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The Daily Collegian Editorial Page
Editorials and columns appearing Gw The Daily Collegian repressed the opinions id the writer. nay make no claim to Meet otadoot or UlliVerldti oroommo. U od oditoriallo ore irtllloio W
10 1 1 1 1010.
Hot Issue
Dismissal of three University of Washington
professors because of their relationship with the
Communist party has set off a strong reaction
among the 16,000 students and 1500 faculty mem
bers at that institution.
A student group claims it has 2500 signatures
on an open letter of protest to the American Asso
ciation of University Professors.
FACULTY OPINION, the New York Times re
ported, is divided, with one side approving the
dismissal and the other dissenting on grounds of
violation of civil liberties and academic freedom.
In explaining the firing, the university's presi
dent, Raymond B. Allen, said of the three pro
fessors, "They are members of the Communist
party and . . . kept this fact secret, and there
fore are unfit for faculty membership." He added
that it was proved ". . . . they are incompetent,
that they are intellectually dishonest.'
The AAUP is examining the voluminous records
in this case. Its findings should make interesting
reading, for the broad question of how colleges
should deal with the teaching of communism
promises to remain a hot academic issue until and
unless the East and West find a way to resolve
their differences.
THE STUDENT WHO THINKS about such
matters might find himself confused. The official
American attitude toward communism in general
and Russia in particular has made some sudden
reverses in the past few years. In 1940, for in
stance, Mr. Roosevelt labelled Stalin's regime as
"ruthless"; during the war the latter became our
"democratic" ally, but ever since, there has been
little mincing of words to the effect that Amer
icanism and communism cannot mix.
As this momentous struggle continues, one
hopes that no hysterical purge of college fac
ulties will result.
An educator's faith in the intelligence of stu
dents would have to be weak indeed for him to
believe they would fail to detect a professorial
argument advocating communism.
The best way, of course, to guarantee that cher
ished human freedoms will survive, is for every
one of us to try making democracy live.
Save the Innocent
Just at the time we were celebrating the
Christmas season with an over-abundance of
yuletide blessings—holiday tables loaded with
delicious turkeys, salads, and desserts—and a
merry-go-round of Noel parties—an article ap
pearing in Life magazine sobered our celebrations.
For many of Europe's children, Christmas was
just another day in a long cold winter—another
day of gnawing hunger--another day for little
tots to roam the streets looking for something
to do while parents worked.
Life photographers picked up a too realistic pic
ture Conditions still predominant in Europe—
children seeking shelter from the cold in roofless
ruins—a little girl cuddling a naked, headless,
armless doll with as much gentleness as though
it were a beautiful, finely-dressed baby; there are
few toys for Europe's war children.
IN THE FOUR YEARS since the war conditions
have improved, 35 organizations supported by
Americans as well as private groups and indi
viduals have done much to provide food and
warmth where before there was only cold
hunger.
However, life in Europe still stands out as a
pitiful contrast to the well-fed American way of
living, and the UN Fund only received 2% of the
amount UN had hoped to collect this year.
If we feel any compassion for little children
starving and shivering—or, if we have no other
motive than merely saving our own skins by com
bating the "cold war"—it is up to each one of us
to put forth a maximum effort to show the people
of Europe that we are their friends.
NOT UNTIL WE HAVE cleaned out our ward
robes, rounded-up unused notebooks, pencils and
paper for European students, and given all that
we can in cash donations, can we say that we have
done our share.
This week WSGA is conducting a clothing
drive; boxes have been placed in each of the
women's dormitories. At the same time house
keepers in the dormitories are asking that women
students empty their closets for spring house
cleaning, an ideal time to donate some of those
old-look skirts and sweaters to European relief.
After that let's get our fraternity, sorority, or club
group busy on a money-making scheme for Euro
pean aid.
Let us follow the example of author Taylor
Caldwell who left his royalties for "Dynasty
of Death" and "This Side of Innocence," books
that are exceedingly popular in Italy, in that
country to be used for Italy's war children.
