NSA Backing Spurs Chain Store Integration
Carol McMillan, Coldwater junior and National Student Assn. coordinator on campus, said today that a joint statement by four national chain stores integrating their lunch counters throughout the South was "partially a direct result of the NSA backing for student sit-ins."
The NSA has officially backed student sit-ins for more than a year. Last week, the heads of the four chains — Kresge's, Woolworth's, Grants and McCrory-McLellan's* — met with state, local national and other interested groups in New York City before announcing their statement backing lunch counter integration in 112 southern cities.
Specific attention in the statement was given to student leaders who were consulted by the stores and who spoke "for the interests of Northern and Southern students." Miss McMillan said these student leaders were the NSA officials at the meeting.
The joint statement the four companies released said: "It is interesting to report that this student sit-in awareness has helped to desegregate approximately 75 per cent of the cities where tried, with no evidence of pickets or violence."
The stores' statement is a forthright public commitment of policy. Their statement claimed that they have been against segregation from
the onset of student sit-ins, but this is the first recognition by them of the effects of sit-ins. The statement adds that "this great social change has not reached fulfillment," but that "student-led awareness was a first big step forward."
Ronald Dalby, student body president and Joplin, Mo., senior, has repeatedly said that he does not feel that the NSA's platform on national affairs is in accord with student sentiment at KU.
Daily hansan
Miss McMillan said that the declaration by the stores is evidence of the power a strong student organization can have in national affairs.
"This is one of the reasons that it is important for KU to decide to take an active stand in NSA decision making. Through this organization, the students of KU can actually help formulate national student policies and indirectly affect national problems," Miss McMillan said.
"The NSA has great potential and can be an effective organization for furthering human relations on a multitude of questions in national and world affairs.
There has been considerable comment pro and con as to the NSA's function on the campus the past two years.
The ASC is currently conducting debates to decide the proper function and capacity of NSA at KU.
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 1960
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
58th Year, No. 24
Dalby Outlines New Program; Called Most Rigid Ever for ASC
2. A special committee should be appointed to study the major issues of the NSA so that KU could make a decision on its stand in all the issues.
The ocommittee should consist of a representative from the sociology, political science and economics departments, a Council member and the student body president.
At ASC Meeting
Palmer Suggests NSA Value Study
1. A committee should look into teh value of the NSA.
Jerry Palmer, El Dorado junior, made these recommendations to the ASC last night on possible action which should be taken on the NSA;
A more rigid program than ever before has been outlined for the All Student Council Committees, Ronald Dalby, Joon, Lope, senior and student body president said in the group's meeting last night.
Members of the ASC committees attended the first part of the ASC meeting last night for an orientation of their responsibilities as committee members.
DALBY OUTLINED a procedure the Council desires the committees to follow:
- The ASC should be notified ahead of time when any committees are planning to meet. A notice would provide council members with a knowledge of the meeting. Other students could also be informed through the Daily Kansan or official bulletin.
- All committee meetings should be recorded on specified forms for reference purposes.
HUMANITIES LECTURE—Edward F. Grier, associate professor of English; Henry Nash Smith, professor of English at the University of California, and Elmer F. Beth, professor of journalism, discuss the lecture which Dr. Smith delivered.
Henry N. Smith Links Twain and Progress
MYTH ONE was his childhood
Mark Twain's preoccupation with the myth of progress and his rejection of this myth caused him to write "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," Henry Nash Smith said last night.
HE SAID Mr. Twain's writing was symbolic of his age — the coming, the manifestation, and the effects of technology on the world.
Dr. Smith, professor of English at the University of California and director of the Mark Twain Institute, was the speaker for the second Humanities Lecture.
"Twain was better acquainted with the revolution than any of his predecessors and more perceptive of its meaning than any of his followers." Dr. Smith said.
Prof. Smith said Mr. Twain's novel, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," was a minor protest against the advent of technology or a farewell description to what Twain considered "the golden days prior to its coming.
"The book was a satirical reaction to the rapid transition of industry in the United States and western Europe to a mechanized process which is popularly called the Industrial Revolution." Dr. Smith said.
are cast or 50 per cent of the membership of the district in the election. A previous requirement called for at least 75 votes from every district.
The 150 people present who had braved the rain outside, heard the noted educator, author and lecturer explain that Mr. Twain based his writings on what was termed "myths."
Ben Langel, Salina junior, received permission from the Council to investigate a reserved seating program for students at football games.
The second myth was Mr. Twain's adulthood coinciding with the arrival of the revolution and its resulting complexities and transition from agrarian to industrial life.
The impressionable early years of Mark Twain's life coincided with the introduction of steam power to industry. Mark Twain had more contact with an entirely new way of life than any other author, and he was amazed with the advances which were made, Dr. Smith said.
