Friday, November 3, 1961 University Daily Kansan
The Student Seating Plan It Looks This Way...
Page 3
By Tom Turner
Very rarely can you enjoy two amusements for the price of one, but the Athletic Seating Board has made it possible.
Not only did some 27.000 fans enjoy a winning football game Saturday, but a beautifully executed round of musical reserved seats as well.
I AM PERHAPS more personally acquainted with sections 39, 40 and 41. The flow of traffic up and down, back and forth during the entire first half of the game resembled a herd of water buffalo in search of a pond. I needed a portable radio to follow the ball game.
Perhaps it was only coincidence, but each time the band began to play, one entire row somewhere shifted while determined ticket holders waltzed with those occupying their seats.
ONE IRATE FELLOW IN SECTION 41 informed an older man in red baseball cap and sunglasses that he was in the wrong seat. "Oh, really?" he replied. "Well, I won't move."
And no one could do anything about it.
One Pinkerton investigator, one Pinkerton officer and several thousand spirited words later the man in the red baseball cap was still seated, the ticket holder permanently fixed—standing in front of him.
CONSEQUENTLY, THE ONLY WAY to get your assigned seat must be by brute force. What a chance to vent suppressed aggression, practice Yogi or just get even with somebody.
The founding reserve-seating-fathers said last year that the system was the panacea to the age-old question of crowded stadiumitis.
WHAT IS NEEDED NOW, THEN, to make the seating system perfect is several dozen additional first aid stations, the entire Lawrence Police Department and several hundred referees.
The Pinkerton officer admitted there was nothing he could do. "Pinkerton is only hired to seat, not unseat," he said.
"There should be very few bugs to work out before perfection is reached," they said.
It also may help to paint more numbers; on the steps, in the aisles, on the walls and maybe even on the track.
Better yet, why don't we scrap the seating system, reserve the stadium by class sections and keep all gates open.
Pinkerton "seaters" are expensive.
Student Apathy Criticized
Editor:
In the first of your three part series on the People-to-People program at KU, you stated that, "The apathy on the KU campus was unbelievable in the eyes of a California student. As he looked around he saw students seemingly unconcerned with fellow students of other lands.
If this student ever bothered to notice, this same indifferent attitude prevails toward fellow students of this land. The typical impression that one receives from the majority of students on this campus is that, as long as a certain action or situation is not affecting me or will not affect me in the immediate future, "I don't give a haoot." One only has to participate in a sociology or English class discussion along this line to see just how deeply instilled this attitude is.
I have heard several foreign students say that in their countries one does not find this lack of unity or unconcern among students. But here while fellow American students are being jailed, beaten, and denied their rights as citizens; we can be found spending our spare time in the local Pubs repleting that "beer gut" and picking up the latest odds on the next football game; while behaving like a group of addlepated beetleheads.
It is high time that the KU students and their apathetic counterparts across America awaken to the fact that the time is near when we will be the leaders of this country. It will be up to us to formulate and carry out the internal and foreign policies of these United States. If we are to be competent leaders of tomorrow, we must be concerned students of today. As students we should have an awareness of our local, national, and international responsibilities.
Locally ASC elections will be held sometime soon. Make an effort to find out who the candidates are. Query them on issues that you consider vital to you and compare their answers. If they have been on the council before check into their
voting records where possible, and find out how they voted on key issues affecting you and the student body. Try this time to weed out the quislings before they are elected. Thus it will not be so likely that the campaign promises will be broken.
It is our responsibility to be aware of and express our opinions on U.S. internal problems and policy. We must not be afraid to stand up and be counted or to stand alone if necessary.
W. Danny Johnson, Jr.
New York City
Sophomore
* * * *
Reasonable Platforms
365 Excuses
Wants Responsible Platforms Editor:
year both Vox and UP heartily endorse People-to-People. It seems that both groups have to jump on the old bandwagon and support whatever seems to be popular at the moment. This, to me, is spineless government.
As the threat of Communist dominance and subversion spread throughout the world our international responsibilities increase. We must not lightly dismiss the impact that the International Union of Students has on the student leaders of the underdeveloped countries. This organization like the Communist Youth Movement IS on the move. Wake-up. KU students, let's face our responsibilities and start showing more concern locally, nationally, and internationally.
365 excuses for having your favorite beverage at the Jayhawk Cafe — 1340 Ohio Today's excuse: Secession from Columbia Day in the Canal Zone
Last spring I ran on the Vox ticket for ASC, and my living group is Vox-affiliated. I can't deny that Vox helped me in my campaign, but in all conscience, I cannot support a group that thinks of nothing but such matters as keeping University buildings open 24 hours a day (how would that help undergraduate women, anyway?) It is my earnest desire to see responsible student government at this University before I graduate. You must expect an apathetic student body when its student government leaders refuse to concern themselves with, or commit themselves to, issues other than campus parking problems. When I hear a candidate speak, I want to know where he stands on such issues as NSA (reaffiliation will be an issue), civil rights, off-campus housing, etc. I urge everyone who plans to vote in the coming elections to vote for the candidates on the basis of their individual qualifications and on what they themselves stand for, and not merely to vote by a straight party ticket. Let's DEMAND responsible student government.
Carol McMillen Coldwater senior
When I read the UP and Vox party platforms for the coming elections I was appalled. Some parts of the UP platform sounded like faint copies of last year's Vox platform. And Vox itself merely repeated parts of the platform it used last spring. It is also rather interesting — and almost humorous — to note that last spring, both Vox and UP heartily endorsed NSA. In fact, they couldn't say enough nice things about it. This time, however, both parties have carefully avoided any mention of their stand (if any) on NSA. This
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