Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 7, 1955, edition 1 / Page 2
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P AGS .TWO ' Underground Railway: 3lgIime . Conspiracy A great underground grid railway appar ently connects student advocates of big-time football at one college with their counter parts at other institutions. . We disclose this nationwide conspiracy whh some reluctance and at considerable risk to our standing as txma fide collegiates, of the flannel grrvy and tie of stripes variety. IVut it's worth the risk. As evidence .of the underground railway, we cite the football happenings of the college scene this week, and we don't mean the ones on the field. Fit st, in Georgia, angry Georgia Tech stu dents beseiged the state-capitol and gover nor's mansion, causing as much furor in At lanta as General . I T. S. Grant, to hear the newspapers talk of if. (Governor Marvin Griinn, heir to the .Talmadge throne, had insisted on a segregated Susrar Howl game, which would hardly be possible against Pitts burgh, which has a Negro back.) Then, r't Wake Forest, hundreds of stu dents inarched about President Harold Trib ble's home protesting possible football de einphasis - ("We want athletics. We want big time athletics . . . said the students.) Fhe Wake Forest President, who insists that no te was ever booted from hs school for voicing an opinion, chatted with the mob for half an hour, thanking them for drop-, ping" by. These partisans of bi-time athletics among students seem to be characterized by their penchant for staging riots, hanging (and burning) people in effigy, and raising gen eral hell. As we write, two more reports of effigy burnings have . come in -both in protest of Georgia's governor, one at the University of Georgia, the other at Emory. The conspira cy grows daily. .. ' Now that we've unveiled the underground railway, with a firm tongue in our editorial cheek, let all its members be warned that even though Governor Griffin of Georgia was wrong (and he was) and even if Presi dent Tribble "wants to de-emphasize ath letics, that's not cause tor riot. If students must stage an occasional riot, let them revolt about picking a University President, or p ing teachers more, but not rebel for gani(;vpr"an:tnipty pair of panties. Nothing Factual, :ftl!i "In classrooms, in lectures, in sermon, runs the lament of an editorial in the new number of WC's Co raddi, there is "nothing new, nothing blue." The editors of our sis terly arts magazine draw their skirts up and sulk because "convention can't be disturbed." The lament is shrill: Only the same incessant chatter that the cave man heard in different dialect. In classrooms we hear teachers' notes quoted, read and re hearsed since 1862 ... The point of this exaggeration is this: Is " therp nothing new under the sun? Breathes there a professor with wit alive to jumble those ancient notes and sprinkle them with vitality? Coraddi, even in self-confessed exaggera tion wastes its stylistic elegance. We can't get away from the feeling that its thought on the subect of academic convention is part of another subtle though growing conven tion. The subtle new convention is just this: That students consider classrooms the proper sites for entertainment, even to the exclu sion of sound ter":hing. It would be fine if professors could lecture daily with the effer vescence of Milton Iierle and the profundity of Reinhold Neibuhr. It would be finer if they could load the dreary facts with the jolt of 5,000 volts. But facts aren't built that way, sometimes; and just because they c: n't have the jolt of 5,ooo volts, the new convention would as soon throw them -out of the clasioom. Under the new convention, students seem to want brain-tickling, not brain-feeding; idle and n relevant embroidery so long as it is stimu- l.ltiiio" rather lh:m full lnf mrnt inn nf rlif subjec t; they want fancy indulged, not imagi nation constructed, as it must be, on a solid basis of facts. Contdli complains, "we get the facts, only the facts." It is so muc h thr.t "we get . . . only the facts." as that we get more facts than the current, pressures to be entertained will allow i in ji.ci-ii 11 i nit: jmit.c uiiiv inc lacis ju.st a part of the lingo under which "pedant" becomes a bad word for someone who knows more than we dor Is it just part of the lingo under winch "notes . . . rehearsed since 1802" me 1 notes containing