8 9 ... 7 Page 2 University Daily Kansan Thursday, Oct. 28, 1954 Some Serious Thoughts About Panty Raids Let's hope not $y$ but those two institutions of learning which vie for attention—through almost any means, it would seem—down in the Mardi Gras state may have started something, or rather, revived something. In 1951-52 a plague of the craziest disease possible attacked—and conquered—the group most susceptible to crazy diseases: The college clan. For want of a better name they tabbed it "pantyraid-itis" and diagnosed is as a "contagious, rapidly spreading malady that first deadens the process of mental rationalization and later sets off a flow of the adrenalin-like substance necessary to activate a betrayed conscience." Some said it was really not a disease at all but was the cure to a malaise. The malaise was caused by a "keep up with the Joneses' attitude that was a discomfort to those who hadn't yet shown themselves as strong, virile collegians. So, armed with the bodies of many and the minds of few, the aforementioned "ladies men" wrapped the cloaks of their respective closets about them and stole off into the night—not to lie down to, but rather to arouse from, pleasant dreams those unsuspecting members of the weaker sex. Pounding on panels and prying at panes, the misguided masses of manhood took as their battle-cry: "Maidenforms and Munsingwear for every mantle." And not since a would-be thespian took a pistol to a president had frustration driven men to such ends. Despite the damnation of deans and pleas of presidents, the man-made malady of super-virility spread from campus to campus. And—for the time the disease lasted—no cure could be found Bags of water bouncing off buoyant brain cells accomplished little knuckles of peeved boy friends did a little more. But then it was finished. Somehow it had ended almost as suddenly as it had begun. The smug smiles on young male faces disappeared. The padlocks were removed from bureau drawers. Safes were taken away from entrances of organized houses. The most fiendish sets of booby traps since the Chinese torture chambers were disconnected from atomic warheads. The dove of peace floated in on a wisp of cloth plainly marked "Plavtex." But no gleam came to the male eyes. Pantyraid-itis had been cured. But now along come Tulane and Louisiana State to add their two-bits worth. And even around Mt. Oread one can hear—if he listens closely—oil cans going to work on rusty padlocks. But you say, "It can't happen here." It did Once. Let's hope that was the last time. Let's hope that was the last time. —John Herrington. Four full weeks of hot weather, shattering temperature records of long standing in many parts of the eastern United States, have made early autumn, 1954, a fuel dealers nightmare. The period dealt drought to the southeast and flood to the Chicago-Gary region, where two early October deluges added up to more than one-third of the area's average annual rainfall of 33 inches. Letters to the editor are usually classed as "rabble-rousing." Letters .. To the Editor: Even if such a classification is true, rabble-rousing has as much, if not more, merit than lethargy. And lethargy has certainly been the best adjective to apply to the UDK editorial page as it has been presented for the last few weeks. A. C. Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Columbus Dispatch, said the purpose of "editorial expression" is to ". . . serve the public interest . . ." Editors themselves, and signed articles, should be aimed at the provocation of thought in the reader. But the first thought must take place in the minds of the writers. These public interests which the UDK should bear in mind are the interest of the students, as students at this particular school. It is granted that the paper is a training ground for the Journalism school. But even the Journalism school would grant that the purpose of any paper is to serve the reader, by providing material of vital interest to those readers. vitality certainly has not been a quality of space-filling essays on painting Jimmy Green, weather, politics, or the latest Hollywood engagement. It seems strange that an editorial page would daily devote long columns to the above topics and yet never venture a comment on the one topic that does concern all the students. A new coach and a losing football team would seem to be more deserving of editorial comment than the barley and alfalfa crops. Perhaps the UDK needs the competition that was attempted last year. Or perhaps another letter to the editor on Joe McCarthy would help. The one thing that would be sure to help the paper is a greater number of interested student readers. John C. Dods (Editor's Note: In regard to reader Dods' proposal of giving our most important play on the editorial page to a new coach and a losing football team, we wish to advise him that the general editor should all editorial comment and coverage on the topic of sports to the sports editors and the sports pages.) GUYS IN THEIR CUPS SHOULD STAY OUT OF THEIR CARS! Daily Hansan GUYS IN THEIR CUPS NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL University of Kansas Student Newspaper News Room, KU 251 Ad Room, KU 376 National Journal, N.J. Mail subscription National Editorial association, Inland Daily Press association, Associated College newspaper National Advertising represents the National Advertising of Madison Ave., N.Y. