FRENCH ADMIRATION—Two natives of France and instructors of French at KU admire an exhibit at the opening of KU's Art Museum. They are (left to right) Miss Lillian Meisner and Miss Solange Bondy, both graduate students. (See story on page 8.)
Faith Still Placed In Reserved Seats
University officials generally favor the reserved football seating plan while student opinion of it varies.
Arthur C. (Dutch) Lonborg, director of athletics and associate professor of physical education said:
"I HAVEN't heard any complaints from students. I think that once the imperfections are worked out of the plan the students will like it better than lining up at the gates at 8 a.m."
Chancellor W, Clarke Wescoe said today he had heard no word of complaint from faculty and administration members about the plan. Chancellor Wescoe said he believed this plan was better than the one previously in operation.
Richard Harper, Prairie Village senior and chairman of the ASC student athletic seating board said: "I have heard no complaints. All those I have spoken to since Saturday seem quite pleased. I thing that there are still a few bugs in the system but the over-all approach of the thing is good. Prior to the game I was told of a husband and wife being separated by several sections. This, of course, will be rectified.
Student opinion, however, was not always in favor of the plan.
"I didn't like my seat." was the general concensus of those not in favor of it.
"I SAT in section 29, row 9, so my reaction is not too favorable," one student said.
Paul Hensleigh, Lawrence graduate, said:
"It's ridiculous. I never did find my seat. My seat was in the middle of a whole row of people. There wasn't any room left so I sat on the end. I like the old way better. When we wanted a good seat we could go early. Now, if we have bad seats, we'll be stuck with them."
Nancy Niemeth, Oberlin sophomore said the seating arrangement is good for those who have good seats.
Judy Walker, Mankato freshman, said she used a senior's ticket but she did not sit in the seat.
"NO ONE SAT in the right seat," she said. "People just went in and sat anywhere so we did too."
Don Vaughan, Kansas City, Mo. freshman, was satisfied with the seats.
"I got in and found my seat without waiting." he said.
Con Poierik, Topeka senior, favors the system because one can come at the last minute without waiting
in line and still have a guaranteed seat.
"I'm glad to see the long line eliminated," John Maxwell, Columbus junior said.
"THEER MAY still be room for improvement," he added. "There is still a problem of seating guests and parents on Parents' Day.
Daily hansan
Kathy Coutts, Washington D.C.
soohomore:
"For me there weren't any problems at all, but then this was only one game."
"I don't think it will work because once people get in the stadium, they will sit anywhere. There is no authority there to check."
Janice Pauls. Hesston junior:
Johannah Belfont, Oxford senior:
"It worked better than I thought it would. There seemed to be few problems."
Jonnalou Heitman, Oxford senior:
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
59th Year, No.12
Monday, October 2, 1961
Bircher Sparks Much Reaction at Forum
A roomful of KU students took on a member of the John Birch Society in a verbal battle punctuated with hisses and groans Friday in the first meeting of the Minority Opinion Forum.
Robert D. Love, Wichita businessman and a leading member of the John Birch Society, faced a barrage of questions after a talk outlining the purpose of the Society.
HE STRUCK BACK at criticism directed at the Society, the group's leader, Robert Welch, and the alleged methods and tactics of the organization.
"We are not a threat to this country,but we are a threat to those who would change the governmental system of the United States so that it could be comfortably merged with the Communists.
HE SAID the Birch Society battled Communism because totalitarian government controls individual freedom.
"The purpose of the John Birch Society is to bring about less government, more individual responsibility and a better world," Mr. Love told the group.
"The Communists are atheists," he continued. "They intend to take over the world, by external force if necessary, but by internal subversion if
possible. Government controls and planning are the essence of communism."
"To call anyone a Communist is stupid," he said. "In the first place, you can't prove it, and in the second place it's libelous."
HE DENIED that the Society irresponsibly uses the label "Communist."
While Mr. Love found his audience generally quiet and receptive during his speech, he ran into hostility during the question and answer session.
IN THE PROBLEM of identification of a Communist, Mr.
Love said, "If a man walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and has feathers, I'm satisfied as to what he is. You satisfy yourself."
Using the same type of logic, a member of the audience asked Mr. Love if a man acts, talks or associates with doctors, would he (Mr. Love) allow the man to operate on him?
Another person asked:
"Earlier in your speech, Mr. Love, you equated government planning and individual control. Is this necessarily so?"
Mr. Love answered:
"GIVE ME A CASE where government planning does not control the individual." (The student than replied that the state builds colleges, but does not control the individuals in the college.) "The state does control colleges," Mr. Love said, "through buildings, courses, and several other factors."