But let us not be like the rich Italians and
tourists he describes in a letter to Life, sitting "in
sidewalk cafes drinking thick American chocolate
and luscious Italian pastries while blind and crip
pled children dance on their crutches or sing in
feeble voices hoping for a few lire or the leavings
on the plates." Tightening our belts will be a
pleasure if the tightening means the saving of
innocent lives. —Dorothy Hunsberger.
Edit Briefs
We wish it would snow, so that the Borough
could put to use some of the money it collected
from the nearly 500 drivers recently tagged for
parking their cars on the streets overnight.
—John BormelL
EVEN AMONG EUROPEANS KISSING didn't gain a wide
spread following until after the Middle Ages. Of course a lot of
history majors might say that was so because the damsels of that
period didn't want their tender bodies mangled by an ardent lover
encased in a few dozen pounds of cast iron.
But getting back to the natives, they have•a lot of substitutes
for our osculatory practice which many of them consider dis
tasteful. 'lmmoral." or—get this—boring. These substitutes range
from the nose-rubbing of the eskimos to the ear-blowing of sev
eral African tribes.
The latter practice sounds like a lot of fun. But don't try it
here at Penn State, fellow. Just imagine the shriek of horror that
would rebound off Old Main's hallowed tower and bring Dean Wes
ton running if you were to whisper coyly to some coed, "May I give
your ear a blow?"
Right here in the U.S.A., where the art of kissing has reached
the pinnacle of popularity, a lot of people, mostly women, still con
sider kissing immoral. A study conducted a few years back showed
that 59 percent of the women interviewed thought it immoral to
kiss a man they didn't intend to marry. But, hypocritical creatures
that they are, 88 percent did anyway.
And I can suns it up even better by saying. "Who is he trying
to kids•
■hail &me The Twain NUM?
When you come right down to it, kissing is funny business
Civilized too.
You may not realized it, Miss Coed (and a lot of people who've
seen those near-orgies in Ath or Simmons lounges will disagree with
this statement), but when you let that man in your life plant a re
sounding smack on your kisser you're being civilized.
Because lip cuddling is strictly a modern practice. trade,
hobby, or what have you. Yep, that so-called primitive urge which
forces men to forget their inhibitions, grab up their lady fair, and
go through all sorts of ridiculous motions with their lips isn't
primitive at all.
Among the not-so-cultured peoples of the world kissing is taboo.
At least one-third of the earth's two billion inhabitants have prob
ably never known the joys of pressing their two soft, tender, sloppy
lips up against two equally soft, tender, and sloppy lips of the oppo
site sex.
Nobody really knows where the art of kissing really origi
nated, but there is little doubt that France has made some of the
world's greatest contributions to it.
Right here I might add it would probably be a good idea if we
shipped the whole practice right back to where it came from. Here
are some sample headlines from daily newspapers in the United
States, showing the trouble it can cause.
Man, 25, Stabs Woman With Paring Knife When She Refuses
Kiss.
Frenchman (see, I told you) Says Quick Kissing Ruins Romance
Bus Conductor Arrested for Kissing All Women Passengers as
They Step Off Bus. Since "buss" means "kiss" he figured "omnibus"
means "kiss everybody in it."
EVEN THE DOCTORS ARE getting into the act. A member of
the medical profession stated recently that broken ear drums may
result from too heavy kissing. Wow! What has Sinatra been doing?
Then there's the case of the boy and girl, reported last New
Year's Eve, who had to be rescued by the fire department when
their dental braces got locked while they were making with the
woo. Which gives rise to the question, "What were they doing with
their mouths open anyway?"
The net result of all this kissing going on seems to be a nation
of criminals, physical defectives, and frustrated romanticists.
Jonathan Swift, author of "Gulliver's Travels," summed the
•: 11 de thing up pretty aptly when he said, "I wonder what fool it
is that invented kissing?"
Your Lion
By Red Roth
no Salety Valve
Wide Open?
