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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1942
The KANSAN Comments...
Wisdom In W.S.G.A. Action
W. S.G.A. is to be congratulated upon its action of Tuesday night. After some discussion of the election bill, and a plebiscite which revealed that of all members present, 10 favored tabling the bill and 8 believed that it should be tried as an experimental measure, it was in effect tabled, to be considered by the council, and if accepted, to be used in the freshman election in the fall.
W. S.G.A. will conduct this election as it has in the past. Only criticism of the action came from those who considered it weak on the part of the council to table the bill after having considered it for some two weeks; that any change would be a change for the better, and that the bill couldn't be proved without trial.
Far from showing weakness on the part of W.S.G.A., it shows admirable foresight that the group decided to give adequate consideration to a bill which would make such radical changes in the setup of the council. Snap judgments and flash decisions are seldom able to stand the test of years. With careful consideration and certain revisions, the bill might be helpful, but as it now stands it would not accomplish its ostensible purpose, and would only serve to tie the hands of W.S.G.A. to some extent.
It is ill-advised to say that any change would be a change for the better. It is better for W.S.G.A. to keep what it has than to change to something which obviously doesn't satisfy the council as it stands now. With due consideration some suitable plan may be conceived which will satisfy the majority of council members. The existing bill doesn't do that.
It is certainly true that the worth of the bill couldn't be proved without trial, but it is also true that the deficiencies in the bill are obvious. It would smack of the ridiculous to adopt a bill which is in part bad, only to prove that those good portions will function properly.
Taken all in all, the council decision was the only wise one. Experienced council members will work on the bill for a time, then turn it over to the new members, who will view it objectively, and who will possibly be more likely to see the deficiencies and remedy them before adopting the measure.
The Next Blow
All over the world people are wondering what Adolf Hitler's next move will be. It is a matter of special concern to the inhabitants of two neutral European nations, for they are the prospective victims of the Fuehrer's coming blow.
Hitler must move. He cannot stand still. Already his prestige has suffered in Russia, and he cannot hope to conquer Russia in an impressive enough fashion this spring—if at all—to wipe out the memories of his bloody defeats in the Crimea and before Moscow. Therefore, he must search for a weaker opponent to humble. In addition to weakness, the new foe must have something the Germans desire.
Two countries in particular answer these qualifications. One is Portugal. Its army is small, its navy a joke. Its fall would give the Nazis additional bases on the Atlantic from which to operate their submarines and planes. An obstacle to any future move down the Iberian peninsula toward Gibraltar would also be wiped out.
Even more likely is an attack on Turkey.
German preparations in Greece and Bulgaria seem to point to such a move. Hitler would like nothing better than to recoup his prestige in practically the same geographical area where it suffered a damaging blow this winter.
At its present strength the Turkish republic could not hope to cope with the German hordes already concentrated on her borders. She cannot muster more than 500 planes, of which only 200 are of reasonably new make. The Turks have no tanks, no antitank guns, and but few military transports. A million men could be mobilized, but they could not be efficiently armed. Russia will undoubtedly be too busy to go to the help of her southern neighbor.
Therefore, it seems that the task of defending the Near East will fall on the shoulders of Great Britain and the United States. It is quite possible that here for the first time in twenty-some years the doughboys will once again tangle with the Hun. At stake will be the rich oil fields of Iran and Iraq, huge grain fields, the shipping facilities of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, supply routes to Russia, and a road to India.
There could not be a more opportune time for the doughboy to give a repeat performance of his 1918 demonstration of how to lay the Hun by the heels. And somehow we feel that he can do it!—J.D.K.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Vol. 39 Thursday, March 12, 1942 No.102
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.
MEN'S STUDENT COUNCIL: The next regular meeting will be Monday, March 16, at 8:00 p.m. in the Pine Room. Those who ordered council keys please bring their money.—Fred Lawson, Secretary.
W. A.A.: Meeting this afternoon at 4:30. Members will meet for a short business meeting before watching Tau Sigma dance for W.A.A.-Lo Smith, Pres. W.A.A. Anna Jane Hoffman, Pres. Tau Sigma.
W. N.A.A.: There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. in the Pine room of the Memorial Union. All members are urged to be present.-Georgia Ferrell, President.
RED CROSS SEWING ROOM—The Red Cross Sewing Room of 116 Fraser is open from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. Knitters are asked to report to the room in Fraser on Friday afternoon.—Mrs. P. B. Lawson.