more than it is timely or comfortable to learn? Facts, and notes do not always give the Mcnt.nl roses to students, and there is a glowing unwillingness to sit down and cope w'ith ihean. T here are too many "worthwhile activities," .too many novels, too many "ser ious bull-sessions," too many good arguments, loo many taJk-fests. It embarrasses and vague ly infill iatev us when the sheer, grind-stone fact try to uet in the way. The Daily Tar Heel lias its reservations r.bout the "dusty wall of convention." like. Cotiiddi)ui not when it is just another smbol for "the" discomforts of learning facts. MarlcTwain: V Failure Or . U. S. Homer? J. P. Duffy, British consul in St. Louis, was the speaker at a dinner Wednesday in observation of the 120th anniversary of Mark Twain's birth. At first blush it may seem a bit strange to take a newcomer to Missouri, and one from across the ocean at that, and give him the assignment of talking about this State's most outstanding ; author and, along with a certain former President, Missouri's best-known native son. Yet the fact is that few Amer cans so well-known in other lands as is the creator of Huckleberry Finn and Tom 'Sawyer. Possibly Prerrjier Bulganin could make a talk about the onetime Mississippi steamboat pilot that would be well worth a Missouri audience. Certainly many Russians could, for Mark Twain is an American favorite of readers in the long nights on the steppes. All of which leads us to a new book about Mark. Twain, com piled by Prof Arthur L. Scott of the University of Illinois and pub lished by the Southern Methodist University Press. It is a collection of evaluations of Mark Twain's writing and thinking by critics from Bret Harte to Henry Seidel Canby. Prof. Scott is a Mark Twain specialist and he teaches a literature course that centers on Mark Twain. So he is Intimate ly familiar with writing about Mark Twain as well as the writ ing by him. The collection is fascinating. Covering almost 90 years, it shows the infinite diversity of views concerning this celebrated son of the little village of Florida (pop. 100), up in Monroe coun ty. Here is Van Wyck Brooks's "Freudian theory" that Mark Twain was a "God-sent satirist shanghaied into the business man's paradise" by his wife, who re-established over him "that old Calvinisticj spell of his mother's." (Going over the proofs of "Fol--lowing the Equator," Mrs. Clem ens wrote: Page 1050, 2nd line from bottom. Change 'breech , clout.' It's a word that you love and 'I - abominate I would take it :ir out cf the language.") To answer Van Wycic Brooke and Harvey 0'Hi.ggins, who called Mark Twain a "biological failure" torn by fears and frustrations and an inferiority complex' going back -to his birth, there is Bernard De Voto who replied with all the vio lence of which the late occupant of Harper's Easy Chair was capa ble. Out of the battle came a land mark book, "Mark Twain's Amer ica," an examination of life in Hannibal and the Missourian's humor as part of the folk art of a people. Here, too, are the other opinions: Ludwig Lewisohn's that he is our national bard, in the blood-line of Homer: Carl Van Doren's that he "loafed through the world something like a comic Whitman"; W. D. Howells's .that he was unique in "the power of charming us out of our-troubles"; Stuart Sherman's that . "robust, big-hearted, gifted with divine power to use words (he) makes us all laugh together, builds' true romances with prairie fire and western clay, and shows us that we are at one on all the main points." ' Yes, and not just the critics, but the poets, too, for as Editor Scott reminds us, Henry Van Dyke wrote for the Mark Twain public memorial meeting in 1910 in Carneigie Hall:, We kuow you well, dear Yorick of the West, The very soul of large and friendly jest, That loved and mocked the broad grotesque of things In this new world where all the folk are kings. St. Louis Post-Dispatch TV' ir ": w eacner s iiteror c Editors: I am proud of the University and its fine football team and ex cellent coach. As elected student' leaders, please use your influence to p: event the firing of Barclay. Ed Tenney Jr., '51 Three Questions Editors: Mr. William Elliott states: "Thus, a proposal is made to the band to return to a mission of adding spirited music and drill to trie games and abandoning in adequate attempts to delight the crowds with enchanting little imi tations of Broadway extravan ganzas." I pose three questions to Mr. Elliott. 