Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / May 18, 1957, edition 1 / Page 2
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' f PACE TWO THf OAILY TAR HiEL SATURDAY, MAY 11. 15S7 TT;' Intellectual Timidity And The Lonely, Little Gadfly "77 teacher defends his pupils against his oxen personal influeme. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from him self to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.". Amos Hinnson Aliott. Manx have commented upon student apathy as it pertains to par ticipation or the lack of it in extra-curricular work. Hut lew have troubled to comment upon apathy as it pertains to interest in xholastic achievement or the distinct lack of same.. Concerning such disinterest, it is Irighteningly appalling to consist ently' witness classes in which a professor didactically spins a little web of knowledge upon which students climb, with little effort or toil, to an accepted or passing level of aca demic prowess. Such professors- prescribe small doses ol learning which enable lethargic minds to "just get by." But there is a conspicuous failure to provoke and stimulate these same minds from sometimes som: nambuli.stic states. We would prescribe, on the oth er hand, a stimulating dose of academic purgative which would provoke students to think, think, t hink. Such a purgative is not to be found in patent doses. It must be an adaptable' p u r g a t i v e which would put minds to work with oimi uit comments such as: "Our tetlook offers these defi nitions and patterns. Do you, is students, feel that the author is presenting a valid argument and a completely clear field of facts: If von agree, state your expository reasons. If ou disagree, state your expository reasons." Intellec tual ti'iiidity means much more than failing to participate in. general class work. It connotes a general tone of complacency which extends to affairs of government and eerday living. Intellectual timidity is blind ac ceptance of current trends and cul tural patterns regardless of their aliditv or adequacy. Intellectual timidity is the fail ure ol student legislators to speak out on a prejudicial state law mere ly because it is a state law. Intellectual timidity is a blatant failure to accept the responsibili ties whiin are thrust upon us by ster's Dictionary with their -diplomas. Then such graduates might retreat to a private corner and memorize an immeasurable amount of incidental intelligence. This plan would not only save students an incalcuable amount of. time and trouble, but it would al so considerably trim the .state's al location for higher education. On the extreme pole from the complacent', intellectually timid student, there is the student gad fly jwho only lights laboriously and aggravatingly upon a topic only when he feels a sting would height en his prestige with the professor and chalk up a few brownie points on the grade book. Such a gadfly for the sake of be ing a gadfly is a pest who bogs down a class with irrelevant ques tions to which the aniver is ob vious and despicably unimagina tive. s Such self - appointed frondeurs are a pain to all concerned. But the genuine intellectual gad fly is an invaluable addition to any class. He provokes the professor who should himself be provoking thoughts among his students. He stimulates, by consistent poignant stings, the intellectually timid from their mental cocoons of complac ency and blind acceptance. Intellectual assertion is more than a method of elevating one's position in a" grade book, it is a ... r- i. wl. i ... . i i iiieiiun iiauirtfiN miiicii rAitnu.i ... . to and permeates through everyday I I I S it l 111 I " ' 1 Intellectual timidity is unques tioning acceptance of the written word. The attitude that because sin?e matter is down in black and white, it is a cold fact which should be assimilated bv our minds with out reasoning out and testing its alidit. Montaigne said a well-made head was to be desired over a well-filled If stufling the head with a series of non-correlated facts ami figures which will enable one to "just get by" a course is what we seek, then it might be suggested that high school graduates be given an F.n cdojeida Britannica and a Web- The Daily Tar Heel The official student publication of the Publications Board of the University of North Carolina, where it is published daily except Monday and examination al! vacation periods and summer terms. Entered as second class matter in the post office in Chapel Hill, N. C, under the Act of March 8, 1870. Subscription rates: mailed, $4per year, $2.50 a semes tor: delivered $6 a year, $3.50 a semester. existence. Socrates, Joan of Arc, and so on through the ages, were perse cuted