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PAGE TWO
THE DAILY TAR ;HESL
Xf-ZCii. -gftuRDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 19SS
A I-1 T ',: U
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' SKlf'!: -' ?Ke Abyss:(Cpnt. j .
anso
4
To The Abyss
America is dying. Its disease is intellectual at
tornment down through the echelons of society,
trition. Its symptoms are manifest throughout its
government down through the echelons of society.
I optically it has been on the decline for many
years now. It has lost its propaganda advantage in
the world. It has been a failyre in seeing the reali
ties of the world situation and meeting this with a
consUtent policy toward other nations. .
t
It has set rtself out as the spokesman of democ
racy and retained within its bounds such undemo
cratic institutions as segregation and infringement
of the ri;ht of speech and press.
, It pleads with the world for law and order and
backs its plea up with bomb tests in Nevada. It sup
ports the United Nations, but when the United Na
tions is not meeting. America reports to its own de
ices i ,-t contradiction to what the United Nations
would have done.
It asks for rational talk, but forces decisions down
the throats of allies and enemies alike.
It U the representative nation which has de
ermined its own desitny. but denies the principle
of self-determination to other nations.
It will take up arms to protect its territorial in
enty so that individual freedom may exist, but
will not t.ike up the same fight in the case of other
lutions.
It rYmands good faith on the part of the other
nations of the world, but more than three times dur
the pjxt several years has acted in contradiction to
its policies.
This U .sp.akin on the purely political level,
and answers nuny questions as to the leanings of
of th Middle K.istern and F.ir Eastern nations' lean
ings at the present time. It hows lack of foresight,
courage, honesty, principle, and character.
Thr-f are manifest in the United States itself. It
took a McCarthy to wake the people to the dangers
of their indi idual liberties, and many did not know
that they h.id such liberties until McCarthy brought
them to thnr m'ims in a howl of outrage and pain.
It took a Sputnik to make ho people of the Unit
ed States painfully aware of the deficiencies of Its
educational stem. but it also touched off a reaction
that was not healthy.
The people of the United States are controlled
They are controlled by their own ignorance and lack
of understanding. They, who have not read Marx,
will be the first to rebel at socialism.
Thoe who have not thought are the 'first to
deny ttiought to others. They, who do not speak and
act. are the first to deny free speech and action to
so many.
They, if they though, would not do this, but they
do not think. They react. There has not been any
price tag put on thinking and for many it takes
effort. They see price tags on wealth, on property,
on social acceptance, but they see none in thought.
It is a curious paradox that what the people see
price tags on ace things material. It is funny in the
facrrhat this" Tsh fundamental doctrine of Karl
Marx. The thinker! theyo quickly label Commun
is, are the very people that make Communism im
possible. They do not realize this as they do not realize
so many things.
They do not realize that the primary thing a
democracy can bring them is freedom of choice,
and they have let others make the choice for them.
They let advertisers select their breakfast cereal.
They let demagogues control their point . of view.
They let the Joneses govern their economic aspira
tions, and they let the church that they were
brought up into 'determine their values.
They move in a void. They think not. They act
not. They inquire not. They accept. They are to this
world dead.
They want to hear none of the poverty in India
or the sicknes.; in Malaya. They listen not to the
harbingers of doom, who predict correctly that the
United States will cease to exist if something is not
done quickly. They have shut theii eyes. Somewhere
in their development, the thinking process stopped
and they allowed other people to think for them.
Th is is reflected in their leadership, for at no
time in the history of this country has there been
less emphasis on brains in any area of public life.
The artist is looked on as homosexual. The writer
is pictured as starving. The philosopher is cloistered
behind a book in the average mind's eye and his
phlosophizing has no meaning.
In gmernmcnt the picture is more abysmal. The
popular hero has replaced the educated man of prin
ciple, who perhaps never existed, but should exist if
this country is to survive.
It is reflected in the temporary expedients which
the government tries to use to solve something and '
which ends up solving nothing.-Heroic efforts are
rewarded, but cool-headed, far-seeing programs are
not.
America is dying, and unless the people of the
United States arrest its dizzy descent into the abyss
of forgotten nations with high ideals and hopes,
which were tarnished at one point and fell into
disuse, death will be soon.
There is hope, but it has dimmed to a flicker, as
the clamor education rose with Sputnik and sank
with Explorer.
American democracy cannot survive, unless it
rests upon a thinking populace' and unless it can
bring about a thinking populace 'it will die. ;
Democracy depends on an intelligent electorate.
Without this necessary qualification, democracy will
not survive. A totalitarian system can, concentrate:
its brains at the highest level, and pour its, orders
down to the lower echelons vi a pyramid of people
of descending degrees on intelligence. It thrives on
ignorance, for with ignorance people will be willing
to accept dictates more easily, for people will not
know any better.