After Mr. Love said he was against social security, a woman in the audience asked if he would prefer to let people starve. Love said the individual, not the government, should take care of such problems.
"Do you know anyone who has ever starved to death," he asked?
"Yes!" one person answered.
Robert D. Love
"Well, what have you done about it?" Mr. Love shot back.
A man in the audience shouted:
"WE VOTED for social security — that's what we did about it."
Someone asked if, since the Minority Opinion Forum was designed to allow all minorities to speak, the Society thought that the Russian students and the member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee that visited the campus last year should be allowed to speak?
"Absolutely," he answered.
(Continued on page 8)
KU May Cancel NSA Affiliation
Rumors that the All Student Council may withdraw KU from the National Student Association came out in the open today.
Jerry Palmer, El Dorado senior and chairman of the ASC, said the question of dropping out of the NSA comes down to cost vs. benefit received, and whether what he termed "conservative" KU students are being truly represented by the liberal NSA.
"ALL OF THE COUNCIL members who have talked to me are against staying in the NSA, but this was not nearly half the members," Palmer said.
The NSA is an organization made up of about 400 colleges. The NSA Congress held each summer passes resolutions in favor or against national or international happenings which they consider to affect the nation's students, the purpose being to present a unified front on issues by college students.
At KU, the NSA has had opposition in the past. Last October, the ASC appointed a committee to look into the value of NSA. Opinions pro and con flew freely throughout the year until last March when the ASC by a 12-2 vote decided to continue its affiliation with the NSA.
IN THE INTERVIEW, Palmer said: "People who thought we were spending too much money for what we were getting from the NSA
brought up the question of dropping out.
"We wonder how much money we have spent in relation to what we are getting from the NSA. We had Operation Abolition (a film about the San Francisco demonstrations against the House Un-American Activities Committee) last year, but the Young Republicans would have done it had the NSA not sponsored it," he said.
Palmer said the cost to the ASC for belonging to the NSA is about $500. This figure includes dues and costs of regional and the national conventions and the travel expenses of the delegates.
"WE ALSO SPENT $500 on the NSA-sponsored Foreign Student Leadership Project. I don't know anyone who can conceive of this money as being well-spent," Palmer said.
(The Foreign Student Leadership Project is a program sponsored by the Ford Foundation which provides grants to foreign students who are leaders in student government.)
"I want to make clear that all this talk about dropping out of the NSA is just what I've been hearing," Palmer said, "and I've been hearing mostly from people who are opposed to the NSA.
"I've heard from only three or four people who are in favor of staving in the NSA."
(He listed Charles Menghini. Pittsburg senior, and member of
the NSA as one of those in favor of the NSA).
WHEN TOLD OF PALMER'S report in an interview later, Menghini said;
"This deal to drop out of the NSA has come up for the last three years. The NSA committee has had to spend approximately one-half of its time trying to justify its existence on the campus.
"KU cannot expect to receive the full benefit of the NSA when the NSA has to spend so much of its time answering charges from people who are generally opposed to the viewpoint taken by the NSA at its summer Congress," Menghini added.
AS TO THE COST of the NSA vs. the benefits received, Menghni said he would have to agree with some of the opponents of the NSA on campus that the costs have exceeded the benefits.
"What we look forward to is what the NSA can do for us on campus if the KU NSA committee does not have to spend a large amount of its time to keep its position on campus," Meghnih said.
ASC chairman Palmer had note earlier that there was a question of whether KU students are being properly represented by the NSA.
PALMER SAID: "People wonder if KU students aren't more conservative in thought than the NSA resolutions indicate." He listed as examples the NSA condemnation of
the Cuban invasion, and the NSA favoring abolishing the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Menghini had this to say about the statement:
"I'm not sure you can say whether KU students are liberal or conservative, except that Kansas is generally known to be a conservative state and thus a conclusion may be justified on that basis.
"However, anyone who attended the Minority Opinion Forum last Friday and heard a member of the John Birch Society state the views of the Society, and at the same time heard the audience reaction, would not be able to justify the conclusion that KU students represent the John Birch Society brand of conservatism," Menghini said.
"The driving impetus for withdrawal from the NSA seems to be coming from students who favor the ideas or are members of the Young Americans for Freedom, which takes stands that are usually similar to those taken by the John Birch Society," he said.
MENGHIINI THEN WENT on to explain where he thought NSA opposition was coming from.
"The major complaint of most opponents of the NSA is that the college students who decided upon the resolutions passed by the NSA Congress were liberal. To me, this does not merit KU's withdrawal from the NSA."
(Continued on page 8)
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