“Open Forum” letters to the
editor from the editorial page of The Technician, the student newspaper at North Carolina State College, February 28,
1947.
To the Editor:
I have just returned from witnessing one of the most unfair
deals pulled in a long time. You no doubt know I am referring to the
“called-off” basketball game between State and Carolina.
There was not a large crowd in the gym when everyone who
didn’t have a seat was ordered to leave or State would forfeit the game. There
were larger crowds at all previous games. If the Fire Chief had started with
the first game and controlled the size of the crowd, I doubt if much would have
been said or done. Why did he have to start with the most important, the last
game of the year? Where has he been? When Chief Butts was cornered by Ray
Reeves of WRAL in the lobby, he stuttered something about a city ordinance,
that he could not state, saying that the “entries could not be blocked.” The
fellows sitting on the floor at the foot of the bleachers were not blocking the
doors by any means.
What does he call an “entry?”
The large number of firemen that were there were getting
themselves in a good spot to see the game and that’s about all.
“Onions” to the Chief, the State boys have a just beef
coming!
Yours very truly,
Antaoin Shrdlu
To the Editor:
Here it is—the five thousandth letter on the subject, “It
wouldn’t have happened at the gymnasium Tuesday night if -----
The firemen and policemen were of course only doing their
duty and cannot be blamed except for the sloppy job of guarding they did on the
outside windows. Just as during the Duke game, all manner of kids from Raleigh
were climbing through these windows in addition to the students that couldn’t
get in at the front door.
The blame should rightfully be placed upon the college for
not informing the student body beforehand that only 3,200 people could be
accommodated, instead of the 5,000 people that were allowed in for the Duke
game. It would have been understood then that the first 3,200 students entering
would see the game and the rest wouldn’t. In addition the windows would have
had to be guarded carefully so that a good part of Raleigh didn’t climb in
through them while our own students weren’t allowed in to see the game.
This is the only fair way a game can be played here so that
the fire regulations are still obeyed. “A permanent solution is to finish the
Coliseum. Until that time however, a more efficient system will have to be
devised if such unwholesome spectacles are to be avoided in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Norman J. Oppenheim
To the Editor:
Before Fire Chief W.R. Butts has had the “gall” and time to
justify his act of calling off the Carolina-State game on Tuesday night, I
should like for you and your readers to bear with me—an eye-witness and
non-prejudiced State College student—while the story of how a bad situation was
poorly handled by Butts, is related to you.
You have not been the least bit naïve with our presentation
of the rowdyism of a very, very few State College students, and I feel
confident that you and your followers will take a firm stand on the side of
W.R. Butts in this issue. Rather than insert the City Court trial of a State
College student in the middle of a news item on court happenings, you seem
always to prefer featuring the trial of the State College student with the
headline “State College Student Charted With Disorderly Conduct,” and the irony
of it all is that in one particular trial last week a Wake Forest student was a
codefendant. For these reasons, we want to be reassured that W.R. Butts does
not justify his act with tales of “a dangerous crowd” and literal crashing of
the entrances—and so this letter.
Butts’ first “ultimatum” to the crowd (unless the announcer
misquoted him) came at 7:30 p.m. in these blunt, tactless words: “Unless all
improperly seated and standing spectators leave within the next 15 minutes, the
game will be forfeited to Carolina.” For approximately five minutes, spectators
pondered Butts’ harsh words, and then the cooperative spirit took care of the
situation and the move apparently met with officialdom’s approval. I refer to
the fact that all seated spectators moved closer together and every person
present was seated. Butts then moved to a spot almost three feet inside the gym
and authoritatively viewed the new seating arrangement, obviously approved (he
sent to second “ultimatum” to the announcer), and then returned to the lobby.
The large delegation of firemen present, 10 counted, assured themselves of
witness thing the game by lining up abreast on the gym floor in front of the
inner doors. The situation seemed well in hand and no doubt could have remained
that way. But you see, Chief Butts, the “wheel” who had previously called off
the game, didn’t want to risk the chance of having his 10 firemen miss the
game, so he didn’t see fit to take the authority to post his “men” on the porch
(where they belonged) and have them absolutely refuse any more admissions. As a
result, when an official was admitted through the door some school-spirited
students removed the pins from the door (did not crash through the door) and
came in. Chief Butts labeled them “a dangerous crowd” and issued a final
ultimatum: “No game.” He thereby released a situation he had utterly failed to
cope with.
