Oberlin Review (Oberlin, Ohio), 1955-10-25

              Tuesday October 25 1955 Page 2 THE OBERLIN REVIEW ftlje Oberlin ftebteto Published by the students of Oberlin College mrj Tuesday and Friday dating th winter ana spring semesters excepting noiiaays ana examination penoaa Subscriptions 5 for the full year 3 a semester ten cents copy Entered atsecond class matter at the Oberlin Ohio post office April 12 1911 OSes 60 Booth Pleasant Street Telephone 44271 DICK COOPER Ceil I lighton Jim Carter Dorothy Miller George Von der Muhil Ann Colt Tuesday Mary Pietsch Friday Dave Mathiasen Estelle Whelan John Frye Dave Gladtelter EDITOR Associate Editor Assistant Editors Managing Editors News Editors Ray Bach Ellie Busick Sue Eubanks George Skillman Michael Boerner Bob Bentley Don Sharps Jim Claghorn Circulation Manager Sports Editors City Editors Business Manager Advertising Managers ANN COLT ISSUE EDITOR Editorial policy is determined by an editorial board composed of Mike Boerner Jim Carter Ann Colt Dick Cooper John Frye Dave Gladfelter Ceil Leighton DaveMathiasen Dorothy Miller Mary Pietsch Don Snarpe George Von der Muhll and Estelle Whelan Equality vs Opportunity With the uproar over the attempt to turn the College into a party school by the selection of a campus queendeclining to its present almost inaudible rumblings and with the opportunities fcr local politicians to expound on the merits of party choices for the Mock Convention becoming less than nil we feel almost obligated to inject seme mgnlycontroversial issue into the campus discussion machine We can think of no better issue than current trends in the car ruleprocedure interpretation We thought last April when the Faculty turned down various proposals to change the rule that the issue wouldbecome a dead one Fortunately it hasnt The student desire to use cars for various purposes has merely changed formexpressing itself now in what Dean Holdeman views as anappalling deluge of requests for special permits to use those cars already at the College Against this student desire to use available cars must be placed a contrary emphasis which though voiced by fewstudents is still worthy of consideration In 1952 Mens Board approved a procedure for the issuance of permits for the use of cars already on campus Included were four categories of situations under which permits were to be grantedConcluding the procedure description was a statement that Permits will not be given for individual social purposes In the past this has generally been interpreted to mean that permits would on occasion be granted for group social purposes whether or not the group was formally organized with the sole restriction that the group be larger than four Some students have objected to this interpretation on the grounds that it instituted an inequality of opportunity since only those who knew people with cars or had a car themselves would get to use them This interpretation has been modified this fall by Dean Holdeman to exclude issuance of permits to informallyorganized groups of any size He feels that this interpretation is much more consistent with the intent of the original Mens Board outline of procedure and is also advisable because it eliminates the inequalities in the system It is clear to us however that there are real reeds and interests in the student body which cars seem to meet most effectively The College has made an attempt this fall to meet these needs Two station wagons have been made available to students and faculty on a priority system which gives first place to organized groups and the other three categories under the 1952 Mens Board procedure and last place toinformallyorganized group for social purposes Theoretically the use of these station wagons would not include the element ofinequality of opportunity because they would be on afirstcome firstserve basis We would like to raise several questions hereconcerning the bases upon which the present system if it may yet be called a system was fomulated We feel first that the question should be considered not in the light of what Mens Board thought best in 1952 but rather in the light of what is now thought best by all concerned If the two are inconsistent then the former should be discarded Further although a real test of the effectiveness of the station wagons is not now available it seems to us that the demand for these on the part offormallyorganized groups would be great enough to exclude their use by informal groups The value of equality ofopportunity becomes meaningless if in effect there is no opportunity What is needed in our view is an attempt to provide cars for informal groups not in unlimited quantity but in greater degree than they are now available and yet tomaintain a greater degree of equality of availability than was present under the old system The College station wagons are an