University Daily Kansan Friday, Jan. 15, 1954 LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS "My date was polite, considerate and intellectual—but I'm glad to see that someone had a good time." French Remain Calm Despite Many Worries France has been transformed, in the last few years, from a country people speak of with a romantic note in their voices to the country people make jokes about. And they make these jokes mostly about their rapidly changing government. More and more people turn toward France and think they see a nation in shamles, a nation with a broken political machine, a people who have lost all strength. However, this opinion isn't entirely true. An NBC correspondent who has spent most of his life in France said that the world overemphasizes the many French problems. How many other nations could face such many-sided problems so often and survive? Each crisis, while important, isn't so important but what the French can shrug off the matter and return to normal, he says. Perhaps the greatest French problem stems from their system of political parties. No nation ever has had so many or varied types of parties. This multitude of political parties represents every interest, from a recognized political faction in the world to one built on a religious faith. Yet in practice the only important function of these parties is to be part of the formation of a coalition. So we see the French, basically split into numerous special interest groups but lacking a major party to capture unqualified backing, It is this large number of interest groups that put the pressure on the government. These vested economic interests must be pleaded with, compromised, and above all satisfied. This takes some doing! There's a program in France now designed to cure all these ills. It is called the Mendes-France program. The name comes from the name of the plan's author, Pierre Mendes-France. There are three basic parts to the Mendes-France plan. They are: 1. France must choose what shall be given up as hopeless. He feels that France must stop over-stepping their limits as a world power and secure internal order. In this category he puts the war in Indo-China and the obligations to NATO. 2. He would overhaul the Social Security system. He would change the existing nationalized industries plan that is responsible for so many strikes. He also would reduce government subsidies. However, having a program and getting it passed are two different things. Mendes-France is not a powerful man, as far as organized political power is concerned, but he is a popular figure and the people of France are beginning to listen to him. 3. The third step is perhaps the most important. He would give the premier power to actively run the government. This in itself would be a small form of political revolution in France, the country of the well-known weak premier. One Man's Opinion Above all it should be remembered that no crisis in France will ever make too dramatic a change. What ever happens to France the nation wil go on, as will the next crises. Having a consistently winning basketball team is always expensive, but the successful record being built by KU's team this year is being paid for at expense of a commodity the school can't well afford to spend: its sportsmanship. A case in point is the game with Missouri played here Saturday. It was the latest in a growing string of consecutive home games in which at least one instance of widespread booing by the Kansas rooters occurred. It's poor to behave badly when visiting another school's court; it's poorer to make a shabby showing when one's school is the host. At the Missouri game, the booing was heavier than usual. There was a new element, too: several paper airplanes were sent down toward the playing floor. We can understand contempt for poor officiating, and we would agree that a bad job was done at this game. However, we don't see that anything is accomplished by throwing rubbish onto the court. This might prove expensive some time if the game were stopped at a moment when our success depended on controlling the ball. In the lead paragraph, we hinted that bad sportsmanship may be linked to the attitude which grows at a school used to winning teams. As Exhibit A, we cite the spirit at Kansas State. Traditionally, the K-Staters, keep silent until the start of the basketball season, and then turn over-night into starving animals who feed on basketball victories. Let's don't become exhibit B. —Tom Stewart A junior college freshman out west gave this answer on a general intelligence test: Scotland Yard is 3 feet by 9 feet. And Nicotine was the man who invented cigarettes. Then there was the student who worked for an ambulance and embalming company in Lawrence. He's handing out cards now for the expected rush during final week. Publick Occurances BOTH FORREIGN AND DOMESTICK This is the quality inherent in the French people—the power to lead a near-normal life in the face of trying conditions. Friday, January 15. 