Daily hansan
Lawrence. Kansas
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1963
61st Year, No. 58
CHRISTMAS, ANYONE? — KU's Christmas season officially began last night when thousands of multi-colored lights were turned on for the first time. Hoch Auditorium, Strong Hall, Danforth Chapel, Kansas Union, the nurse's home, Watkins Hospital and the Chancellor's residence sported Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree in the rotunda of Strong Hall has been placed and will be decorated by tomorrow.
KU Christmas Season Shines With 6,000 Glowing Light Bulbs
By Leta Cathcart
Check—6,000 light bulbs, 12,000 feet of wire, 800 units of evergreens, 350 ornaments, six large wreaths and one 25 foot Christmas tree.
This is the Christmas inventory for the Buildings and Grounds department.
THE KU CHRISTMAS season officially opened last night with the lighting of strings of lights that have decorated the campus since 1921.
In that year, shivering students gathered around a single lighted evergreen tree in front of old Blake Hall and sang Christmas carols. These were the times when most KU students could gather in one place.
During the 19 years that the tree was in front of old Blake Hall, the KU glee clubs sang carols and a program was usually presented.
This year, Christmas bulbs light the Chancellor's house, the nurse's home in back of Watkins Hospital, Strong Hall, Hoch Auditorium and the Kansas Union. Blue Christmas bulbs light Danforth Chapel and a large white star sits on top of Watkins Hospital.
WHEN THE WEATHER did not permit the audience to stand in front of Blake Hall, the program was held in Robinson Gymnasium or in Fraser auditorium. William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, gave the principal address in 1926.
THE "CHRISTMAS Tree Tradition," started in 1921, was used as a means of raising funds for aid of needy foreign students. The collection turned into a means of adding to the local campus loan fund in 1929. It was discontinued in 1928 because of early holiday dismissal and in 1931 because of the depression.
The "tradition" consisted of the sale of Christmas candles by Jay Janes and KuKus, pep clubs. The proceeds from the sale were given for foreign relief at a special ceremony around the decorated tree in front of Blake Hall.
The Christmas tree was moved into the rotunda of Strong Hall in 1840. The tradition was broken only once, in 1955. A nativity scene, surrounded by a cone-shaped structure of wire and gold balls, replaced the tree.
The tradition remained intact in 1955, but the tree didn't. The Buildings and Grounds department had trouble moving a 30-foot tree into the rotunda. The tree would not go through the front door, and the large
lower branches had to be trimmed. Because of the skimpy look of the "trimmed" tree, holes were bored in the lower part of the trunk and the limbs were wedged in.
THEN CAME THE decorations.
The 30-foot tree fell over, pinning a worker underneath it but he was not hurt. That was the last 30-foot Christmas tree erected in Strong Hall's rotunda.
Thirty-six gallons of strung popcorn, comparable numbers of strung cranberries, colored ornaments.
paper dolls and papier-mache elves are examples of the rather unorthodox decorations that the tree has sported since 1940.
Responsibility for the decoration of the Christmas tree had been shouldered by the School of Architecture, the design department and the School of Fine Arts in past years
Then, in 1960, amidst the confusion over who was supposed to decrate the tree, the Buildings and Grounds department stepped in and it has been their job ever since.
Dyna-Soar Project Future Appears Dim
WASHINGTON—(UPI)—The Air Force's Dyna-Soar, a winged spacecraft designed to be boosted into orbit and flown as a glider under the control of a pilot, may be on its way out.
Elimination of the project would be one of several steps being taken to hold next year's defense spending in the neighborhood of this year's, which will run between $50 billion and $51 billion.
Neither the Pentagon nor the White House would comment or the report that the Dyna-Soar was on the chopping block. But President Johnson was understood to have concurred in Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara's proposal to eliminate any new funds for the manned orbital vehicle in the budget which goes to Congress in January.
First information on the DynaSoar decision is reported in the Missile-Space Daily edition, reaching subscribers today.
At the same time, American Aviation Daily, published by the same firm as Missile-Space Daily, reported that no new money would be provided in next year's budget for the Air Force's controversial RS70 experimental plane.
The Dyna-Soar is under development by the Boeing Co. at Seattle, Wash. The Air Force had planned to produce several of the spacecraft and make as many as 20 flights.
The missile publication said the "off again, on again Dyna-Soar program is definitely off as far as any fiscal year 1965 budget requests for its continuation are concerned."
The project would cost more than $800 million, of which about $490 million already has been spent.
McNamara apparently decided that the program was too costly for what the Air Force would get out of it.
Latin Educator Says Costa Rican School Has Great Autonomy
By Tom Coffman
The word democracy—"democracy"—was voiced emphatically, and the word autonomy—"autonomia"—was voiced with pride.
