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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1942
The KANSAN Comments...
The Evolution of Darwin
Two years ago, Australia's naval base of Darwin existed only on a blueprint. Port Darwin then was a sleepy little tropical pearling port on the northern coast of Australia, nearer Manila or Singapore by air line than to Melbourne. It was the isolated, unguarded back door of the continent, marooned from populous Australia by 2000 miles of desert and arid plain.
In 1886, Australia began to build its northsouth transcontinental railway, starting at both ends, through this forbidding waste. By 1929, when the last work was done, a 650-mile gap remained unbridged. By a feat which the Melbourne Argus declared to be, "the greatest construction job in the history of civil engineering," this gap was closed in one season. It was not the length of the road but the inferno of heat and drought which made the task difficult.
Nearly half of Australia lies in the tropics; two-fifths of it has a rainfall of fewer than ten inches a year, and all of that at one time. Through such country, now, long truck trains move cautiously, shrouded in a continuous cloud of dust. Aussies are rushing war materials to Port Darwin, stronghold key to the northern half of their homeland. Near Birdum, 300 miles south of Darwin, the highway enters another Australia—a country of tropical palm and fern forests, of steaming rivers and crocodiles. Such is northern Australia, the territory surrounding the Port Darwin base.
Darwin is now a boom town, bustling with activity of defense preparations. It is not a rigid fortress intended to be impregnable. Its protection organized on the modern "defense in depth" principle, is hidden and camouflaged in the jungle.
Australia is confident that mock victories achieved in recent maneuvers can be repeated against actual Japanese invasion. J.C.K.
Do We Need the Dies Committee ?
Despite the fact that our war reverses are a cause of major concern for most Americans, there is still a lot of grief on the home front that needs clearing up. We refer in particular to the Dies committee "on un-American activities" which has long been an object of criticism.
This committee makes its living by an annual appropriation of Congress. The time approaches when again the Dies committee will present its case for an appropriation; and it is time for Congress to say "no."
The Dies committee has, from the start, been nothing but another disgrace to Congress. The failure can be attributed solely to Senator, Dies, his henchmen, and their conduct in running the committee. For years, Dies has raved about the Communists, with little concern for the Nazis, Fascists, and Jap spies in this country. His failure to warn of "un-American activities" is evidenced by the fact that Dies had apparently never heard of Japan until after its attack on Pearl Harbor.
At the time the committee was founder, such an idea as presented by Dies had its merits. But the program was ruined by placing at the head of the committee men who liked front page headlines more than work. The results made the Dies committee the joke of the country.
Since we are now in the war, there seems little excuse for even continuing the committee. But if Congress decides otherwise, we hope it inspires the committee to greater deeds. Far too much money that is now needed for armaments has gone down the Dies committee "rat-hole." The time that has been wasted by this committee, or as a direct result of it, cannot be estimated but the FBI has been almost constantly busy running down false tips, the result of a Dies brainstorm. Any good results obtained by the committee can never equal the wasted efforts and money shown in this organization's record.—M.B.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Vol. 39 Friday, February 27,1942 No.94
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.
--brine, whereas modern gums' will float.
MEDICAL and ADVANCED PRE-MEDICAL STUDENTS: Students who filled out application forms for commission as Ensign, H-V-(P) should report for examination and further action to the Naval Examining Board which is convened in Kansas City, Kan. Report to the University of Kansas Hospitals. 39th and Rainbow, Kansas City, Kan., Saturday afternoon, Feb. 28. Please report next week to undersigned at Anatomy Building after having taken the above action.
All members of the Ku Ku organization meet in front of center Frank Strong at 1:00 Monday, for Jayhawker picture—Roy Edwards, Pres.
—C. W. Asling.
MEN'S STUDENT COUNCIL. There will be a special meeting Monday, March 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the Pine Room-Fred Lawson, Secretary.
DRAMATIC WORKSHOP. Meeting Monday, March 2, at 4:30 in the Little Theatre, Green Hall. Edith Ann Fleming will present plans for casting the Palm Sunday play, "The Terrible Meek." The final report on the all-student spring show will be submitted by the play committee. Please be prompt.-Dave Watermulder, president.
PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION: The third Proficiency Examination of the year will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8:30 a.m. Students who wish to take the examination must register in person at the College Office, 229 Frank Strong Hall, Feb. 23-25. Prerequisites are junior or senior standing and five hours credit in Freshman Rhetoric.-J. B. Virtue.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEW ADDRESSES FOR DIRECTORY SUPPLEMENT: Students who changed addresses between semesters and who have not reported new addresses to the Registrar's office should file these addresses at once so that corrections may appear in the Directory Supplement.—James K. Hitt, Assistant Registrar.
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas
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published at Lawrence, Kansas, daily during the school year,
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters from readers. These letters should not be more than 200 words in length, and must be signed with the name of the contributor. The editor reserves the right to edit all letters to conform to style and length requirements.
To the Editor University Daily Kansan:
I recently read an article in the Kansan concerning Jimmy Lunceford and his orchestra. Since that time I have heard it mentioned several times by students. They inquire "Why don't they get a good band?" I've seen Lunceford's band a number of times, and he actually furnishes the foundation for the styles of several "big name" orchestras.
In one of your articles you mentioned that Lunceford didn't have a style but copied from other bands. No other statement that you could have made would have been more of an injustice to Jimnie Lunceford.
If you don't believe this, listen to "Annie Lauric," "Margie," "Like a Ship At Sea," all records by Lancefour four years ago, and then listen to some of Glen Miller's and Erskine Hawkins' swing records of today.
Living musicians all over the country admit that Lunceford was playing four years ago what is now the style of some of the most popular "sweet swing" bands.
Sincerely,
J. S.
What price fatigue: Forgotten by her sisters after a Chi Omega feed, freshman Gloria Brinkman went soundly to sleep in a living room chair the other night. Finally, at long last, when someone wandered into the living room to waken her, Gloria responded only enough to mutter fiercely, "Go away! I'm not going to get up until nine o'clock this morning. I thought I told you I didn't have an eight thirty."
Part of Ruth Morrow's duty as a freshman is the care and nurture of an heterogeneous assortment of plants in Barbara Koch's room. In the glut of affairs last week Ruth forgot her chore, and the plants sagged steadily until they were on the brink of death. To revive them, the crafty Morrow put a half teaspoonful of vitamin concentrate and the contents of a cold capsule around the roots of each plant. As a result of this treatment then prognosis not only became negative, but they revived just long enough to wake up and die screaming.
Fasenated, the Kappa freshmen watched him shell the egg and drop the pieces of the shell into the hydrochloric acid, which foamed ghoulishly. The remainder of this experiment will never be known, at least in our time, for at this crucial junction one of the librarians insinuated herself upon the scene and requested Raymond's absence. Which she got.
Admirer of the Kappa pledge class is Raymond Custer. Yesterday his admiration reached concrete sacrifice when he appeared in the library carrying a hard-boiled egg and a bottle of hydrochloric acid, prepared to demonstrate to them how he could not only eat the egg, but also the shell.
At any rate, all the best wishes of experimental science went with him as he reverently carried his hard boiled egg and bottle of acid away from an appreciative audience.
Kansas Amber--brine, whereas modern gums' will float.
Never A Dull Moment For State Geologists
By W. H. Schoewe, Associate Professor of Geology
Something new is continually making its appearance in Kansas. Recently a specimen was sent to the geological laboratories here, accompanied with the question, "What is it?" Experiments proved that the specimen was amber.
Amber is a fossil tree gum or fossil resin derived from coniferous trees. It differs from other hardened resinous tree gums mainly in its extreme age. It usually can be differentiated from modern gums by the fact that amber will sink in a salt water brine, whereas modern gums $ ^{ \textcircled{1}} $
Amber is a non-crystalline hydrocarbon composed of resins, oil and succinic acid, the latter substance being responsible for the mineralogical name succinite which is sometimes applied to amber. Its color is apt to be some shade of yellow with other colors tending toward reddish, brownish, and white. Amber is soft and can be scratched easily with a knife. It
varies from a clear and transparent material to that which is cloudy and translucent, that is, substances through which objects are seen only indistinctly. Some amber is opal-escent, or shows milky or pearly reflections from the interior of the specimen. Other amber is flour-escent or glows in ultraviolet light. Most amber is easily electrified by rubbing with a cloth. It melts very
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