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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1943
Rickenbacker Loses Prestige By His Campaign Against Labor
Liberals are viewing the recent activities of war hero Eddie Rickenbacker with concern, for up to the present the World War I ace has failed to show in politics anything like the ability he demonstrated in military and industrial affairs.
To date he has dedicated most of his time, since returning from the Pacific, to a speaking tour marred by constant criticism of labor groups in this country. The conservative press has welcomed such outbursts, and has played them up to the limit in its constant battle against labor.
Rickenbacker has chosen to ignore statistics which show that American labor in this war is in reality doing a tremendous job. The world has never known such a vast scale of production. Instead, Rickenbacker has put before the public a few selected instances of labor misbehavior, inevitable when one considers the millions of men and women engaged in production. Similar incidents, perhaps more numerous, could be pointed out for every economic group.
It is no secret that Rickenbacker's own group big business has not kept its own skirts clean. Men of the ability of Thurman Arnold have testified repeatedly to that effect. Nor is it to be forgotten that Rickenbacker's membership in that economic group has no doubt influenced his views to a considerable extent. Rickenbacker is listed in Who's Who for 1942-43 as president, general manager and director of Eastern Air Lines, Inc., and has served as vice-president of North American Avigation, Inc., vice-president and director of sales of the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America, and vice-president of American Airways, Inc. While he claims to speak for the American soldier, there is more than a faint suspicion in some quarters that he is in reality at present the voice of labor haters.
A continuation of such activities on the part of Rickenbacker will serve only to lower his well earned prestige with the mass of American people. Rick should watch his step lest he join one Charles Augustus Lindbergh in the ranks of the fallen heroes.—J.D.K.
Malott Warns of Material Change In Post-War World Living
Widely quoted in the collegiate press throughout the country is a recent statement made by Chancellor Deane W. Malott, which received all too little attention on this campus.
Declared the administrator: "Science has transformed the physical facts of our material existence with an acceleration dating back to the start of the industrial revolution. Material change has unstabilized our economic, social, and political life. We have fought and won a world war, made a peace which did not recognize the fundamental nature of changed and changing conditions, and have failed to recognize that science has speeded up the world and brought it closer together. Instability and dislocation continue to increase and have culminates in a world cataclysm the import of which is just beginning to be recognized."
Thus did one of the more farsighted members of the academic world, usually as a group
Just Wondering
If some overly-ambitious "junior commando" didn't have something to do with the missing clock hands on the east scoreboard in Hoch auditorium.
slow to recognize the signs of progress, timid to express the doctrine of change, show that he, at least, knew that the world will be far different from the one which entered the war. He also served a warning that it is largely the responsibility of educated youth to see that these changes are made in the right direction toward democracy, away from authoritarianism.J.D.K.
Four years ago the Kansas City Star inaugurated the system of printing a record of the car fatalities of the current year, the previous year, and the total for the previous year. The first year the number of car deaths was cut almost in half. But each year since, the percentage has been mounting until it is almost back to its original number. If a city can start such a campaign why does it have to let down after the first year? The slogan "Stop, Look, Be Careful" is reprinted after each car accident. Observance before each accident would help.
Some University students didn't get around to paying their fees in time to get their names on enrollment sheets. Result: Those in the enlisted reserves received orders to report for active duty. Frantic last minute phone calls temporarily stayed the order, but at least the students were reminded to pay their fees.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas
EDITORIAL STAFF
NEWS STAFF
Editor-in-chief ... Maurice Barker
Editorial Associates ... Don Keown, Joy Miller,
Matt Heuertz, Jimm Gum, Florence Brown
Feature Editor ... Betty Lou Perkins
Managing Editor ... Virginia Tieman
Sunday Editor ... Joy Miller
Campus editors ... Alan Houghton, Jane
                Miner, Clara Lee Oxley
Sports editor ... J. Donald Keown
News Editor ... Florence Brown
Picture Editor ... James Gunn
Society Editor ... Phyllis Collier
BUSINESS STAFF
Business Manager ... Oliver Hughes
Advertising Manager ... Charles Taylor, Jr.
