Wednesday, October 4, 1961 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Even the Chorus Girls Are Socialists in Cuba
Bv Milton Carr
By Milton Carr United Press International
There is no toothpaste in socialist Cuba and the American cola drinks taste like prune juice.
Food is so scarse that waiters no longer bother with menus; it is simpler to tell the customers what is available — usually fish. Fried foods are out because of the lack of lard.
THERE IS NOT ALWAYS hot water in the luxury hotels, which now belong to the people, but there is still gambling at night in the hotel casinos, where the new crop of players grind out their cigarettes in the thick, imported carpets. In the Havana Libre Hotel, formerly the Hilton, play was interrupted briefly one night recently when a militiaman accidentally shot himself in the stomach with his submachine gun.
The Eden Roc Restaurant, which once served tourists steaks flown in from Kansas City, is now the Bala-laika and the specialty of the house is Bortsch. The "Sputnik" has replaced the martini. When the water does not run in the rest rooms, an attendant with a supply in a large tin can pours for those wishing to wash their hands.
Homes and apartment buildings in the better residential sections, confiscated by the government from owners who have left the country or who owned more than one house, are occupied by country girls learning to sew, art students and other groups brought to Havana for technical and political instruction.
THE ONCE-EXCLUSIVE yacht and country clubs in the Havana suburbs are now open to the public for a 20-cent admission charge.
Cuba's nationalized movie houses will show 150 Russian films this year—with but few exceptions, to unenhusiastic audiences. Some audiences have shown their displeasure by quietly cutting up the theatre seats.
At the Fox Theatre a few nights ago a sigh of appreciation rippled through the middle-class audience when a character in a French movie demanded a particular brand of American cigarettes. The viewers appeared at the point of applauding, then apparently thought better of it.
In-Fighting-
(Continued from page 1) Jerry Dickson, Newton junior, abstaining.
Following this, Palmer said, "NSA has many fields of interest. I think Miller and Menghini favor it because of the influence in national and international issues.
"AND HERE'S A POINT," he said. "I think NSA's Cuban resolution is the most irresponsible thing I've ever read. Members of the right and left I've talked with feel the same way.
"Is this of real importance to the campus?" he asked. "By the same token, is NSA? I say, no!"
When Menghini began to argue this, Robert Sherwood interjected, "It's not our job to convince Jerry of the propriety of NSA. It's our job to convince seven to ten thousand other students."
"That's right," said Palmer. "I will add that if ASC does decide to disaffiliate it might not dissolve this Committee. My gripe is not with the Committee. I think it can serve usefully here.
"I simply don't see affiliation to the tune of $500 a year," he reiterated.
Minnesota Biologists 'Bug'a Bunny
MINNEAPOLIS- (UPI)-University of Minnesota biologists are experimenting with radio-equipped rabbits.
A cottontail rabbit has been equipped with a tiny transmitter, weighing less than an ounce and enclosed in a plastic collar. Signals from the transmitter will enable scientists to follow the bunny's movements. Eventually, a research team hopes to develop a transmitter to relay information on the animal's reactions to changes in environment. Success would mean that wildlife could be studied without the disturbing presence of a human being.
American cigarettes bring $2.50 and more a package on the Cuban black market.
EVEN HAVANA'S TROPICANA night club, long known throughout the continent for its dazzling girls and spectacular shows, has gone political.
Here, where American tourists used to outnumber the Cubans, a recent stage presentation included a torch singer's interpretation of the "Gagarin" bolero, in honor of the Russian cosmonaut, followed by a skit concerning four American would-be space travelers who couldn't get their battered missile off the ground. Finally, in disgust, they kicked it over to reveal, painted on the side, a caricature of President Kennedy resembling Bugs Bunny.
In the finale, 20 or more chorus girls in G-strings sang a song which began with the words, "We are Socialists," and ended with "Cuba, Si; Yankee, No!"
There is no meat and little poultry in the butcher shops. Grocers' shelves are more empty than filled, but prominently displayed canned goods from Russia, Bulgaria, Poland and China are not selling. Razor blades, thread and other essential items are hard to find.
WHEN AMERICAN SOFT DRINK manufacturers stopped shipping cola syrup to Cuba, local bottlers put up a poor imitation under the
same label. Complaints about the taste are answered; "I don't know." ...
Yes, but it's Cuban. At the Havana Airport in elaborately adorned letters hangs this sign:
"Yes, but it's Cuban!"
"THESE WHO ARE NOT willing to be soldiers of their country in this exceptional moment of our history, let them go!—Fidel."
For more than 100,000 Cubans who openly are trying desperately to leave and for other uncounted thousands who would like to go, this declaration is bitter mockery.
The government has placed every conceivable obstacle in their path short of a blanket edict against all travel from Cuba.
THE TRAVELER KNOWS that everything he leaves — his business, house, furniture, clothing, car and other possessions — will be confiscated.
He is allowed to carry a moderate supply of clothing and no money, jewelry or other valuables. Each person is limited to a watch and a wedding ring. Gold religious medals which most Cubans wear around their necks are stripped from them at the airport or docks. Often, passengers are forced to shed their clothing to prove that they have nothing hidden.
The Cuban is not permitted to buy his passage with Cuban currency. Tickets must be paid for in U.S. dollars and since dollars cannot be obtained legally in Cuba, money orders must come from friends or relatives, if any, outside the country.
RECENTLY THE GOVERNMENT took steps to halt the flight abroad by issuing new travel regulations and canceling tens of thousands of pending reservations. It ruled exit permits must come from police stations, that they must be used within 7 to 10 days, and that those wishing to leave must also get a permit from the national bank.
Air travelers from Cuba spend an average of a day and a half at the airport being checked. The last four hours are spent locked in a room while four Cuban officials scrutinize documents.
Relatives and friends stand outside, faces against the plate glass
wall, watching. They are not there just to bid their loved ones goodbye. Their primary mission is to see that they get on the plane, and do not disappear to prison.
THE SCENE IS CHARGED with emotion; a mother pleading with an official to let her daughter keep a religious medal; and when he refuses, asking a guard to pass it out the door to friendly hands... passengers being led off, perhaps not to return . . . women weeping . . . crying babies, restless children, and nervous adults. . . an official banging on a desk with a ruler, threatening to cancel the flight unless he gets silence . . . rumors that the plane will not arrive. . . a cheer when it does . . . the slap of the ruler on the desk.
Make Your
AIRLINE RESERVATIONS
NOW
TO BE SURE!
THE MALLS SHOPPING CENTER 711 West 23rd Street
MAUPINTOUR
TRAVEL SERVICE
Phone VIking 3-1211
*Make your airline reservations now and pay for and pick up your tickets later, just before you go
ARCHIE SAYS:
My cousin Archie—he thought the electric razor his gal gave him last Christmas was o.k. Then he tried Old Spice Pro-Electric, the before shave lotion. Now the guy won't stop talking, he thinks electric shaving is so great.
ARCHIE SAYS Pro-Electric improves electric shaving even more than lather improves blade shaving. ARCHIE SAYS Pro-Electric sets up your beard by drying perspiration and whisker oils so you shave blade-close without irritation. ARCHIE SAYS Pro-Electric gives you the closest, cleanest, fastest shave.
If Archie ever stops talking, I'll tell him I use Old Spice Pro-Electric myself.