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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Nov. 9, 1962
BRONZE JAYHAWKER—The sculpture, a gift of the class of 1956. stands behind the Kansas Union. The Jayhawker was designed by Elden C. Teftt, associate professor of design, who handled the entire project from designing to casting on campus.
Senior Class Gifts Become Landmarks
By Patti Behen
Gifts donated by graduating classes have contributed much to the building of KU.
Since the earliest years of the University, graduating seniors have left gifts in memory of their class. Many of these class gifts have become campus landmarks. Many helped greatly in the construction of today's University.
PERHAPS THE most needed gifts were those which helped in the building of the Kansas Union.
The graduating classes of the 1920s made many contributions for the furnishings in the Union. The class of 1922 donated the chime clock in the first floor lobby, the class of 1928 contributed toward the tapestries and the trophy case, and the class of 1929 gave a piano for the ballroom.
One of the most important class gifts was made by the class of 1930, which furnished the Union with a service elevator. Before its installation, there were many difficulties in serving the dinners in the ballroom, as food had to be transported up two floors from the kitchen to the ballroom.
The stage in the Union ballroom was contributed by the class of 1937. The classes of 1938 and 1939 left donations for the building of the English Room and the Kansas Room, and the class of 1941 contributed to the construction of the new wing of the Union.
INTERIOR COMPLETION of the Union building was achieved through the gifts of the class of 1951. Balcony furniture was contributed by the class of 1953, and the covered entrance by the class of 1957.
The first class gift was given by the graduating seniors of 1873. They gave a large engraving, "The Temple of Karnak," which hung in Fraser Hall for many years.
A revolutionary gift was made by the class of 1894. Graduating seniors of that year pioneered the Student Loan Fund with $342.30 raised by class plays and other projects.
MANY CAMPUS landmarks familiar to present KU students are the result of gifts made by former classes. The sun dial standing next to Green Hall was given by the class of 1899. The bulletin board on Jayhawk Boulevard—which formerly stood near Robinson Gymnasium—was a gift by the class of 1915. The information booth across from Bailey Hall was the gift of the class of 1950. The base for the pioneer statue which stands in front of Fraser Hall was contributed by the class of 1920.
Other class gifts which have become such familiar sights include the bulletin board and bench in front of Watson Library, the bird-baths, the steps leading to the Campanile, and the gateway markings on Memorial Drive.
Perhaps the most interesting and most imaginative class gift was made by the class of 1945, which donated the crabbapple trees which are seen across the campus.
MORE RECENT class gifts include the bronze statue of a jayhawk, class of 1956, and an art piece, "The Avenger," contributed to the Museum of Art by the class of 1961.
Last year's graduating seniors voted to donate a campus map display board, which will be placed in the Kansas Union.
Student Pranks Harass Campus Police Since1873
By Joanne Prim
Skeletons, paint and stink bombs have figured prominently in student activities at the University of Kansas.
Prank-pulling has become a time-honored tradition at KU, dating back to 1873 when the University was only seven years old.
During the principal speech at commencement exercises in Fraser Hall, a skeleton was carefully lowered through the ceiling directly above the speaker's head. The pranksters escaped, but "the bones" remained.
THE STUNT directly affecting the most people was carried off by the notorious Mr. X in December, 1957. He planted a sulphur stink bomb in the Kansas Union, driving out 400 students, many with headaches and stomach aches.
The odor was detected as far north as 11th Street and as far east as Kentucky Street, mostly because of the strong southerly wind.
A police officer at the scene, recalling his service days, said the odor reminded him of opening the hold on a ship and smelling spoiled onions.
Mr. X also rigged the campanile to ring 200 times on April Fool's Day.
The Jimmy Green statue in front of Green Hall has been covered with water color and oil-based paints and tar.
KUOK's Growth Has Kept Pace With University's
KUOK, founded in 1953, has grown from its original coverage of 350 students to a present coverage of 4,500 students.
Houses receiving KUOK programing include: Templin, Lewis, Joseph R. Pearson, Carruth O'Leary, Corbin, Gertrude Sellars Pearson, battenfeld, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Phi Kappa Sigma.
"MANAGER'S Comment," a five minute editorial each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., is also new this semester. This program is devoted mostly to questions facing KU students, but also discusses problems of national or international significance.
KUOK operates on a wired-wireless system. The signal, after it leaves the studios in the basement of Hoch Auditorium, is transmitted over telephone lines to the houses which subscribe to KUOK service. This telephone line is connected to a small transmitter in the house, which feeds the signal into the electrical system, enabling any radio in the house to receive KUOK on 630 kilocycles.
SEVERAL NEW programs have appeared on KUOK this fall. "Close-Up," broadcast at 9:00 each Thursday evening, spotlights problems or questions facing KU students. Programs on this series have examined the Human Rights Committee of the ASC, the ASC Committee on Committees and Legislation, and the pricing policy and operation of the Kansas Memorial Union.
KUOK IS ONE of only five radio stations on American college campuses that is permitted to sell advertising while operating as a nonprofit service to the student body. The entire staff, as well as the entire audience, is composed of students, making the station unique in this area of the United States.