I have not had the pleasure nor privilege of meeting this
Raleigh personality and am therefore incapable of typing his temperament,
however, if you will permit me, I could surmise that this display of authority
was “his trill that comes but once in a lifetime.”
In all fairness, Chief Butts had an unwanted responsibility,
but he bore it awkwardly and the State College Student Body is not willing to
have his bungling reflect on their good name which remains so despite your
repeatedly attempts to upbraid many for the act of a few. This time the
“bungles” award very definitely goes to Fire Chief W.R. Butts.
Say, I’ll wager you a brand-new Spaulding basketball that
those 10 firemen hated to miss the game as much as we did.
Through God’s help and experience may public servant Butts
learn.
Wm. K. “Bill” Thornton
Editor Note: The above
letter was written to the editors of the News and Observer. Since the local newspaper did not print
the letter in its entirety, we thought that all the thoughts in the letter are
worthy of reprinting in the Technician.
To the Editor:
The Happenings at State College tonight are now common
knowledge. The blame for the incident will not be placed on various people and
organizations. Let us see just where the blame does lie.
The students of State College? Admittedly, their conduct in
tearing down the doors when refused admittance to the gym was not in keeping
with that bearing expected of men of college age. Those students who brought
dates and friends to the game are guilty of cheating their fellow students of
the privilege of seeing the contest. They are cognizant of the fact that the
gym can hold only part of the student body. Their selfishness cannot be
condoned.
The students of the University at Chapel Hill? They also
know that the gym here is too small to accommodate even the student body. Their
action in coming over here and forcing their way in the gym, some by way of
open windows, speaks more for their enthusiasm for their team than for their
sense of sportsmanship.
The Raleigh Fire Chief? His actions were in keeping with the
responsibilities of his positon. The tragedy at Purdue University only goes to
show what can happen in a crowded gym. Whatever does happen is the
responsibility of the Fire Chief.
Now, where does the real blame lie? I believe it lies with
the college, the Greater University and the State. For a long time I, as a
resident of this state, have been of the opinion that this state wants good
higher education but that she is unwilling to pay for it. She expects the
students to pay for the upkeep and improvements on the school. What is ironic
is that the federal government is getting the bad end of the deal through the
liberties of the GI Bill. To say “the federal government” is just the same as
saying “the people of the United States.” In case the state doesn’t realize it,
the people of North Carolina are members of that great body called the American
People.
The policy of State College and the University has been to
gouge (to use a Navy expression) the students and the government out of all the
money they can. Students from this state that are under the GI Bill pay
out-of-state fees and tuition. Where does this extra money go? It should go to
recognizable improvements.
But here is the thing that puts the responsibility of the
fiasco at the gym tonight right in the laps of the college officials. The
college charges each veteran and each other student an athletic fee. When they
receive this athletic fee they accept the responsibility of seating every
person that pays the fee at all athletic functions. They know in advance that
they cannot fulfill their obligations, yet this does not stop them from
requiring the payment of fees from all students and accepting more fees than
they can possibly take care of.
The college expects the students to pay for the new
dormitories (the University was going to raise room rents last year to help pay
for the new rooming facilities at Chapel Hill), the new indoor stadium, the
chimes and door for the memorial tower and all other major improvements. The
only way most of the better professors both here and at Carolina are kept with
the institutions is by private endowment.
When is this state going to wake up to the fact that good
higher education costs a lot of money? You can’t get something for nothing.
Don’t blame the students for their actions. They were
fighting against being cheated. Let us get to the core of the evil and correct
it.
Respectfully yours,
Charles Howard Kahn
Editor’s Note: A copy
of this letter was sent to the News and Observer. Writer Kahn has hit the proverbial nail on the head.
No comments:
Post a Comment