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $4.50 a year (add $1 a semester in Lakeside or every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays and summer vacations, class matter, Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan., post office under act of MARCH 3, 1879 EDITORIAL STAFF Editorial Editor Court Ernst Editorial Assistants Geno Shank Editorial Assistants Karen BUSINESS STAFF Business Manager ... Dave Riley Advertising Mgr. ... Audrey Holmes Nat. Adv. Mgr. ... Martha Chambers Circulation Mgr. ... Dave Conley Promotion Mgr. ... Bill Taggart Business Advisor ... Gene Bratton NEWS STAFF Executive Editor ... Stan Hamilton Letty Lemon Elizabeth Managing Editors ... Wohlgemuth Dot Lemberggood Dot Taylor News Editor ... Amy DeYong Asst. News Editor ... Ron Grandon Sports Editor ... Jack Lindberg Book Review- Shulenberger Novel Is Sensitive, Thoughtful Roads From the Fort: By Arvid Shulenberger. Harcourt, Brace & Co.1954. C6.1954. The author of a sensitive and thoughtful novel with a historical setting may have real difficulty these days in competition with the flood of swashbuckling, wenching novels that present a pseudo-historical background and a bosomy foreground. A sort of Gresham's Law may operate to drive out the good book. Mr. Shulenberger, who is a member of the KU English faculty, faces further difficulty in that his novel may be confused unfairly with the "westerns." "Roads From the Fort" may well have a popular sale, for it is a good tale and an able novel, but it should not be catered to or underestimated. It's heartening to have the Midwestern scene recalled so effectively. The New England and New York areas have been treated frequently, and so have the Southwest and California. Writers have turned less frequently to this part of the world. One thinks of A. B. Guthrie's "The Big Sky" and "The Way West," but these dealt only with large historical events that moved through the Middle West. "Roads From the Fort" evokes with clarity a particular time and place—the upper Missouri country, in the present South Dakota region, in the fall of 1857. Obviously Mr. Shulenberger is dealing with a country that he knows lovingly, and he has a special skill at describing visual scenes. The sky and grass of the prairie country in the fall are an intimate part of the book. As Sam and Gabe started their trip from the fort "the grass wasn't high where they rode, though it was neither beaten down nor grazed off; it was dry enough to rust perceptibly under the horses' hoofs, and the sod was hard." Incidentally, the Indians we meet are not the proud savages of the typical western tale. Mr. Shulenberger undertakes to describe the tribes already beaten and corrupted by the white tide. The tone is subdued as the canvas is economical. There is, to be sure, a fight with hostile Indians that forces a turning of events, but on the great sweep of the prairies the external action is diluted so that we don't see the epic affair of the movies. As Mr. Shulenberger says of another scene, "They whooped and yelled, the three of them, but the sound was not very loud or impressive on the wide landscape." Outward events are "oddly dimmed in the wide prairie air." It's always exciting when a new book develops in our midst, especially when it's one we can recommend to our friends. The entire book is economical, in time, locale, and characters. There are but five important people, and of these the mountain man only passes through. The four central characters, two young soldiers from the frontier fort and the two squaws they pick up on a short hunting trip, are seen only for a brief time. But we are with them long enough and see them sharply enough to experience their growing reaction to a minor but critical turn in their lives. Robert Vosper Director of Libraries. The western diamondback rattler probably kills more people than any other United States snake. Over the world, almost 40,000 persons die of snakebite each year. Burma has the highest rate: 15.4 persons annually per 100,000 population. More than $3,000,000 have been paid by the Atomic Energy commission as bonuses to finders of uranium deposits. Uranium, the essential material for making the atom bomb, is the most soughtafter metal in the world today. ...Short Ones...