for thinking differently for questioning the powers that be. Yet creativity, upon which our c ivilia tion must base its progress, depends ujMMi radical assertions which pro voke innovations. Anything but blind adherrance to the written word and eager mast lic ation of the intellectual morsels handed from professors on direct ed spoons may be labeled pseudo iconoclatic and radical. But Christ wasn't exactly patted on the back by Pontius Pilate when the Roman governor of Judea's power was threatened by a humble yet all- xwerful innnovation . faith. religious Intellectual timidity than blind acceptance. is more Editor NEIL BASS Managing Editor BOB HIGH Associate Editor NANCY HILL Sports Editor BILL KING New Editor WALT SCHRUNTEK Business Manager JOHN C. WHI1AKER Advertising Manager FRED KATZIN NEWS STAFF Graaam Snyder, Edith MacKinnon,' Ben Taylor, Patsy Miller, Sue Atchison. Manley Springs. EDIT STAFF Whit Whitfield, Anthonj Wolff, Stan Shaw. BUSINESS STAFF John Minter, Mari an Hoberk, Jane Patten, Bucky Shu-'ford. SPORTS STAFF: Dave Wible, Stu Bird, Ed ' Rowland, Jim Crownover, Ron Milligan. Subscription Manager Dale Staley Circulation manager Staff Photographers . Charlie Holt Woody Sears, Norman Kantor, Bill King. Labraxians-Sue Gichner, Marilyn Strum Night News Editor Night Editor Bob High Manley Springs It is a threat to the progress of man. Creativity upon which all civili zations are built is at stake. Coeds: What An invention! Our most sincere congratulations to the new Miss Chapel Hill Miss Joanne Aldridge. , . The fact that judges were ob viously compelled to serious delib eration before selection from -such an outstanding list of entries in dicates that feminine pulchritude is flourishing in Chapel Hill. Hearty congratulations, too, to the runners up Miss Jane Brock and Miss Martha Fortune. The entire entry field" is a trib ute to Chapel Hill and the Uni versity. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to open the University's doors to the fairer sex back around the turn of the century. Such a decision should have only come earlier. VISE AND OTHERWISE: Semi-Erectus OV Architecture Re-Classified Whif Whitfield In reply to a column ' by An thony Wolff last week, ? I must defend the architecture of the campus. His critique was well written and sincere, but there were many fallacies which I would like to point out. Since my vocabulary is as limited as my knowledge of architecture I must write in the vernacular. The campus architecture is unique in that it is so varied, yet shows superb planning. Take (mwsk-.1- -for instance J 1 " the dormitories. f- 't.Most of them aTe classic Box X , , : Ionian. They are ? ; -not particularly 1 V v beautiful, but ' (thanks to F.D. - .vT"!' R-. they are ! J practical in that j i - tfiy all have "Remember All Those Nice Peanuts?" -v 1V? 7 " (f V A t - -aC -l it A RETORT: tf ' - 1 I IT - tap"- V rooms in them. Other buildings which have the same or similar design are Graham Memorial, Saunders, Murphey, and Bing ham. Most of these are not avail able for rooms however. Cobb dormitory is of the Con temporary "H design, which is a refreshing relief from the rest of the dormitories. Phillips Hall; Peabody, Battle Vance - Pettigrew, Bynum, and Caldwell are more nearly Ante diluvian than anything else. Woollen, Swain, Abernathy, and Venable are ante-bellum (Pelloponesian War). Hill, Per son, Howell, Davie, and the Alumni Building are traditional, whereas Manning. Bynum, New East, and New West are Classic Carolus. s Hill "X", "Y", ""2". as well as the Air Force buildings and Cald well Annex are all Contempor ary Sylvian in design. Bingham "X" and "Y" are both Old Eng lish. The Tin Can is in a classifica tion all its own, being Metallus Semi-erectus. It is one of the few such edifices in the whole world. Of this we can be justly proud. It is not completely fair to us as students to accept Mr. Wolff's remarks. We have a distinction here not to be paralled anywhere else in the known world, that distinction being the motley conglomeration of buildings which typefies the Carolina Way of Life. The pseudo-intellectuals of the campus would really have it no other way than the way it is for to them the architecture of the campus is a means to an end and not an end to itself. If you have bothered to read this far then you have undoubt edly noticed that I have not pointed out any fallacies in Mr. Wolff's column, partly out df respect for his superior com mand of the knowledge of arch itecture, and partly because I got lost in the first paragraph. If the terms were new to some of you, don't be disturbed for they have just come into use recently. NWi " t j!r FROM THE SULLINS REFLECTOR: Colleges Have Lost