1) What is not "spirited" about "Dixie"? (2) Is not the championship NROTC Drill Team "good enough for Mr. Elliott? (3) What is "inadequate" about four majorettes? John Wall Hanft land " ' ' i In a crude manger the Christ Child was laid To whip up the spirit, we'll have a parade. . Come one, come all, who our her itage shares si Tinsel and tinfoil, alluring wares - For was not our-Savior born on this day! Then let the Merchants' Guild show the way. . Sounds upon the midnight clear, glorious chant -of old, ' ' From parrots bending hear the "mike" to usher in the', gold; . ' "A TV set for Christmas? A life time fountain pen? Then hurry today, - right , away, and see Old Honest Jim' " The children were nestled snug in their beds; Iiad;.o commercials dancCd their heads : i. While the' world in solemn-.still-mess lay And Christ was born on Christmas Day. Ulmont E. Iv2s, '53 versies that take place other than at Chapel Hill. It seems to me more space should be used for the episodes that are continuous ly going on on the campus. " I would like to suggest that, in addition to the crossword puzzle and the two cartoon strips, you list the T.V. schedule and the show times. ' Dave Stewart (We fSioid Leonard in-the Y Court Editors) Ad-A-Li-Myocin? all in A Month Before Christmas 'Twas a month before Christmas, when all through the town The spirit of Christ did officially abound; The wreathes were hung by the lamp posts with care In hopes that the shopper soon would be there. O come, all ye faithful, check book in hand, Sing out His praises in all the What Happ3ned To Leonard? Editors: ' What happened to Rueben Leo nard? His 'column Was one of the very few that I enjoyed reading. He seemed to be the only one that had anything to say about campus happenings. The majority of the editorial page is devoted to outside problems. There are numerous other publications de- dicated to events and contro- 'I Thought Sure it Was In Here!' A s rrir y I (44 -',X' 'MJ-Uu- 5 ; S The Dangers Of ingrowing Provincialism1 SPIRIT OF CHARITY n Among the little irritating things of life is to be standing in .line for service at a bank or a store and to have someone cut in ahead of you. There come to mind the story of the woman who rushed in and interrupted the butcher as he was explaining to good points of a roast to a gentleman customer. - "Give me a half pound of cat meal quick!" the woman order ed. Then she turned, to the first customer and said, "I hope you wont mind my being served ahead of you." "Oh, no," shrugged the gentle man, "not if .you're as hungry as all that." Srnlthfield Herald D. Hiden Ramsey, chairman of the State Board of Higher Education,, warned North Carolina recent ly to avoid that "ingrowing provincialism" which ccmes with denying the freest flow of students across state boundaries. Mr. Ramsey was noting the the trend manifested earlier this year when the General Assembly raised tuition for out-of-state students at the Greater Uni versityexcepting of course those agile athletes needed as intercollegUte football fodder. President Gordon Gray bitterly opposed the fi nagling that accompanied that increase. Mr. Gray's orderly mind saw the irony of an out-of-state tuition increase which exempted scholarship athletes, but raised ,an interstate tariff baVrier against other stu dents. He spoke his mind vigorously and went down fighting as fie General Assembly, viewing a sagging budget Sn one hand and visions o football $habbi ness at Kenan Stadium on 4he other, aoproved an increase with "necessary" exception, of course. PROBLEMS ENOUGH ," North Carolina has problems enough without manufacturing more. Her universities cannot edu cate the nation and the worlds while ignoring her own; neither can she give her own the love of learn ing which springs v.om a great university without the cross:fertilization or ideas. These ' fresh ideas which sparkle in the interchange of differing apti tudes and talents comprise one of the basic requisites of a great seat of learning. Howard Mumford Jones, . professor of . English at Harvard and formerly at Chapel Hill himself, set forth some of the defects of udergraduate educa tjonin an, article in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin whbn he noted that the nation's colleges are not en couraging students to focus on learning as their chief concern. NATIONAL PHENOMENON This