Page 12
University Daily Kansan
Thursday, Oct. 24, 1963
Soviet Union Greets Prof. Weir
Rv Charles Corcoran
"I saw a pen-and-ink sketch of an ugly American, his chin thrust out in disgust, glaring at his uniformed adversaries. 'Casey Stengel', I said, 'and an excellent likeness.' My Russian friends smiled."
John A. Weir, professor of zoology, recounted such anecdotes about his recent trip to Russia at a faculty forum luncheon yesterday. His talk, entitled "Thirty Days in the Soviet Union in Thirty Minutes," pointed out how Russians act in comparison to how most Americans think they do.
The 47-year-old professor, an authority on mammalian genetics, traveled through the Soviet Union under the State Department's Multilateral Exchange Program. Under the program, he visited and lectured in universities throughout Russia from April 4 to May 3.
HE EXPLAINED he was strictly reporting what he saw in the light of the short period of time that he had to observe, and left it up to his listeners to draw their own conclusions.
"If you get a chance to visit the Soviet Union, I recommend that you go in the early spring. The people are still swathed and bundled in their winter fur, although it's not especially cold. I was told this is a characteristic of people who live in countries that are frozen solid in the winter." Weir said.
"Also," he said, "the Bolshoi Ballet is still on and the universities are still in session."
"I thought of the problems that I might encounter while I was there—being buried in piles of paper work, getting lost on the complicated Metro system, losing gifts—but never the knock on the door," he said as he rapped three times on the table before him.
The unexpected knocking, Weir explained, "was a young professor with gifts for me. He had found out that it was my birthday from the curriculum vitae I had submitted. We were both rather inarticulate, he spoke little English, and I little Russian, but it wasn't the time for words. The Russians make a great deal of birthdays and he couldn't stand to think of me spending my birthday alone."
WEIR TOLD about a ride on a bus in Moscow, where the rider is on the honor system to pay his fare.
"The bus driver sits in front and drives, the riders get on and put
their fare in the coin collector in back. If you haven't got change, as my guide and I didn't, you stand by the receptacle and hold the change of those getting on until you have enough to change your bill.
"Some people would get on anc go directly to a seat without giving us any money. Soon after, however, you'd see their money being passed from hand to hand over the heads of the other seated riders," he said.
AT THE Tretyakov Art Museum Weir's guide, Vadim Sichov, showed him a picture called "The Road to Siberia." Sichov said the regime now in power realized that it hadn't built the great showpieces of the nation like the Kremlin, and had only added the red stars to the tops, but neither had they built the no-longer-traveled road."
The gallery also featured a Lenin room, Weir said. "Statues, posters and literature about Lenin are quite ubiquitous throughout the Soviet Union. The museum devoted an entire room to him. It was filled with paintings, sketches, busts and statues." "I ATTENDED a concert on the Mausoleum," Weir said. "The
program was mainly the works of Bach and Handel. When the Ave Maria was presented, quite a bit lighter than the heavy and serious music of the masters, a light thrill ran through the audience. The people reacted in the same way as an American audience would have," he said.
"My first ride on the Metro, I went alone. My guide had given me instructions, but I had become confused and asked a man for directions. Instead of telling me what I needed to know, he took me to my destination, making all the necessary changes to get there. I thanked him when we arrived and he was on his way. They're quite helpful."
IN REPLY to a question about the United States, Weir said, "They're afraid that Kennedy will push the button. They've been well conditioned to this.
"On May 2 I attended a soccer game in Moscow. Castro was there and everyone stood and cheered him, but after the game had started, he could have run around in his BVD's and no one would have noticed him," he said.
Chain Letter—
(Continued from page 1)
SPOT CHECKS BY telephone revealed that letters have been circulated among at least one dormitory and several fraternity houses at KU.
Representative of three fraternities—Alpha Tau Omega, Sigma Chi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon—said their members had been approached by K-State students during the past week. Approximately 15 fraternity members were believed to have bought the chain letters.
Rex Bare, Wichita junior and councilor of third floor south wing in Ellsworth Hall, said the letters had been circulated freely through the hall with several takers.
"I had no idea that it was illegal," one participant said. "I just thought it was a real good deal."
The three Ellsworth Hall letter holders interviewed believed the plan to be legal. All three said they had sold their new sets of bonds and lists on the same day the letters were purchased.
"How could there be chance involved?" commented one. "We got our money back."
THEY SAID THE chain letter was not illegal because it was not
sent through the mail. "As long as it keeps going nobody loses," another said. "There is a real incentive to re-sell the bonds and lists because you've got $75 invested. It's not like these chains involving dimes or at Christmas a fifth of liquor."
The increased sales of savings bonds in the Lawrence area was called to the attention of William Lutz, area manager of the U.S. savings bond division in Topeka, last Friday.
"The guy at the bottom of the list always gets hurt when the enthusiasm for the chain wears off or local banks take action against it." Lutz said in a telephone interview.
Lutz said the scheme is lottery because the possibility of the chain being broken creates the element of chance.
According to regulations of the Saving Bonds Division of the Treasury Department, local bankers and issuing agencies may refuse to sell bonds if they "know or are given reason to believe" that the bonds will be used in a chain letter scheme," Lutz said.
(See page 6 for text of chain letter)
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Read and Use Kansan Classifieds
BE AN AD EXPERT
(show Madison Avenue how it's done)
Write the "perfect" ad for one of these 3 products and win a matched set of five Kaywoodie pipes.
EVERYONE ENTERING WINS A PACKAGE OF KAYWOODIE TOBACCO In addition 5 major prizes awarded on your campus
Pipes are today's symbol of the dominant masculine male. They provide all the pleasure of smoking, without inhaling. Kayoowiee is the world's best known pipe. Each bowl is painstakingly carved from rare grained, imported briar. That's why Kayoowiee always smokes cool and sweet. Inside the pipe is Kayoowiee's unique aluminum invention, a permanent filter that screens tars and irritants; condenses moisture; assures a mild. drv. smoke. (Now let's see how much imagination you have)
Ideas on NEW KAYWOODIE TOBACCO
Imported from Switzerland, it's an exclusive formula of rich, rare Cavendish Tobacco blended to perfection for flavor and mildness (underline mildness). Important to drink is the bitter taste. That's why it burns slowly, evenly, and is easier to keep lit. In special "pocket-pak" only 50¢. (Try your creativity on this one and see what you come up with)
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HERE'S ALL YOU DO — Write any size ad, large or small. You don't have to draw, just describe whatever you want illustrated. The contest ends December 31, 1963. Decision of the judges is final. A two-pipe set will be awarded to the best ad on your campus. 4 runners-up will receive a Kaywoodie pipe or lighter. These ads will then compete against the winners from other colleges for a grand prize of a $100 matched grain, five-pipe set. Everyone who enters receives a package of Kaywoodie Tobacco. This contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. All entries become the property of Kaywoodie Pipes, Inc. Send entries to Kaywoodie, New York 22, DEU. CO.
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