Pros say degrees not necessary
Bobby Douglass
(Editor's note: Are athletes interested in a college degree, or would they rather have a pro contract? Five former KU All-American, now pro stars, told the Kansan the contract was more important to them. But what happens to those who don't make the pros? Last of a series of three.)
By TED ILIFF Kansan Staff Writer
The academic adviser for the Athletic Department, John Novotny, says some athletes come to the University of Kansas with only athletics as a goal and others sign a pro contract and "lose interest in scholarship."
"But most professional players eventually get a college degree because they need something to fall back on after they can no longer play." Novotny said.
letes now playing professionally disagree with Novotny's statement. Five of Kansas with only athletics as a talked to the Kansan about their playing days at KU and their present non-athletic activities.
However, several former KU ath-
Bobby Douglass, an All-American quarterback here last year now with the Chicago Bears, said he did not receive a degree when he left KU.
"I promised myself a degree and I'll probably get it soon," Douglass said. "The reason I didn't get a degree last year is because I started too late in the School of Education to take all the required courses. I was in the business school, and so when I changed to physical education, none of the business courses counted. But I only have one or two courses to go, so I might as well get a degree."
The number one problem facing the world today is the rapid deterioration of our environment. Ecology is the science concerned with the whole scheme of life and nature. The problems which face us are examined in a special pull-out section.
Inside...
Douglass contends that a profes-
(Continued to page 16)
After page 8
John Hadl
80th Year, No. 68
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Thursday, Jan. 8, 1970
UDK News Roundup By United Press International
Agnew commits U.S.
KUALA LUMPUR—Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew assured Malaysians Thursday the United States will defend Southeast Asia in the event of major external aggression.
Following a 75-minute meeting with Agnew, Malaysian Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman told newsmen he was "quite satisfied with the U.S. commitment" to the region.
"America will not leave us in the lurch and will spread some umbrella for the security of the region." Rahman said.
Agnew did not speak publicly after the meeting but Rahman came away saying the talks were "very interesting."
Marines keep Afros
New weapons planned
Laird identified the systems as the B1, the successor to the B52 aircraft, and the undersea longrange missile system ULMS, successor to the Polaris and Poseidon submarine and missiles.
TOKYO—The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps gave qualified endorsement Wednesday to black Marines who favor Afro-style haircuts and said progress is being made in solving racial problems at Leathernck bases in the United States.
The top Marine officer, Gen. Leonard F. Chapman, said Afro-style haircuts were all right within the limits "of the Marine haircut." It was explained later that the Marine haircut requires that they must be "neatly graduated at the back and sides and no longer than three inches on top."
WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird says the United States may begin producing two expensive new weapons systems if the "Russian threat" continues to develop.
Laird told an impromptu news conference Wednesday these were "the best two offensive systems that could be considered . . if we did not get any limitation in these areas in the SALT talks or if the Russian threat continued to develop."
--black school where 100 Negroes were left without white classmates.
Southern parents defy integration
JACKSON, Miss. (UPI) Angry white parents in the tiny town of Petal, Mississippi defiantly refused Wednesday to transfer their children to a Negro school in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Court's "desegregate now" mandate.
Resentment against the court's sweeping order for total and immediate desegregation of 30 of Mississippi's 148 school districts boiled into the open for the first time when the parents of 280 youngsters assigned to a black school shouted down the superintendent of the Forrest County school district and poured back into the children's old white classrooms.
Chanting "hell no, we won't go," they sent empty buses to the
Petal, a town of about 4,000, is located in southeast Mississippi a few miles north of Hattiesburg.
The confrontation at the Petal Junior High School was the first massive vocal opposition to the desegregation orders since classes began reopening Monday after the holidays. Only 9 of the 30 districts actually have resumed schoolwork, including four districts that opened Wednesday.
Another three districts began classes Thursday and Friday and 13 open next Monday. The remainder return during the next two weeks. The federal courts set a Dec. 31, 1969 deadline for the integration.
White opposition to the massive transfers of white students into black schools and blacks to white schools had been evidenced prior to Wednesday in a quiet withdrawal of whites to private schools in districts with heavy black enrollments. Most whites have returned to integrated schools only in places where they are in the majority.
In Wilkinson County where blacks outnumbered whites three to one, only two white students are left in the public schools, while in Columbia and Quitman, where whites hold a majority, most of the white students returned to classes.
Opposition to the Department (Continued to page 16)
Chalmers evaluates first semester
By HOWARD PANKRATZ Kansan Staff Writer
Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers Jr., completing his first semester at KU, looked back on the experience and concluded the outlook for KU was "guardedly optimistic" although he warned that limited admissions to KU might be necessary unless the legislature takes remedial action.
In a recent interview, Chalmers reviewed the highlights of his first semester and their significance to students and the administration.
Of black students and the role they play on campus, Chalmers stated, "Part of the trouble lies in that very premise, that the black should play a 'role.' The basic problem is not so much what role they should play but what responsibility the University has to the disadvantaged student."
He said the "role" lead by the
black college student should not differ from the white. The administration, however, must examine existing curriculum to see how it could be strengthened to meet the needs of blacks.
"During the '20's and '30's, for example, the School of Business was geared to turn out students who would own their own businesses. This has changed and today the school has to turn out graduates for corporations. But, at the same time, we must once again meet the needs of our minority students who, like those in the '30's, will possibly own small businesses," Chalmers said.
Haywood Henry, a speaker at the .BSU Midwest Conference several weeks ago, stated, "Education today does not teach white, brown or black how to be human beings. Education must be controlled by those who believe in the humanity of the oppressed people. Going to school as it is
In response, Chalmers said part of the statement was a "blanket" accusation. He said students attending college in 1970 must be educated so they would be responsible citizens at the turn of the century. This necessitated a curriculum which balanced emotion or socialization with objectivity.
now means only perpetuation of a racist system."
"A university cannot go overboard on emotion; it must remain objective. There must be a balancing of the two to avoid turning out backward students," the Chancellor said.
Secondly, he said if there was an implied accusation that KU was racist, the accusation was wrong. Chalmers noted that the University had been one of the leading institutions regarding integration, which went beyond mere tokenism.
(Continued to page 11)