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University Daily Kansan Wednesday. October 25, 1961
Writers and Subversion
Two Austin, Texas, groups, the Daughters of the American Revolution and Texans for America, have asked the Texas state textbook committee to reject a number of texts on the grounds that they contain communist and socialist influences. A number of authors and writers who are mentioned in the texts are objected to on the grounds that their "statements, associations and affiliations" bring their loyalty into question. Among those objected to are Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neill, and Carl Sandburg.
THIS EXCURSION INTO LITERATURE BY the DAR and the Texans for America is reminiscent of other groups who have decided they know more about education than the professional educators and whose sources of information on who is loyal and who is "questionable" or subversive are very doubtful indeed.
This action recalls the incidents in Wichita and at other universities where faculty members have received harrassing phone calls and letters
because some group does not agree with their teaching methods or the materials they use in their instruction.
THE TWO TEXAS GROUPS HAVE NOT gone this far; they have acted through legal channels. But the context of their statements is evidence of how far from reality these people are. The idea that Ernest Hemingway or Carl Sandburg have been subversives is ridiculous.
It is also rather difficult to see how any literature text could avoid mentioning Hemingway, Sandburg and many of the other authors termed questionable in their loyalty and still give an adequate picture of American literature.
The actions of groups like these two have done considerable harm to the freedom of speech and inquiry that is necessary to the educational process. Their many attempts at interference in this area represent a danger that needs to be carefully watched.
-William H. Mullins
Soviet Nuclear Testing
The current condemnation of the Soviet Union by nations around the world for its explosion of the largest nuclear weapon in history is quite logical and desirable. But it should not be taken too seriously.
THE SOVIET UNION HAS DONE MANY things in the past for which it has been condemned by the West and neutrals alike. But if we consider it for a moment, it becomes clear that most of those things have been forgotten and are certainly not a factor in the way many nations behave toward the Kremlin.
The Soviet Union was harshly condemned by almost every nation outside the Iron Curtain
when it suppressed the Hungarian Revolt, yet that crime has ceased to be anything but history to most nations after only five years.
THE SAME THING IS TRUE OF THE OTHER Communist giant, Red China. It was widely condemned by neutrals and the West for its aggression in Tibet. But what nation bothers to even talk about Tibet now?
Both the Communist giants have a long string of crimes on their records that have outraged public opinion. All of them have been forgotten or faded within a few years. We should not expect anything different this time.
—William H. Mullins
Kausan Story Criticized Editor
Just before returning to school this fall, I saw a print entitled "The Statistical Man," by Robert Hodgell, a noted contemporary artist. In this print, a hapless fellow is pinned to a large sheet of graph paper by a curve line which rips through him on its trip from one side of the paper to the other. The print represents our society's tragic habit of making statistics out of persons. The thought of this picture has haunted me since I read the UDK article, "KU Traffic Record Still Intact After Near-Miss," a couple of weeks ago.
THE ARTICLE REFERED TO the car collision which was fatal to a KU student, Joseph O'Brien. This accident, according to the UDK, "came close to ruining one of KU's most cherished records." The accident occurred one block outside the University boundaries thus preserving a thirteen year string without a fatal accident on campus. The article continued, "Had the accident occurred one block further north, a fatality free traffic accident record going back at least to 1948 would have been ruined."
Do such thoughts arise whenever a student is killed? Are we actually thankful that Joe's blood was not spilled on our campus — that he made it across university boundaries before he died? Are we actually thankful his death will be written on the City of Lawrence traffic records instead of our own? If so, are his parents thankful? Are we not making a statistic out of Joseph O'Brien?
Sincerely,
Don Warner
Topeka junior
UDK Criticized
At the risk of sounding hypocritical, I feel that something must be said concerning the manner in which the recent issue on discrimination in off-campus housing has
Jane Dunlap Lawrence senior
AS ONE OF THOSE STUDENTS who is supposedly "against" the Chancellor. I would like to state that I definitely am not against him — and I do not reject his 'moral sausage' idea," although I still feel that something in addition to it is needed if the discrimination problem is to be resolved in any near future. I believe that this was the feeling of most of the other committee members. After much thought, I am beginning to see the position which the Chancellor is in, and I think he actually is trying to do something about this unjust situation in the best way he can.
been presented by the UDK. Seemingly, it has been inferred that all but one of the students who met with Chancellor Wescoe last week are quite dissatisfied with his ideas on contending with the discrimination issue.
THE MAJOR ISSUE IN THESE articles should not have been
Chancellor Wescoe versus justice and moral progress. The issue is how can we help all people, whether foreign or American, to have the Right of Opportunity — the opportunity to prove themselves acceptable or unacceptable as tenants or as friends because of the type of person they are; not to be rejected just on the basis of the color of their skin. I am sure that Chancellor Wescoe is as concerned
ith this real issue as any of us are, but perhaps he had a little more insight into the long-range effects and repercussions of the proposed plan than many of us on the committee did at that time. Nevertheless, regardless of the Chancellor's reasons for rejecting the plan, he is not a Simon Degree or a heartless tyrant — and I, for one, would appreciate it if the UDK would stop trying to make him appear that way.
Daily Hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
Founded 1889, became biweekly 1904, triweekly 1908, daily Jan. 16, 1912.
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NEWS DEPARTMENT
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
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BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
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LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
"WELL, THIS COLLEGE IS KNOWN FOR ITS VERY FRIENDLY,
HELPFUL FACULTY."
Guest Editorial
Recently, Kansas University officials announced that as of next fall, classes will run from 7:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. instead of following the present 8 a.m.-4:50 p.m. pattern.
Freedom to Change
The purpose of the new program is to get another hour's use of academic buildings. No sizable new classroom buildings are due soon, so greater use must be made of existing facilities.
No plan, however, is likely to meet full approval of a faculty and staff that numbers close to 600. It was only natural there would be complaints about this intended program. The most unrealistic criticism, however, came from a professor who pointed out the new schedule would force him to be available to his students for longer periods of time and would tend to curtail his personal research time.
There is a great deal to be said for teaching and there is a great deal to be said for personal research by faculty members. But the basic reason most people are on the faculty at KU is to teach students. This means they are expected to "be available to their students," and if they don't find that palatable, perhaps they should consider some other line of work.
As for research, that is excellent—and we all need more of it by capable people. But if a teacher has as his basic purpose to teach, then he unselfishly is going to have to devote more time to teaching and less time to his research, even if it is important to him. And if he can't do this, then it might be a good idea for him to enter some field where he need not worry about teaching and can concentrate on research.
Then he displayed faulty logic by remarking it's time KU officials started a restrictive admissions program that would force a new building program. It sounds fine on paper, but it doesn't work out quite that way, officials agree.
It stands to reason there will be some inconvenience and hardship, but again, the best interests of the University must be served. If those "best interests" create too much inconvenience or hardship on certain individuals then perhaps it is well for them to consider teaching or researching elsewhere.
This, faculty members should know better than anyone else, is one of the many blessings of the academic freedom we hear so much about.
The new KU time schedule was not arrived at haphazardly, frivolously or with the intent of harming anyone. Able people viewed the situation, decided what would be best under present conditions and announced a policy for what they considered the best interests of the University.
(Reprinted from the Oct. 24 Lawrence Journal-World)
Worth Repeating
THE END
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