Suburbia Rampant

Anyone dogged enough to read through the entire "Press" in the next column will find that The Dartmouth is pretty wrought up about the condition of its college. From this distance, it is hard to tell how dismal the situation is up in Hanover; neon teeth, not being quite so bright as atomic explosions, have caused no appreciable glow on the northeast horizon.

But this Dartmouth editorial does bring up some problems that are not peculiar to the north woods. The emphasis on security rather than initiative disturbed Professor Handlin of Harvard's History department so much that he wrote a magazine article on it last month. The preference for safe plodding rather than expression of unpopular opinions has unfortunately gone far beyond the college stage and is currently plaguing everyone from President Truman down. And alumni reunions have become the focus of college thought in many cases because alumni often have money and most colleges badly need money today.

It is hardly fair to blame colleges in general, or Dartmouth in particular, for the triumph of Suburbia or the possibility of World War III. Colleges are symptoms and victims of a cosmic disease, and they cannot be cured by injections of radical hormones. World affairs are pushing college education around these days, and it may be a long time before ideals can turn the tables.