Page 2
Friday, April 22, 1966
he Satin ar 1
Opinions of The Daily Tar Heel are expressed in its
x editorials. All unsigned editorials are written by the
$ editor. Letters and columns reflect only the personal
x virws of their contributors.
FRED THOMAS, EDITOR
Congratulations, Thanks
The Symposium is over, and eyes are now turning
toward Jubilee.
The Daily Tar Heel has devoted a great deal of
space to coverage of this event. We hope you feel it
has been well-spent.
It would not be appropriate to let this week's ac
tivities pass without expressing a sincere note of con
gratulations and thanks on behalf of all the students
here to those who spent so many hours making the
Symposium a reality.
To name all the workers would be quite a task.
But would like to personally recognize the members
of the Symposium Executive Committee:
J. Carlyle Sitterson, honorary chairman; Dr.
t Daniel VV. Patterson, advisor; George Butler, chair
man; David Lane, vice chairman; Bill Graham, vice
chairman; Mary King, secretary; and Eric Van Loon,
treasurer.
And the committee chairmen:
Miles Foy, speaker-schedule co-ordinator; Jay
Hanan, student escort co-ordinator. Bill Tomford, in
tercollegiate seminar; Lyons Gray, social and hospi
tality; Kathy Cauble, physical arrangements; Chris
topher Wright, publicity; Joan Woodworth, exhibits;
Steve Hoar and Betsy Ross Morris, handbook; Peter
Cowan, Symposium news bureau; Bill Taylor, related
discussions.
Courses For Grades' Sake
1 This is the time of year that students begin think
ing about what courses they want to undertake fall
semester next year.
As always they will have to consider meeting the
requirements for graduation in their respective fields.
But this time there will be an extra pressure on them
when they choose their subjects the draft.
The University of California, Berkley, has a pro
gram through which an undergraduate student with
a grade point average higher than B may take one
course each semester, outside his major field, for
which lie receives credit hours but no grade.
The idea for this pass-fail course was prompted
to encourage students to take challenging courses
without fear of sacrificing grade points which would
lower their overall averages.
This is a good idea.
But it seems to be defeating its own purpose in
one aspect. Students who have been able to main
tain above a B average probably are not in any grade
'Trouble na'are'tims not worried aoourchaileriging'
A Fraternity
Makes The
Top Ten List
By MIKE KAY
By virtue of the seven parties which
they threw at the house last Saturday night,
the local chapter of Canya Spam Dime
fraternity has moved into the coveted ninth
position on the highly prestigious Top Ten
Social Groups on Campus list.
CSD rplaced Mu Nu Xi Floor of the
Hell-raising Gamma House of Pettibone Col
lege. The wild ones of Mu Nu Xi were
recently placed on social probation follow
ing a brawl which took place after their
pledge weekend banquet at the Oh-Boy.
Here's what happened:
Saturday night, 72 carloads of Mu Nu
Xi's roared into the Oh-Boy parking lot
where a sumptuous banquet of cheese
burgers awaited them. Following dinner,
several pledges began shooting straw pa
pers at one another. This seemingly-harmless
incident later culminated in a vicious,
face-slapping, hair-pulling free-for-all be
hind Grimy College, at which time the
pledge trainer tried in vain to restore or
der. Heedless of the cries, the boys of Mu
Nu Xi gagged him, tied his legs and arms,
and stuffed him down the Grimy chimney.
He was discovered Sunday morning, a little
sooty, but none the worse for wear.
Mu Nu Xi will, if their case is satis
factorily appealed to the understanding Ad
ministration Review Board, be restored
to their place of prominence on the top
10 list in six weeks' time. This column's
sympathies go out to the boys, for their
weekly Friday night Coke-tail and Ritz
cracker parties have been among the best
social appairs on campus.
The president of the Canya Sparas said
of his group's recent honor, "We knew we
would do it. And watch out, Boondock Col
lege of Mighty Mon, we're aiming for no
less than number one."
John Greenbacker
"Twenty-nine days, minus three weekends,
plus Jubilee, lent
me see . . .
I 5 I
J I
The Columnist At Berkeley
courses.
"This coast crying out for tragedy like
all beautiful places; and like the passionate
spirit of humanity, Paint for its bread."
Robinson Jef fers ! ,
The article on the editorial page of The
Daily Californian arrested the eye, and a
torrent of memories suddenly rushed out of
the subconscious. Like a host of suitors,
each fell in line and strove .in succession ,
Jxx , woa the -reader-s thoughts and inmost . .
empUons.
But what of the students who are sincerely inter
ested in tackling a tough course for what they can
- get out of it, knowing that for all their efforts they
. Ml 1 1 t J T-V A
win prcDaDiy get a u or mayDe even a u :
The western Herald, Western Michigan Universi
ty, made this comment:
"The Selective Service System should not be al
lowed to force students into narrow valleys of edu
cation by putting a premium on the taking of easy
courses and limiting students to their fields of spe
cialization. But since the draft system cannot be
changed, to help the universities attain their goals,
the universities should help themselves by initiating
some form of non-graded classes."
