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University Daily Kansan
Friday, Sept. 27, 1963
Write It In
The All-Student Council Tuesday night deferred action on the Declaration of Human Rights submitted by the Human Rights Committee. The Declaration, or bill, will be considered Oct. 8.
Under the circumstances, deferring the bill was the best thing the Council could have done.
In the first place, the bill's phrasing could have caused some misunderstanding in the minds of readers, especially if parts of the bill were read out of context.
FOR EXAMPLE, one section of the bill states that "all campus recreational activities should be open to all students regardless of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, political belief or economic circumstances."
As Chancellor Wescoe said Tuesday night in a dinner meeting with student leaders, before the ASC meeting, such wording sounds like KU is a hotbed of discrimination.
The truth is, of course, that all recreational activities have always been open to all students, and unless someone once discriminated himself out of some activity, there has never been discrimination in recreational activities here.
The same complaint is valid for other parts of the Declaration—things the bill says should be already are.
Not only is the phrasing misleading, but to pass a bill saying how things should be when they already are that way seems a little silly.
ANOTHER EXCELLENT reason for deferring the bill was that Tuesday night was the first time many of the Council members had ever seen the legislation they were supposed to pass. The bill was not mimeographed until Monday night, and except for the information in a story in the Kansan Tuesday afternoon, provisions of the bill were unknown.
The bill had been cleared by the Committee on Committees and Legislation, as all bills must be before the ASC can debate them. In ordinary practice, a bill must be read to the Council on one Tuesday night, sent to the Committee on Committees for recommendation, and then debated and voted on at the next ASC meeting.
In this case, the bill had been cleared by the Committee on Committees before it had been introduced, and while the bill's sponsors cannot really be accused of trying an end run, it does seem that action on the bill was a little too fast, regardless of how good and desirable the bill is.
ANOTHER JARRING note is a statement in the HRC report itself, information from which was used in drawing up the Declaration. Frank Thompson Jr., chairman of the HRC, said he felt the bill was a fair reflection of the information and attitudes stated in the report.
However, the HRC report states: "Although the survey shows student opinion more inclined to such ASC action (legislation affecting student organizations) than not, it certainly constitutes no clear mandate for sweeping legislation or an affirmation of student government authority."
In speaking to the question of why a bill should be passed approving things already in existence, Gregory Turner, chairman of the Committee on Committees, said that the bill would be a statement of position by the ASC. Other bills aimed at correcting specific evils would be passed later.
ALL THIS COULD be reconciled by one not-so-simple proposal—write the Declaration into the Constitution of the Associated Students.
This would require an amendment, and amendments require referendums.
If the student body passed the Declaration, such passage would, in effect, be the clear mandate the HRC report said was missing. Of course, an amendment must be written carefully, but if so written and properly discussed, it would clearly define the limits of the ASC's power, be they broad or narrow.
Waiting until November, when the first elections will be held, would provide time for the necessary debate and thought about the Declaration, and there would be no cries of "railroad" as might have been the case had the Council hurriedly approved the bill Tuesday night.
BUT PUTTING THE Declaration into the Constitution would clearly be enabling legislation for the ASC to move ahead, as it should.
Simply passing the bill in Council is not enough. A Declaration of Human Rights is a proper stand for the Council to take, assuredly. That could be handled by a resolution.
But such a Declaration should be more than a stand taken by the ASC. It should be a stand taken by the Associated Students of the University of Kansas, and a clear statement of the powers delegated by them to their elected representatives.
Blaine King
milo's millpond
Some students even became upset about the anonymity of one of the booths and tenderly tagged it Checkpoint Charlie.
Some students became so enamored of the booths that they attempted to decorate them in more vivid colors. Of course, some of the efforts weren't too artistic, but it's not the gift, it's the thought.
We Happen to Like Our Little Tugboats
ONE STUDENT suggested christening the booths, which do look somewhat like tugboats, with a beer bottle filled with gasoline. Of course, it wouldn't be champagne, but the idea would be the same. Because the christening would have to be done from a rapidly moving car, it was junked; the students wouldn't be able to stay for the celebration.
A student with an eye for landscape even tried to beautify the
Contrary to the predictions of pessimistic faculty members and optimistic students, the traffic control booths which guard Jayhawk Boulevard from unauthorized traffic have observed their first anniversary unconquered. . . perhaps a bit bruised, but unconquered.
When the booths first reared their heads in the summer of 1962, more plans were circulating to initiate the guardhouses properly than can usually be heard to drain Potter Lake.
And with the start of school last year, some of the plans began to take form. After carefully timing the campus police patrol so as to make their celebration a surprise, students showedered gifts of beer bottles, rocks and automobile batteries upon the new-born symbols of authority. For some reason, these overtures of friendship were misinterpreted by some people...like the administration.
gardens which surround the stations, but the poison ivy didn't live.
tions, but the poison ivy didn't live.
neardless of the affection, some students saw a need for slight design changes in the booths. Unfortunately, the automobiles used for the alterations usually were altered more than the booths, but some progress was made.
Of course, independent-minded college student bridled at the authority-laden booths, but worst of all was the sense of loss.
THE HOURLY chat with the campus police officer directing traffic at the intersection of Jayhawk and Sunflower boulevards has become a nostalgic thing of the past.
The gallant feeling which men
to get from giving coeds a
ride home after class is another
fond memory.
locate at the advantages the booths offer. Since most college students do not get to enjoy the great out-of-doors as much as they should, the loss of campus transportation provides an invigorating jaint in the fresh air . . . and snow, and rain, and sleet and wind.
MANY UPPERCLASSMEN can remember the day when they had to walk across car bumpers to cross lushawk Boulevard between classes. This is no longer the case.
The booths also provide aspiring debate students practice at thinking on their feet. Each time a visitor comes to KU, students must explain why those little light houses are in the middle of the street.
After reeling off the 67 stock explanations about how booths are good for the students, the debaters are invariably thrown back to the old standby. . . we happen to think squatyty little tugboats are rather becoming. We plan to redesign the entire campus in their image.
Daily fransan
111 Flint Hall
111 Flint Hall University of Kansas student newspaper
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