important step in this direction yet by themselves will probably prove inadequate once their availability is known A second possible step would be the addition of more cars to these two A third suggestion would be the limitation of the use of the station wagons for formally organized groups to those which found it impossible to gain access toprivatelyowned cars We hope that Mens Board in its present deliberations will succeed in clarifying the procedure for the granting of special car permits Darrel Mansell Out from Under the rhetoric of philosophy Like To Eat We have Real ITALIAN SPAGHETTI and ITALIAN SPUMONI KUM SEE US PRESTPS out of Olwrlin Corner of W Lorain and W College BEVERAGES TO GO EVENING SHOWS 71 J pm 930 pm Always A Good Show 131 a Mm SUNDAY EVENING 715 pm 930 pm iwiniic wtu IMUR OCT 252627 Brought Back for Your Renewed Enjoyment I SEE IT NOW I I POPULAR PRICES I 1 t r t i f WILLIAM V I J TRk SHAILSPEA1XI M The most beautifu movie since Red ShoesM FEATURES at 720 onH oiin Second feature will finish about 1210 aml Fri Eve Onlv FAN PAKI I A Till idc ru o vwaaaaaa lvvvvlAAlw Philosophy is whatphilosophers do They sit around and think about things and have a quaint passion for signs that say THINK cryptic epigrams truth and other devices to make people feel generallyuncomfortable To explain something about the electrolysis of brine water is considerably easier thanexpatiating on the sublimation of the soul This is partly due to the fact that brine water has acomputable boiling temperature while the soul does not It is also partly due to theunfortunate restrictions of language Words in the strictest sense are symbols and the moresuggestive a symbol is the less specific is its meaning There is no sharp line at which a word ceases to be a denotative one and begins to have connotations It is true that one is less likely to go into ecstasies of reverie at themention of a headlight screen than a moonlight scene but thedifference is just as much one of Charles Russell degree as it is one ofcandlepower Since philosophy is thebroadest and most unrestricted ofprocesses of investigation it has far and away the broadest and most unrestricted problem ofcommunication since the onlyreliable method of communication yet devised has been the use of words and words are verywoolly If the aim of philosophy is to generalize and synthesize the truth of human experience it must use the most general words to do so a sentence which is a fleece in itself Reading what philosophers write down in words then can be a very discouragingexperience Professor Brand Blanshard in his little essay OnPhilosophical Style quotes a good example of what philosophy can be like Because a certain form of senuous intuition exists in the mind a priori which rests on the receptivity of therepresentative faculty sensibility the understanding as a spontaneity is able to determine the internal sense by means of the diversity of given representationsconformably to the synthetical unity of apperception and thus to cogitate the synthetical unity of the apperception of themanifold of sensuous intuition apriori as the condition to which must necessarily be submitted all objects of human intuition Now this may be a pretty keen insight It is too bad that no one will ever know Farragocs of puffballs like this leadimpetuous people to conclude that philosophy is systematizednonsense If it were not that some philosophers have succeededadmirably in expressingthemselves even under the restriction of having to employ words philosophy might have become the branch of human endeavor which concerned itself withproviding packing material for transporting selfreferentialhurricane lamps and excluding the middles of hollow waste baskets To accredit all philosophical obscurity to limitations or lack Continued on Page 4 Sounds Off on superficiality v If one wishes to attendOberlin College one ought nottheoretically be superficialNevertheless superficiality may be grand utterly utterly grand If it were possible I should prefer to wastrel away my senior year with a beautiful countess in one arm and a goblet of champagne in the other hand waltzing waltzing and waltzing She would laugh and I should laugh She would laugh again and I should laugh again I hope we would both be a trifle drunk But we would be so utterly happy However such divinepleasures are not so far as I am aware ones of local indulgence It is a pity an utter pity How unfortunate that mere tradition restrains Oberlin College from becoming a party school For our college is teeming withsuperficial individuals andsuperficiality is the essence of party school life Unfortunately many of my acquaintances do not realize how superficial they are Abstruse intellectual activity is the most prevalent form of superficiality on the campus I regard such activity with mixed amusement and contempt