The Northwest times. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1947-1955, 1955-01-22
ON DEBUNKING COLLEGE LIFE
By Ken Adachi

PEOPLE-old greybeards gradu-
ates and the like-will tell you as
if they were letting you in on a
secret of sorts that the four years
of college life" are Incompatible
beyond ali things in the pursuit of
fun frolic and underwear To give
you evidence they will relate tales
OF the fanciful feats of their under
graduate days, which together with
the dutiful reports of the current
crop by the daily press. are inclin-
ed to give evidence to the theory.
For example, not long ago there
was a story TO the effect that the
average college woman imbibes with
apparent gusto the astounding to-
tai of twelve pints of beer weekly,
far surprising the supposedly har-
der male who meekly and blush
ingly admitted to a relatively neg
ligible amount. College life" if
you will believe these people. is
suffused with Der and sex and all
the gayety of a Parision night-club.
If it were so l would be the first
to cheer resoundingly the POSSIBLE
tiles of such a situation
Indeed magazine articles. movies,
and cartoons all have combined to
make of college life" something
out of the virile pages of Scott
Fitzgerald and his theme of frenetic
pursuit of entertainment and de-
bauch And patriarchs of society
still cling to their favorite hobby
of muttering in their boards about
the wicked younger generation. I
was somewhat confused when
first crossed the greensward of the
campus. for I had heard GREATNESS
tales of beardless actions among
the cloisters "Non-conformity!'
was the battle-cry of the university
and that in essence was a fright
ening thing in itself I still stumble
across the campus clutching musty
books in my hot little hands, but
the deeds of the barbarous h v e
become myths. The campus type
is, after all too human and feels
too much at home with the law of
gravitatlon to exert himself
There is no counterpart of the
famous college radical-the burn
ing-eyed man with cause filled
with disillusionment about the
world and society. The old crusad-
ers have faded away to extinction
The poetry of T S. Eliot is n 20 W
accepted as sane and meaningful
and the modern conservative ten
denotes have replaced the leftist
polntical radicals who might have
made things far more exciting ano
truculent What is left now are
the usual fall and spring exercises
of undergarment raids proms half
hearted beer par ies, football
games. and above all, the necessity
to find a proper niche in society
Education is supposed to result
in man emerging as a well
rounded" personality. The educated
man should be able at the shut
ting off of the T'V set to discuss
James Joyce. Dylan Thomas Pr
casso, or such sophisticated popu-
lar culture as Pogo or the meta
physics of Mickey Spillane. He is
supposed to emerge with the equip
ment to deal with worldly as well
as intellectual matters.
But the only man who seems to
succeed in this noble undertaking
is, surprisingly enough, the engi-
neer. who upon graduation is be-
sieged with offers of high-paying
jobs. What could be more worldly
and pleasant? The arts graduate
is faced with the grim prospect OF
not being able to enjoy either. II
follows therefore that the major
ity OF college students have sub
merged themselves for this rasor
in the uninspiring mechanism o.
practical science What price
well-rounded personality? It is no
salable product
Perhaps, too, the engineers arr
to blame for the passion for for.
NAL convention of dress on tn,
campus. Current collegiate uni
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