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Page 2 University Daily Kansan Wednesday, April 14. 1954
Maybe Kansas too?
Flick Censorship Going Out
Recent court rulings would tend to show a movement toward the relaxing of movie censorship.
Kansas is one of only seven states that has motion picture censorship. The other states are New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The power to censorship in Massachusetts is limited to motion pictures to be shown on Sunday. The Missouri case cited pertained to a local ordinance.
The Supreme court decision that New York could not stop the showing of a French film, "La Ronde," and that Ohio could not ban the crime movie, "M." would support this contention, as would Judge Sam Blair's decision in Missouri against the Kansas City, Mo., censorship ordinance.
The Kansas State Board of Review was created in 1917 and was designed to permit motion pictures to be shown in the state only if they were "clean and wholesome." Through the years Kansas has shown a tendency for the legal censorship of public morals. The movie censorship law was passed during the period when the sale of cigarets was prohibited. Another example would be the now-repealed liquor prohibition law.
The Kansas banning of "The Moon is Blue" will be tested with a case in the Wyandotte county district court in the near future. A lawsuit to force sensor board approval of that film was filed last August by Holmby Productions, Inc., and United Artists corporation, the distributor.
Movie censors have a record of attempting to stretch their authority, which has already earned them reversal in the courts. The recent court rulings have expanded this record and the question remains whether the censorship statutes can be constitutionally enforced.
The General Statutes of Kansas read: "the board shall examine films . . . and shall disapprove such as are cruel, obscene, indecent, or immoral, or such as tend to debase or corrupt morals." Qualifications of the board members are "education and experience."
What is needed is repeal of the entire censorship law before the Supreme court rules all the boards of reviews, including Kansas, unconstitutional.
The truth is that this question of censorship has ceased to be a matter of the merits of this or that individual act of censorship. There are inconsistencies between the Kansas censorship statute
and the Supreme court decisions—inconsistencies which appear to make our state law flagrantly unconstitutional.
The Kansas statute as it stands now gives our censors powers which exceed the constitutional limits of film censorship as staked out by the Supreme court. So long as our present board tries to censor on the basis of the present statute it runs a continuous risk of acting unconstitutionally.
Kansas should abolish its censor board because it is ridiculous to think that the legislature could provide a statute that could be constitutionally enforced.
Everyone is entitled to his own choice of entertainment. Let the conscience be the guide in the adult mind. What do we have minds for anyhow? Before young people reach maturity and in formative years parents should instill in their minds what is decent for them to behold and what is not proper for their guidance, according to the family's own code or standard of living.
The board has placed "The Moon Is Blue" in the category of forbidden material. We shouldn't have seen it because now we're corrupted. No, our morals are still the same—good, bad, or indifferent—but the straight-forward and adult presentation of the subject matter was a shock. We could hardly stand it—it make us think! That's bad, we suppose, but we rather liked the adult approach. It made us feel as if someone thought we were capable of handling a strong subject.
People should be trusted to make their own choice. The Kansas Board of Review has placed very little faith in the intellectual capacity of the people to discriminate between what is right and what is wrong.
In the 1952 case of Burstyn v. Wilson the Supreme court held squarely for the first time that "expression by means of motion pictures is included within the free speech and free press guarantees of the First and Fourteenth amendments." The court cited the Burstyn case in knocking out censorship decisions in the New York and Ohio cases. The court's reasoning applies, of course, to the already battered and reeling law administered by the Kansas censorship board.
It is our prediction that, in line with the recent trend, the coming test in the Wyandotte District court will go against the Kansas Board of Review. This eventually will force the abolishment of the whole censorship machinery in our state.
Tom Shannon
Baseball Opener Almost Fills Both Sets of Bleacher Seats
The baseball season is upon us and the eyes of the University are elsewhere.
Our team opens Big Seven play against Kansas State today after opening the campaign with a successful road trip at Arkansas and Tulsa, winning two from the Porkers and splitting a pair with the Hurricanes.
College baseball can draw. The University of Missouri, second place winner in the NCAA two years ago, consistently packs its ball park. The universities of Nebraska and Oklahoma also have good crowds.
Did the student body turn out en masse to greet our conquering heroes as they opened the home stand with another victory Monday? It did not. A few dozen students rattled around on the makeshift stands while hundreds crowded a few steps to the north to watch the football team practice.
port a losing team, but how could a large crowd watch a winning team in bleachers that could, at the most, seat 150 persons?
Generally college fans won't sup-
Why, then, the lack of enthusiasm? Are football and basketball more "thrilling" than baseball? It is our opinion—which apparently is shared by millions of baseball fans who pack the major league parks every season—that a close play at second is ever bit as "exciting" as a 90-yard touchdown run or a 35-foot swisher.