In programming, KUOK also provides many exclusive services. Last year, the station carried live coverage of the Model United Nations, the SUA Jazz Forum, and the Spring Sing. In addition, KUOK provides a student-oriented news service, featuring campus politics, social functions, sports events, and other activities.
IT HAS BEEN green on St. Patrick's Day, red on May Day, and yellow-orange several times.
The pioneer statue was painted gray one Halloween and crowned with a pumpkin.
Paint removal jobs usually fell to the building and grounds crew, but three students who applied paint in September, 1954, removed it later.
Jimmy Green has been the more popular of the two statues. He was "hit" three times in one week in April, 1960.
On October 10, 1960, a small group of women from Gertrude Sellards Pearson Hall decided to end the all-male reign at Green. They sat on the steps one afternoon and joined the law students in whistling and calling.
THEIR THOUGHTS naturally turned to the statue in front of the building. They came back that night and proceeded with the next step of their plan—to dress Jimmy Green in women's clothes.
Just as they completed their task, the campus police arrived. The women scattered.
The new name for the statue? Ginny Green, of course.
The Chi Omega fountain frequently has bubbled with soap suds and blue dye.
MEMBERS OF the All Student Council were taken to jail in 1914 when they posted dance posters on telephone poles—in violation of a city ordinance.
John Madden, editor of the Daily Kansan, convinced police to swear out warrants for the ASC members' arrest because the ASC refused to advertise the dance in the Kansan.
He forgot one thing. He was a member of the ASC. too.
A small panic occurred in November, 1958, when a man was seen hanging in the lighted clock on the front of Blake Hall. However, a climb to the clock revealed that the one-armed, featureless man was only a cardboard cut-out.
A SKELETON valued at about $150 was stolen the same year from the anatomy laboratory.
The November 6 Daily Kansan said:
"Campus and city officials have been notified of the theft, but so far no one knows whose closet the skeleton could be in."
The skeleton was found January 8 in a cemetery. Three high school
students had taken it and kept it in one of their homes. They were afraid to return it after they learned of its value.
Pranks and other student activities such as necking, suicide, and a Communist flag-raising continued to occur at Fraser.
SEVERAL STUDENTS, disturbed with the quality of the KU flag being flown over Fraser's tower, stole the flag in 1958.
It was returned in a cardboard box slipped into the Daily Kansan newsroom one night.
An attached note said:
"We are satisfied at last. The flag now flying on Fraser is equal to the superior quality of the University of Kansas. Please do not fly this ratty thing again—The Frustrated Alpinists."
A MORE QUET prank was the re-arrangement of the chemistry department bulletin board in Malott Hall. The names and room numbers of faculty members were jumbled into meaningless groups of letters, and an arrow which directed students to the chemistry department was pointed toward the ceiling.
The long rivalry between KU and K-State often resulted in flourishes with paint brushes weilded by students from both schools.
In 1554, "KS" was painted in lavender on administrative buildings and Jimmy Green was just that--green.
KU loyalists retaliated by capturing Touchdown IV, K-State's wilddeat mascot.
The first peace pact between the two schools was signed in 1929. It has been re-signed periodically ever since.
THE FOOTBALL FUED with Mizzou is another tradition. A huge black and yellow MU flag was the center of attraction at a Nov. 22, 1960 rally.
Student buttons with derogatory slogans were confiscated last year, as tempers grew warm and the football game neared.
Although everyone enjoys a good joke, vandalism is not appreciated by campus police.
"I sincerely hope that the fun of homecoming week won't be marred by any vandalism or mischevious pranks that might cause injury to persons or destruction to property," said Joseph G. Skillman, campus police chief.
Jayhawk Can Trace Its Origin To Gold-Hungry Forty-Niners
The proud symbol of the Kansas Jayhawker evolved from a somewhat undignified origin.
The earliest known use of the word was when it applied to a group of Forty-inners on a desperate venture to the California gold fields. With little equipment or supplies, and the prospect of desolate mountains and plains, one member said they would "Jayhawk" their way there.
THE TERM TOOK on a new—and unsavory — meaning during the 1850's. Bands of buswhackers and despoilers whose real design according to John James Ingalls, was "indiscriminate plunder" adopted the name Jayhawkers.
By the Civil War the name was applied more and more to Kansans and with a more sanctified meaning. It implied an undefeatable fighting spirit.
In 1890 when the name was first applied to the University football team, "Jayhawker" had taken on a proud and dignified meaning. Then, as now, the term conned capability, fortitude, and dependability.
AFTER ADOPTING the Jayhawk as a school symbol, another twenty years elapsed before the bird was captured on paper. Henry Maloy in 1910 drew his conception of the bird in the school paper. His bird was characterized by his shoes, the purpose of which was to kick around the "Missouri Hound Dog," after the sentiment of a song then popular.
In 1923, Jimmy O'Bryon and George Hollingbery designed a widely accepted Jayhawk that resembled a quaint duck.
The austere, fighting spirit of the bird, was captured in 1929, in a drawing for the "Jayhawk Club," the alumni club of Kansas City.
LATER DR. GENE ("Yogi") Williams created a perky Jayhawker with a tough, almost defiant air.
Throughout the history of the word, Jayhawker, has implied fortitude and an ability to win against mighty odds.