KANSAN Comment
GOLDWELL
THE MIWALEWER JOURNAL
TM & All Rights Reserved 1909
Indianapolis, IN 46221
It tolls for thee
By MIKE SHEARER Arts & Reviews Editor
After years of research and study into the war in Vietnam, the root of the war may be coming into view.
Gina Lollobrigida.
Miss Lollobrigida, draped in furs taken from the bodies of jaguars and silver foxes which never did anything to her, has come under attack from a Lady Muriel Dowding, head of an anti-killing league.
Everyone might be just a little too ready to pass Lady Dowding off as a fanatic. The Lady has hit upon the root of most of man's evils (including war): a lack of proximity.
It is perhaps ironic that our inability to feel empathy with other human beings should exist so profoundly in an era of mass-media.
Nevertheless, Miss Lollobrigida is able to drape her body with animal skins largely because she doesn't have to watch the beautiful animals being destroyed. Americans are able to allow sacrificial murders in our war in Vietnam because we don't have to watch the beautiful people being destroved.
It is easy to commit a sin when the consequences of that sin are obliterated from view, buried from mind. It is easy to be an assassin when the prey is not close enough to writhe before the assassin's eyes.
And it is more than possible that there is a very close relationship between insensitiveness to war and insensitiveness to the needless death of animals.
A respect for life, not life of ones fellow countrymen or life of fellow Caucasians, but a respect for Life itself would encompass much more than vague, aloof respect (England's Fabian Society is an example).
War is a state of mind, and the only secure end to war is a change in that state of mind. If America withdraws from Vietnam because of fear of losing or because of fear of a larger war, only a partial good will have been accomplished. To prevent other Vietnams, a new state of mind must come into being, a state of mind which sees values rather than costs, a state of mind which sees war not as bad tactics but as bad humanism.
It is quite an accomplishment for men to become their own saviors or to write their own Bibles, as Whitman put it. It is an accomplishment which most persons see as the duty of political leaders when in fact the duty belongs to each of us. To constantly look for political figures of saintly stature to make the changes needed is a loss of time which should be devoted to increasing one's own stature, for making oneself relevant.
To eliminate the lack of proximity, individuals must stop asking for whom the bell tolls. Whether the bell tolls for Gina's silver fox or for a human being, the bell tolls for all of us, and we must always be aware—if life is sacred.
To eliminate the lack of proximity, which breeds insensitivity, individuals must make themselves constantly aware of what is being done in their name.
Readers' write
Every student must determine what aspects of education are important. Two important elements of our educational system are acquisition of knowledge for personal enjoyment or betterment, and grades.
To the editor:
It has been argued that our entire educational system would be better off if the latter element were dropped, however, the fact remains that the second is often most important to the student.
One aid to obtaining good grades is the use of quiz files (the use of old exams to study for tests). Often times a professor will give the same test year after year, or give the same questions as on previous tests.
There is a possibility that quiz files will be harmful to a student, because they narrow his view on a subject; but they can also be helpful in that they may give an important question on a test.
If one desires the use of quiz files, he may find them in fraternities, sororities, dorms, and Watson Library. Beginning with the latter I found that in areas other than western civilization, German, French, computer science, and entomology, the student will find little information at Watson. I suspect that fraternities have better files. I do know some fraternities have more complete files than others. I know also that some dorms have inferior files.
There is definitely a problem of equality of opportunity to use quiz files at KU. Whether or not quiz files are honest and useful is irrelevant, for they are and will remain to be used. If quiz files are going to be available to some students, they should be made available to all students.
I think it would benefit the university to collect all existing files, review them, organize them, and put them in Watson Library for the use of all students. To make our act of cheating complete, it would be helpful if all faculty at KU would collect copies of previous tests and put them on reserve at Watson.
Bob Brooker
Topeka freshman
To the editor:
Just a note of appreciation for the high quality of the current Daily Kansan. The editorial page is excellent. I read it avidly. It is the best in the twenty-seven years I have taught at the University of Kansas. Keep it up.
I especially want to thank Mike Shearer, Judith Diebolt and Joe Naas.
Leland J. Pritchard Professor of Finance
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