Business Assistants ... Eleanor Fry,
Betty Lou Pekins, Mary Morrill
Rock Chalk Talk By JIMMY GUNN
A College Fable: Once there was an owl who was blessed with phenomenal eyesight. Whereas most owls can see only in the dark, this owl could see as well during the day. Unfortunately, though he was blessed with this sharper sight, the owl was very stupid.
So it was that the owl went flying around the forest looking here and looking there and telling all of the inhabitants of the forest what he saw. For instance, he told the bluejay that he was a cad for treating smaller birds the way he did. And he told the bear how foolish he was to sleep away three-fourths of his life. Oh, he was a very stupid owl, but his eyesight was very keen!
The owl told every creature of the forest what was wrong with him, and why. He told the squirrel how brainless he was to go chattering around the way he did. He told the snake how unpleasant he thought it was to go writhing along the damp ground all the time.
The stupid owl flew about in all kinds of weather and at all kinds of hours looking and telling. His wife became very angry with him saying, "What do you mean by staying up all hours of the day?" But he was an owl with a purpose, and an owl with a purpose cannot be diverted from his course.
It was very stupid of the owl to go around telling the truth to everyone. No one believed him. No one wanted to believe him. But still he persisted, for (as he often told himself) he could not waste the gift the gods had sent to him.
So the owl told the vulture that his table manners were deplorable and told the wolf that he drooled. He even told the mole that he was very silly to go grubbing around in the damp, dark earth when he could live outside in the fresh air and the sunshine. He told them all what fools they were to do things the way they did. He deplored the condition of the forest. It was dirty he said. And as for politics—he shuddered. There was absolutely no government. It was chaos, said the owl. And he was right.
One by one the owl's friends dropped away from him. Even his wife turned against him when he told her that he thought her latest coat in dreadful style. So the animals of the forest got together one day and drove the owl from the forest. They pecked out his eyes and left him in the fields to die. But the owl didn't die. He wandered about the fields for years and years, and he didn't say a word—ever!
Moral: Vision is a curse in the land of the blind.
GAS RATIONING Steak Frys A Casualty See New Sports
"Give me that drop" is a common complaint heard at filling stations these days; but very few motorists will discover their gas tank registering empty if they observe essential driving rules. When and if these balmy days continue, the urge for pleasure driving will grow. Steak frys may fade away for the duration; but following are a few ersatz sports to take the places of the ones that the ban on pleasure driving eliminated. It should be remembered that under the rules, a person caught driving to a tennis court or a handball wall will be tagged as a Benedict Arnold on wheels and have his 'A,' 'B,' or 'C' card removed.
succeed at this game. Badminton is a great home game. Croquet is more for the slow-moving individual. Golf muscles come into play when gripping the mallot and the true skill of a marksman is required to drive
But what can they substitute for the games they used to play when gasoline was plentiful and the phrase "fill 'er up" hadn't passed from the language? Hiking, with a picnic lunch on one arm and blankets on the other arm, will undoubtedly become the fad in dates this spring. Shoe rationing won't throttle walking, but the gas situation will curb driving, so put on your low heels and let's head for the country.
An alternative for walking and driving on steak frys might well be badminton or croquet. Badminton is a real athlete's game and is recommended to the girl searching for a "figure shaper." One must have the endurance of a basketball player and the footwork of a dancer to
Our business is to accept rationing and wartime regimentation cheerfully and patiently. Accept the inconveniences of war and we'll wager our last war bond you will have more fun doing something new in place of the customary steak fry.
Will Tear Down Hotel
Cheyenne, Wyo. — (INS)— The Metropolitan hotel where Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Bill Hickok and other characters of the early West made their headquarters, will be torn down, it was announced Wednesday. One of Cheyenne's first hotels, the Metropolitan was built in 1870. It was bought by Burlington railroad officials 30 years ago.