Thus, Carlos Monge, rector of the University of Costa Rica (CRU), spoke of his university in Central America which is closely tied to KU through the Junior Year in Costa Rica program.
Rector Monge, here for a six-day visit, said CRU operates completely independent of the national government.
"AUTONOMY IS ABSOLUTE," he declared, speaking through an interpreter in an interview last night.
"It is the most autonomous university in the world."
The constitution of Costa Rica guarantees the autonomy of the university of 5,200 students, Rector Monge said, and even the Congress cannot pass laws to influence CRU policies.
CRU is governed by a University Assembly, comprised of the faculty, a small group of Costa Rican professional men, and a small group of student representatives.
MONGE HIMSELF IS elected by the assembly to his position, which he described as comparable to that of the chancellor of KU.
As an example of CRU autonomy, the rector pointed out that police are not allowed on the campus, which is three miles from San Jose, the capital.
When the robust, middle-aged educator mentioned the police, a smile crossed his round face as he recalled an anecdote about security arrangements when the late President Kennedy spoke at CRU last March.
Rector Monge said he did not want to violate university rules by bringing in police to protect President Kennedy, but he was worried because of the Communist students at CRU.
"A COMMITTEE OF Communist students came to me," Rector Monge recalled.
"They told me not to worry, that they would extend him every courtesy because they wanted to hear what President Kennedy had to say.
"We will not so much as throw a tomato,' the students said," and at this point the rotund rector chuckled before continuing, "because it will take more than a tomato to knock over capitalism."
Changing to a serious tone, Rector Monge said the anecdote illustrates the responsibility and reason exercised by the students of Costa Rica.
"COSTA RICANS are students first and politicians second," the rector said emphatically, have made autonomy successful where it has made for chaos in other Latin American universities.
"To us he was the equal of Jefferson and Lincoln," he said.
The rector, turning to his observations of KU, said KU compares favorably with the great universities of the East and West Coasts, which he toured during his first visit to the U.S. last spring.
The anatomy, physiology, and chemistry instruction at KU the rector believes to be the best he has seen in the U.S.
CRU lags behind KU in certain areas, especially in research facilities, he said.
"BUT WE ARE rapidly improving," the rector added. "You must remember that the university has existed only 22 years."
Before CRU was established as a national university, young Costa Ricans left the country to study in Europe and the United States.
The KU-CRU program of co-operation has been quite successful since its inception in 1959, Rector Monge believes.
KU students in Costa Rica have had certain problems of adjustment, he said, but steps are being taken to make the adjustments easier.
The KU-Costa Rica program involves 10 to 15 KU students studying in Costa Rica each year under the U.S. State Department sponsorship.
A FACULTY EXCHANGE is subsidized by the Carnegie Corporation and Costa Ricans are partially financially supported at KU.
Toys for Tots Drive Begins
There are about 40 college men. at KU who want as many toys as they can get for Christmas and they're encouraging other people to do the same.
They're not actually planning to play with the toys themselves. They're collecting them for the Toys for Tots drive which officially got under way here yesterday.
THE MEN OF Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity, are conducting their twelfth annual toy drive for needy and underprivileged children.
Many living groups are planning Christmas parties where toys will be exchanged among the members and later donated to Toys for Tots. Other groups are planning parties for the needy children themselves.
Collection barrels have been distributed to the participating houses and dormitories and one has been set up in the lobby of the Kansas Union, to receive the donated toys.
BOTH NEW and used toys of any
kind are solicited in the drive which will continue through Dec. 18.
After collection, they will be wrapped by the Hallmark Card Co. and given as Christmas presents to children in the Lawrence area, who otherwise might not have such gifts.
Distribution of the toys will be co-ordinated through the Lawrence Christmas Bureau, which is composed of local charitable organizations and churches.
THEY COLLECTED the toys on
The drive here is part of the National Reserve Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and is administered at KU by Alpha Phi Omega.
LAST YEAR about 95 per cent of the 3,000 toys collected in the joint KU-Lawrence drive were donated by KU students. Six hundred and forty-one children each received two or three of the Christmas toys.
The service fraternity started collecting and giving Christmas toys in 1951 in what was a strictly local drive called the March of Toys.
campus and took them home at Christmas vacation to give to needy children in their respective home towns.
The program grew until the number of toys contributed became so great that the plan of individual distribution was impractical. Since then, the drive has been a part of the national Toys for Tots program.
Weather
Freezing drizzle or snow is forecast for late this afternoon and tonight with north winds of 30 to 40 miles an hour. The low tonight will be 10 to 15, the high tomorrow in the 30s. The rain changing to snow is expected to continue through tomorrow.
At dawn today, snow was falling in most of the northwestern quarter of the state. The storm is pushing rapidly eastward, forecasters said.