Chain letters warrant jail term
By John Gillie and Jan Vandeventer Kansan Staff Reporters
Welcome to the Holiday Cheer Club
If you are a member of the chain letter which caught fire at KU Thursday you may receive 64 bottles of liquor and from one to three years in jail.
The jail sentence could come if the letter is judged a lottery, which Harvey Berenson, assistant professor of law says it is.
The law Berenson quoted said "any person who shall make, establish, promote, or aid" or "who shall offer to sell any lottery ticket, shall be punished by hard labor . . . for not more than three years." That apparently would include anyone who signed the letter.
Chain letters are considered a lottery by law for three reasons;
- There is an element of chance involved.
- Participants expect a prize.
- Participants pay consideration (liquor or money).
Spot checks of residence hall and fraternities Thursday and Friday indicated 18 KU fraternities and six residence halls were involved. One student said 30 to 40 men in his fraternity had signed the letter.
A student in another fraternity said he had received more than $100 in cash and liquor from the letter.
Under the provisions of the letter, a participant member is told to:
- Give a bottle of liquor or its cash equivalent to the person whose name
is at the top of the list of five names.
- Add his name to the bottom of the list.
- Cross the top name off the list.
- Give two copies of the letter to friends.
Bill Weiss, Overland Park freshman,
too a little time to think it through.
Most of the students contacted were leary of commenting on the chain letter because they were unsure of the legality of their actions.
"It sounded like a pretty good deal at first, but when I figured it out, my chances were near impossible."
Weiss figured if 16,363 students signed the letter that only 255 students would receive pay-offs.
Rumors about the letter spread almost as fast as the letter itself.
Some students thought police had moved in on the letter by investigating several fraternity and sorority houses Thursday and Friday night.
Origin of the letter also started stories. Some thought it came from a business man in Great Bend, others theorized it was started by a liquor store in Lawrence. One report said it came from K-State, although the K-State Collegian campus newspaper reported no rumors of a letter.
Rumors also related that counselors in Templin Hall were seizing letters and recording names for disciplinary action.
"This is completely untrue," John Hill, assistant resident director of Templin, said.
See Letters, page 8
78th Year, No. 56
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan
A student newspaper serving KU LAWRENCE,KANSAS
WEATHER
FAIR
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Yemeni civil war rages at San'a
Monday, December 11, 1967
SAN'A — Yemeni republican forces using Soyiet tanks and artillery declared today they have driven off royalist troops that tried to capture the capital city's two airports.
In Beirut, royalist spokesman Hashem Ben Hashem said both the airports had been taken but
Republican radio broadcasts also confirmed that royalists had surrounded "some parts" of the city and announced that almost every man in San'a had been armed with an automatic weapon.
later Prince Abdel Rahman Ben Yahya, vice premier of the royalist "government," disputed Hashem's claims.
The republicans were backed by the United Arab Republic and the Imam won support from Saudi Arabia. A recent agreement between the two nations resulted in withdrawal of some 50,000 Egyptian troops that had protected the republicans.
Both sides reported bloody battles around the city.
Stokely returns home
PARIS—(UPI)American black power advocate Stokely Carmichael left today for the United States, ending a five month world tour that took him as far as the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
He said he was returning to the United States "because I do not want to criticize U.S. government policies without assuming the responsibility of my criticisms."
Carmichael faces a possible jail sentence for traveling with an invalid passport. He visited North Vietnam, Cuba, Syria, Algeria, Guinea and Sweden, and Denmark.
"I am fully aware of what I am risking," he said.
A $100 reward has been offered by Museum of Art director Bret A. Waller for information leading to recovery of a stolen sculpture and to the arrest of the person or persons responsible.
The sculpture, insured for $4,500, was displayed in the Arthur D. Weaver Court south of the museum. Penalty for conviction of grand larceny ranges from one to five years in prison, said the Douglas County attorney's office.
$100 reward offered by KU museum
Waller discovered Dec. 2 that the bronze "Portrait of Renoir," by French artist Aritide Maillol (1861-1944), had been pried from its granite base.