In "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" the England of Arthur was pictured as a sleepy, ignorant and prejudiced nation. The Yankee was able to bring order to the chaos just as Mr. Twain believed the new technology would bring order to the chaos in industry.
background along the banks of the Mississippi River at Hannibal, Mo. This myth took place before 1850 and the effects of the revolution: the uncluttered, simple, family-integrated life.
"Before any action can be taken we must first find out if the student body wants such a program," Langel said.
"THE YANKEE's progress seems to be over-motivated much as a dream is over-motivated. The real surprise comes at the end of the book when the old magic of Merlin tops the new magic of the Yankee by casting a spell over him which lasts 12 or 13 centuries," Prof. Smith said.
"Notebooks have been found in which Twain jotted down his ideas concerning the new sciences," Dr. Smith said.
Books Attract Highbrows
Reading has become a bignrow activity, said the tall, soft-spoken professor. Henry Nash Smith, professor of English at the University of California was speaking to a group of students and faculty members at the Humanities Forum in the Music and Browsing Room of the Kansas Union yesterday.
"Gone With the Wind' sold over five million copies without the benefit of paperback printing," Dr Smith said. "This is the only book to do this. This book is a unique item in itself because it was the only novel produced by Margaret Mitchell."
"The appeal of the two best selling authors lies in their attempt to return to a primitive state of nature," he said. "They are both the despair of critics because they write in an area below literacy and barely above the levels of articulate speech. Only Erskine Caldwell shows a little good writing in a few spots."
"A movie is considered a failure if less than 50 million people see it," he said. "Television has drawn more than 100 million viewers but a book is a best seller if it sells 200,000 copies."
The two best selling authors that America has ever produced are Erskine Caldwell and Mickey Spillane, he said. They are the poet laureates of the New Deal and McCarthyism, respectively.
Of "Peyton Place" by Grace Metallious, Dr. Smith said, "It is the most contrived piece of pornography that America has ever produced."
Dr. Smith outlined several broad areas into which most American literature falls. They are murder mysteries, romantic-historical novels, second world war novels and novels of contemporary society.
The large selling figures of present novels indicate an upsurgence of the popularity of the paperbacks, he said. Paperbacks are sold in other places than bookstores and depend upon impulse buying for their popularity.
Public Relations Committee to Meet
- Newsworthy items on committee actions should be released in the Kansan. This is the main project of the public relations committee.
The Public Relations Committee for the All Student Council will meet at 7:30 tonight in the Pan American Room of the Kansas Union.
- Committee chairmen should attend every regular ASC meeting and make a report to the Council on the action being undertaken by their particular committee.
THE ASC last night passed an amendment to the constitution now providing that no district shall be represented on the council unless a minimum total of either 75 ballots
THE COUNCIL voted to put the amendment to the constitution for realignment of voting districts on the primary ballot Nov. 9 and 10. The amendment states that all dormitories having 75 or less students will be in one district and dormitories with more than 75 students will be in a second district. This increases the number of voting districts from eight to ten. If the student body favors the amendment it will go in effect for the general election on Nov. 15 and 16.
Candidates to run for election in a new district will be selected by the president of their respective political party. The candidates must have run in the party primary and be living in the dormitory district they hope to represent. This system of selection is feasible because the voter marks the candidates names on the primary ballot in preferential order.
Frosty Death Is Changing Leaf Colors, Campus Vines
As the first fall month of this semester passes by the natural beauty change takes place. The elm leaves begin to turn from the crisp green
A frosty death is near closing in on the panorama of beauty that has been accompanying October.
Cold Morning Here
Students awakened this morning blue and shivering after an overnight low of 40 degrees.
Car coats and heavy sweaters made their first appearance on campus today as temperatures dropped lower than before this semester.
A freeze warning has been issued for tonight but the forecasted temperatures for tomorrow are to be warmer than today.
of summer to yellows and burnt oranges of fall. The leaves on hard maples and black oaks are transformed into colorful hues of red. Just before the leaves turn red and brown, they are shown in their fullest beauty.
PAST RECORDS in the botany department estimate the average for the first killing frost will be on or about Oct. 23. That would be Sunday this year. After the frost the leaves will fall very rapidly leaving trees dormant for the cold winter.
Crumpet and Virginia creepers providing a cover for the outer walls of the buildings on campus will turn as the trees do with the coming of cold weather.
Some passing observers already notice that the vine leaves are falling to the ground leaving the old campus buildings naked for the cold northern winds that accompany winter.
GIANT TREES more than a quarter of a century old form an archway over Jayhawk Blvd. They send flashes and streaks of color to the sidewalks and streets.
A passer-by may stop and look at the beauty of these dying lives. Others may step on them never noticing the beauty that lies beneath their feet.
NEW CAMPUS SPORT—Shuffling through fallen leaves may become the preoccupation of couples as frost arrives.