Tuesday, November 12, 1963
Page 2
THE DAILY TAR HEEL
76 Years o Editorial Freedom
Wayne Hurder, Editor
Bill Staton, Business Manager
Rutgers Sets Example
UNC Should Follow
A faculty member at Rutgers
College in New Jersey, at the
request of a dean of the college, has
drawn up a list of recommended
changes for their school.
The radical change he calls for
deserve a lot of attention here at
UNC, especially this year when
several committess have been
formed to review the academic life
that UNC students have to suffer
through, particularly in their first
two years.
The professor recommended:
-abolition of regulations that
require most students to study at
least one year of history, a foreign
language, and a science, and take
two years of physical education.
The only required course would be
a semester of English composition.
-Immediate change from a five
course load per semester to four per
semester.
A change from the five point
grading scale used at Rutgers to one
of three points: Fail, Pass and
Distinction.
Dr. Warren Sussman also
suggested in his report entitled
"Reconstruction of an American
College," according to a report in
the N.Y. Times, that "students in
their first semester, which he called
'the exploratory semester', take
4 mini courses' in which they would
participate in small discussion;
groups to consider the nature and
purpose of the education process.
No grades would be given during
the exploratory semester.
"Students in their last semester
would also take a mini course
program, designed by the students
to bring together what they have
learned.'
"The students in the mini
courses would not take any other
courses during the semester. A
student would study in two sets of
two mini courses, each set to meet
for seven weeks during a 14 week
semester."
Sussman also recommended that
seniors be included on the teaching
staff and that students be allowed
to complete the school year in
either three or five, or more years,
rather than be limited to four.
Most of these recommendations
are just as applicable here as at
Rutgers. Here students are forced
to compete for grades with little
emphasis put on actual learning.
The only chance the student has to
be free from the grade competition
is not until he becomes a junior and
then he can only take one course
per semester on pass-fail and that
course must be outside his major.
Four Years
LBJ Asks
From the Minesota Daily
Perhaps four years too late, in
the opinion of many of his
detractors, Pres. Johnson plans to
sponsor a major study of the
Presidency after he leaves office.
The study, expected to be
completed in two or three years,
will draw up a series of specific
reforms dealing with the President's
relation. to Congress, the outmoded
electoral process, and the
organization of the executive
branch.
THE HOPED-FOR reforms,
whose needs were widely publicized
by Sen. Eugene McCarthy, would,
de-personalize the office of the
Dale Gibson, Managing Editor
Rebel Good, News Editor
Joe Sanders, Features Editor
Owen Davis, Sports Editor
Dick Levy, Associate Editor
Kermit Buckner, Jr, Advertising Manager
Since the junior has already had the
grade competition spirit inculcated
in him and the learning drive almost
destroyed by that time, it does
little good to let him take one
course on pass-fail.
Likewise, there is a problem all
freshmen face when they come to
college: That problem is the answer
to the question "what the hell am I
up here for?"
The usual answers to this
question are that the student is up
here to escape the draft, because a
college degree is the only means of
success in the business world, or so
he can raise hell, get drunk, etc. No
one ever really says he is up here to
acquire knowledge, nor or most
people aware of what they want to
learn if they actually did come up
here learn.
And yet ostensibly the reason
for a college existing is so that
people can learn. If you ask a
college administrator what his
college is existing for he is not
likely to tell you that it is so some
people can have a haven from the
draft, so they can party, or so they
can have a sheepskin pass into the
business world.
The exploratory semester that
Sussman recommends sounds like
an excellent device for helping
freshrrien to Find' themselves.
Freshmen would be removed from
grade pressure and given the chance
to actually think abouUthemselves,
and about the nature and purpose
of the educational process.
At the end of their three, four,
or five years in college, whichever
the student prefers, he would then
be given the opportunity to
consider what he has learned and
where , he will go from that point,
intellectually.
With UNC now looking at itself,
and with our school facing many of
the same problems that forced
Rutgers to recommend such radical
changes, we hope that the various
committees here that are
considering change will pay close
attention to what is being done at
Rutgers.
Faculty members and
administrators who find their idea
of what is the University's purpose
to be grossly different from that of
the average student should realize
that it is ridiculous to expect
whosesale learning to take play at
this "institute of higher learning"
until it has been restructured in
such a manner as to put emphasis
on learning, and not on grades or
success after college.
Too
La
For Study
President and decentralize its
power. McCarthy has suggested a
cabinet-system type of executive,
with the thought that such a system
would claify the presently muddled
lines of authority.
Johnson's study should also
define the limits of the presidential
power with regard to foreign
relations-an area very imprecise
under the Constitution. .
i u 4- a'l' c a
In the tradition of American
politics, triumphant major parties
always borrow the reforms of the
defeated third parties. We hope that
McCarthy's best ideas on the
Presidency will be translated into
action, no matter which party wins.
The office can only gain in stature.