Their Purpose? And A Dictionary For Pledges Are American state universi ties slipping? Dr. Arthur Bestor, history professor at the Univers ity of Illinois and president of the U. S. Council for Basic Edu cation, claims they are. In an article, "We Are Less Educated Than So Years Ago." Bestor points ouf severat funda mental weaknesses in American universities. "The trouble with today's schools is that they have lost' their sense of purpose.. They are . underta-king too many worthless curricular and extra-curricular activities. The result is that un essential activities are squeezing out the basic subjects for a large number of our students. A first-rate student can get as sound an education in a state university if he comes properly prepared, if he knows what he is after. and if he makes himself work. But, the state university doesn't insist on thse three things as most privately endowed colleges do." Foreign students who com to American universities are amazed at the low standards of intellect ual training that we expect from students who enter our imiversi ties. "Fulbright scholars on ex change to the U. S. were all im pressed with the facilities for re search in America, and were -k L'il Abncr equally amazed at the skimpy training of the students who were being offered these resources." The theories and the influence of our professional educators seemed especially odd to these exchange students. They expect secondary education to embody the views of the learned world and to deal with fundamentals, not to be pursuing one fad after another. To better the situation. . Be stor proposes , to refuse ad mission to students who- come poorly prepared. He believes this would have a healthy effect on the public schools, too. Also, we should eliminate the kinds of courses and programs that exist only to let mediocre students get by. Bestor believes that col leges that concentrate on quali ty rather than numbers will pull ahead. ' . .: Alpha. Used to mean half of. Ex: Alpha pint. Beta Synonym for 'ought to." Ex: You beta beat it before the cops come. Gamma Baby talk for grand-, ma. Ex: What big teeth you have Gamma. : Delta Used in cards. Ex: He delta hand of pinochle. Epsilon A laxative. Ex: Go, get rne a nickel's worth of epsilon salts. Zeta To repeat a phrase. Ex: Zeta again. Eta To devour (singular). Ex: I eta slab of horse meat. Thefa To devour plural). Ex: Theta whole cow. Iota A duty. Ex: Iota slap your face. Kappa A "pair. Ex: Those girls are a kappa pigs. Lambda A 'pugilist pfarase-. Ex:? " So I lambda guy on da saoot. .r Mu Love song of a cow. Ex: Mu, Moo. Nu Recent. Ex: What's mi? XI Dialect. Ex: Xi in love? I is. . i - Omicron Expression of pain when dancing. Ex: Ouch! Omi oorn. Pi The greatest American dessert. Ex: Give me a piece of cherry pi. Sigma Part of a warning. Ex: Watch out or I'll slgma dog on you. Upsilon An explanation. Ex: See the acrobat? Upsiloned on his " head. - Phi Expressed condition. Ex: I'd go away phi had the dough. Chi Slang for man. Ex: He's a devil of a chi. - Psi What they do during dramatic situations. Ex: He heaved a psi. Omega Part of a prayer. Ex: Omega good girl outa me. By AS Cpp 'THEN, AFTER t HE UEAfS FROM THE EMPIRfci. ( state Building 0e n ft V A V -THERE'LL BE AT KPi ' l . A I I LEAST HALF A MILLION Y T -i .-'VJv J PEOPLE. FLEEIN' IM JT . j I f. --- i it , IT'LL BETHE GR&ATEST J DISASTER. NEW VORK A HAS J KNOWN.' J KIN AH HAVE. A ( SANGWIDGE? - ' Pogo Dy Wait Kelly IP Vte J WA AT PlVIN ws'P HAvg you JDtN Ou& PJTTgay TSAA &CCO CAN'T Fl7 A LICK. L1 t 1 AUf5A t i S . V I m -yfyhfr V KX a 1 uf u tf ru BOS', I HWWTO 9WOC MW.C -X 3 PLyiN' I'M TWg V HOMA ggW HOCLYHCOiy f y"MMWBMMJIJIMIIMMMMWI-JIJil IM IIIIMWWMIIl" I lllliniiiiiM ill 1 1111 I T Reader Asserts For Renaissance Editor: We can see it growing."We can see it advancing steadily, just as our parents saw the Nazi conquest systematically engulf the free countries of Europe during the 1930's. The serpent 'of moral degrada tion, even more than the Soviet threat, is v con stricting each of us individually and all of us as a nation. We see it growing, because its hallmarks and effects stare at us from 'all sides as we live ! from day 4o' day. But we are still Jiving accord ing io' a lethargic, doctrine of appeasement to this ''monster" -just "as the 'Western powers pacifically 'watched 1 iiler ' do his worst in overcoming other nations. 1But'eveB more difficult to stem than a fanatical 'iriiTitary regime is this slow poison which concerhseach 'one of us personally. The "refigious and ethical strength that settled ' this ;land With your forefathers is greatly responsi- "ble ' for ' their Success. Their faith and standards gave r them courage, which we (with our TV and : fraternity parties) don't seem to need right now. 