And while we're on the subject of grades we
might toss this out to be kicked around:
What about the plus-minus system at the Uni
i versity?
A student with reasonable ability in history might
work hard for a semester. On three quizzes he gets
; 93 (A), 85 (B) and 85 (B). On his final examination
he scores 88 (B).
i: His professor gives him a B , CONGRATULA
J TING HIM FOR HIS GOOD WORK AND EXPLAINING
- HOW MUCH HE WISHES HE COULD HAVE GIVEN
t. HIM AN A.
Another student in the same class compiles quiz
grades of 78 (C), 80 and 80 (B). On his final he makes
I, a grade of 80. His professor issues a B , telling
him he just barely made it above the C line.
I But compare the quality point averages of these
I two students. You will find each of them credited with
a 3.0 for the course.
Clearly, the first student did better work than the
second. His average for the quizzes was eight points
higher as was his grade on the final examination.
This is a hypothetical case. But there are hun
dreds of real live, walking, talking cases just like it
on this campus.
If the four-point system is going to be retained,
and if professors are going to take the extra trouble
to compute students' grades in terms of pluses and
minuses, we would like to see a modification of the
system whereby students may be rewarded for bet
ter than X.O work.
fen
: Fred Thomas, editor; Scott Goodfellow, managing editor;
John Greenbacker, associate editor; Ron Shinn, news
editor; Barry Jacobs, sports editor; Bill Rollins, asst.
sports editor; John Jennrich, wire editor; Jock Lauterer,
Jerry Lambert, photographers; Chip Barnard, art editor;
Andy Myers. Steve Bennett, Steve Lackey, Glenn Mays,
Peytie Fearrington, Carol Gallant, Lytt Stamps, Alan
Banov, staff writers; Gene VVhistnant, Sandy Treadwell,
Drumraond Bell, Bill Hass, Jim Fields, sports writers;
Jeff MacNelly, Bruce Strauch, cartoonists.
The headline was
very cryptic, the read
er wondered why the
editors of the Daily Cal,
one of the four or five
top college dailies, had
allowed such a head to
be set in type. The
thought was brushed
aside, for the tabloid
paper does serve the
University of California
at Berkeley, and possibly the students
there like cryptic headlines.
The overline said "nine thermidor," the
date during the French Revolution that saw
Robespiere's government was overthrown.
It marked the beginning of the bloodiest
radical rule of a black era.
Below this appeared the column's title:
"Is you is, or is you ain't my baby."
The by-line said "Brian Turner."
Was it the same Brian Turner?
An uncreditied line from a poem follow
ed: "All the stone cutters are waiting for ,
spring weather to start work again. The
tomb is all done except part of the lid."
The bulk of the column seemed totally
unrelated to the words that preceded it.
The subject was the draft, and it urged
in uncomplicated phrases that all who dis
agreed with the United States involvement
in Viet Nam should exhaust all methods to
attain a conscientious objector's draft stat
us. It was concise and well-documented,
and it advised all aspiring CO's to get a
good lawyer to help each fill out the forms.
After citing some of the difficulties one
might face in following this procedure, the
columnist urged as a final resort that his
fellow youth renounce their American citi
zenship and take up Great Britian as a
native land.
After citing "American war ideology,"
the columnist continued to recommend re
nunciation in spite of the consequences, for
his readers "would have disassociated him
self from this war and this foreign policy
with clear conscience."
How many Brian Turners could be en
rolled in Berkeley, that one reader, so
many miles and years away, asked him
self. He recalled the tales of his high school
classmates in Washington on a recent trip
home. They were wild tales about how the
friendly, intellligent athlete they had known
had gone to the West Coast and joined the
Free Speech Movement. He had been Mar
io Savio's roommate, others had said. He
was one of the first five persons arrested
there in the initial clash.
The stories kept coming back. The skel
eton of an old image rattled its bones ob
scenely in the closet of the reader's mind
and annoyed him wherever he went. It had
to be the same guy. How many raidcals
at Berkeley are named Brian Turner?
The old Brian was quite a guy There
was something about him that reminded one
of a young, swift and gentle animal Ner
vous energy radiated from him, and kept
him always on the move. He enjoyed the
company of others, and his memory never
more clearly returned than when the reader
recalled the trip a small group of gradu
ating seniors took to that first pine-covered
ridge that overlooks the farmlands of pied
mont Virginia. He talked on about friends
and experiences, and, every so often, the
powerful convertable would slow down and
he would unashamedly and enthusiastically
call. the group's attention to the singular,
beauty of the view, or the mountain laurel,
or the brown-eyed Susans that appeared
along the road in clusters.
The reader wondered how much he had
changed. There was something coldly analy
tical about the column, and the reader
was suddenly opprossed by the feeling that
the author possessed a tightly closed mind
on the issue. He was perfectly willing to
renounce the land of his birth because of
one unfortunate and outmoded policy em
braced by the current government. It was
incredible.
When they left Washington in the late
summer of 1963, many had gone North,
some had gone South and a few had gone
West. What was it about California that had
transformed him?