Andy Schorr
"New
The Pine Room and the old Wilson
Library are no longer the social "hot
Spots" on the UNC campus. Both have
been far surpassed as a rendezous by the
new Undergraduate Library.
Within those modern white walls of
sterility are not just the minds of the
academically studious. The new library is
a haven and even a training ground for
the social progress of this campus.
I feel sure that the planners of the new
library' intended it to be a place where
students could study easily without too
many distractions.
The Spot'
The Undergraduate Library, hereafter
referred to as "The Spot", features such
new furnishings as divided desks
accommodating four people, or five if
someone sits on your lap, so that you can
study with less distraction.
Another added . feature are soft,
comfortable couches and chairs. I must
mention the noiseless carpeting too.
Since the opening of "The Spot" at
the beginning of this school year students
have found uses for it in addition to or in
place of those intended by the planners.
For instance, students have made use
of the new divided desk as a way to play
footsie with your neighbor and yet
remain annonymous.
These desks have put a little bit of
mystery into looking at other "students"
in "the Spot". The traditional neck
straining young men and women now
have been forced to become far less subtle
and exert themselves more.
Upon spying a crop of blonde curls on
the far side of a nearby desk, a male
neck-strainer is forced to walk up and
peer over the front "wall" of the
maiden's desk only to find that she has
four eyes and a broken nose. The only
easy out from this uncomfortable
situation is for the boy to say, "Oh, I'm
terribly sorry, I thought I saw you in my
Zoology lab."
The couches and soft chairs in "The
Spot" seem to be used under the theme
on Spanky and Our Gang's hit song, "I'd
like to Get to Know You". Some of the
male and female visitors to "The Spot"
who use these coaches sit together as
though they were opposite poles of a
magnet or as if the heating system was
broken and it was 20, below.
The noiseless carpeting allows "the
pros" to maintain some of their cool as
they stalk the aisles to find a weekend
date or prey for a drawn out, cup of
coffee at the Pine Room. - , '
Case Studies
To fully understand the atmosphere at
"The Spot" I would like to document
this article within two case studies.
CASE STUDY No. 1: "The Case of
the Agressive Telephone Girl"
A few days ago as I approached "The
Spot" a pretty blonde girl accosted me
with the question, "Could you tell me
where the telephones are?" I replied that
they were located on the lower level of
"The Spot". Then in her sexy voice she
asked, "Do they work?". I advised her to
go try them.
Not only did the sweat telephone girl
go to give the phones a whirl but she
stopped five times on the way to ask
handsome young men exactly what she
had asked me
The last biJy she asked was five feet to
the right of the telephones she sought.
CASE STUDY No. 2: "The Case of
the Airplane Boy"
This case deals with a shy young man
who for weeks' had been trying to meet a
Letters To The Editor
To the Editor of the
Daily Tar Heel:
In one of his interesting and useful
articles on graduate studies at this
University, Mr. Nowell quoted some
remarks I made about our strongest
departments and schools. Several students
and faculty members have raised
questions about the fields that were
singled out in those remarks, and I am
writing in the hope that I can clarify the
matter.
Any ranking of universities and their
departments in order of quality is subject
to a large margin of error and probably
should not be taken too seriously
Nevertheless, people are keenly interested
in such attempts as have been made. One
of the most careful studies was made by
Allan Cartter in his "An Assessment of
yuanty in Graduate Education" (1966)
and in my comments to Mr. Nowell I was
relying in part on Cartter's work,
KOWxTver' """S my conversation with
citterT" 1 U!- ? 1(Cate the
cartter report for exact information It
has since turned up, and I am listing
below the rankings of departments at this
University which were regarded as stronj?
Dnnnirh i. ... o
enough to be given a specific numpri,ai
ranking. These rankings were based on
the responses received from a
questionnaire sent to professors in each
field.
(A-Quality of Graduate Faculty; B
Effectiveness of Graduate Program)
For
certain pretty Carolina coed. Sitting in a
soft chair in the conducive atmosphere of
"The Spot", he finally gained to courage
to make a small paper plane a sail it over
to where the girl in question sat. On the
paper the boy had asked the girl if she
wanted to go for a cup of coffee.
However, the paper plane hit her squarely
in the left eye and the boy escorted her.
to the infirmary instead.
ms-soti , cook c:Mr:mm
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lb mUSg
OTV :-:Tl
Roger N. Cooper, Jr.
Protest Priorities Odd
j The.; question of; ..whether or rnot
students can run their own , lives has a
deeper connotation than what now' is
being asked by SSOC members to our
student body. Surely, if anything is going
to be done to enhance our chances for
visitation rights, it should be funneled
into common channels of an organized
group like SSOC. But I cannot condone
the students behavior when their actions
are not their own by reason, but by no
reason at all. Let me cite a few examples
that I have seen which will illustrate my
point.