A totalitarian system can be brilliant in its ma
neuvers and in its propaganda, for it depends on the
consent of the few not of the whole.
Democracy depends on the whole. If the stand
ards of the whole are low, then its policies and mes
sage will be delivered at as low a level as Elvis
Presley shows America in comparison to Tchaikov-
The cause of American survival is bound up in
the cause of education. It is bound up in the poten
tial intelligence of all people and in the possible
realization of man's individuality.
. (Contlnutd on Column 7)' '
(The following is the first
part of a speech made by Dean
of Student Affairs Fred Wea
ver, at the YWCA Freshman .
Camp. Although directed at
freshmen, it has merit on a
larger scale.)
"The Mefning of Education at
Carolina" is not a topic that I
would choose for myself. But since
it was given to me as an assign
ment, I accept it willingly." There
is an element of presumption, per
haps even of vanity, in attempt
ing to speak about the meaning
of education; because there is the
suggestion, in the first plate, that
the speaker considers himself edu
cated, and. in the second place,
tat he thinks he can tell someone
how to become educated. Actual
ly there is no such presumption
Irert. We realize that vve cannot
tell someone how to educate him
self. Nevertheless I do not think you
will find University people espe
cially hesitant about sounding their
opinions on the subject of educa
tion. Manifestly someone among
us has, or ought to have, some
definite ideas about this. The Uni
versity has been going for 163
years. The number of living alum
ni of the University is close to
fifty thousand. At the mention of
"living alumni" the question oc
curs, bow many of them are
dead? I just asked Mr. Saunders
that question a minute ago. The
answer was ten thousand. Sixty
thousand students, then, have
come here before you seeking an
education. There are more than
five hundred full-time faculty
members whose work it Ks to
teach to educate. In addition,
thefe are several hundred. I
think you will find also tha most
of your seven thousand or so fel
low students have views on the
subject. And they are an espe
cially fruitful source of informa
tion and advice. We are all in it
together, seeking to help one an-'
other to become educated.
Everything you do. everything
that happens to you is a part of
your education. The latest . thing
in your education is hs retreat,
Mr. Lanier's statement a few min.
utes ago. What was the earliest
thing in your education? Did it
occur the' day you were born? Was
it going to the first grade? Was it
Letters
Dear Mr. Edwards:
I have just read your "Radi
cleer" article of September 24 and
may I say that I, for one, find it
extremely distasteful and disgust
ting. I feel, when I say this, that
I speak for the majority of the
coeds on this campus. I do not
know for what reason you wro!e
this little journalistic gem per
haps you hoped to stir up the reac
tions of the readers of The Daily
Tar Heel. If this is the case, you
have succeeded. If. on the other
hand, you were attempting to be
humorous, this misguided pseudo
intellectual effort proves unworthy
as amusement. You are no Max
Shulman. For whatever reason the
aticle was written, it . was indeed
out-of-place and in poor taste. .
I wonder, Mr. Edwards, in what
strange and radical area of the
world you have spent fhe past
year. Perhaps the young ladies in
that locality fit the loose descrip
tion you ha've attempted to "make
of the Carolina coed. If so, I am
hopeful that they will remain out
side the confines of our Univer
sity of North Carolina dormitories,
sorority houses, arboretum and
Kenan Woods. It is obvious that
the primary interest of those young
women is indeed men and sex.
They would be sadly out-of-piace
in this academic community. I
heartily doubt thtir ability to un
derstand such integral parts of a
Carolina coed's life as an Honor
Code and Campus Code they
are just the "arty, intellectuals"
who would likely poke fun at any
thing concerning honor. They
would not understand the work of
our YWCA or that of the thirteen
church groups in Jhis vicinity.
Tney would have little time for
study and academic endeavors.
No, I dare say, the main part of
their time would be spent "keep
ing the pad" as you put it.
You, lIr. .Edwards, have closed
your eyes to the truth. You ap
parently see only oneside of life
and that is twisted. Sex is not a
thing to be dragged about in the
mire of minds such as yours.
Thank you for this article enlight.
tning us as to your opinion of the
t '(iff
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kindergarten? Was it 1795 when
the University first opened its
doors, or 1776 when the claufie
providing for a state university
was written into the North Caro
lina Constitution? Was it in
Greece or Rome? We can become
metaphysical about thi.s We al
ready know even if we did not
have the "space age" to remind
us that we comprehend beginnings
and endings very vaguely.
Education is books, lectures and
laboratories. It is literary socie
ties and fraternities. It is football
games and pep rallies. It is also
the church and solitude and me dic
tation .
deavor to lay . before yoa a .few
quite concrete points which' may
serve as a basis for. your discus
sions. T-here will he four.
