Word: topical
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...band of articulate fellows who have no greater joy than wordy arguments. At some schools they enjoy greater prestige than the football squad, while at others they are known only for their briefcases and pointed fingers. Whatever their reputation, debaters have a tradition for arguing either side of any topic. But this year something has gone disturbingly awry...
Already scheduled for intercollegiate competition, a number of schools are now refusing to debate the national topic that suggests recognition of Communist China. The colleges excuse themselves by claiming that arguments for China are no more than Soviet Party propaganda. And Educators in three mid-western schools have agreed that discussion of the topic might pollute the students' American minds...
...speak no evil. By avoiding a problem, they seem to think it will disappear. Even accepting these colleges' narrow belief that only communists advocate recognition of China, the refusal to argue the issue is inexcusable. When it is no longer possible to present both sides of a topic, there is not climate of fear, but an actual freezing of thought...
Conversation (Sat. 8 p.m., NBC). The topic "Love in America," discussed by Alistair Cooke. Faye Emerson, Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, Clifton Fadiman...
...Public Affairs laboratory operated by the course, is little more than la replica of a periodical room in any good library, with the addition of staff offices and exhibits which change weekly according in the topic under discussion. Recently, when Mass Media was being discussed, sections of the Times were tacked on bulletin boards around the room. Each sections was marked in heavy crayon with such advice as "The sports section: for leisure and relaxation," or "Financial section: we don't have to tell an Economics major that this is a valuable part of the paper...