When we had the march for visitation
a few weeks ago, we found that there was
a widespread concern over that issue, and,
as a result, the march was a success. But
the doubt as to whether the students can
run their own lives came to mind when a
proposal was made to jsit down until our
demands were met by the school
administration. Most of the students just
followed one another without thinking of
the consequences of the act.
The ironic and most disturbing part
came, however, when someone shouted in
protest of the sit-in and everyone began
Department A B
Humanities
Classics 11 10
English 17 14
Romance Languages
French 14 12
Spanish 10 8
Social Sciences
History 19 19
Political Science 15 14
Sociology 10 10
Natural Sciences
Botany 17 16
Psychology 23
Several other UNC departments were
favorably mentioned in the Cartter
report, but no others were ranked highly
enough to be included in the numerical
ranking provided for each field.
The standing of a department can
change drastically in a few years. For
example, I think our Department of
English is stronger than it was three years
ago. I also think that many of our
departments, including English, deserved
a higher rating than they received in the
Cartter report.
I should also note that several fields of
graduate study were not included in the
Cartter report. A
Sincerely yours,
James C. Ingram
Dean, Graduate School
Set
These are but two examples of the
happy goings on within "The Spot". I'm
sure that . the students will continue to
take full advantage of "The Spot", our
campus' newest structure dedicated to
progressive education.
For most of us "The Spot" will
become a place about which one would
say, "It's a nice place to visit, but I
wouldn't want to study there."
to stand up. As a result, it was like a
Simon Says game where everyone was
following what the voice of the speaker
commanded them to do.
Another example to illustrate this
6To sit in protest because
someone next to you decides
to sit is not running your own
life.9
question of whether students can run
their own lives can be found in the
behavior of many who participated in the
SSOC "Party'. Tuesday night. The
walking back and fourth at the crosswalks
of many students for the sake of
obstructing traffic was just as childish as
the up and down sit-in on campus.
I must state that I am not so much
attacking the usefulness of sit-ins and
protests as I am assailing those who
cannot think for themselves and thus
Liberals Castigated
For Negro Catering
To the Editor of
the Daily Tar Heel:
I am fed up. I'm sick and tired of the
liberal elements of our society trying to
convince the American public that they
owe Black Americans something. The
negroes already have many things that
White Americans will never have. They
have: (1) a higher crime rate, (2) higher
unemployment, (3) more cases of VD, (4)
produce more illegitimate children, and
(5) lower average IQ.
We should thank them for burning
down our cities shouldn't we, liberals?
But what can we expect from a group
whose Black leaders are all convicts. To
those degenerate members of the New
Left, I say; if you think you are equal to
negroes, you probably are.
Sincerely
William Wealch
Pittsboro Rd.
Objection Raised
To ABC-TV Show
To the Editor of
The Dairy Tar Heel:
I am not sure this will qualify as
mm mi i i 1 p i i w i i i im' it nil MhTm , amm i n imi r l r-i r-w'Tmr' rfVT"i m t .1
-v.-
The Daily Tar Heel is published
S by the University of North Carolina
:5 Student Publication's Board, daily
5 except Monday, examination
:? periods and vacations and during
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"V .VtVViV
obviously cannot think for others. To
sit-in protest because 'jomeone next to
you decides to sit is not running your
own life. The same can be said of crossing
the street in protest. Besides, if you are
protesting because someone in an action
group tells you to do so, then isn't it the
same as a faculty member telling you to
behave in a certain way? In both cases the
student is not "running his own life," but
is the servant of both mass action and the
group leaders. SSOC arid many other
action groups have a definite purpose in
directing student interest on campus, but
we must remember when participating in
them to temper our actions with reason.
Letter
The Daily Tar Heel accepts all
letters for publication provided
they are typed, double spaced
and signed. Letters should be no
longer than 300 words in length.
We reserve the Tigfy to edit for
libelous statements.
dissendent opinion, but I would like to
comment on a network program, "Issues
and Answers", aired by WRAL-TV,
Raleigh, North Carolina, midnight,
Sunday, November 3, 1968.
The interview of Mr. Wallace was
the most blatant example of biased
reporting ever exhibited on network
television. During the first half hour the
correspondents, while questioning Mr.
Humphrey and his running mate,
emphasized their neutrality. I must say
their partiality was thinly veUed.
However, all pretense of neutrality
vanished during Mr. Wallace's half hour.
In an atmosphere that can only be
described as hostile, both interviewers,
Mr. Bill Lawrence in particular, subjected
Mr. Wallace and General LeMay to an
obviously antagonistic series of questions.
Now, I champion the cause of free
press and editorial expression, but it is
my understanding "Issues and Answers"
is not an editorial expression of ABC-TV
but a program endeavoring to present an
impartial presentation of its namesake.
Therefore, an objective analysis of the
aforementioned presentation must judge
it the personification of prejudicial
reporting and an exemplication of the
growing trend toward flagrant abuse of
journalistic privilege.
Sincerely,
Ernest M. Tyndall
910 Holloway Street
Durham