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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1954
Frosh Ready to Vote Learn Campus Politics
Next week will not only be busy for the 70 candidates running in the U.S. senatorial races, but also for the KU freshmen who will go to the polls to vote for their class officers.
Posters are on bulletin boards and cars are plastered with stickers, as the candidates bring their names and qualifications to the voters. Officers of the various freshmen dormitories have been elected and now the persons who will direct the freshmen during their first year on the Hill are to be chosen Nov. 3.
The freshmen may not know it, but this first election is giving them an introduction to the workings of campus politics, hometown politics, and national politics. Particularly in this election year, the opportunity exists for each individual to become acquainted with the importance and functions of the elected leaders as they lead the class and represent it in the various University's organizations.
The freshman is learning to study the candidates—what they stand for and what their qualifications are to lead KU's largest class. He is learning the importance of voting for a responsible person and not the "popular guy on campus."
He is discovering how quickly "machines" can be formed and how pressure groups ask for his vote. He is learning to ignore the candidate seeking only a title for himself.
In short, the freshman is learning to become a citizen—of his campus, of his hometown, of his country.
It is easy to forget that the voter has a responsibility as well as the candidates, but they are of equal importance, and both aimed at the interests of the class members. It is this responsibility that should carefully be considered in the election.
If the voter put himself in the position of the candidate, would he have qualifications? Could he say that he knew each candidate and what he stood for? And likewise with the candidate. It he taking a stand on each issue which affects the class as a whole?
It is up to each freshman to evaluate his qualifications as a voter, or as a candidate. The opportunity is there to be an active participant in class government. If he takes advantage of it, he will go on to take a part in his home and national government.
—Nancy Neville
... Short Ones ...
How lucky can you get. All my mid-semesters come at once.
Guess it's back to cigarettes, cokes, and candy bars.
Hey there, you with bags under your eyes. It ain't worth it.
Poor Illinois. It presently has no law covering rights of persons in "test tube baby" cases, and there are two such cases pending in Superior Court. Such negligence!
Who needs Halloween to see ugly faces?
Halloween will be a bit confusing this year. Beards remaining from the Centennial will out-scare most of the mask horrors.
A newsy short taken from the Daily Kansan: "The doodle bug always walks backwards."—Oh, really, I thought it walked sideways.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
"Your wife just called—you left your briefcase on th' back porch."
... Letters ...
One attending the movie, "Open City," on the film series last Friday night could not help but undergo a certain unfortenable, nauseating, sorrowful—yet rebellious and stimulating ordeal. Upon leaving Hoch auditorium, one even sensed that the crowd and he had for ninety minutes been lifted out of the hurry-scury campus life and made to experience as well as ponder upon an almost unimaginable situation.
Dear Editor:
The film dealt with the Italian underground's devotion to strike against the German occupation, in addition to the Reich's effort to sustain the patriots' activities. The most powerful portion of the show was the physical torture by the Gestapo to extort information from an Italian leader of the liberation movement. The brutish subanimalistic beattings, burnings, whippings, and fingernail extraction and intellable practices upon this Italian were too realistic; finally, the brave patriot died from the afflictions, rather than divulge his secrets.
A friend of this writer remarked that although the torture was almost unbearable for the audience itself to witness, we need to expose ourselves to these actualities in order to affect their curtailment.
This writer cannot possibly see how one person could deliberately torture another. In a country where this occurs, there is definitely some fault with the existing form of government that permits its function; a democratic person is no better than a Communist or Fascist if he belives in physical and mental abuses. Naturally, we say that this will never happen in the United States where in a Christian, democratic land, a certain respect for the individual exists. But here we fool ourselves because we have had and still have similar crimes. Remember the MKD frightened and hanged Negroes to keep them politically impotent? Gangsters during the '20's and even to some extent today kidnap, torture, and kill individuals to benefit the "gang" in some way. On the waterfronts, unions maltreat members who complain, or beat up the "scabs" seeking employment on the docks.
Although these occurrences may not be too commonplace, certainly the danger signs and red flags are evident of what could happen if we don't keep ourselves aware of these transgressions upon individual rights. Perhaps one small means on the Hill by which one may become cognizant of and critical against our social and personal evils is by attending these film series.
Dave Convis College Junior
Anyone want to be a politician?
Want your name before the public?
Just say you're a war hero. Nobody will know the difference and besides.
A Utah representative just got away with it—for awhile, anyway.
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Sen. Chavez Remains A Senator Despite '52
Dennis Chavez slumped glumly in his seat and listened as the Senate voted on whether he would or not retain the chair in the Senate chamber he had held since 1935.
When it was over, Sen. Chavez was still Sen. Chavez.
The Democrats—to a man—had been present when the vote was taken. And—to a man—they supported him. The final vote—after five Republicans and Sen. Wayne Morse (Ind.-Ore.) had sided with Sen. Chavez—was 53-56.
It all started in 1952.
By 5,071 votes, Sen. Chavez had defeated Patrick Hurley who was making his third try for a Senate seat from New Mexico. The former secretary of war and one-time ambassador to China cried "fraud" and contested the election. The Senate agreed to investigate.
For 15 months a three-man subcommittee tried to discover who had won. It cost the Senate $225,000 to conduct the investigation.
When the year and three months was up the senators had discovered nothing other than the fact that New Mexico had a weak polling method. They said that because of the lax voting methods and so many irregularities it was "impossible to distinguish the free and honest vote."
By a 2-1 margin they declared that no one had won. But by not declaring Mr. Hurley the winner the subcommittee paved the way for Sen. Chavez to remain in the Senate.
Theoretically, the failure of the subcommittee report to side with either man called for the ouster of Sen. Chavez. But-at least where the political power of New Mexico was concerned-such was not the case.
Mr. Hurley, in disgust, turned on the Republican investigating subcommittee:
"The Grand Old Party apparently now hasn't the guts that God gave a goose."
When it was over Mr. Hurley was assured of one thing: Whether the Grand Old Party had guts or not, it didn't have enough votes to unseat Sen. Chavez.
And the Senate prepared to vote.
Sen. Chavez once had been on the opposite end of the "fraud" ery. In 1935, Sen. Chavez (who was then only Mr. Chavez) was defeated by Sen. Bronson F. Cutting. Mr. Chavez said Sen Cutting was elected by fraud. While the issue was pending, Sen. Cutting was killed in a plane crash and Mr. Chavez was appointed to the Senate. He's been there ever since.
Since then the 66-year-old Albuquerque Democrat has taken an almost down-the-line stand when it comes to voting with the party. In the second session of the 82nd Congress, Sen. Chavez stayed with the party on 98 per cent of the 83 party-unity votes. In the first session he voted the ticket 77 per cent of the time on 118 issues of party-unity.
There was a note of irony struck in the situation.
So, in the 201 times Sen. Chavez has had an opportunity to stay with the Democrats in both sessions of the 82nd Congress he has been loyal 85 per cent of the time.
Now No. 7 in party seniority, Sen. Chavez came into the Senate after several years of study and experience in law, politics, and civic service. He was graduated from the law school of Georgetown university with an LLB. degree in 1920 and served as clerk of the Senate from 1918-1920. A former member of the New Mexico Legislature, Sen. Chavez practiced law in Albuquerque. He was elected to the 72nd Congress and re-elected to the 73rd Congress. He was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Clyde Tingley, May 11, 1935. He was elected Nov. 3, 1936, re-elected Nov. 5, 1940, re-elected Nov. 5, 1946, and re-elected Nov. 4, 1952. —John Herrington.