University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

FALL ISSUE 1945 III! OF THE MILL Collective Bargaining " Required " activities for freshmen is one of the most sensible Hill institu- tions. The inevitable deluge of aspirants every fall upon the office of any of the campus activities serves to remind one that Hill organizations still operate under the " safety in numbers " policy, or " out of sight, out of mind. " Ask any activity leader and he will tell you that the " processing " of 80 or more freshmen is no fun ; that name card files add materially to the waste paper drive. Along with names are registered rank indifference, boredom, stupidity, and rarely too too rarely real enthusiasm. The enthusiasts, the three percent of the total, make life worth- while for the particular activity offi- cer involved. The delightful task of sifting through the mass of names for just such a person is interesting, and after all takes only half a semester to complete. By that time, the applicants who were whipped into line by their organizations have fallen by the wayside through sheer in- difference. The situation has grown so complex that only by persistent appearances does the freshman who is interested in a given activity make himself known to the organization. It would be extremely difficult for the various organizations and groups on the Hill, who require their freshmen to sign up for student activities, to come to a more logical plan. Such as point- ing out the educational, personal, and social benefits which one may accrue by participating in these activities by planning discussions with their freshmen and pointing those most fitted by tem- perament and interest along certain ac- tivity lines. Only then will our " D. P. ' s " (displaced persons) be adjusted into the right activity from the begin- ning. Ruin We asked Chet Shaw, one of K.U. ' s more notable alums and now managing editor of Newsweek magazine, to guest-write an article for us. He d eclined, saying that he " had some very cynical and pessimistic views about the future of the world that I would hesitate to lay before college students. " Come to KU, Mr. Shaw, and you may be able to acquire a few new ones. All work, No Pay Gawwffump. The professor clears his thought, the audience sinks into a metamorphic stu- por, the audience listens attentively to noises in the hall, the audience gives up and goes to sleep. The professor drones on through pages of notes, looks up when the class period is over. This is the condition as it too often exists in the best educational system in the world. And K.U. is a part of that system. Educators, alert to progressive learning, are slow to realize their two glaring faults, both of which comple- ment each other. It is one of the poorest paid profes- " sions. Conversely are the poor examples of teacherhood who are a drain upon the profession, who do nothing to stimulate the imagination of the students, nor en- courage learning and interest. For every four good professors on the Hill, there is one who would never be missed. Only when K.U. starts paying for its professors, will true intellectual stimulation become a common thing. We ' d like to have more Pattersons and Gibsons on the Hill.