Evening star., 1959-11-07

The Star is to be COM
mended for its measured,
penetrating observations on
the confession Of Charles
Van Doren. but there is one
point which neither The Star
nor any columnists have thus
far clearly presented. and it
is central to any serious con-
sideration Of his testimony:
Mr.. Van Doren could simply
have appeared before the
committee and offered MOTH
ing but the vaguest Of replies.
keeping within the bounds Of
truth" as legally advised, as
do Hoffa and many others
who appear before congress
sional committees. Or, he
could have read q brief state
ment acknowledging his in
volvement in general terms
and then spent the rest Of
the time adroitly avoiding
damaging answers to the
searching questions that fol-
lowed. There were literally an
infinite number of ways he
could have dealt with the
situation other than the way
he chose. which, all will
agree, was indeed the hard
way, the way Of 4 man Of
conscience.
Vincent Wilson.
The current hearings being
conducted by Congress and
the confessions therefrom
remind me of an ancient
paradox. Epimenides once
stated: IF I say I lie and I
do lie: then I tell the truth:
If I say I lie and really tell
the truth. then I lie"
Glendon d. Wiley IL.
*H/A
Now that Charles Van
Doren has been brought down
into the dust. there are very
few people who are jubilant.
No one has as yet mentioned
the fact that this man with
his background Of culture
and education did not marry
and start to raise q family
until his fall from grace. The
facts ere plain to all intp'l'-
gent people. Teachers are not
paid adequate salaries to en-
able them to live normal
lives. This does not apply to
all teachers, but I would say
to the majority. Therefore.
there has to be somethine
wrong with our educational
system. when a man sucn as
this is tempted from the
straight and narrow. To me
this is very. very sad. I don't
believe that anyone con-
dones his actions. There is a
deep sorrow in all of us that
such q thing should happen
in this most won'erful of
all countries.
Helen Schwartz.
\
All the emphasis on the
quiz programs on. TV, with
its degenerate influences and
terrible perfidy. is spotlight
ed on the contestants. Yet
the perpetrators of the mo-
grams-the money-grabbing
producers, or the sponsors.
are played down by all news
media.
The decent citizens Of this
country cannot condone in
any way the lack Of integrity
on the part Of the contest
ants. whether they be Profess
tant preachers or educators:
but. on the other hand, they
are entitled. to be completely
informed on who are the
real conspirators behind the
hoodwinking and fooling of
the American public.
]. B. McGrary.
The most frightening as
pect Of the revelation of
wide-scale practices Of de-
ceit, cheating and fraud on
various TV quiz programs is
the readiness with which we
AS . people-are willing to
excuse and justify such ac-
tions.
We are saying-in effect
1t is all right to cheat If you
don't get caught; it's all right
to cheat If the stakes are
high enough; it's all right
to do wrong If everyone else
does; it's all right to practice
fraud for a worthy cause:
it's all right to do anything
II it's within the law.
We see this in every aspect
Of our life today. In our
schools the children are not
told it is wrong to steal
they are told it is wrong to
leave their things where
others can steal them. In
business the watchwords are
"caveat emptor." Men Of
wealth readily find accept.