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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. 1942
Commentary by the KANSAN Editorials * * Features * * Patter
Train Them To Fight
Should the eighteen-and nineteen-year-old boys be drafted? Should men so young be taken from the peaceful surroundings of home and school to be placed in army camps and trained for war?
Do you think your kid brother too young to go to war? It is difficult to determine the minimum age limit for the drafting of men into military service. Ordinarily, youths of twenty are too young to be shouldering a gun. But we are up to our ears in total war.
The American way of life is the very antithesis of the mode of aggressive existence extolled by the power-maddened leaders of the Axis. To meet fire with fire, we must call up our full manpower if we are to withstand and crush our aggressors.
Our ruthless enemy is sending mere boys of less than eighteen into this sanguinary struggle. They have been indoctrinated with the "glories" of war, and they fight with a frantic zeal to spread the plague of the New Order.
It is exigent that the youth of the nation be drafted—not because we would have it that way, but because the Nipponese and Nazis have made it that way. However, there is one thing we should promise our men in uniform. We should assure them that we will not send them to do battle with the professional Axis butchers until they are fully trained and equipped.
No Longer "Buddies"
Editorial dissension voiced in Relazione Internationale, semi-official Italian weekly foreign affairs journal, hints strongly that the wavering Fascist raft of war is drifting ever farther away from Germany.
Adolf and Benito are no longer the two blustering "buddies" who plunged the world into war three years ago. Some conniving little Frenchman by the name of Laval is rapidly replacing lantern-jawed Benito in Hitler's good graces.
While the Relazione's article was directed primarily at France, it failed to express any faith in Nazi post war territorial commitments to Italy. It expressed the fear, which has covertly been ruminating Italy for some time, that Laval was polishing Hitler in hopes of ousting Italy from sharing the spoils of war (assuming, of course, that the Axis will triumph.)
Trying to effect a breach between Hitler and Laval, Relazione pointed out (1) the average Frenchman's "patriotic ideal" binds him to the Anglo-Saxons in "obstinate opposition" to the Nazi.
(2) Laval is cognizant of this and while appeasing Germany, he is trying to maintain a semblance of amity with the United States so as to be assured at least a back seat in the Allied bandwagon should the Axis balloon collapse.
(3) Anachronistic Marshal Petain, so-called French Chief of State, is nearing his end, and some day Pierre Laval will try to succeed him with catastrophic results. Also Laval has made it obvious that he hopes to use German influence to help foil Italian territorial aspirations coveting French territory.
Hitler's ignoring a propaganda campaign
Just Wondering
Banned across the front page of yesterday's Atchison Globe: "We love dear old K.U. but we're surely glad that whipping the Japs doesn't depend on the football squad." If last week's game bothered us, think how it must worry the Japs who soon will have to meet those Iowa Cadets in combat.
last summer by the Fascists for the acquisition of Corsica and Nice, both French possessions, and a failure of any definite realization of territorial ambitions from the Salzbury meeting of Hitler and Mussolini a few months ago have cooled the Fascist war fever.
With the German goliath stalemated at the gates of Stalingrad by the recalcitrant Russians, Italy's position in the battle for Egypt is enhanced. Hitler is reported to have drawn on reserves of Rommel's Afrika Korps to replenish his dwindling manpower in Russia, leaving the Fascists to oppose the British Eighth Army.
A lag or withdrawal of Italian forces in Egypt probably would set the stage for a major British counter offensive which might roll the Axis back across Lybia to nullify Rommel's last costly but strategic desert offensive.
Loss of ground in Africa would blunt if not completely shatter the grand Axis pincher movement—one prong stabbing through Russia, the other through Egypt—aimed at the Middle East oil bananza.
If Hitler is to hold Benito on his side in order to maintain pressure on the Allies in Africa, he would do well to drop his little playmate a little candy in the form of Nice or Corsica. Failure to do this may obviate the Nazi threat in Egypt.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Vol. 40
Friday, September 25,1942 No.5
Notices due at News Bureau, 8 Journalism, at 10 a.m. on day of publication during the week, and at 11 a.m. on Saturday for Sunday issue.
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION: The first of the four examinations to be given this school year will be held on Saturday, October 3, at 8:30 a.m. Candidates must register in person at the College Office, 229 Frank Strong Hall, September 28-30. Only juniors and seniors in the College of Liberal Arts may register. First-semester seniors who pass the examination at this time, provided they meet other requirements for graduation, may qualify for degrees in June by obtaining twenty-four hours' credit during this semester and next.
