Tuesday. Oct. 13. 1953
Red, Too一
The Grass Is Greener
Perhaps our recent error in printing a Polish Embassy release about the International Union of Students has placed us on their permanent "sucker list." A more recent release from that agency now tells us of the almost phenomenal growth of Polish universities and colleges.
Should we read it? Of course—only this time more carefully and thoughtfully than we did the last one. And we find that in peaceful Poland there are now 40,000 college freshmen alone—as compared with a total university student population of 48,000 in 1938. Well! that bumper baby crop from World War II (and we doubt if many of them would have survived if there had been such a rapid population increase) grew up in a hurry . . .
Shades of Josef Stalin; what's this? "By the end of Poland's Six Year Plan in 1955, 65 per cent of the entire population will be housed in dormitories." This compares very favorably with the so-called Murphy Ten Year program of building additional dormitory facilities for KU. And probably their student housing is all paid for, since Poland is a prosperous nation, while ours is being paid for a scrap at a time with revenue bonds.
"All the girls are doing it," probably is the stock explanation when the Polish mama asks daughter why in the world she wants to go to college. "One outstanding feature of the new university year is the increase in the number of women attending higher schools, especially the technical colleges. In 1947, there were six university women students per 10,000 men." Now there are more than 16. Result: Polish universities needn't build such large freshman dormitories.
"Warsaw is also the seat of the Polish Academy of Science created in 1951. The Academy is the highest scientific body in the land and will be housed permanently in the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science. The building when completed will be 34 stories high. It is a gift of the Soviet people to the Polish nation."
We're dizzy now. Everything seems bigger and better in Poland. Educational institutions are mushrooming all over the place. The Big Boom for book larnin' is on. "Culture" is at its zenith too, we see . . .
We still wouldn't trade—not for all the gifts in Russia, real or not. —Mary Betz
Ex-Student Assails FACTS Party
To the Editor:
There used to be a campus political party at KU which claimed to have the interest of all students at heart. It was neither a Greek nor an independent party, as other campus parties were, and membership was open to each student individually regardless of race, religion, or residence.
This party did many things for the students. It sent a delegation to Topeka which successfully opposed a KU budget cut before a Kansas State Senate committee, thus saving the students hundreds of dollars in higher fees; it established a housing committee which was able to speed up action by the University on the question of student housing; it established a tuition consent Council a librarian committee, charged with overseeing labor disputes, pushing for the elimination of discrimination in employment, and seeking to obtain higher wages for University-employed students.
Three times since this party was organized the students went to the polls to elect an All Student Council president. In the spring of 1951 a record vote was pouled which gave this party's candidates a thumping majority. Last spring the voters organized their party to its lowest vote total in over a decade as they elected the candidates of the party which claimed to have the interest of all students at heart for the second time in three.
It also brought about many reforms in student government; the establishment of primary elections; nonpartisan election of class officers; and reorganization of the All Student Council. Moreover, this party brought to student politics at KU a vital two-party system, replacing the one-party rule which had prevailed for so many years.
The name of this party was FACTS and I feel a sense of pride at having held office in this party and represented it on the All Student Council while I was in school. It was a fighting party, a party with a constructive program, a party which believed in its slogan, "It's Not Where You Live, But What You Believe."
It was a party which was proud of its record and of its reputation for refusing to make distinctions among students on the basis of whether they wore pins or not, or of the color of their skin, or of their religion.
It was a party which set its goals high when it adopted a constitution, the preamble of which read: "In order to promote among the students of the University of Kansas equality of opportunity, democratic and statesmanlike leadership, and enlightened and responsible citizenship, we associate ourselves together."
When my student days ended last June FACTS still commanded considerable support among the students and was possessed of a formidable organization. This fall the party seems to have done a successful disappearing act. I have talked to some of its leaders, and the old spark seems to be gone.
When, for example, I mentioned to one of them the other day that unless they get busy they will be soundly trounced in the coming freshman election, she replied with an angelic smile, "Does it really matter?" Perhaps I am misinformed, but I was under the impression that at least one purpose of a political party has something to do with winning elections now and then.
I can't really believe that all the tremendous support which Dick Sheldon, present president of the Student Council, commanded last year as he headed the FACTS ticket in the spring election has faded completely. Surely FACTS still has a program to sell. And by all rules of fair play in politics the voters have a right—indeed, a responsibility—to become acquainted with both parties before they cast their ballot.
