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Show THE SIGNPOST THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1945 Carver Likens Abolition Of Awards to Straw That Broke Camel's Back The awards committee came very near-f putting the last straw on the camel's back last week when they recommended the abolition of the award point system. The unfortunate and ironical feature of the entire affair is that we cannot even console ourselves by believing that it is part of another war casualty. Rather, we are told by this committee, which has relieved itself of the irksome task of voicing for the student body our appreciation to those students who have served us, that the award system 'should be abolished because it is misleading, unnecessary, outmoded, unfair and several other equally ambiguous reasons, which only serve to convince us further that awards are no more, not because it was necessary to abolish them, but that in the opinion of three students and four faculty members who comprise the . committee, it was the easiest way out of a provoking situation. In the midst of a year which seems destined to see the majority of our students inducted either into service or entering into war work, this committee by its recent ac tion has deprived Weber college of one of its richest traditions, and in turn has eliminated the prospect which every active student looks forward to, that of being publicly thanked and awarded for his efforts at school. If this be unfair or outmoded, then true appreciation of any service anywhere is equally unfair and archaic and should be immediately eliminated, leaving us to face the best we can a world where service goes noise-ly past, receiving neither tribute or recognition which it rightfully deserves. If it be overly sentimental to ask for this type of recognition for deserving students, I plead guilty to the charge, my only defense being that I am convinced that school tradition is a most potent factor in Weber college and that this attempt to eliminate it is unwarranted ; that it behooves us as students and as a college to retain those things which gives to schools and individuals the sense of service and worth, items too greatly confused, forgotten and lost in this world with its jealousies, wars and petty grievances. Wayne Carver. No More Wallflowers . . . On Friday last, Weber college experienced an unusually successful dance in the annual Preference ball of the A. W. S. The affair provided active competition for the honor of being one of the most successful affairs of the current year at Weber. And yet, attendance at the ball was obtained not in the usual manner but in a very novel way. A date bureau, composed of several members of A. W. S. was in part, at least, responsibble for the large attendance of "preferred men." Yes, it is true! Without either the boys or the girls having to exert a great deal of initiative ,a dance proved a complete success. If, then, a bureau of this type can promote in itself a more than satisfactory dance, what, then, would result from a condition where the initiative of the boys was turned loose, and, at the same time, a bureau of date-making was maintained to supply a substitution where initiative lacked? It has been suggested by many of the Weber students that some type of dating unit as efficient as that created by the A. W. S. be maintained all year around and function in the case of every dance. Perhaps this suggestion is the solution to the problem which has long existed at Weber' "What to do with the wallflower." On the outside the idea is an ingenious one and well worth a try. What do you say, boys and girls? Kampus Kwotes . . . Experience can be likened unto the banister of an endless staircase. Men cling to it for support in upward climb, and topple only where it fails to remain fast. DeLore Williams in an overly serious moment. Selfishness is a human trait. Long live the inhuman people! Dee Anderson, student, in looking at college life. Mother, your sandwiches are worth a dollar! Junior Blair, freshman class prexy, after paying twenty cents for a wafer-thin sandwich in a downtown cafe. There are two kinds of back talk: the sassy retort, and that which we call gossip. Neither will "win friends or influence people." John Lloyd in speaking of constructive and destructive criticism. We won the debate but lost the decision! Universal excuse of the non-trophy-bearing debater. Corpulent (fat) girls don't carry so much weight with the boys. Dorothy Cardon, student.After the war there will be seven girls for every boy, I hear. Oh, boy! that means a different one for every night of the week Herbert Wiese in expounding a philosophy of a post-war world. I can't quite figure it out! Did they name the orange for the color or the color for the fruit? John Rackham in searching for a solution to a diffcult problem. Evils of Sex Ratio . . . Because of the fact that the sex ratio at Weber is estimated to be two hustling men to each bustling woman, many of the fellows are prone to lay back, refusing to assume the initiative because of this "verbalized" attitude "I couldn't even get a woman if the ratio were ten women to one man, let alone under existing conditions." What defeatist attitude could be more detrimental to social activities of this institution ? This is a year when social functions of Weber should be increased successes. Never in the history of this