'bur'god 'these '"days is "the secure family" ideal. Cod fits into this overall deity only as long as we 'are "able to justify our own -wills by'His. ' For : the ; great part we do just what we jolly well 'want to do, not as yet having needed real strength 'arid courage in a trial of personal survival (such as that struggle rendered by the British people during the Blitz). But unless, we"get on the stick," we are really going to need something and it won't be there. Ys, we do what we jolly well please. "And. following the type of psychology they teacCaround here, all we really aim for these days is satisfaction of our basic needs. Our passions and sentiments, our basic needs and our whims: all these are satis fied to the overflowing through the standards we accept these days. Even the most poverty-stricken and hard-working student in this university will admit this if he's honest. Now I'm generalizing, and so I must allow for the many exceptions who are on their toes religious ly, morally, and as far as realizing thtir duty and potential is concerned. But although one "slay hon estly be one of these exceptions, he must admit that this trend is so strong that it is ruining , us col lectively and individually. J . J ' And why will you admit it? A steady moviegoer sees a excellent graph of our moral standards. Just look at the amount of sex andor "blood and. guts" that comprises most of our motion pictures these days. Buxom blondes are big money-makers for Hollywood. Sensuous squirming by these undressed, undulating young ladies becomes very real for the male moviegoer. The happy little home is the goal of many women addicted to soap operas. A -ten-year-old, boy reams the neighborhood with a toy pistol inspired by war, cowboy, and gangster movie?, comic books," radio and TV programs, and influences from his peers; and many soon graduate to switch-blade knives used rn all seriousness. Sex and the romantic love ("I can't live without you") theme are pro claimed to us from juke boxes, movie, Jitirature and even advertisements for deodorants. And it creeps up on us so innocently that we accept it without question. Moderati'U of these self-indolqences which America advertises and presses upon its sons and daughters is not bad. If the individual will realize that potential harm accompanies the encourage ment fo "buy this" and "drink that." to read Play boy (the magazine for reel men), to depend on a member, of the opposite sex for your whole spirit ual support and existence, to roar recklessly down highways in those dandy toys family car? and to "really live" self -indulgently, we are? a'feS Tilany people do realize this, and do not follow where signboards lead them. In truth, many organizations are moving to bring us down to earth (eq, churches.) PeThaps churches often afford s harsh extremes in their complete condemnation of modern ideals; but, just as the feudal system and Puritanism had their faults, so the modern moral tendency toward more unrestricted satisfaction of animal drives undirect ed can harm us to the extent that Imperial Home was in its lethargy: complete corruption and down fall. Let's profit by the mistakes of the Roman.?. Let's tighten Our sense of duty and fade our unpieasant problems;, let's question the standards presented by Hollywood and 'The American Way of Life;" let's find a faith and live up to it; and let's "seek the truth, come whence it may, cost What ft will!" What kind of an America Will we give proudly or shamefully, but not indiffefently--t0 our chil- ChrUs V. Cvll Jr. How the University administration can impose a supervised study schedule on Cobb residents even if it is on a voluntary basis is beyond the com prehension of those who believe in the right of student autonomy. Such a practice is far from the liberal traditions for which this University ostensi bly stands. The Graham Memorial Board of Directors choose well in naming Tom Lambeth stadent union di rector. But it is a rather unusual situation when a temporary director is named to succeed a temporary director. We still hope, though we know not how, that a permanent director will be named ons c2 these old years one of these old years. m..n-jf- m !'-1' Mm iui 1.1""-" t m .-. ml ajw-J' J- ' 'j' "-ii1 ''"TJ urn p' n m p mm vmnm n irm irrnr iti m "i r1" ' -T r .T.Tn i . a, T riTfl 1 m wlui i nUjal r Ji'-'i '"' 1 ' i.-.n.- - Lnumiinnuw ibm .w..u m it ..iu... mim n turn n im i ...i u -- . - - , - - - - -
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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May 18, 1957, edition 1
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