Sure, the game could be played in Memorial stadium, but the fans would rattle around in there, too. The trouble doesn't seem to lie in lack of facilities, for some of the intramural softball games on the drill field draw more than our baseball games. All most intramural teams have are a bat, a ball, and a couple of gloves.
The logical (but not particularly desirable) solution is to put baseball on the same basis (replete with scholarships, crass commercialism, and glamor) as basketball and football. ___ "Tom Shannon
To the editor:
... Letters ...
The University choralle appeared April 7 in a concert, and its splendid program excited the enthusiasm of all who heard it. It's doing a great job proving the University's worth and our small communities are fortunate indeed to have the kind of music that Mr. Clayton Krebiel, the director, and his singers brought us.
Our paper, the Elkhart Tri State News, printed a very fine review of the concert. We had a fine luncheon earlier in the day at which Fred Ellsworth, Admiral Terrrill, and Keith Lawton spoke concerning the progress of the University.
Willard Mayberry Elkhart. Kansas
Almost one-third of all radio sets produced in the United States are used in automobiles.
Slow Drivers Cause Many Speeding Wrecks
If you drink don't drive. When you grow sleepy, pull off to the side of the road. Don't let your foot grow heavy on the accelerator. Drive safely—the life you save may be your own.
Sound familiar? It should—we hear it every day or the year in some form or other. The traffic commission keeps us up to date on how many persons have died already this year in traffic accidents. The newspapers and radios warn us to beware of bad tires, poor brakes, etc. Drinking is terrible, they say—and so is excess speed.
True! Anyone who has seen an automobile accident that caused the death or injury of several persons would never deny that the cause of the accident was terrible—and should be corrected.
However, why is it that so many of the traffic authorities and newsmen appear to be completely unaware of two of the greatest road hazards—the "Sunday Driver" and the one who might be named aptly the "Road Turtle?"
With spring here, the "Sunday Driver" is in his height of glory! Now he can take his wife and kids out for a spin in the family car after dinner-on Sunday of course.
The heavy week-end traffic never bothers him. His taxes helped pay for those roads, and he has just as much right to use them as anyone else. Use the country roads? Not the "Sunday Driver"—his tires are getting old, and besides, he just washed the car that morning. Drive a little faster? No sir! he has his family along—can't take chances on getting them hurt. Besides, he might miss some of the wonderful scenery—and he might forget to show his kids where he saw the accident last year.
He was an eye witness to the whole thing. He was just driving along at about this same speed (30 m.p.h.)—you know, SAFELY! You have to be safe on these roads with a lot of curves and hills.
This out-of-state driver pulled up behind him and made a complete fool of himself. He must have been doing all of 60 miles an hour. He kept honking, and finally, the poor fool had tried to pass on a hill—and smacked head-on into another car. Four people killed. The kids will really get a bang out of hearing how he just stopped in time. Lucky he was going only 30.
Of course the family read all about him being an important witness in the case—in fact, the only live eye witness. He told the Highway Patrol all about the speed demon that had passed him and caused the wreck, and they agreed that he was a mighty fortunate man.
The kids will enjoy seeing the spot again, and if they heed the warnings of the old man, they will probably live to be good "Sunday Drivers" too—and be able to tell their children of accidents that they've seen that were caused by "speed demons."
The "road turtle" is a safe driver too—he'll never run into anyone. The "turtle" is usually 50 or over—been driving cars since the Model "T." He's been driving long enough to know all the safety habits—if you don't believe it just ask him. He knows the accidents are caused by younger fast drivers, and will be glad to tell you so.
No fast driving for him! He has a new car and could show those young punks a few things if he wanted to, but he's a SAFE driver. His speedometer never registers more than 35 day or night. It's more economical too—and easier on the car.
Keep both hands on the wheel, he tells you, and sit straight in the seat. If you get tired that way and let the car wheels wander over into the other lane, that's okay. At 35 you can always get back into your own lane in time. But be sure and keep that left wheel close to the center stripe—don't want to run off the side of the road.
If you hear a car horn in back, don't let it bother you, he says. The driver is going too fast if he wants to pass. Keep him back there and teach him a lesson.
Another thing, he warns younger drivers, keep from getting too close to that car in front. If you see a car in front of you slow down to 20 (that's a safe speed, too). Come to a dead stop if you see anything unusual in the road. Stop right where you are! Don't want to run into anything, you know.
On and on he goes. Plenty of advice to hand out, and when he's done, you'll agree he's a safe driver—to stay away from!
Both the "Sunday Driver" and the "Road Turtle" are numerous on Kansas roads. Each is absolutely sure that he is a safe driver—and appears to be completely unaware that he is a major menace to every other driver.
Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Kansas statutes to penalize the slow drivers on the highways. Also, unfortunately, few of them are ever involved in an accident or appear in a traffic court. They just CAUSE accidents!
-Clay Brandon
Daily Hansan
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EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editorial editor ... Dion Tone
Assistants ... Letty Lemonn