TO THE EDITOR: Mr. Severino leaves himself
wide open for rebuttal when he states that "the
persons who know what architecture is are archi
tects." Mr. Severino should remember that the
new buildings were designed by architdcts as
were all of the recent buildingi on the campus
whereas he, making the criticism, is not yet en
titled to call himself an architect.
f The writer, a former member of the depart
ment of architecture and an ex-debater, refers
to a letter by Mr. Severino, sophomore archi
tecture student.
"The beautiful naked shell" of Willard Hall is
"being covered with a monstrosity of a facade"
was the contention of Mr. Severino's letter.
Time To Begin
TO THE EDITOR: Now Is the time to begin
campaigning for "Election Day Holiday." The 1949
election will be important to State College vet
erans as this is the year we vote for or against a
little added subsistence in the form of a state
bonus.
Any changes necessary in the school calendar
can be made between now and the Fall semester.
—Leo F. Simbeek.
Wants No Coddling
I just finished ,Mr. Vadasz's article on "Costly
Cheering" of the Drazenovich-Kellum bout and I
sincerely do not believe Rec Hall patrons should
mope about the campus with the outcome weigh
ing heavily on their consciences.
I shared Mr. Drazenovich's disheartening feel
ing of futility, when after two rounds of chasing
the elusive and elongated Mr. Kellum and finally
clipping him and buckling him with a right that
finds an opening like that only once in a fight, he
was denied the annihilation of said Mr. Kellum by
the upraised arms of Mr. Taylor.
I hope the attempt to control natural emotions
and thereby allowing the near vanquished to fully
recuperate will not result in relegation of collegi
ate boxing to a panty waist sport.
With proper handling Mr. Drazenovich or Mr.
Kellum might be a future champ. It will not help
them any to be coddled by a faulty rule book or
faulty interpretation of same. If a kid can't fight
"against" a crowd as well as with one, there surely
must be another sport he can play that does not
call for the heart and tenacity that is boxing.
—(Bigtime) Bill Brasil.
Collegian Gazette
Brief notices of meetings and other events mast be submittal
to The Daily Collegian office in Carnegie Hail by 1 p.m. d
the day before the issue in which It is desired Si appear.
Thursday, February 10
MINING Engineering Society, 121 MI Building,
7:30 p.m.
ALPHA PHI OMEGA, State College High
School Auditorium, 6:45 p.m.
College Placement
Combustion Engineering' Co., February n,
eighth semester in ME.
Bethlehem Steel Co., March 14 and 15, eighth
semester in ME, EE, lE, CE, ChE, MEng, Met, Cer.
Report to 204 Old Main to fill out preliminary ap
plication form.
General Motors Corp., February 21 and 22,
eighth semester candidates for B.S. Degrees in
ChE, ME, EE, lE, Met, CF. M.S. candidates in
Phys, ME, EE, lE, ChE. Ph.D. candidates in Phys.
Men with at least a 2.0 average completing junior
year in June 1949, men who graduate in June, but
plan to go on with graduate work, men who are
now doing graduate work and who are candidates
for M.S. degrees in 1950, for Summer Employment
ME, EE, ChE, Met.
SKF Industries, Inc., February 23, to interview
graduates for training in ME. •
Koppers Company, February 24 and 25, June
grads in ME, IE, CE, Chem Eng, Chem,
Humble Oil & Refinuing Co., February 22, June
grads with Ph.D., M.S., or B.S. degrees from Chem
Eng, Chem.
RCA, February 21 and 22, eighth semester stu
dents with degrees in ME, Physics, and EE.
Babcock & Wilcox Co., February 23, eighth se
mester students with degrees in ME, IE, Chem
Eng, Physics, CE, Metallurgy, Fuel Tech.
At the Movies
CATHAUM—Night at the Opera.
STATE—HiIIs of Home.
NITTANY—Forever Amber.
Elailg Collegtan
likeeetwoor to THE FREE LANCE. est. 18$?
Published Tuesday through Saturday mornings haelnelle dhar•
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Editor
Lew Stone
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