basic problem oiundergraduate campus life is net confined to any one state or region; it is a national -phenomenon," and there is no pat answer to it. The atmosphere of learning and inspiration which automatically goes with great universities has been present at Chapel Hill in the past. It may not be there as much today as it was formerly, but neither legislatures, trustees nor alumni should initiate,, policies and programs which would destroy that seedbed of learning. North Carolina -has enough "ingrowing provincial ism" to go around. It needs to heed the call to lead ership of its great hearts and minds men like Hid en Ramsey, Clarence Poe and Frank Graham and march onward. The multple challenges to higher education in North Carolina have been met valiantly in the past. They can be mastered again if the proper leadership inspires the people to their best.' " Y-Court Corner. Doll Or Ava? Two Types Of Puichrifude - Daohnn Leonard English Q Editors: Florida! It attracts all of the snake-doctors. Last week it was honored by a visit from Stevenson, D.D. (Doc tor of Democracy). x - " 'in the early 30's, Dr. Cure-All-, Frankie went there. Someone shot at him but missed. Doctors are lucky. He promised to cure our illls if it took the last drop of our blood. World War II. Three-letter-Harry then took over. Key West became the Little White House. He promised not only to cu:e'embut also to edu cate 'em. A iPoint Four Plan. "Give 'em Hell" and "S.O.B." re placed "Da Da" in our kids vo cabulary. He too, went over with a bang! Korea. Now Stevie goes South. From the mouth of the great Doctor we are once again offered a cure. A specific for all our ills. It's not named yet. Could it be: ad-a-li-myocin? C- W. McGee, Jr. (School of Education). (Could be. Editors.) IT IS too bad. that we couldn 1 have lived between 1763 and 1849. For in 1768 there was born, in Guilford County, North Caro lina's "most beautiful woman". Dorothy Payne Todd, alias Dol ly Madison, measures or measur ed up to what a "state agency to select N. C.'s most beautiful wo man" thinks an all-time beauty of this state should measure up to. But the beauty contest was no walkaway for Dolly. ("Dolley" to historians.) Smithfield's Barefoot Contessa Ava Gardner put up quite a tussle for the crown. REPORTS HAVE it that sever al segments of North Carolina's beauty-ogling public were not happy over the choice of Dolly. Their dissenting opinions are ri diculous. A "State agency to se lect N. C.'s most, beautiful wo man" is certainly an agency well schooled in the appraisal of beau tiful women. The agency evident ally contains members almost 200 years old who are capable of dis regarding changes in fashions and the populace's taste in what con stitutes beauty and what doesn't. Then too, it is common knowl edge that beauty is only skin deep. The agency was lucky in this respect. Dolly showed very little of her dermis to her admir ers. Her collars came up to her chin and her hems touched the ground. On the other hand, tooth some Ava's neckline is much nearer Dolly's hemline, etc. This, display of epidermis may have been a defeating factor for Ava. The agency could see the various flaws in Ava's superstruc ture whereas Dolly kept her flaws hidden under folds and folds and folds of clothing. JUST HOW decisive a role limbs played in the contest is de batable, but it is a sure bet that family trees were thoroughly examined. Some people pay to have their family tree looked up and others have to pay to have theirs ,hushed "up. Both Ava and Dolly may have very stately fam ily trees but Dolly's is probably more the blueblood. THE TIME element involved in the difference of ages further serves to make the contest even more ridiculous. Women concen trate on the beautification and accentuation of their different as sets at different times (Example: Dior and his periodic change of styles and fashions to keep de signers wealthy, wives fashion able, and husbands broke.) In Dolly's time there was more hustle over the bustle. To day, the' hustle remains, but the "le" has been dropped from bustle. Tomorrow women may shave their heads and wear the latest thing in Marian space hel emts. Who knows? Nobody ex cept the state agency to select North Carolina's most beautiful woman. THE ONLY possible solution to our problem, if we must admit that one woman is the most beau tiful, is to select the most beau ful one (not the prettiest, mind