Art dealers, collectors and museum directors in the country have also been notified.
Waller has notified KU police, Lawrence police, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the theft.
WASHINGTON — (UPI) —The Justice Department's plan to set up a special unit to speed prosecution of those who violate draft laws left it unclear today just who would be affected and how.
The missing art object was a gift to the Museum of Art from Mr. and Mrs. Arthur D. Weaver of Lawrence and Mr. and Mrs. N. T. Veatch of Kansas City.
Draft prosecution unclear
Despite a joint weekend statement by Atty, Gen. Ramsey Clark and draft Director Lewis B. Hershey, differences appeared to remain regarding what violations would merit prosecution and who would do the prosecuting.
A spokesman said that earlier Justice Department statements opposing immediate induction into the armed services as a means of curbing protests still stood.
The Hershey-Clark statement said "lawful protest activities, whether directed at the draft or other national issues, do not subject registrants to" "acceleration" immediate induction or any other special administrative action by the Selective Service System.
But Hershey gave no sign of withdrawing his controversial Oct. 26 letter to the nation's local
draft boards, recommending such treatment for student demonstrators who violate draft laws.
--to do was distribute anti-draft literature and "express dissent against the Vietnam war."
WEATHER
The U.S. Weather Bureau predicts generally fair weather tonight and Tuesday with a low tonight near 30. Tuesday's temperatures should be a little warmer with a precipitation probability of 10 per cent.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Poetic editorial spoofs Mc-Collum PDA. Page 2.
A KU student, now a state representative, comments on campus politics. Page 3.
Campus landmark is in storage. Page 4.
Marines to arrive, SDS plans talks
The United States Marines land in the Kansas Union Wednesday for a three-day recruiting drive. Greeting them will be members of KU's Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and their "Vietnam speak-out."
It's the second campus encounter between the two organizations. Earlier this fall two Marine recruiters competed for attention in the Union lobby with an impromptu, SDS-sponsored "protest."
This time, however, the SDS'ers won't be so impromptu. Wayne Sailor, Lawrence graduate and SDS member, says his group plans speeches and debates from noon until 2 p.m. each of the three days the Marines are in the Union.
"Now we're not demanding that the Marines be removed from the building or anything like that," Sailor said of the SDS plans. He added that all the SDS wanted
At 1 p.m. Thursday, the left-wing organization plans a debate on Vietnam. Taking a "Dovish" stand will be Howard Kahane, assistant professor of philosophy. Arthur Skidmore, also an assistant professor of philosophy, will represent the U.S. State Department's Vietnam stand in the debate, Sailor said.
The group also plans folk sings during their demonstration.
Wednesday, the first day of the Marine visit, SDS will sponsor talks by Hamilton Salsich, assistant instructor of English, and Jane Morse, instructor of classics and chairman of the local Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom. Salsich will speak at 12:30 p.m. and Mrs. Morse will talk at 1:15 p.m., Sailor said.
Rodgers satisfies urge to sing on television
Football coach Pepper Rodgers says he's long had a burning desire to sing on television. Saturday he got his chance.
To usher in the Christmas season, the 36-year-old coach sang "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" on his television show, "Playing the Game With Pepper."
"I'm sure I surprised my sponsors when I started singing," Rodgers said. He added that his wife was surprised too.
According to Rodgers, one of his "trademarks" is surprising people.
Rodgers received an even bigger surprise Friday at the annual football banquet in the Kansas Union Ballroom. He received a
trophy for the somersault he turned after leading the players onto the field before the KU-Missouri game.
The trophy was inscribed "Unofficial Big Eight Coaches Somersault Champion."
Rodgers says his Christmas plans are flexible. He wants to go to Atlanta, Ga. because he and his family haven't been home for a while.
On the other hand, Rodgers says his four children want to stay in Lawrence, so he said Santa Claus will probably visit them here.
He still hopes to travel to Atlanta after Christmas, but first Rodgers is planning to attend the Big Eight Basketball Tournament in Kansas City, Dec. 27-30.