SCHOLARSHIPS: Applications for scholarships for fall, 1942, should be made in Room 1, Frank Strong Hall, before April 1.-Lela Ross, Executive Secretary.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas
NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION 1942 Active Member
Publisher ... Kenneth Jackson
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-chief ... Charles Pearson
Editorial associates ... Maurice Barker and
                Floyd Decaire
Feature editor ... Bill Freeway
NEWS STAFF
Feature editor ... Bill Feeney
Managing editor ... Heidi Viets
Campus editors ... Betty Abels and Floyd Decaire
Sports editor ... Chuck Elliott
Society editor ... Saralena Sherman
News editor ... Ralph Coldren
Sunday editor ... John Conard
United Press editor ... Bob Coleman
BUSINESS STAFF
Business manager ... Frank Baumgartner
Advertising manager ... Wally Kunkel
BETTY WEST
Three small frowns for the cad who yesterday purposely or otherwise upset the shiny and utilitarian fire extinguisher which roosts between the Chancellor's office and the retunda on the second floor of Ad. People who heard it thought it was the Board of Regents foaming at the mouth, rushed over to see, and were sorely disappointed.
With Spring, etc., coming on, Wendell Link was entirely in order when he got his exquisite brown curls trimmed down to a mere nothing at one of the local barberies. But when he returned home, and his Templin Hall brothers caught sight of him, they decided that the barber shop had not sheared him closely enough.
Now poor Wendell looks only slightly better than a fur covered billiard ball, and is afraid of pneumonia in case a change in weather might occur.
David Watermulder, friend of all mankind, has hatched a new scheme for bucking up morale, no telling just whose. His latest scheme is to form a corporation of female scribes on the Hill to write letters to men in the Army, Navy, and Marines. These cheer-dispensing females will be called the "Sweethearts Whose Boyfriends Are In The Army."
Dave Thompson, new Sig Alph pledge, who had campaigned rabidly against prohibition in his Extempore Speaking class, is reported by the Gestapo to have been carrying on the campaign very ably in the City Saturday night. (Apologies are due anyone who thinks this item falls under the heading of crude gossip. It do.)
Since the Kappa party has been postponed, Cordelia Murphy has again had a chance to postpone the awful decision she must one day make. The problem before the house is, "Shall it be Earl Clarke or Nation Meyer?"
"Any Books Today?" Is New Wartime Slogan
The University is again cooperating in a national movement to maintain and improve the morale of the men serving in the armed forces and the merchant marine, this time by joining in the Victory Book Campaign, to gather up old books for use in U.S.O. libraries in army and navy camps and in libraries established for the sailors in our merchant marine
National response to the appeal has been, by mid-February, a total of 2,-576,000 books collected, of which 1,-546,000 were suitable for distribution. The state of Kansas had contributed 8,694 books at this time, with Nebraska and Missouri each donating about 13,000. In addition to the University campaign, Haskell Indian Institute and the city of Lawrence have conducted literary round-ups, with the result that 950 books have been sent from here to Fort Leavenworth. Because of better facilities for sorting and packing books, the city library is being used as a clearing house for all local collections.
The campaign, inaugurated in mid-January, is sponsored and financed by the United Service Organization, the Red Cross, and the American Library Association. Various service clubs, such as the Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and Alpha Phi Omega, have conducted door-to-door campaigns, and libraries and universities throughout the nation have aided in the collecting, sorting, and distributing of the donated books. Books not used in the military libraries are being sent to those areas in the country where the population has risen, due to the growth of defense industries, to a point where existing library facilities are overtaxed.
Literary preference in the fiction vice, are stories of adventure, aviavice, are story so adventure, aviation, history, humor, sports, and the Wild West. High in demand in the non-fiction department are books on applied psychology, current affairs, crime and crime detection, mathematics, business, photography, history, biography, travel, and language.
Demand Is Varied
All books contributed are placed in one of seven classifications: 1) fiction books of good quality and condition; 2) non-fiction in good shape; 3) fiction in moderate condition and 4) non-fiction in moderate condition; 5) books of suitable quality but needing minor repairs; 6) books of inferior quality and condition, which are sold as old paper, and the proceeds used to finance the campaign; 7) books not appropriate for present needs, but which are kept for future use. Children's books are welcomed for use in libraries in over-crowded industrial districts.
Most of the books garnered in the University drive have come from members of the faculty. The possibility of gathering many books from students, except from those who live in town, seems rather doubtful to the writer, as most away-from home students limit their "libraries" to essential textbooks and favorite volumes they would be reluctant to part with. The bulk of local donations has been fiction, with occasional textbooks appearing.
State Director of the Victory Book Drive is Miss Ruth Hammond, of the Wichita Public Libraries.
'Cellist Feuermann To Play Concert Here Wednesday
Emanuel Feuerman, cellist, will be presented in a recital at 8:20 p.m. next Wednesday in Hoch auditorium as a part of the University Concert course.
Feuerman's concert tour takes him from coast to coast. His $35-$00 Stradivarius is never out of his sight. He books a separate berth on the Pullman for his instrument so that it may receive the best of care,