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University Daily Kansan
Monday. April 13, 1953
April 22 Election Has Deep Portents
Another lusty campus general election is in the offing for students Wednesday, April 22, one that could bring the death of one political party or a re-shuffling of the other by its results.
The two parties have competed for control of the All Student Council the past two years. They are the Pachacamac-NOW-FOR ticket, consisting mostly of membership from Greek houses, and the First Actually Constructive Ticket for Students (FACTS) slate, which includes membership of both Greeks and independents.
For FACTS, a defeat could sound the knell of death. Now in its third year, FACTS will be making a do-or-die effort this time for the ASC leadership that it so nearly won last year.
Chances are that if FACTS fails this time, the Pach party will reign uncontested for the next several years. As each recent year has passed, so have many of the original FACTS kingpins left via graduation. And new and younger leaders haven't taken up the slack as well as was formerly expected.
For Pach, a defeat could bring about a re-shuffling of values. The Pach-NOW-FOR machine never has been very active outside of the Greek houses. When looking for its annual votes, the machine has merely turned to the membership of these houses, applied the usual indirect pressures, and sat back awaiting the results.
Last year, Pach barely won. Rain poured on the campus all day, which kept the voting total low—and consequently made the Pach organized vote stronger than it deserved.
A defeat for Pachacamac could bring a more concerted effort by the party next year to solicit votes from non-Greeks. Many of the Pach leaders have advocated this unsuccessfully for the past two years to no avail. Other Pach leaders still regard the party as a "glamorized rushing society."
Political activities of the next week and a half should be sifted carefully by students to separate sincerity from hogwash. After that, a ballot April 22 can record the decisions of each.
Bob Stewart
'The Naked Streets' Exposes Life, Love in Italian Slums
The Naked Streets" by Vasco Pratolini. Translation from the Italian by Peter and Pamela Duncan. A. A. Wyn, Inc., New York 1952. 217 pages.
Vasco Pratolini, the Italian novelist who received international fame with his "Story of Poor Lovers," now has had published "The Naked Streets"—in a very accurate translation by Peter and Pamela Duncan.
Pratolini does not use the lyrical feeling, or just plain autobiography of social-realism such as he has used in other books. He tries a sequence of 33 chapters, each with a precise mood or a clear fact, or both.
"The Naked Streets" shows the life of the poor district of Santa Croce in the 30s and the experiences of Vasco who worked there as a laborer and as a waiter. He had known the slums in his youth, and the boys who worked hard for low wages and who took turns smoking the only cigaret they had.
At night they pedaled madly along the boulevards in order to get to the "Quarter" as early as possible to get a girl.
They talked this way: "She is a stuck-up b . . ., it's not worth fighting over a girl like that." "If you knew how she gets on my mother's nerves! But, after all, she is my sister."
The friendship of the members of the gang and the sincerity of their thoughts and words are the only positive factors in an underworld of poverty, unemployment, filthy cottages, and cheap houses. But they love their "Quarter" and the streets named after saints or Florentine bankers—the name of the "Quarter" itself comes from the church of Santa Croce where are the tombs and monuments of Rossellino, Gallilei, Michelangelo and Leopardi.
Each had quite a few girl friends, but loved only one, with a passion stubborn and sincere. Carlo is wounded in the Abyssinian war and wants to marry Marisa by proxy—a few minutes before dying. It is all done by telegram.
The multicentennial houses in the "Quarter" are knocked down and they start constructing apartment houses, too expensive for the old dwellers. But people still follow instinctively the lines of the former streets.
—Al Traldi
Red Shadow Darkens Suez Canal
Egyptian agitation for the withdrawal of British troops from the Suez Canal zone presents a grave international problem.
The canal divides Africa from Asia, and as the key to the Middle East, its safety is vital to Western powers.
Today the Middle East is the weakest link in the system of Western defense against Communism. The canal provides entrance to a territory which contains vast stores of oil and raw materials. To defend the canal, Britain maintains a military establishment of 50,000 Britons whose presence irritant to the Egyptians, Britain says it cannot leave until it is certain the vital sea route will be protected.