Possibly it was the nature of a campus,
teaming with 27,000 of the nation's bright
est student minds, and all striving to grow
up and find -identity in an impersonal at
mosphere. .The , transition could have done
it. Possibly, too, the tense and politically
heated climate there had tempted his ac
tive and strongly emotional mind. He might
have suffered from the nagging despaira
tion that begs youth to scream at ignor
ance and injustice, and strike back with
powerful weapons of alienation.
Wherever the answer was, the reader
knew he would continue to seek it. Perhaps
he would find the answer in the summer,
after he left the ripening leaves and slowly
broadening horizon of Chapel Hill.
Letters
Wrong Editor
Editor. The Daily Tar Heel.
; I should like to bring to the attention of
the student body a serious injustice. The
Daily Tar Heel, today, reports that the Pub
lications Board has chosen Michael Paul to
be editor of The Carolina Quarterly for the
coming year. Therein hangs a longer and
rather sadder tale.
i As a student and as a reader and sup
porter of the Quarterly, and only incidental
ly as last year's editor, I am concerned
with its welfare. The tragedy is not that
Paul was chosen; he appears to be quali
fied but that he was chosen in preference
to David Southern. Paul's qualifications
seem similar to mine when .1. was chosen
I understand that he, too, is a graduate
student who edited a literary magazine at
his undergraduate school. I was, however,
a member of the staff and was chosen in
preference to no one (though that might
be put more flatteringly). Southern, too.
is qualified. He has worked very hard and
very well at this university on this maga
zine for the past two years. Ht had, and
Icontinues to have, the wholehearted and un
qualified support of both the editors under
whom he has worked. The selection of Paul
is not unthinkable; the rejection of South
ern is.
1 It is, so far as I know, without prece
dent. In the nearly twenty years of the
Quarterly's existence, I know of no case
in which a staff member with his editor's
endorsement has been turned down in favor
of someone who, however much he may
have done for some other school and its
magazine, has done nothing for us and
ours.
; This precedent is no accident. Earlier
and apparently wiser publications boards
have realized that the editing of a literary
; magazine with a national ciruculation and
national reputation (national pretentions
perhaps, but we have won the national
O-Henry Short Story Award for two years
running blush) is a difficult and special
ized job, and one that perhaps required the
advice of past editors to fill.
Nor is this all. It is not less wise than
just to reward proven and longstanding ex
cellence and diligence. Indeed such rewards
often help to insure it, often the only help.
I know some members of the Publica
tion Board, including the advisors, to be of
sound judgment and integrity, and find it
difficult to believe that Chairman Blackwell
presented the choice in anything vaguely
resembling these terms. But this is the
context , of this startling decision. , , ;
This decision badly needs review. If
the board is to depart so radically from
past practice, it should be fully cognizant
that it is so doing and be willing to say
why.
If Southern is to be penalized for super
ior accomplishment, a fraction of which
was in the past sufficient to secure that re
ward which he had every reason and right
to expect, he deserves to know why.
Wade Marlette
Chapel Hill
Studies Indicate Student Demonstrations
Are Increasing; Viet Nam Top Issue
WASHINGTON (CPS) Unrest
among the nation's college students may
not be as widespread as some believe,
an official of the Education Testing Service
of Princeton, N. J. told women deans and
counselors in convention here last week.
Richard E. Peterson, an associate re
search psychologist, concluded from a na
tionwide study that despite the teach ins,
marches, sit-ins, lie-ins, riots, and draft
card burnings, the nation's college students
are not a bunch of "red-eyed social re
formers." The fact is, he said, that campus food
ranked second only to civil rights as a trig
ger to student protests in 1964-65. Demon
strations against US policy in Viet Nam
barely beat out organized compallnts again
st dress regulations as the third most fre
quent cause of student demonstrations.
PETERSON'S FINDINGS were based on
a return of questionnaires from 850 deans
at the nation's 1,000 accredited four-year
colleges and universities. The deans were
asked to indicate the extent of organized
student protest for each of 27 educational,
social, and political issues.
Peterson said a majority of the deans
did report some form of organized protest
on their campus during 1964-65, but that
students protesting a single issue represent
ed a very small percentage of their stu
dent bodies. No school reported a protest
that included more than eight per cent of
the student population and that top figure
involved dormitory or other living arrange
ments. Among the colleges and universities sur
veyed, 38 per cent reported protests over
civil rights. Yet these demonstrations in
volved only 6 per cent of the students.
Next came the food protests (25 per cent),
with only about 7 per cent of the students
complaining.
: Protest in the South over civil rights
during the summer of 1964 tied for third
with dormitory regulations at 28 per cent of
the instutitions. But Southern civil rights
work attracted only half about 4 per cent
of the students as did the protests over
dorm rules and conditions.
j VIET NAM DEMONSTRATIONS were
reported at 21 per cent of the colleges
bqt less than 5 per cent of the students
participated. Peterson predicted that in the
immediate future Viet Nam will be the top
protest issue.
i In a related note, Peterson said the
"organized student left" probably accounts
for "less than 1 per cent of the total stu
dent population." He added that there was
a ; correlation between the number of stu
dents involved in the student left and the
size of certain protests, such as those di
rected against US policy in Viet Nam.
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