school has the student body been so close or individual students Due Recognition for All . . . One day last week a student was heard to explaim, "Wait until the boys go to the services. Then we'll have a big dance in their honor." And yet, that morning two fellows left for the army and one for the army air corps. Yes, everyone was a bit on the sympathetic side for these, but there was no party to send them off. Why? Because you can't hold a party for just three. Yesterday two more left for the army. Certainly the rest of the students regretted to see them leave, but there was no send-off with a dance. Why? Because you can't hold a party for only two. Today another will leave and next week still another; but there will be no social to send them off. Why? Well, this, this is why: The students of Weber college can see the boys leaving only en masse and in one big company of marching men. They cannot recognize the fact that the Weber men are leaving not in great masses, but one by one every day. Yes, perhaps only one at a time, but they are leaving for sure. Is it like Weber college to overlook those who are leaving as individuals, and to look only to the time when her halls will be emptied of men in one single moment? Certainly not! Weber must realize the fact that those who go today, even if there be only one or two, deserve honor equal to that which will be given to those who will leave in larger groups. Perhaps a party would prove far too expensive to give to just one or two, but here is a suggestion which will serve a satisfactory alternate for a party: Let each student donate a reasonable amount of money to a general fund, and with that fund purchase individual gifts to present to the boys as they leave Weber. In this manner, each boy will be given due recognition and none will slip unrecognized by his alma mater into the service of our country. so well acquainted as the present year. However, this truth itself is semingly refuted in the failure of some social affairs. This situation should not be. Must a date bureau be installed at Weber to usurp all the initiative the boys should possess, or are the backs of the Weber men strong enough to stand up to the weaker sex? Editorial Office: 402-408 Moench Building Published semi-monthly by students ot Weber Junior College Editor Jean Anne Waterstradt Business Manager Keith Holbrook Associate Editor Bonnie Clay Front Page Dee Anderson News Assistant John Vernleu Editorial Assistant DeLore Williams Society Editors Dorothy Cardon, Shirley Mills Sports Editor LaVor Wood Business Assistants: Advertising Vern Burton Collections Mar Jean Hickman Circulation .... Francis Connell, Marian Blair Cartoonist Bob Peterson Photographers. Donn Thurman, Jim Bateman, Ray Sanders Faculty C. M. Nilsson Typist Evelyn Weir FRONT PAGE Francis Connell, Kathryn Ann Richards, Helen Home, Evelyn Applonie, Beth Rhees. SPORTS PAGE Carl Buehler, Norman Fox. Member of the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Press Association. 1942 -:- Member -:- 1943 Associated Collegiate Press Peterson Looks at Life . . . V1r$$!dW CMtSltD OUT YilLY SUCCESSFULLY.. NO CASUALTIES U a nsli 1 zf WE'LL bet Hirohito would wither under Pete's biting sarcasm. College Life Was Easy, Says Soldier Alumnus In a Nostalgic Letter Dear Mr. Nilsson: I always did believe the Signpost was an up and coming paper, bound to go places, but when I found one in my mail box at Fort Sill, I was thoroughly convinced of that fact. It seems ages since I used to sluff your classes and complain of the tough assignments you used to throw at me. It's only taken me five months in the army to realize just what an easy life college was. Remember when you urged your English classes to read "The Grapes of Wrath?" I was one of the few who actually did. I read it and shuddered at the climatic conditions under which the Okies were compelled to live. So here I am, and right now the west part of Oklahoma is moving east in one of the fiercest dust storms I have ever seen. But there's nothing to worry about because it will all go west again next week. The names in the Signpost are rather unfamiliar at least the first names are. Last names always seem to remain somewhat the same in a good institution of learning. But the clubs, the social events, the classes, and theextra-curricular activities are so nearly identical with the ones of three and four years ago that I feel a pang of home sickness creeping in between the lines. This business of attempting to become a "ninety-day wonder" is a bit on the tough side. Only 44 per cent flunked out in the last class that graduated. But I will say this, it keeps you so damn busy you don't have time to worry about what your girl friend back home is doing. Please keep my name on the Signpost mailing list. Sincerely, Corporal Wilmer J. Perry, Officers' Candidate School, Class No. 61, Fort Sill, Okla. Dear Editor: During the past two quarters of school I have attended but one formal dance, and yet it proved such a harrowing experience that my opinion of formal dances is found forcibly expressed in a drastic conclusion formal dances should not be! Reasons? There is but one. My evening was an utter failure. First, I was unable to get a corsage. (Two brown-edged gardenias, each lacking a petal or so, represented the best I could buy. An exhorbi-tant price was paid.) Secondly, one week was the minimum time in which the cleaning