1954 CAMPUS Listen for the weeping of many Air Force ROTC students throughout the country. Many went into flight training when told their getting a commission depended on it. Now, the Air Force is unofficially considering granting commissions to all AFROTC men—flight training or not. With campus politicians beginning to think about spring elections, ASC meetings will become more and more just a political sounding board. Expect to see the recent removal of the Rock Chalk Revue from the hands of the YMCA by the All Student Council reviewed by the Student Court. It's said that the ASC cut corners on the passage of the bill and that it might be declared invalid for not having followed the process outlined in the bill on legislative procedure. France still retains some of the glitter and the shine that has always marked the people and France still remains strong, even in her weakness. Unless enrollment dips soon (which it shouldn't) the University may have to make some changes in its policy of housing all freshman women in Universities dormitories. Example: North College hall built for 185, now holds 230. Congress will wait longer than the President desires to pass his proposed plans on farm and labor policies. There is too much controversy involved for the proposals to be passed soon. Perhaps this stems from many years of fighting, with their country the battleground for everyone's war. Perhaps it stems from the pressures the outside world exerts on France. NATIONAL The recent flare-up of excitement over Communist propaganda booklets being found in the Midwest will continue. This will give Congressional Red-hunters a new battleground on which to vent their fury. The booklets are more widespread than was at first apparent. The United States may share its tactical information on use of the atomic bomb, as proposed by President Eisenhower, but it will not share any of the secrets as to make-up or production of the powerful weapons until there is more promise of peace in the world. Any thought that Army and Navy budget cuts will lower defense spending is wishful thinking, because the increased spending on the Air Force will more than offset the cuts. The talk by the Eisenhower administration of altering the Taft-Hartley law is just that—talk. They don't want to take the teeth out of the law any more than big business wants them to. The increase in the national debt ceiling asked for by President Dwight D. Eisenhower will be passed after much controversy in Congress. President Eisenhower's request for 18-year-old suffrage won't be an issue of importance for anyone now within reach of their 18th year. The legislative battles will be a matter of some time, and then there's the possibility of several decades of waiting for states to approve. INTERNATIONAL —Ken Coy Don't be surprised if as many as 50,000 U.S. soldiers are withdrawn from Europe this year to make more ready-to-fight units in this country ready for quick movement to troubled areas. Talks to set up a Korean peace settlement conference will go more smoothly once they are started again. The Reds realize now after special Envoy Arthur Dean's walkout that the United States mean business. Look for Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to stand firm on United States demands and not give in to any Russian demands at the Big Four conference in Berlin Jan. 25. A senior in fine arts was gripping the other day about a new regulation making all AFROTC graduates accept a commission after graduation. He just wanted to fly alone, he said. A Kansasan Classified ad offers a room to male students who don't smoke or drink. They could save money by sending the same message either to Funk's or to the freshman class. It's more fun anymore to try and find the man to pay for the game than it is play pool in the Student Union recreation room. Daily Hansan University of Kansas Student Newspaper News Room KU 251 Ad Room KU 378 Member of the Kansas Press Assn., national Editorial Assn., Inland Daily Press, represented by the National Advertising Service. 420 Madison Avenue, N.Y. City, $4.50 a year (add $1 a senester if in Lawrence). Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University calendar. Provides university holidays and examination periods. Entered second class matter Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan., Post Office under act WE'LL TRY HIM OUT ON COMIC BOOKS FIRST...RIFLE THRU TMAT, SIR...IT IS ALIVE WITH CHUCKLE, PERIL, AND FLAMING LOVE...SAVOR ITS CRUNCHY GOODNESS,FRIENDS...WEIGHT ITS LIVELY MEATINESS... NEWS STAFF Executive Editor Ken Coy Managing Editors Ed Howard, Nice, Nice, Dean Evan News Editor Shirley Pattu Assistant Tom Shannon Sports Editor Stan Hamilton Assistant Ken Hamill Society Letty Lemon Feature Editor Elizabeth Wohlgemuth Feature Exchange Ed John News-Ed. Advisor Calder M. Flickett EDITORIAL STAFF Editorial Editor Assistants Clarke Keys Jesse Pengler Chuck Morell BUSINESS STAFF Business Mgr. Ed Smith Retail Adv. Mgr. Jane Megafiln Credit Union Mgr. Ann Ainsworth Credit Mgr. Susanne Berry Circulation Mgr. Ursus Urban Promotion Mgr. Gordon Rous Bus. Adviser George Brattan