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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 9. 1960
Publicity in Life
The Daily Kansan has been criticized for not doing its bit to promote and "publicize" Religion In Life Week.
Thus the question again comes up as to just what is the function and responsibility of a newspaper.
We feel that our job is to publish news, not merely publicity as furnished to us by University organizations and groups.
Freedom of the press is not a one-way street. Every privilege has an obligation to go with it. An editor cannot misuse his freedom for selfish reasons. He has an obligation to respect the powers society has given him.
But he has no obligation to support any particular events of the community. He makes the decisions as to what goes in his newspaper on the basis of his concept of his responsibility.
Most editors agree that certain activities deserve coverage in the papers, because of their news value and also because they are worthwhile events. Religion in Life Week is considered by most persons to be worthy of encouragement by campus organizations such as the newspaper.
But it has no right to publicity for the sake of publicity. Some of the critics of the Kansan's handling of religious week news implied that the Kansan had an obligation to devote space to publicizing any all-university activity.
But only the managing editor on a given day can determine what stories will go into the paper and how long they shall be. The number of stories and amount of space vary from day to day. Value judgments must be made daily because
of the ever*changing flow of news.
Daily Kansan reporters covered speeches and discussions during Religion in Life Week. Much space was devoted to stories and pictures. Kansan editors thought the stories were newsworthy and they were run in the paper.
Our reporters also noted that most of the meetings were poorly attended. They interviewed students and religious leaders and found that some favored abolishing religious week.
Our opinion on the matter was stated in these editorial columns. We wrote that we favor dropping religious week, and instead we favor having several prominent religious leaders visit the campus at different times during the year to discuss religion with the students.
Religion is among the most popular topics in student bull sessions. It is of vital concern to almost all of us. The Student Religious Council should do something to promote intelligent religious discussion. But we don't think it should continue to sponsor a religion week.
There has been much discussion of the pros and cons of Religion in Life Week during the past month. This discussion should bring positive results.
We will continue with religion week, or try something else. But in either case the action will be taken after much investigation and deliberation.
Religion in Life Week, 1960, was valuable in prompting a close look at the institution as we have known it.
Jack Harrison
Beware of Our Raving Editor:
As president of the Hilden Gibson International Cooperative House, I feel it is incumbent upon me to perform a duty that everyone will recognize as an extremely onerous one: writing to the Daily Kansan.
I have become aware of an unsavory propaganda campaign that seems to have its roots right here in this house. I refer to the letters which have been run in your fine newspaper, purporting to reflect the opinions of Hilden-Gibsonians. Kansans! Pav little or no attention to these subtle charmers. In no respect (or at most only to a minimal degree) do they reflect the true spirit of our democratic community. One will find oddballs and troublemakers in any group of fallible human beings.
It is our misfortune to have (temporarily, one hopes) an excess of such types. My aim is to correct any possible wrong impressions
...Letters ...
that these persons may have conveved.
A recent letter signed "Men of Hilden Gibson" was actually conceived in the mind of a fellow who holds no office of trust in our organization.
I want to make it quite clear that the present Leadership of HGIC in no way endorses any unnecessary mingling of the sexes here at KU.
Even more damaging to our reputation have been, perhaps, the anti-American diatribes of a certain foreign student. Though only a guest here he has not been satisfied with burlesquing problems of purely local and internal import, but has found it necessary to comment on matters of hemispheric significance. And that repeatedly.
We have tried to discipline him, but raised eyebrows and stiffened upper lips seems to have little or no effect, even when exercised in unison. The severest postures countenanced by our Constitution serve only to elicit derisive laughter. Those who are familiar with our way of life will understand what I mean when I say that we definitely view him askance.
Considerations of space and the attention-span of the Kansan prohibit me from continuing with this catalogue of grievances. Let me only say that all responsible people here categorically reject the highly emotional remarks of another of our foreign students, this one from Ghana (Africans are a ridiculously small minority faction, constituting less than 10 per cent of our total strength) on the recent French achievements in the physics of small particles. That some few marginal groups may have to be sacrificed in the interests of science has long been known. Let us be happy in the assurance that experiments conducted in remote Saharan regions will not contaminate us. Like our own contributions to the modernization of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Algerian explosian will yield valuable information about the human significance of atomic theory. Surely the disappearance of a few other nations is not too high a price to pay for such knowledge.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS By Dick Bibler
"OUT HOW WILL I EXPLAIN YOUR 'As' IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO TYPE?"