establishment could return my suit and overcoat. (T went to the ball with the dust cf two months past on my clothes. Many a formal bore the same trace of dirt accumulation which comes only after months of neglecting one's clothes.) This is a deplorable situation. I advocate a solution. Let us make each dance one of minimum worry by making it a barn dance. I understand we will need for-mals later to conceal the shoe shortage. A man who goes to few dances but likes them comfortable when he does go. DeLore Williams. The Right to Write (Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Signpost.) What is the matter around here? What is this I hear about several fellows being sent to the northwest to some sort of a speech festival? Is this just rumor, or are we supposed to be dumb? I hear further, strictly rumor of course, that those involved left at 1 a. m. Why? I ask. Were they afraid of a little tar and a few feathers? All we want to know is why the sneak? Why didn't they publicize their departure? After all, student money paid for the trip. Why should the students know about it? If we are going to have school spirit, and get behind and push, we must know what's going on. How can we wish them Godspeed when no one knows they are going? While we are on the subject, I hear the award system has been abolishd. This means that the sophomores have been working in extracurricular activities for two years to no avail. They don't even get honorable mention. I have been under the impression that Weber college was an institution that oherished traditions, but now the students must stand idly by while the action of a minority destroys the finest tradition of them all that of the Orion club. If this is a democratic school why don't they have an election and let the students decide the question? Now, don't get me wrong because I love Weber like I do my brother, buf how my brother and I do fight! After the publication of this article, my new address will be: PRIVATE RAYMOND SANDERS, Reception Center, Fort Douglas. Utah Special Feature!! If you can find your full name in an "ad" take a copy to the merchant in whose "ad" the name appears, identify yourself and you will receive one free pass to the Egyptian Theatre Instructor Analyxes Charges Against W. C Award System (Editor's Note: The following is an analysis of the problems of awards as seen through the eyes of the faculty adviser to The Signpost.) By C. M. NILSSON An analysis of the charges against the Weber College awards system shows them to be sometimes contradictory, as for example when it is said that the system is undemocratic. This charge is followed by a second to the effect that so many persons receive honors on award day that the assembly resembles graduation exercises. This second point was advanced by-several members of the board of control, we are reliably informed. To our mind, this point is really a very great virtue in the system, for not only does it demonstrate the superficial democracy of the system by reason of the num- bers, but it also shows that an attempt at least has been made to recognize everyone who has performed a service. This detailed recognition tends to produce justice and we feel touches more deeply the heart of democratic practice.The other failures, alleged or actual, of the awards system appear largely to be not the failures of the system but the failures of the persona who operate the system. Now it is true that the human fail- I ure is always with us even in operating the finest machines available, but there is an element in any plan which increases or reduces the probability of human failure. The increase of human failure seems to be inversely proportional to the degree of system. Though we appear not to know it, we now have a more carefully detailed system of awards for extra-curricular activities than exists in most schools, if it exists in any other school. Therefore, though there may be some human failure present now, there will certainly be more human fail ure present if we cast out the pres ent detailed scheme of granting awards and honors and have either nothing or else something with very little system to replace It. It has been suggested as an alternate plan that a few students be selected and these honored at a banquet This plan reduces system to nothing and by guesswork and the arrantest personal choice leads to a very great human failure. Moreover, the nature of the plan is such that there is room for only a small group at most, and therefore the plan is seen at once to be physically unsuitable. If there is in the plan arrangement for 10 outstanding students at Weber college, (Continued on Following Page) Colonel Beukema Tells Plans for Soldier Students (Continued from Page One) it is estimated, at least half as many more hours will be required in home work." Hmm, there it is again! The authority for these searing remarks is no less a person than Colonel Herman Beukema, director of the program. NOW PLAYING PLEASE COME EARLY! He kissed her., she kissed him -and the other fellow's honeymoon was over.. in the one big picture that sweeps you over a world at war on a tidal wave of gay, romantic comedy! GRANT HO RADIO ROGERS m LEO McCAREY'S ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON with fjh WALTER SLEW-ALBERT DEKKER -ALBERT BASSERMAN Wm SPECIAL! "POINT RATIONING wARREkmwiLLikM EXPLAINED!" rmBssse- mmmm mi aniiimn mm mmmm i |