Crimson Hits 'Times' Fraud

With an "are you kidding" attitude implicit in every word, the Crimson, in its Wednesday edition tore into one of the giants of the journalistic world, the New York Times, castigating, the well-known metropolitan daily for its report on the "tragic" state of the historical knowledge of American college freshman.

The Times, in an attempt to prove that college freshmen are dangerously ignorant of the history of their country, conducted their survey by means of a 22 question exam, drawn up by Allan Nevins, professor of History at Columbia and given to 7000 freshmen in 36 colleges all over the country. Obviously, with questions that concentrated on names, dates, and places, the Times was attempting to prove that teachers in the high schools are using the wrong method of teaching American history. The Crimson, in a full-page feature, insisted that the Times test proves nothing, unequivocally terming it a "farce."

Questions Ridiculous

The Crimson rips into the Times report with the accusation that the exam was presented to the students in such a way as to arouse suspicion as to the motivation behind it and to make them wonder how the results would be used. "The circumstances were also apparently such as to annoy the students and to invite ironical and flippant answers." the Crimson pointed out. "For example, Portland, Oregon was frequently said to be located on the Mississippi River or on the Atlantic seaboard, and Franklin Roosevelt was listed among the Presidents who have been assassinated."

Trying to establish the identity of the culprits responsible for what it calls "one of the biggest hoaxes in American history" the Crimson states that "it might be blamed on the students who took the test and answered it factious, but it seems logical to accuse the Times itself for distributing such a poll and taking the results so seriously."

In its attempt to prove its case against the Times, the undergraduate newspaper called on a trio of experts on three aspects of the affair, historical, pyschological and educational. When asked what he would reply if someone asked him who was the President of the United States during the Civil War, Professor Frederick Merk of the Department of History specializing in the United States, responded, "Theodore Roosevelt." That, in two words, was the opinion of to Harvard historian, who went on to brand the answers as "sophmoric poppycock" with very little significance as evidence of the historical ignorance of American college freshmen.

Andrew Jackson Obscured

"Only 12 percent could give two major contributions of Andrew Jackson," said the Crimson, which is pretty bad. But professor Merk would have been among the ignorant 88, since he emphasized Old Hickory's bringing the common man into politics through the party system. The Times didn't.

The marking system used by the Times came in for plenty of blasting in the Crimson columns, which claim that it is rife with subjectivity. "Only 15 per cent of those taking the test knew that the Times thought that America's policy toward China was "Open Door" although Fine (the man who ran the show for the Times) says that "Friendliness" would have been acceptable. Anyone who went beyond that catchword was ridiculed," the student editors commented.

The Times insisted that all 2 percent of the facetious answers had been disregarded leaving nothing but honest answers. The Crimson couldn't see it that way--not quite. Said they, "Now test. In fact, no one would take it seriously unless he took everything seriously."

Taking it up from there, the Crimson went on to give its view on the significance of the test in the light of the attitude assumed towards it by the unhappy freshmen. "Just how many people answered in good faith is difficult to determine. Probably the best index question would be that on the Civil War President. The Times says that 25 per cent of the American college freshmen do not honestly know the answer to this question. A consensus of American History teachers at Harvard and other colleges has revealed 2 as the more likely figure.

"This leaves a facetious fringe of about 23 per cent which is of course only an approximation at best since the temptation to play around varied with the questions. However, this estimate from the negative point of view ties in with the positive example of the aforementioned Casey Jones, where 31.5 per cent couldn't resist."

The Crimson's final word is conclusive. "The Literary Digeal Poll can move ever."The Times' poll was Incomplete. They forgot to ask who this follow is.