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University Daily Kansan Thursday, March 19, 1953
Interesting Talker Draws Big Crowd
Hoch auditorium outdid the Hawk's Nest for the first time in many a convocation day Tuesday morning. Almost every seat on the main floor and in the first balcony were occupied to hear Dr. Ralph J. Eunche.
This crowd at convocation is a direct reversal of the situation last Thursday morning when no one had to worry about finding a seat at Hoch, but all the booths, tables, chairs, and floor space was taken at the Union.
Perhaps, the story of the state of affairs in last Thursday's Kansan gave the students the word, so to speak. So-called Kansan sensational journalism seems to have opened the eyes of a large portion of the students.
Yet, it may have been that students were so eager to hear Dr. Bunche's address on "The United Nations and the World Crisis," that they decided to skip coffee. In any event, the crowd at Hoch sure looked good, and perhaps, the speech given inside, eliminated the traditional doubts of being bored at convolutions.
1954 May End GOP Control of Congress
Now that the bitter smoke of last fall's presidential election is clearing away, politicians and observers are turning toward the all-important Congressional elections of 1954.
With the Republicans' skittish control of both the Senate (48-47, one Independent) and the House (222-212, one Independent) at stake, a Democratic-controlled Congress could very easily emerge from next fall's elections. Faced with slumping farm prices, no solution of the Korean problem, little prospects of tax cuts, and other unfilled campaign promises, the GOP is in somewhat of a spot.
And tradition itself favors the Democrats, because the minority party customarily gains ground in mid-term elections. Only once in this century has this not happened: in 1934 when the New Deal dynasty was on the upswing and gained rather than lost Congressional seats.
Senators up for re-election next year include 12 Republicans and 21 Democrats, and 10 of the latter are located in the still safe South. Vulnerable spots in the Democratic front which Republicans will try hard to capture are the seats filled by Senators Paul Douglas, Ill.; Guy M. Gillette, Iowa; Hubert H. Humphrey, Minn.; Edwin C. Johnson, Colo., and one each of the states of New Mexico, Delaware, Wyoming, and Montana.
Prominent Democratic southern senators will face the voters (and need not worry) include Estes Kefauver, Tenn; Robert S. Kerr, Okla; Richard B. Russell, Georgia; John J. Sparkman, Ala., and Lyndon B. Johnson, Texas.
The opposition, however, will be aiming for 12 Senate seats filled by Republicans. The weakest ones are occupied by Senators Homer Ferguson, Mich.; Leverett Saltonstall, Mass.; Styles Bridges, N.H., and one each of the states of Kentucky and California.
Well-known Republican sure bets to retain their seats are Senators Karl E. Mundt, S. Dak.; Andrew F. Schoeppel, Kan., and Margaret Chase Smith. Maine.
Jerry Knudson
POGO
The talk of Dr. Ralph Bunche turned out to be a practical manifestation of interacial democracy rather than a disputation on controversial issues. There were three times more students than at the debate of American and English scholars, and Dr. Bunche chatted in a peaceful and friendly way that sounded more American-like than many other official speakers I've heard on the campus.
By AL TRALDI
Only two hours before the U.S. had exploded the 22nd atom bomb, but Dr. Bunche gossiped calmly about his basketball and football tricks, about Negroes who looked whiter and whiter to white coaches, and about a girl who quarreled with him over a low grade he gave her and who married him 23 years ago. The racial discrimination that he said may affect U.S. prestige abroad and prospects for peace in the world surely did not affect yesterday's convocation. Maybe people think things are worse than they really are.
In his clear, Nobel-prize-winner mind. Bunche saw the Korean war as the first instance of mankind in a collective determination to stop aggression. And even though handicapped by that conflict and by the endless cold war, he said that the U.N. has a sensitive object of building a maximum solidarity among nations, solidarity for peace and freedom. Maybe they talk too much in the U.N. meetings, "but talking is better than shooting." And the domestic critics of U.N. have offered no practical alternative to the U.N. way.
For his personal background, he has also been able to see a side of Asia that other men often miss. After his trips and negotiations in Palestine, India and Pakistan, he affirms that differences between East and West have been greatly exaggerated. We all have the same aspirations and desire of improving things. East and West can make for a united world, he said, since we have this common bond between the two hemispheres. Only the weak have the right to surrender to despair, he said.
I seldom see or hear something like that. And the students of KU—white, colored or foreign—seemed to be particularly appreciative to Mr. Bunche for the wonderful display of good will and good hopes that he presented to the audience.
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Little Man on Campus
by Dick Bibler
"Of course you could argue about this paper and prove me wrong—But why jeopardise yer whole future?"
Short Ones
There is a TV set in the game room of the Student Union that is responsible for a new twist in ping pong playing. As you get better in the game, you find time for a quick peek at the screen, prior to returning an opponent's shot. Despite this reward for proficiency, there seems to be a small segment of the student body that feels the set would serve a more useful purpose in the main lounge, or in another room.
President Eisenhower is looking for old politicians in Washington to help his cabinet members adjust themselves to "all the ropes." Let's see now, what do we call men who know all the ropes in Wash ington?
There was a small murmur raised when the Daily Kansan disclosed, finally, that convocations aren't exactly popular with the student body. But those majoring in Unionology didn't lift an eyebrow.
THE BUS (Adv.)
by BIBLER
"I like music too, Reginald, but I believe I'd check with the company first."