J. B. Virtue.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence. Kansas
EDITORIAL STAFF
Publisher ... John Conard
Editor-in-chief... Alan B. Houghton
Editorial Associates... Maurice Barker, Mary
Eleanor Fry, Bob Cole-
NEWS STAFF
Managing Editor ... Bill Feeney
Campus Editors ... Virginia Tieman, Dean Sims,
Dale Robinson, Bob Coleman
Sports Editor J. Donald Keown
Society Editor Barbara Batchelor
News Editor Joy Miller
Sunday Editor Ralph Coldren
Exchange Editor Eleanor Fry
Rock Chalk Talk
DEAN SIMS
Jean Bailey is proclaimed the heroine of the Gamma Phi house
Jean Bailey is proclaimed the heroine of the Gamma Phi house. It goes back to a pledge class meeting held by the Gamma Phi freshmen, under the chairmanship of pledge trainer Jane Harkrader. The meeting was held Tuesday night to allow trainer Harkrader to outline the freshman duties to the pledges. She forgot to tell them about one—the duty of "call girl"—the girl who gets everyone up on time in the morning.
Tuesday night progressed quietly. Soon Wednesday morning began to progress quietly also. Still no Gamma Phi's awake.
At 7:00 a. m. Jean Bailey awoke.
She awoke again at 7:30. This time, to realize that it was getting late and no one was up for class.
"Ummm," she said. "All us Gamma Phi's are lazy."
Together with semi-heroine Winnie McQueen, she went about arousing pledges and acts.
No one was late for class.
In Prof. G. W. Smith's class in trigonometry, the class filed in yesterday morning and seated themselves along the back row.
Prof. Smith entered the room, looked along the back row and commented loudly and sternly.
"O.K. this isn't a church! Get up on the front row."
The Sig Alf and Chi Omega active chapters, on their guard against possible pledge walk-outs Wednesday night, suddenly found they had no pledges to guard Wednesday evening. Evidently the fresh had slyly sneaked away in the afternoon sometime. So both houses of actives began making great plans for the devilment of the revolutionists when they returned—supposedly around 10:30 o'clock after having missed study hall.
At which the class meekly up and filled the front row.
At approximately 7:15 o'clock lo and behold who should enter the Chi Omega house and the Sig Alf house—just in time for the regular freshman study hall—but the walked-out freshmen.
Crestfallen were two active chapters on West Campus Road.
Need Student Actors For Drama Workshop
Encouraged by the triumph of "Night Must Fall," presented last spring, the Dramatic Workshop is already looking ahead to the presentation of a new play for the fall semester.
Working almost entirely without faculty aid, the students themselves will act, direct, and stage the plays which are to be given by the Workshop. The officers of the Dramatic Workshop have already met to discuss the prospects of the coming year. The officers are: Bill Kelly, president; Edith Ann Fleming, vicepresident; Jane Beal, secretary; Connie Moses, treasurer, all college seniors and Harlan Cope, college junior, technical advisor.
The cabinet members, met this week in the Little Theater in Green hall to make future plans. The group was optimistic about the outlook for the year despite the fact that materials for stage settings would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. A simple stage set was planned that could be used in almost any play that would be chosen by them.
A few of the plays that were considered were "Death Takes a Holiday," "Barrets of Wimpole Street," "Remember the Day," "Pygmalion," and "Arsenic and Old Lace." While these were merely suggestions of various members, these plays and many others will be read before the group finally decides on the play to be given.
Since the theme of today is war, the idea of the workshop is to give a play which will either contrast with this theme or build upon it.
The group will attempt to learn what type of play the students want —then give it to them.
Back on the campus this year to add to their past histrionic experience are Bill Kelly, Harlan Cope, and Joe Nelson, Guy Carlisle, Bob Hutchinson, Dan Bachman, all college sophomores; Ray Helgeson, Dean Ostrum, college juniors; Benny Mantz, fine arts junior; and Spencer Bayles, second year medic.
Hoping that new talent can be recruited from among both newcomers and old students at the University, the workshop has announced tryouts for unfilled positions will be held in the near future for new members.
Next obstacle to overcome is the finding of actors and actresses who can handle the parts with ease. Several of last season's members have been lost to the army; included are Kenny Jackson of "Thunder Rock," and Don Mitchell of "Night Must Fall." Emily Jean Milam and Martha Alice Horner, outstanding in last years' productions, have been graduated.
Girls who have returned are Edith Ann Fleming, Connie Moses, and Jane Beal; Jane Peake, Betty Rowton, Rosemary Utterback, and Ruth Kelley, all college seniors.
Needed are nine actresses, eleven actors, three stage electricians, and four scene designers. Once aspirant actors and actresses have been "drafted" to fill these positions, the Dramatic Workshop will be ready to launch a major dramatic offensive.