If, on the other hand, the members of FACTS party have decided that their program doesn't mean much after all, then they had best fold up their tents and KU student government can quietly return to the one-party rule by the Pachacamac machine which characterized campus politics before FACTS was organized
No merchandise was ever sold,
however, without a vendor. If
FACTS does indeed have a program,
its members better get busy selling.
Otherwise the freshmen can't be
blamed for going to the polls in a few
weeks only half informed.
Will Adams
former FACTS vice president
(Editor's note: The Daily Kansan welcomes letters from its readers, but would like to call its policy to the attention of Mr. Adams and other letter writers. Letters should be typed double-spaced on standard paper and should exceed 200 words. In the future, letters which exceed this limit will be "cut" to fit the requirement.)
The Army Adjutant General's office of St. Louis, Mo., keeps 19,800-000 files on Army and Air Force veterans. The office handles more than one and one-half million inquiries a year which must be answered by referring to these files.
Timbuktu, featured in stories for generations as the ultimate of faraway places, is a drab, sunbaked village on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, about 800 miles from the nearest coast. It is now known as Tombouctou.
K D G U Schedule
TUESDAY OCT. 17
4:00—UN Review
4:15—Synkrodisk
4:55—Remember When
4:55—Your Union
5:05—Pachworks
5:30—Movietime
5:45—Blue Barron
5:55—News
6:00-University Theatre, Fantasy in
Springs
6:30-In the Mood
6:55-News
7:00-Bookstore Hour
An all but forgotten ruler, Queen Margaret of Scotland, is the lady credited with introducing special privileges for unmarried girls during leap year. In the leap year 1288 she ordained that any single young man who rejected an offer of marriage from a maiden would be fined one pound or less, according to his means.
Page 2 University Daily Kansan
UNITED STATEMENTS
Daily Hansan
University of Kansas Student.Newspaper
News Room KU 251 Ad-Droom KU 376
Member of the Kansas Press Assn., National Editorial Assn., Inlandaily Press National Representation by the National Advertising Service. 420 Madison Avenue, N.Y. City, subscription fee $3.95, $4.50 and $5.15; semester if in Lawrence). Published in Lawrence, Kane, gery afternoon during the University of Kansas business class; university holidays and examination periods. Entered second class matter Sept. 17, 1910 at Lawrence, Kan., Post Office District.
Editorial Editor Mary Betz
Editorial Assistants Jerry Kudson,
        John M. Browne
NEWS STAFF
Executive Editors Clarke Keys
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Directing Director Clarley Platt Chambers
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Society Editor Vlaast Gaiman
Sports Editor Don Tice
Sports Editor Ed Howard
News-Editorial
EDITORIAL STAFF
Adviser ... Calder M. Pickett
... CRANK
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Classified Mgr  Ann Ainsworth
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BUSINESS STAFF
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
"Worthal stumbled over Prof Snarf in th' 'city' th' other night—seems he carries that camera every place he goes."
5th Amendment Trip-up Protection for Justice?
Communist investigations such as those being conducted by Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R.-Wis.) have raised a question in some minds as to the wisdom of a clause in the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution.
This clause, which states that persons will not be made to testify against themselves in criminal cases, has been attacked because it allows persons on the witness stand to "refuse to testify on the grounds that it might tend to be incriminating."
In many cases, where a person is guilty as charged, this allows him to use the Constitution as a protection against prosecution.
Those who advocate eliminating the clause argue that its removal would facilitate convictions because persons on trial would either have to answer questions directed at them or face a contempt of court charge.
This is undoubtedly a valid argument in many cases involving people in Communist activities and some of our big-time racketeers, but it could backfire and cause the conviction of some innocent persons.
The clause was meant, not as a legal loophole for the guilty, but as a protection for the innocent. Although it is abused to some extent, the question at hand is whether the added convictions facilitated by the removal of the clause would be important enough to jeopardize the position of innocent citizens accused of crimes.
One of the best protections the people of this country have against injustice is the right to a fair trial. Although a few more Communists and hoodlums might receive their just deserts if the clause were removed, it would keep a lot of innocent persons from receiving justice in courts.
Which is more important, catching a few more Communists or preserving the rights of the American people?
—Don Tice
Overheard: "You better get to class on time. You aren't the instructor."
Note to the prof who thinks students enroll only in his classes:
Things would be much tougher on you, prof, old boy, if students did.