. My nupiber. one point will not
come as a surprise to you. The
text for it could come from many
sources, the one I have chosen
is Adlai Stevenson1 Jr., son of the
presidential candidate, Adlai Slev
esson of , Illinois. Governor Steven,
son, you may recall, is a graduate
of Princeton. His son was turned
down by Princeton so he had to
go to Harvard. During . one of
Mr. Stevenson's, campaigns a re
porter lor TlNew; ,Vorliv" inter-:
viewied Adlai Jr.;. tlie'KaWard stu-
Following this meeting you are j:..-''' V.Ar-:-to
have group discussions in the whether his 'fath;vepve;ibjin'
cabins. Accordingly, I shall en- " and his brothers, any .advice - abotit
.'education. The boy replied that
he did. "Father often advised us
about our education," he said,
"but it always consisted of only
three words. They were: read,
read, read!"
Read, read, read! I have recent
ly said facetiously to some of my
friends that the next time I ad
dressed a group of entering stu
dents I. was going to stand up be
fore them and say, "Let's all go
to the Library right now. That is
where we should be. That is
.where we can accomplish the most
of what we have come here to
,; do," And that would be all. That
would be the, best advcie I could"
; give.
; VTlie other day I read in the
newspaper the report of an inter-
so necessary a part of the ratification of .te'Consti.
tution, but so little known and used' in, present : day
America. ' " .-'" ' -l
It is reflected and one by one nations, are' be gib
ning to realize the true state of a- democracy: the t
can make "defending friendly nations" a:-principle
and deny that self-determination is a. fundamental
precept. t ' .
America is losing its self respect, for it does not
know what its self is, and denies the opportunity to
learn it.
s - America can be free. It eati live on, but it must
radically change its present foundations.
'It must 'dedicate itself to the 'education of its
populace. It must breed thought in the way .it ow
breeds Fords. It must open the avenues to informa
tion, and realize that only through opening these
avenues will the populace be shocked into thought
It must make a hero out of the educited man, for
then Americans, who seek their values outside of
themselves may want to be like this hero, and per
haps they too will find that basic values emanate
from the self.
It must build the critical faculties of the people.
It must make them disconteht with their surround
ings rather than content with the highest wages in
the country's history.
This is no panacea; this is no quick remedy
Rather it may lead a few of these thinking people
to deny the foundation stones of democracy !Th''s
is the risk that must be taken in order to perhaps
have many more who can say what democracy is and
why they want it.
The process is painful, for it is a radical de
parture from the past. The people stand to csin
but those at the present time controlling the people
hrough their emotions stand to lose.
However, they deserve to lose. Democracy was
created for rational men. It can be destroyed by
rational or irrational desires on the part of the fw
lu cumroi me many, it can be destroyed by men's
view of Elfrida von Nordroff. She emotins and the misuse thereof,
was explaining what it was that Tiprnwrv w
enabled her to "answer .11 those sae to worlLT , "I"""" " m
cuestions. She said she had fron, rZnlZ "
childhood been surrounded with
books. Her mother and father saw America's message has been sterile, and the will
to it that her appetite for reading to democracy among the people of 'the world is
did not go unnourished. She said xnS as America dies,
she read not only Shakespeare Am0r,o'o . .
, - ",l"Mc lJ e virne. it can open
doors and unlock locks.
To do this, a thnrnnoK wkn.:. . .
' n - - vntiuiuv is prescrioea if
everymmg! i think vve can say vuil "ui " win nnng a healthy body.
fo Elfrida that she is not the book- Through this,' and this alone, will America and
worm type. She is not only phen- democracy survive. The future hangs in the balance.
omenally well-read and intelligent.
She is a charming, attractive, and
I may be forgiven if I say a win
ning person!
(To Be Continued) -
!
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rl
y
m
Staff Photo by Buddy Spoon
and the Bible but many things:
Hemmingway, Faulkner, Restora
tion plays, novels, dramas, poetry
"Five Years, :Egiit$if
Years, EightlVi'ffi$
On Leaders
Why do comedians so often mi-
Station's Story
Around New York there are three radio stations
that can be called noted. These are WQXR. WNYC
and WPAT. They are noted in that they have
special type of programming.
j
' Thev do no nrnojm fv. : . .. .
. . . , - x 0. -.w, mc wcHcrns me c mi or en
mic the way Southerners talk? It love to watch, th mvct0ri., ..