All the true Americans of my co-op—and, I am sure, of KU—join me in extending an Easter message of peace and good will to all mankind. We condemn only those who would abuse America's constitutionally guaranteed liberties. It is a pity that aliens now outnumber us here at the co-op. I have managed to put off holding new elections, but there does seem to be a new trend in the voting franchise.
James M. Elliott
President
Hilden Gibson International Co-op
Short Ones
A buddy of ours took a freshman to the drive-in the other night and wrestled with her for half an hour before she figured out that "Closed For_The Winter" wasn't a movie.
There are two possible reasons—either Dick Clark got a little payola for playing some of those songs, or the poor boy is tone deaf.
...
--grotesque. However, I have found that a good rule of thumb to follow is to see which pieces stick out in my memory. "Descent from the Cross" passes the test with high honors.
Castro blames the United States for all his troubles. About the only thing left is the weather. I suppose we'll get blamed for that some of these days.
Art Critique
By Nancy Kay Crummett
One of Dr. Samuel Johnson's most famous quips concerns a woman preacher: It is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It may not be done well, but you are amazed that it is done at all. The parallelism is not exact, but it seems applicable to the Student Art Show of prints and sculpture now on exhibit in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building. One would think it almost impossible that two young artists could produce so many high-quality pieces of intricate art work.
This month's show reveals not only the great technical skill possessed by both Mr. W. A. Henry and Mr. Robert Edmonds, but a quality of "distinguishable" expression. That is, the prints of Mr. Henry and those of Mr. Edmonds are distinguishable from each other. This may well be the next best thing to being distinguished. While Mr. Henry's work is angular and refined, Mr. Edmonds' is more rounded and massive.
Mr. Henry's prints occasionally reach beyond technical skill to dramatic heights, as in "Self-Portrait." The print is not only a skillful representation (it actually looks like him), but is also poetically expressive of "The Artist" per se. His "Prince of the Black Isles" portrays an amusingly evil figure, but perhaps because of the handling of the composition, I am willing to accept him for what he is. Not sq with "Landscape." I have the impression that Mr. Henry simply got carried away with the idea of color after working so long in black and white. "Landscape" is not suggestive or imaginative, and is a little too sophisticated, in the unpleasant sense. I trust Mr. Henry regards it only as a "filler" for this show.
One of the largest canvases in the show is Mr. Henry's "Descent from the Cross." My first reaction to it was that it was a bit too
Not so with the other large canvas, "The Way of the Cross" by Mr. Edmonds. One cannot deny that it was very ambitious of the artist to attempt such a piece, and one hesitates to complain if the job doesn't quite come off. Unfortunately, however, this print, for all its bigness, is little more than that. There is no strong progression in the composition and it leaves the viewer feeling that it hasn't been finished. I might add that this print is the only one of Mr. Edmonds' which I feel is unsuccessful in this way. As a craftsman and as an artist, he has something. Both men do. Call it character, vision, strength of personality, their work is impressive.
I was most taken with "The Bird" and "The Grasshopper." If it is possible to "catch" the quivering legs of a grasshopper, Mr. Edmonds has done it. His "Conception of the Minotaur" portrays the bull and Pasiphäe in a position reminiscent of Rembrandt's "Monk in a Corn Field." Nuff said.
The sculpture exhibited by Mrs. Marguerite Kerfoot and Mr. Winthrop Williams, Jr., while interesting, does not reveal anywhere near the same power or imagination as the prints. Mrs. Kerfoot's "Head in Natural Cedar" is a successful experiment in using the natural grain of the wood to its greatest advantage. However, her "I remember" is a little too frankly expressive.
Mr. Williams, a purist who would undoubtedly object to an evening of program-music, has not titled any of his pieces. This purism, the anti-commentary, anti-subjective approach to art, while admirable to a certain extent, is a little exasperating when it finds expression only in the absence of titles. Obviously, this makes it very difficult for the critic to refer to individual pieces. Suffice it to say that there are three "splashes," several squares, and a number of loops and swirls: space-forms—both interior and peripheral.
This show, one of the finest the campus has seen in past months, is well worth a few minutes of any student's time—and it's free!
Dailu Hansan UNIVERSITY
University of Kansas student newspaper
University of Kansas student newspaper
Founded 1889, became biweekly 1904, triweekly 1908, daily Jan. 16, 1912.
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Member Inland Daily Press Association. Associated Collegiate Press. Represented by National Advertising Service, 420 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. News service: United Press International. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $5 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the university year except Saturdays and Sundays. University holidays, and examination periods. Entered as second-class matter Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan., post office under act of March 3, 1879.
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