you) and jot her name down on paper and file it away some where. Then, in the future there will be no problem of determin ing, beautiful women. Times are changing and so are women. WHILE SEEKING material for this ' column I saw a certain "Socrates of the stables" chomp ing grass in front of the library and I posed the question to him. "Horse," I said, "who do you think is North Carolina's most beautiful woman-person?" "Neigh," said the . Horse, "I don't go for these women-people, I like women-horses." Old Gem Vernacular p Kenneth Ke (This is the third vernacular poetry. Editors ) n Germany's second great iite,a. gan around 1050 and lasted to this there had been a long si' ? with the exception of works v-r-l rebirth wa brought on by tae J to win the laity and thus u:t!!r.r? universal church. ""'c ! ' PEAK The, peak of this second rena.. literature occurred between the ' This is commonly referred to as V 7 or Golden Age, in medieval Gerai'-' men have withstood the passage 7 been .accepted as superior to the;'r In any discussion of medieval Ce! mention one is to mention the o!h ficult to say that one is superior cause none are perfect masters vet in style, metrics, or profundity, t -are representative of medieval at its best; to leave one out is to h picture. Three of these men are noted for one for his lyric poetry. The latter.V Vogelweide, was a wandering n.in ' deeply of both the bitter and the s 7" still ranks as one of the greatest lv time in a country that is noted I .. (the last poem "Under der Linden -Cummings in his "non-iecture" was i ? BEST TREATMENT ! Gottfried von Strassburg is the best medieval treatment of the Triiti story. He is credited with leiining ments oft he plot and motivation cf;: r source. It has also said that he e!ev:';.s . of ths lovers for each other to a r;l with mystical leanings. s Wolfram von Eschenbach, theaitkf is consdered the most profound and - -the "big four". The story of Parziva! for the Holy Grail is well k:i vr. : Wagner's opera, Parsifal, just as V,,: has acquainted many moderns with::1 Of the three 'epic'' writers, I'.r-. ' is perhaps closest to tie modern rea;-:- his idllic tale, Der a. me Heinrkh His technique in this case compares i; ; that of the modern short story. The;'::' treated by Longfellow in his G-'::: ; is still popular in German literature.! work is morally didactic, its appeal h: The plot briefly: Heinrich von Aue 'P. a knight who .has fulfilled all then;: chivalry, out ne nas ncgieciea uua .i j for' this, he is afficted wit.i leprosy ri saved by the voluntary self-sacrifice o: , son. The young daughter of a peas: ; hears of the condition and niQedb; ; ; life while probably also thinking to::: j vation for herself and security fon through her good deed. Heinrich ac;r offer when all other means fail, but a' , ment he refuses the sacrifice, preftrr. ignoble death to exacting the life o: j ly cured of the disease. The girl, h; furious at being deprived of the cer which is granted to all martyrs: she trum. Her disappointment is ass-? though when Heinrich marries here to a position hardly within the cC peasant girl of the Middle Ages. ONE REASON Perhaps one reason for the er.iu of "Poor Henry" is the fact that thrk his milieu and bursts the bonds of S marriage of a nobleman to a coffi or" not!) was unheard of. yet har dated to resolve his plot in Uis ttt& ty of the plot is revealed in the "ir. of the girl. She is magnanimous;: We. At the same time she is, frar":'; her sacrifice would afford a clu!CAj painless passage to heaven witn aec. hood and fame on earth. Ilcinrich nrovidp for hor Darents out of S deed. . , .. The plot is close-knit. Heinuta bilitics for a cure goes to the mo ' pean medical centers before ae?; offer. Then, when he resigns himj order to preserve the life of t'lC the one flaw in his character is The girl, who had nothing on e bly everything in heaven, gains on earth: Heinrich, who had a-'1-" on earth but neglected God. gal;1'. marriage of the two symbol:ze;j; tween heaven and earth the rc'- . cirar: this was one of the noo Chivalric Age. The "official student publication ations Board of the University of - where ft I ( t i i n ' If! i ci 'HI ID j ieicf- daily and Z. 3 vacate j 1 sumrr.ei l ei a? I matter fl; I fice in C' March scripts LUlitors LOI'IS
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 7, 1955, edition 1
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