office you hurry
off to the movie for the after
noon showin? of "&Tzti ,nfl rn
a South Pacific Island with a
Robot Secretary."
At the ticket booth ycu don't
stop to flirt with a pretty girl;
you just push your money under
the window and one machine
hands you a ticket and another
throws your change at you. You
pick up your change off the side-
wal, go in the theater, sit down
and a machine starts showing
you pictures of better things to
come in machines. You are im
pressed and after the show re
luctantly return to the office to
sign the letters your secretary
has typed for you. , -
You sign them and put them
vl1 "cx ucsjx xo De JlCKta
and sealed. You go home, take
a quick glance at the evening
paper, hurriedly' eat tfmnery
threaten to slit the -throat of,
anyone who speaks for the heiV
three hours and sit down before
a television set for the evening.
You have not had a decent con
versation with any ! humail be
ing all day; in fact, you have
hardly had a minute to spend:
with people because your 'al
fairs are primarily with machines.