-, . ' auuiis sit on the
would appear that there is a deep edge of their seats listening to, or the soap operas
and important reason for this, and hat women cry with. Indeed, there are no gret cas&
at the heart of it we find the dem- giveaways for factual knowledge of minute details.
agogy of Dixie Senators and Rep- T. . . . . " .- .
resentatives. Time and again Con- f ,Ve survived a trend in programming that
gressmen from the South have ap. if T What the ?eople want an inane level,
peared on national radio and tele- Ty forv the thought that people
vision programs and refused to tem W average station depicts
give intelligent answers when ask- ' - f
ed why they favor segregation of The communications industry, as a whole can
Wliite and Negro students. This re- Provide an educational force. It can do this thresh
fleets back at, every Southerner. fne very power it has to channel people's tislesrit
Even worst, though, is the appeal is abdicating its responsibility in .this area to the
this has. Any person who consid- detriment of all America. . . :'
ers an answer like, "White birds Tf o Un . 4. . - - :"-.-vi'? -''-
and black birds don't V.v in ' " 18 hped . hat more have the. wi. of
. J inose wno Duiit and manage WPAT whT "'.i
same tree " will realize this has WNYr Am(iriM - jd
. .. ; WiNYC America might be a healthier nai&n ffj it
legation issue. It may appeal to
some Soutliernwrs, but it also tends
to cause Northerners to consider
their Southern neighbors as being
iather naive.
Perhaps we may excuse those
in the South who rejoice at an
swers that show little intelligence.
However, we may never excuse
the apathy of educated people liv
ing below the JVlason-Dixon line
who show no concern about state
ments made by our Congressmen.
An informed and active South
Carolina coed. I hope you will not
find life too lonely here in Chapel
Hill without the companionship
their presence near you might af
ford. '
Nancy E. Turner
golden boy wrote a piece, concern-,
ing the' eating, of afterbirth' When
is nuanber' three in ; the "series to
i be published? . Wha ' will it' be en-
thing our boy might have to say '
is v wprth the time it takes to
Open; to page two. Any one of the
entering freshmen could have fill-
is published daily
except Sunday, Mon
day and examination
periods and summer
terms. Entered as
second class mat
ter in the post office
would never pIw ivnnlo u.hn o.., ,u W"!1
ihic r-aann Q kii, under the Act
gressmen believed they would in
cur strong opposition from their
demagogic statements they would
never make them. If these state
ments were rare there would be
v little cause for concern but as
tilings now stand they are fre
quent, and have a serious impact.
If we Southerners awake we can
stop this. If not, Northerners will - " ' "
continue laughing at you and me News Editors
due to our Representatives noxious Dullness Manager
remarks. r
The official student publicity dfikfi:Twllkrion
Board of the University of North:-CarVlbi4wh'er:i it
of
March 8, 1870. Sub
scription rates: $4.50
per semester, $8.50
per year.
Editor
!:' I
III '
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CURTIS CANS
Managing Editors-
CHAKLIE- SLOAN,
ANN FRYEBILL KINCAII)
WAKESvELANTON
Advertising Manager
Asst. Adv. Manager
Editor.
I have just finished reading the
latest epic , by Jonathan Yardiey
Is this number tw0 in ti series' of.' and afPw.w.i,frU.A,..T;;
l".,ms wruten- y.- Yardiey Heel staff, bi'rn sure that the
titled?. Tan sure .there -'.are :a few d Air. Yardiev's sDaee with dirtv
.. . - t V . . . - --. !,..-...- ! - ' . "
psueao-uiteiectuals; - including Mr.
. Yardly who can'i, wait to; find o'ut
; Air ..Yardiey' s. articles naW con
tinually 1 been . 0 low "saoral and
intellectual fibre. His' - profO-iLid
thoughts may Inipress Air. Yardiey
Heard In Passing
Two people were . discussing the Sports Editor
iia.ivuai pumicai suuanon. une
FRED JCATZTN
JOICiSUKTER
RUSTY HAMMOND
jokes lhat would have made much
Jhore sense than this last fiasco.
i.I am by no means a staunch
JSisenhower supporter, and I am
.evan-less a Republican, but may
J . suggest that the next tune one
of your columnists undertakes to
commented that the worst thisg Associate Editor
that could happen to the United c, . - r;
c ' . . , Subscription Manager
Static WrrtllH " Via if Prac fionf
-i ED ROWLAND
AVERY THOMAS
Eisenower were to die and Vice- Circulation Manager
Persideht Nixon assume office
The'- other agreed
-BOB WALSEB
commenting
Arts Editor
ANTHONY WOLFF
that the second worst thing that Coed Editor
while dead drunk? If my memory
serves me right, last year this
majority of :the, student;, bidy is i'ither -be1 sober' or funnv. -
ot tooled 'irfta;, thinking that any- ; - Roger W. Koonce
wnte a political criticism that he - could happen was for Eisenhower 0, . , .
r. ; : . ' .. , . . . . , Chief Photographer
either b sober or funnv. - to remain m. office, nn which th or
JOAN X&OCS
to remain in office, on which tlie
two struck agreement.
Night Editor
WyNJUlAiXHEWTTT
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