Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Ej ' Casuiceot1k Pi nnr.snsI-: Vi*:K1.Y Bv TII: LmanIT AY Son-:'rn-:M. Ti:uts $1.50 A YEAR. 'tered at Columbia, S. C. postoflce November 20, 1908. as second-class mail matter. Columbia, S. C., March 31, 1921 EDITORIAL STAFF A. Leslie Wells ........ Editor-in-Chief .1. C. Buchanan.. Associate. Editor IBUSINESS. E. P. Gaines................Alanager (. S. Ulm er................Assistant CIRCULATION. ). J. Jenkins ...............Manager L. B. Cox .................Assistant REPORTERS' CLUB. S. D. Ervin E. H1. Folk W. C. Floyd C. E. HIaselen G. 1-. Wittkosky T. E. Horton W. It. Harvey w. L. IH3annon J. F. Quinn Mary Graydon COMMENTS. Present hard times do not af fect the cider. Not every man can call it a dog's life because he has to dig up a few bones once in a while. Easter holiday sets us on our way rejoicing. However, we do wish it would come more often and tarry longer. An excellent example of how circumstances alter cases may be seen by the fact that Milwaukee isn't famous any more. Our recent victory in the large triangle debate should convince us of the necessity of continued interest in producing winning de bating teams. Our remaining debates can be won by the same wide margin if this spirit will .continue. We look forward with! anticipation to more Carolina victories in forensic activities. This year's Freshman class seems to be one of the strongest the University has had in years, as is evidenced by the small num ber sent home on account of de ficient work, and also by the in terest these first year men are taking in various campus activi ties. That a member of the Freshman class can also be a member of a varsity debating team that won a unanimous de cision over Tennessee brings home to us the ability that is present in the class of '24. Drive on, first year men. Carollna looks to you in succeeding years to hold her banners high. Carolina's Glee Club is slow getting under way this yea-r. We know the value andl necessity of a strong Glee Club and how im portant it is that we should have one. Last spring we had a small but efficient one. We wonder if this can't be done again this year. We are told there is no better thing to put money into than books. Our only hesitancy lies in the fact that some might be ''put'' in parallel reading books and consequently never found again. The practice hbegun by the Uni.. versity to bring high school and prep schools here for their dif ferent contests can result in great benefit to the University as well as to the schools. There can be no better method of bring ing home to the schools of the State the real purpose and de sires of our State university than of having them come here and appreciate our efforts to aid them in their work. We must also realize the fact, however, that we need these students as much as they need us and a constant effort should be made to reach these students as prospective stu dents of the University. THE PREP SCHOOL MEET. On Saturday of this week the University will be host to the preparatory schools of the State who gather here for the initial track meet under the auspices of the new prep school association which was organized and is pro moted under the supervision of the UnivArsity Extension De partment. The University welcomes these men to our campus. The charac teristic spirit which has always manifested itself on our campus toward visiting teams, both col legiate and preparatory, should certainly be very much in evi dence on this occasion. The best athletes these schools afford will be with us, and the impression they get of us will depend on the treatment accorded them while they are among us. It should be the duty of every Carolina -man to create the very best impres sion possible in the eyes of these preparatory school boys. We need them here next year and the following years to manifest I the same spirit for Carolina that they are showing for the prep schools they represent. Our best athletes come from the prep sthools of this and other states, and if we are to continue to in duce these students to join us we must show an appreciative at titude. Cooperate with the committee who is in charge of placing these men in the different dormitories. D' your best to make the man who shares your room with you feel that he is welcome and that you are interested in him and that you wvant him to join us next year. Remember these men are athletes and represent the best we have in the State whose pres ence on Carolina teams next year is highly desirable. Try to im press upon him the advantages to be derived from coming to the University and if his stay with us is a pleasant one we need not fear his decision as to the col lege he will enter coming Sep tember. COLLEGE JOKES. There has been a growing tendency lately among college publications to foster the printing of jokesi and sayings that have not been up to stand ard. Many of. these are of a "sex appeal" and "off color." It is a lamentable fact that this should be. the case in colleges, where the public naturally looks to find real wit and hu mor characteristic of our Amer ican young manhood and wo manhood. The position assumed by The Gamecock is clearly set forth in an editorial appearing recently in The Western Re serve Weekly, published by Western Reserve University of Cleveland, Ohio. This edito rial published by this distin guished weekly indicates the sen 'iment that should be more general among our colleges and universities if we are to main tain a high standard governing the matter appearing in our columns. We realize full well that in taking this stand we do not re ceive the commendation of ev ery member of our student body, but we do believe that the concensus of opinion pre vailing among most of our stu dents will bear us out. Suffice it to say that the policy held by this Western newspaper is in common with that adopted by The Gamecock. Recently there has been an avalanche of jokes submitted for publication which, on account of their na ture, found a resting place in the waste basket. To publish humorous articles of an intrin sic worth will be our pleasure, but those of a suggestive or risque nature will not be con :,idered for a moment. The .editorial appearing in The Reserve Weekly comment ing on the situation on their campus we publish in full, as follows: "Demands have come to the editors of the Reserve Weekly to their great satisfaction, for editorials with "teeth," for edi torials that discuss the greater problems of our own Universi ty, and for editorials that dis cuss problems of national scope which concern the college stu dent. If, then, in the course of events, those who have dmand ed "teeth" find that they have placed their heads within the lion's mouth, we ask them to remember how it happens that they are being bitten. "Like the Ancient Mariner, we are going to first bite our selves in order that we may speak. There has been a grow ing tendency in the world of college publications to p)ublish jokes which are risque, jokes with a sex appeal, and all man ner of short articles, usually of a supposedly humorous nature, which are, to say the least, a bit 'off color.' While not among the worst offenders, the Week ly must enter a plea of 'guilty.' We have published a very small minority of the objec tionable contributions that have come to our desk. The majority of them have not come from the men of the Uni versity. That statement is no doubt surprising to the vast Imajority of readers, but it is the nanonte trnth, ndelars the way for a discussion of general tendencies towards immorality which are so clearly seen, or so consistently unseen by the wil ful blind, on every hand. But before we go farther, we wish to state that we will not accept any articles of a risque nature, and that contributors need not waste their time writing them for our use. Neither do we care to waste our time reading them, or our strength destroy ing 'them. "That a wave of immorality or at least of moral laxness is sweeping through the colleges and higher educational institu tions of our nation is a fact gen erally admitted by thinking people, and generally smirked at by the many who seem to be enjoying it. That an article such as the one on Brown Uni versity which appeared in a re cent Sunday paper could have any foundation, that editorials on dancing should be necessary in our own columns, that Prof. Grant Showerman of the Uni versity of Wisconsin could just ly make such charges as he does in a recent number of 'School and Society' is ample proof of a condition that is de plorable, to say the least. "Who or what is to blame? To attempt to attribute it to any one thing would not only be fu tile, but unjust. We as stu dents are to blame. Our pro fessors are to blame. The mov ies no doubt have contributed their share. The World War can not be left out of a discus sion of this kind, and neither can a score of other causes. "But you say, 'How are we as students to blame?' The majority of us are to blame be cause we are downright cow ards. We are afraid that if we object to things which we know are wrong that we will be call ed 'Mollycoddles.' If a man who has the courage of his con victions, a man who stands out boldly for morality and com mon decency is a 'mollycoddle,' then we can not help saying that it is far better to be a 'mol lycoddle,' despised and ridi culed, than a 'rotter,' praised and popular. You say you are not to blame. You are! You know it! Why have you sat, men of Reserve, quietly through your class banquets, almost any one of which would have been a fit goal for a police raid? If you aren't to blame for dis graces of that kind, who is? If you aren't at least half way re sponsible for the objectionable dancing that has all but dis graced our campus, who is? Of course, you probably didn't take part, at least not as bad as some one else, but by your very silence you allowed it to go on. These are only two cases from a score or more in which we, as students, are largely to blame, simply be cause we haven't enough starch in our backbones to stand for what is right. What are we goning tond cabouhnt it ? Prnhbahly sit back with our hands folded and try to look like we are 99 44-100 per cent. pure. "We have said that the pro fessors are to blame. Perhaps to say that, really goes too far. Our chaperones have usually been professors. We realize that their duty is never very pleasant, even at best. Too frequently,' no doubt, they have felt that they were guests, and have not felt free to criticise. If they are to blame at all, it is because of this passive attitude not because of anything they have done. Their sin is one of omission rather than commis sion. They have probably feared to take any action that would put them in a class with 'kill-joys' and 'wetblankets.' For the future, we can only only urge more active and se vere supervision on their part, and a realization on the part of the students that it is the stu dents themselves who force the chaperones to intervene. "We have said that the movie was to blame, and we feel that we need not push this point farther than its mere statement. Their almost con stant appeal to the lower emo tions can not help having a bad influence over a period of years especially the formative years. "That the war is to blame will probably be generally con ceded. The war has been blamed for everything, from profiteers to Bolshevism. Its influence upon the youth of the nation was harmful in many cases. But its influence was not confined to the men of the country who came in contact with a race with different mor al codes, in a time of world strain. It is probably the influ ence of the war, with its conse quent thinning of the ranks of possible husbands, that makes it possible for one of America's greatest educators to say, in speaking of the women in our universities: "'Where one girl used cos metics or dressed to the limit of daring, there is now a multi tude; where there was one fop, there are dozens; where there was one who ridiculed superior devotion to the purposes for which she was sent to college, there are dozens who stigma tize as "hibrow" anything above democratic mediocrity.' "We have taken a stand which will perhaps subject us to the name of 'mollycoddle' called from the tongues of the unthinking, but at least we have taken a definite stand. We have answered a request for 'teeth,' and now we appeal to the leaders of students and fac ulty alike for their co-operation and their help. May we have it?" The columns of the Weekly are open at all times to the voice of the students and fac ulty. What are your views on the subject we have set before you ?"-The Reserve Weekly.