80th Year, No.53
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 1969
UDK News Roundup
By United Press International
Reds release three
PANMUNJOM. Korea — The United States won the release of three Army helicopter crewmen from 108 days in North Korean captivity today by apologizing for their "criminal" intrusion into the Communist nation.
Once the three had crossed into South Korea, U.S. officials issued a statement renouncing the admission.
Atheists denied right
AUSTIN, Tex.—A federal judge Tuesday ruled the U.S. Constitution does not give atheists a right to keep astronauts from praying publicly during space flights.
U. S. District Judge Jack Roberts dismissed a lawsuit by atheist Maladyn Murray O'Hair seeking to ban the broadcast of prayers and Bible readings on future space flights.
"The First Amendment does not require the state to be hostile to religion, but only neutral," Roberts said.
Tax vote planned
WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans and Democrats offered competing proposals Tuesday to cut everyone's taxes by raising the personal income tax exemption from $600 to $800. They agreed on a Wednesday morning vote.
Both parties sought credit for proposals which would assure a popular election year tax cut in 1970 and both all but ignored a last-minute hint from President Nixon that he might veto such legislation because it would cost the federal government too much.
Market growth proposed
THE HAGUE—Leaders of the six Common Market nations came away from their summit meeting today determined to shake off years of stagnation with new unification ventures and committed to early talks on making Britain a member.
Diplomats of the Common Market agreed Tuesday night to open talks within six months on admitting Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland, leading toward the first expansion since the economic alliance was formed in 1958.
2.
Negotiators rush to avoid train halt
WASHINGTON (UPI)Four shopcraft unions today postponed strike action against the nation's railroads after government mediators reported the two sides close to an agreement that would head off a possible nationwide rail shutdown.
Bargaining talks on a new contract went two and one-half hours past the midnight (EST) Tuesday deadline—the hour when the unions would have been free to strike—and then recessed until 3 p.m. (EST) today to give the negotiators and mediators time to sleep after about 40 hours of almost continuous sessions at the Labor Department.
Assistant Labor Secretary William J. Usery Jr., the top government mediator, told newsmen shortly after midnight that the
union negotiators had agreed to postpone any strike action as long as bargaining continued and progress was being made.
Two and one half hours later Usery announced the railroad and union bargainers had agreed to recess because "everyone is so tired."
William W. Winpisinger, the chief union negotiators, issued a statement at that time saying "substantial progress has been made on many of the issues in dispute and we are encouraged that further negotiations of the same intensity can produce a prompt agreement.
"We still have some tough obstacles to get over, but they are not insurmountable," he said, "both parties seem to be wanting to negotiate a pact very badly."
Earlier in the day, William M. Winpisinger, chief union negotiator, also voiced cautious optimism about the outcome.
The unions have not disclosed their plans about how many or which rail lines they will strike, but they have indicated it will be only a few, possibly no more than one or two, in an effort to prevent a national emergency that could lead to further government intervention.
All the railroads except the Penn Central have said, however, they will shut down if any of them are the targets of what they call "whipsaw" strikes by the shop workers.
Labor Secretary George P. Shultz has indicated that he may go to court to halt any disruption of rail service, pending possible
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Suspects arrested in Tate murder
LOS ANGELES (UPI) — A weird Hippie cult known as the "Manson Family" invaded the home of actress Sharon Tate and killed everyone inside because it was a "symbol of rejection" to their leader, a member of the commune said Tuesday.
Susan Denise Atkins, 19, jailed as suspect in the murders, said in a statement released by her attorney, "We belong to him, not ourselves." She said Charles Manson, a slight and fierce-eyed man called "Jesus" by his followers, held an almost hypnotic control over his band.
s were being pursued into a (Continued to page 20)
The group was under suspicion of at least four more murders in addition to the Tate case, and the slayings of a couple across town, in a Svengali-like rampage of death. Authorities said investigations were being pursued into a
Photo by T. L. Simmons
'When I was 3, it was a very good year'
Like father like son. Or so it seems to 3-year-old Mike Meitner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Meitner. Although Mike still has a few years to go until he reaches first grade, his father is a senior in the School of Business.
Joy and depression accompany lottery
Hushed groups of KU men gathered around television sets in fraternity houses and dormitory lobbies Monday night, while others kept a solitary vigil beside radios in their rooms. All were awaiting the results of the first selective service lottery since World War II—results which would ultimately decide their military future.
When the last plastic capsule was drawn from the giant fishbowl in Washington, D.C., some breathed giant sighs of relief, some cursed the fates that chose the day they were born, but the majority settled back to ponder the meaning of the drawing for them.
A few of those whose birth-
The National Guard, whose enlistments have been restricted the last few years because of the large number of men who wished to join to avoid the draft, now has room for signees with the return of its 69th Infantry Brigade from active duty.
dates fell within the first hundred drawn took action. They rushed to National Guard offices in Lawrence and Topeka to sign up.
Maj. Everett Daves, special assistant for personnel for the Guard's main office in Topeka, said the number of openings could not be determined until the Brigade's return from overseas duty.
The 69th was activated after
the Pueblo crisis in early 1968. It has been under federal control since May 1968 and will return to state control December 13.
However, Daves indicated that a number of men had already left the unit and others would end their enlistment upon returning home, thereby leaving room for new recruits.
The 69th has 36 company-sized units in Kausas, most of which will have vacancies, Daves said. (A company totals about 160 men.)
One student who signed with the Guard Tuesday was Gary Duncan, Winfield senior. He and several of his fraternity brothers decided upon their
"I would graduate in June, but I'm afraid the vacancies would be filled by that time," Duncan said. "I'll probably finish school later."
course of action shortly after they found their birthdates in the highly-venerable category.
Duncan said that the National Guard office in Topeka told him it would have from 100 to 120 vacancies. The Lawrence office said it would have room for about 60, Duncan added.
Students who enlist now will not be inducted until after December 13.
Maj. Daves said anyone who wishes to sign up should go to the guard office nearest them,
although applicants will be taken at any unit of the 69th
Students who had no immediate plans voiced mixed but generally complacent reactions.
Skip Quimby, Leawood junior, wished that his name had gone higher, but felt it at least eliminates the uncertainty.
"It's a big decision to drop college, but the waiting is just as bad," Quimby said.
Agreeing with the "cuts uncertainty," attitude, Tom Finholm, Prairie Village sophomore, was a little less exhuberant about the new lottery.
"I was kind of disappointed."
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