PAGE SIX
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY,SEPT.26,1941
The KANSAN Comments...
HURRICANE HARITS
F
"It's an ill wind,etc."
HABITS
Many persons along the gulf coast today are questioning the fallacy of that old statement, after having survived a hurricane which took the lives of at least two persons, and wrecked millions of dollars in property and crops.
What is a hurricane, anyway?
Well, my midwestern friend, the weather bureau no doubt would have some big term for it. As simply as possible, a hurricane is a cyclonic wind which gyrates at terrific speed, the energy for which is created by the heat from condensation of the atmosphere in the Carribean sea. But a better definition is this: A strong wind, sometimes reaching a speed of 130 miles an hour, traveling in a circle from 100 to 300 miles in diameter, from west to north, and sweeping in from the sea.
No body knows just how a hurricane starts. Meteorologists do know, however, that the energy expended while the hurricane is blowing would run the power plants of the world for several years.
Various attempts have been made to stop or swerve these winds into harmless paths, but none was successful. These same meteorologists believe the only thing left to do is to build substantial seawalls and tight houses, and let 'er blow.
However, lives and property are conserved by the efficient system of warnings set up by the weather bureau. Observations are made twice daily at about 80 stations in the Caribbean and the West Indies. From two to four observations daily are made from vessels in these waters. When there are indications that a hurricane is forming, special observations are taken, reports are sent in to forecast centers, and there the intensity, speed, and probable path are plotted so that warnings may be issued.
Since modern observation and accurate forecasts are now possible, the loss of life usually is kept low, though property loss in gulf cities sometimes is large. A factor in loss of life is the likelihood of epidemics caused by broken sewers and water pipes in towns where the hurricane strikes.
Most destructive hurricane of recent times was that at Galveston in 1900 when more than 6,000 lives were lost.
LIFEBLOOD OF A NATION
The lifeblood of America is already in this war.
A short item—perhaps unnoted in the deluge of more sensational war news—reveals that science's most recent achievement in the field of restoring waning life, dried blood plasma for transfusion at far away base hospitals and aboard ship, is another way in which America is helping in this conflict.
Dried blood plasma, which has "hit" today's news pages, is simply the vital fluid of the blood, minus the red and white corpuscles, first separated by centrifugal force in laboratories, then dehydrated to a powder. It keeps indefinitely, is unaffected by heat or cold, and is ready for transfusion upon the addition of distilled water.
The process of preparing the dreid blood plasma is the result of long years of research in the field of blood transfusion as a means of saving life. The search began centuries ago. The first successful transfusion was recorded in 1665 by Richard Lower of London. The discovery which saved more lives, and showed
why the earlier transfusions were not entirely successful, was that blood is of various types, and that persons having one type of blood are not suitable as donors to certain persons not having the same type. Classification of blood types led to the saving of more lives. Medical science continued to progress, and one more barrier was broken down.
In World War I, a further advance was made. It was found that the addition of a certain chemical prevented coagulation, but did not lessen its effectiveness. This made it possible for less skilled attendants, and less complicated apparatus to be used, since there was no need to hurry. Military surgeons found the technique invaluable because it meant blood could be taken from the donor at any time; collected and preserved for use in base hospitals.
This technique has been used in past years to develop modern blood banks—depositories of correctly-typed vital fluid—in hospitals and laboratories. It is no longer necessary for one to search the streets for a person having the correct type for blood transfusion—one merely has to draw upon the reserve in the hospital's bank.
In the new method of preparing dried blood plasma, type of blood is not a factor. It is expected to be of widespread use in modern warfare. Authorities estimate that about 83 per cent of the casualties of modern warfare are the result of gunshot wounds; and such wounds cause death largely because of loss of blood. Regeneration of wounded men through transfusion of properly prepared blood plasma furnished by America may well be a factor in the ultimate winning of the war.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Vol. 39 Friday, Sept.26,1941
No.10
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.
DIRECTORY: Copy for the Student Directory is now being prepared. Students who have not filed addresses and telephone numbers at the Registrar's Office should do so at once. James K. Hitt, assistant registrar.
UNION ACTIVITIES: All people interested in Student Activities Committees apply at Student Activities office, Union Building, between 2:30 and 5:00 in the afternoon—Fred Mitcnelson, publicity manager, Union Activities.
MODERN CHOIR TRYOUTS: Tryouts will be held for Modern Choir at 3:30 Friday afternoon, 9:00 Saturday morning in the Union Ballroom.—Clarence Peterson, director.
QUACK CLUB: Quack Club tryouts Saturday at 10:00 at the gym. Margaret Whitehead, president.
NEWMAN CLUB: The first Corporate Communion and breakfast of the Newman Club will be held at and after the 9:30 Mass next Sunday. All Catholic students are urged to attend.—Albert Protiva, president, Newman Club.
