1951
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16. 1951
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
Radiation Protection Is In Hands Of KU Group
The protection of University students and the residents of Kansas against atomic radiation will be in the hands of 45 young men, most of whom are K.U. students in a radiological unit at the University.
Most of the men are doing graduate work or taking courses in the safe handling of radiological material. Frank E. Heecker, professor of physics and a member of the state civil defense council, is in charge the program. He was chosen because of his experience at Bikini, where he took part in the government's atomic experiments.
The radiological unit at KU. will be the only one in the state. Other locations were considered but they were given up because only at the University are there any considerable number of persons who understand the maintenance of the equip-
'The Vanishing Beachhead' May Be Title Of A-bomb Act
Washington (U.P.)—Don't look for any "fantastic" new weapons, the man said.
Naturally, he added, "Everyone knows that some day there is going to be an atomic artillery shell."
But, War Research chief William Webster told newsmen recently, don't expect our ordnance people to come up with anything really startling.
Just run-of-the-mill things. Like, say, the atomic artillery shell which everybody knows we're developing. A shell you fire out of a gun, Rigged, presumably, with a radio proximity fuse to go off at a predetermined place reasonably near the enemy.
Just one shell would let loose with a bang something like 20,000 tons of exploding T.N.T.—or like the simultaneous explosion in one place of ordinary missiles fired by massed thousands of high caliber field rifles.
Nothing fantastic. But, army ordnance experts say, where there had been a concentrated enemy beachhead there would now be no beachhead, and no enemy.
Nothing startling. But where the enemy had bivouacked on the eve of an offensive, there would be no bivouac and, of course, no offensive.
Mr. Webster's remarks, coming on top of utterances by such authorities as Gen. J. Lawton Collins, army chief of staff, may take the atomic artillery shell out of the realm of the fantastic and startling
news. All signs point to a campaign of sorts to get the public, the United Nations, and the world conditioned in advance to use of atomic weapons on the battlefield.
If this country ever has to go to war against the massed manpower of the Communist world, "it would be far wiser to use atomic weapons against the enemy's armies than against his cities," an ordnance expert told the United Press.
He did not rule out strategic use of A-bombs against enemy cities and marshalling areas. But he said "our best bet" would be to use the weapon tactically against the enemy in the field.
fantastic and seaking.
but they won't take it out of the
He said this country should make it clear that it will not permit its most powerful weapon to be "put under wraps, the way gas was, by so-called moral or political or diplomatic considerations."
"It is no more a horror weapon than T.N.T. and certainly is not as terrible as napalm fire bombs," he said.
Rice three times a day isn't the diet to keep Kansans going in the southernmost jungles of Mexico.
That's the opinion of Rollin Baker, acting director of the Museum of Natural History. He and three others returned last week from a month-long collecting expedition to the jungles of Vera Cruz.
Rice Is Insufficient Diet In Jungles Of Mexico
The others were Alford J. Robinson, Topeka businessmen who with Shawnee Sportsmen, Inc., financed the expedition; George P. Young, K.U. taxidermist; and Walter Dahlquest of Louisiana State university, who had collected in that area when employed at K.U.
The group spent 14 days traveling by dugout canoe and by foot in jungle uninhabited even by Indians. The rations were rice thrice a day, flavored with some game from the specimens taken for the museum.
"A little sugar and lard and the worst coffee you ever tasted completed the diet," Dr. Baker said. "We were getting so weak that we were ready to return to civilization."
Most of the party acquired sore feet, but no one suffered from the "steaming jungle." Despite the General American location, the collectors found the climate too cool under the forest canopy.
The trip from Lawrence to Vera Cruz city was made by auto. Then followed a 300-mile train ride to Jesus Carranza, finally the two-week boat trip up the Rio Coatzacalcas river and tributaries.
The object of the expedition was to obtain tropical wild life specimens to add to the great panorama of North American wild life in the museum.
Two extremely rare specimens were taken. They are the brocket or red deer, a small deer found only in the North American tropics; and the white-lipped peccary, a wild hog that is considerably larger than the peccary that is found as far north as Arizona.
Swiss Schools Offer Grants
Applications for scholarships offered by Swiss educational institutions and societies for the academic year from mid-October to mid-July must be filed by March 1, the German department has announced.
The grants were established in 1927 in appreciation of those given by American colleges and universities for Swiss students. Appointments are subject to confirmation by the Swiss educational institutions.
Application is open to men and women, preferably under 35 years of age. Candidates must be American citizens, have a bachelor's degree from an American college or university or have graduated from a professional school of recognized standing. Applicants must have a good academic record and a capacity for independent study, a good knowledge of French or German and use of good health.
ment necessary to the operation of the unit.
The Institute will forward the credentials of appointees to the Swiss Committee, which transmits them to the Swiss university for admission.
Application blanks are available in room 304 of Fraser hall.
The system of protection to be used was explained as follows: There will be ten monitor teams of two men each. These men will be equipped with Geiger counters and walkie talkies. In case of atomic attack anywhere in the state, teams will be flown to the areas and will be first humans to enter the danger zone.
Pat For Young Drivers
Detroit (U.P.)—Teen-agers a re safer drivers than those in their early 20's, according to data obtained by the National Safety Council.
Members of the state department of health at the University will check food, water and clothing, and another committee will be in charge of air transport.
Mr. Hoecker said that he is not expecting a great incidence of radiation contamination on the ground, because the force of an A-bomb explosion would tend to make radiation rise rather than fall. None of the men will be expected to enter an area where contamination is extremely dangerous.
signments will be done and equipment will be checked out and repaired.
Mr. Hoecker stated that many
ASPA Meeting Date Is March 21
persons frequently come into contact with radiation as great as or greater than any that they might encounter after an atomic explosion. He illustrated this by holding a radium - dial watch near a Geiger counter. The counter is set to measure the lowest radiation likely to be encountered in atomic work, but the needle was set off by the watch dial.
Members of the physics department of the University will act as liaison and advisory members of the staff. They will handle field headquarters where plotting of team as-
The monitor teams will work in conjunction with the highway patrol. Two men from the radiological service will ride with the patrol to check the messages which will be relayed by walkie talkie radios.
The date of the meeting for or-organizing a University chapter of the American Society of Public Administration is March 21.
A notice previously appearing in the Daily Kansan listed the date as Feb. 21. This is incorrect, the bureau of government research announced today.