amusement when it is notperformed seriously contempt when it is One of the mostdelightful techniques of the superficial intellect is that of quoting famous poets in German or Latin or that of spewingoffhand references to obscurematerial He need not be concerned with the accuracy of hisremarks because probably no one else undestands them either He must remember though that such an intellectual attituderequires a certain amount of bravado to carry the thing off successfully Once he lets hisdefenses down he may be rudely knocked about by others Such a one informed me last evening and quite seriously too that existence precedes essence How very charming 1replied though I knew not what the phrase meant Would you like a gin and tonic He wasdelighted In a sense he was letting down his defenses The field of criticism also swarms with superficial persons It is a dueling field on which one fences with wellpointed epigrams and cutting retorts To duel in such a critical fashion one need pay little attention to the contested issue Rather it is more necessary to be on the right side that is to say the side with all ones witty friends Thus one is much less likely to be injured since the larger side generally annihilates thesmaller Watching a victim writhe and squirm proves howdelightful criticism can be It creates Continued on Page 4 CONTINENTAL Oui Monsieur for you the gaiety color and romance of the Champs Elysees in the Spring But you dont have to go to Paris to get these handsome braided elastic belts in the continental styles and patterns worn by the adventurous boulevardier Come in and see these smartlooking belts today Powers Dawley WE GIVE AND REDEEM EAGLE STAMPS wmmmim CRILLON Id ported braid MOULIN ROUGE Kid Suede Covered Buckle Owi leaded Wtik o Ittout Three Thank WOBC for Keeping Them Awake To the Editor We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep thanks to WOBC For some time after our arrival here we found ourselves faced with the problem of keeping awake while doing our homework assignments Then we made it a practice to turn on WOBC in the evenings and since that time have had no trouble whatsoever in remaining awake and alert It appears to us that some member of the WOBC staff has infallible timing Whenever we find our heads nodding and our eyes drooping he drags the needle across the record thus producing a jolting rasping noise which does not terminateuntil the middle of the next theme This process is guaranteed to recall instantly the wandering mind of the fatigueridden student whose head would otherwise smash into the edge of his desk within the next 60 seconds This staff member is particularly adept at doing this during the playing of classical records when such jumps occur at frequent intervals undoubtedly because our benefactor realizes that one is mere apt to fall asleep to the peaceful strains of some such composer as Bach or Brahms whose works are highly conducive to the relaxation of the mind If it werent for tliose wonderful discordances we would soon find that our minds were incapable of further creative thought Perhaps the credit for these discontinuities should not be attributed to some members of the WOBC staff but rather to the condition of the records played on the daily programs At any rate the effect remains and that is what is important We would not have expressed any comment on this practice had it not come to our attention that certain radicals about the campus have been loudly declaiming the socalled butchering of great works of art It is interesting to note that most of these radicals are Conservatory students so one need pay little heed to what they have to say on the subject Most of them are disgustingly concerted and opinionated or at least as far as concerns music simply because they have Continued on Page 4 MENS FURNISHINGS LA VSOi9S Phone 43231 9 South Main Street SAY in bad with the Girl FLIP WE M from Wood will REALLY help the cause Shidlri A Wood Phone 4261 1 New 0berin Bock sososco 1 tYa CASUAL WEAR x y ii4J first m fashion Ahead of the game Arrow fields a smart squad of sweaters with manforman superiority down the line Theyre warm and soft styled with exceptional taste in Orion or lambswool or a blend of Orion and wool Its a smart college man who collects several colored sweaters Sleeveless from 500 or longsleeved from 795 Theyre perfect worn with dress and sport shirts like this Arrow plaid Get a few of each sccccccccccocccccosooscoooecoseoooooooseoooi WANTED Applicants Who are at a loss as what to do Christmas vacation Why not wait on table at the Oberlin Inn enjoy a good Christmas and New Years dinner and put aside a dollar or considerably more See MR BRADBURY ot the OBERLIN INN MdDBK for tjmi Paperback Books Anchor k Vintage Modern Library 65c to 145 NEW BOOKS ARRIVING DAILY FICTION AND NONFICTION at COMINGS BOOKS GREETING CARDS MUSIC