MEN'S STUDENT COUNCIL: Meeting Monday, Sept. 29, at 8 o'clock p.m., Pine room in the Union building.-Fred Lawson, secretary.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Y. M.C.A.-W.Y.C.A.: A meeting of freshmen interested in Y.W.C.A.-Y.M.C.A. commission will be held Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 4:30 p.m. in the Kansas room of the Union building. Election will take place, so all who are interested please attend.-Ed Price.
FRESHMAN MEN: All freshman men wishing to be considered for positions on the intramural managers board must turn in written applications at 107 Robinson before Oct. 3.-Maurice Baringer and Bill Collinson, senior managers.
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION: The first examination of the four to be given this school year will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 8:30. Candidates must register in person at the College Office, 229 Frank Strong Hall, Sept. 29, 30, Oct. 1. Only juniors and seniors are eligible. Seniors who pass this examination may qualify for graduation in June, 1942—J. B. Virtue.
Student Paper of THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas
Teas, Pink or Otherwise Are Part of Freshman Life
This being open season on pink teas as well as doves, every freshman who considers himself a joiner at this University is required to attend a great many teas. Men, trying to assume a more cosmopolitan attitude, call them smokers, but they all simmer down to the same thing.
Tea hopping is an art which has a fixed and unvarying technique. The experienced soul can assimilate as many as three teas in one afternoon without losing his sense of proportion, but this is a feat which requires diligence and patience.
The freshman girl gets her formal initiation into the set during the first day of Rush Week when she attends not one, but ten teas, all of them nerve-wracking but character building. She has to balance a cup and saucer in one hand, and with the other manage her purse gloves, possibly a cigarette, and get her point across.
After Rush Weak is over she starts in on a pleasant weekly attendance at the W.S.G.A. teas, where she meets other new women on the Hill and develops her tea clutching technique to even greater lengths. Here she learns that it is possible to conduct several conversations gracefully at one time without hurting anybody's feelings. She learns that since you can seldom get any cream or sugar at the same time you have been served tea, it is best to learn to drink your tea straight. Also that those charming little sandwiches that look so inviting are invariably the drippy kind that leak all over your new skirt.
The topics of conversation indulged in at well bred teas are few. You may make a few bored remarks about how far behind you are in your work or how hard Early Morning Bird Calls is. You are always required to bandy a few light words with your host or hostess according to the best Emily Post traditions. You may tell him or her how much you admire her necklace or his necktie, or you may branch off into the personal with a "Who was that women, etc." remark.
A time element is a necessary factor in matters of this sort- A minimum of 15 or 20 minutes is required for courtesy's sake, but if you are really having a whopping good time, nobody will eject you if you stay all afternoon and make a public nuisance of yourself.
Most University teas for select young women seem to take place in the sanctum of the womens lounge on the second floor of Frank Strong hall or in one of the upper chambers of the Memorial Union building.
Women of the department of journalism dispense their hospitality from the journalism building Sky parlor, which claims the loveliest view to be had from any building on the Hill.
Lena, the Cat,Moves From City to Farm
New York, Sept. 26 —(UP)— They can go ahead and move the aquarium from the battery to the Bronx any day now, because Lena has a new home—in Bucks county, Pa.
Coates advertised for homes for his charges and was immediately swamped with offers. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson C. Phillips of Ottsville, Pa., won Lena because they have a 165-acre farm where Coates feels her style will not be cramped. He rather hopes the city department of markets or the army post on governors island will take Tommy and Rainbow.
Lena has been the aquarium cat, trained not to look twice at a fish but to concentrate on mice and rats.
Christopher W. Coates, aquarium director, decided not to take Lena and her sons, Tommy and Rainbow, along when the fish, pennins, sea lions, turtles et al are moved to new quarters in the Bronx zoo. The new building, presumably, will be mouse proof.
The Phillips, whose farm supports many a mouse and rat, have a tom cat but complained that he "paid no attention" to rodents. They hope Lena's arrival will perk him up.
Alumni Directors To Plan for Fall
The directing board of the University Alumni Association will meet October 4 at 10 a.m. in the alumni office to line up fall plans. Fred Ellsworth, secretary of the association, announced today.
Other association officers include Hugo T. Wedell, Topeka, president, and Bertha Luckan McCoy, Emporia, vice-president. Directors are Bruce Hurd, Topeka; John E. Boyer, Wichita; Frank L. Carson, Wichita; Dolph Simons, Lawrence; Joanna Gleen Wagstaff, Lawrence; Clarence L. Burt, Hutchinson; Balfour S. Jeffrey, Topeka; W. T. Grant, Kansas City, Mo.; Harland B. Hutchings Kansas City, Mo.; and Oscar S Stauffer, Topeka.
LuckyBoy Doesn't Need a Black Book
Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 26 — (U P) -David B. Arnold, a Harvard sophomore, moved into a room in Winthrop house dormitory vacated by a graduating senior last spring.
He found a metal box containing 74 cards and on each cards was a college girl's name, her address and telephone number—and her rating on an A to C scale.
The girls were rated for figure, beauty, complexion and mentality, with notations at the bottom of each card, such as "torrid," "reformed" or "free and easy."