Britain occupied Egypt for half a century until just before World War I when Egyptian national consciousness began to emerge, bringing demands for termination of the occupation. In 1918, the Khedive was deposed, and Egypt declared a British protectorate.
The movement for independence still flourished and the protectorate was broken off because of differences of opinion concerning defense of the canal.
When Italy invaded Ethiopia, Egyptian politicians began to see the advantage of a treaty with a strong ally. In 1936, a coalition government signed a 20-year Anglo-Egyptian treaty which provided that British troops be stationed in the Canal zone.
However, as soon as Mussolinis' empire crumbled, Egyptian feeling toward the British reverted to its former intolerance.
The presence of the British diverts the attention of the people from domestic problems. The Nile valley is an unhappy territory. It is overpopulated by poverty-stricken peasants. In this country of appalling internal problems, a poor peasanty, and no social legislation worth the name. Communism, it is feared, would have a ready appeal.
British and American diplomats believe the Russians may try to work into control of the canal. The people of Egypt fear the Russians but they dislike the British. Outlook for settlement of the problem is not encouraging and may not be reached for a long time.
-Shirley Piatt
Daily Hansan UNIVERSITY
University of Kansas Student Newspaper News Room KU 251 Ad Room KU 376
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-chief --------------- Bob Stewart
Editorial Assistants ------ Chuck Zuegner,
Don Nielsen
Admin ---------------
NEWS STAFF
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Clarke Keys, Jerry Kelly
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Asst. Soc. Editors...Velma Gaston,
Gladys Henry
Sports Editor...Chuck Morlock
Asst. Sports Editor...Davis
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BUSINESS STAFF
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Office under act of March 3, 1879.
Little Man on Campus
by Dick Bibler
"This'll be th' text for th' undergraduates taking this course but I'll expect a little more work from those enrolled for graduate credit."
Benson Would Solve Farm Ills by Research, Repentance
Why did Ezra Taft Benson, a Taft supporter and one of those pre-convention Republicans who felt no military man should serve as President, receive the appointment as secretary of agriculture?
Ike gave the answer. Benson is a friend of many, a member of the high council of his church, dirt farmer, and devoted family man. The President made it clear that he desired a moral and spiritual crusade to restore to the people their faith and confidence in their government. He thought Benson could help him do just that.
The new secretary said that "consistent with the principles that have guided my life, I will do my best, God being my helper."
The Utah preacher does not force his religious views on others, but pursues his ideals with a single-mindedness that often makes others uncomfortable in his presence.
Religion has been an integral part of Secretary Benson's life. Born into the Mormon faith, he has been a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all his life.
In 1943 he was ordained a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, the governing body of his church, in the temple in Salt Lake City, his home town. And in order to take the position of secretary of agriculture he had to get the permission and blessing of the head of his church.
For many years the secretary was a county agent and a marketing specialist; and then became the key man in a huge and powerful but highly-respected farmers' lobby in Washington.
The first thing the 53-year-old
secretary did when he took office was to ask J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to have his whole career investigated from the very beginning. He also asked that the careers of his top aides be looked into.
Then he took a 20-day tour talking with farmers scattered throughout the country. He wanted their ideas on the operation of the department.
The secretary found dissatisfaction with the way the department had been operated in the past. After the trip he felt also that too many farmers were depending on Washington to do things they should be doing for themselves.
Benson has two concepts concerning his job. The first is that the main work should be done in the field of research and education—to help the farmer help himself. The second: "We need, as we need no other thing, a nationwide repentance of our sins. . . We must look beyond the dollar sign."
-Lonnie Barlow
Comments
How about an investigating committee to investigate how much all the investigating committees are costing tax payers who aren't even trying to keep up with all the investigations by current investigating committees?
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Spring brought out all the superlatives in the land as writers sang its praises. And then the rains came.
South Korean officials insist they won't settle for anything less than a complete surrender in the Korean war. South Korea is in a bargaining position?
空 空 空
After the way several law students got practical experience at the FACTS libel trial, some of the med students are casting eager glances at Watkins hospital.
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The businessmen in the new administration will be mighty disappointed if the production of cherry blossoms doesn't bloom on schedule.