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University Daily Kansan Thursday. March 5, 1959
Only a Beginning
You are a safe and sane driver if you are between the ages of 16 and 40.
This seems to be the opinion of the Kansas House of Representatives which last week passed a bill which would require that already-licensed drivers should submit to tests on their 40th, 50th, 60th and 66th birthdays and every two years thereafter. It was passed unanimously and is now before the Senate.
The bill represented five weeks of hearings with safety experts as witnesses. This plan appears to be just the device to keep older drivers with slower reflexes and physical disabilities off of the roads. Obviously this is the ultimate goal.
But just because life begins at 40 is no sign that disabilities begin at 40. A person at 30 could be in just as bad shape, as far as eyesight, hearing or other disabilities are concerned, as a person at 40 or 50. Why wait until a driver is 40 years old to begin the program?
Should not some of the teen-age menaces be
kept off the roads too? There are "road hazards" in every age group.
Why doesn't the Legislature take a larger step in the right direction and have tests every ten years from the time a person gets his driver's license? This could be enforced by having the license become void after 10 years from the date issued if he does not take another test.
Since the state is adding 18 extra patrolmen to the Kansas highway patrol to give these driver examinations, providing the bill passes, there should be enough men to give tests to drivers of all ages.
No one should have to wait until he is 40 years old to find out that he needs certain restrictions in order to drive or that he is unfit to drive at all. Better to find out early so that you won't be driving under false illusions all these years!
Granted, this new bill is a step in the right direction to keep unfit drivers away from the wheel, but it is not the answer. Keep everyone on their toes—not just the driving bracket of 40 and over. —Martha Fitch
Catholic in White House?
For the first time in 30 years it looks as if this country has a chance of having a Catholic as a Presidential candidate.
It is no secret that Sen. John Kennedy (D-Mass) has his eye on the White House. While he says he is not a candidate (all candidates do at this stage) he took definite steps last week to clear the air as to what should be the views on the separation of state and church of any Catholic who chooses to run for the Presidency.
The young senator spoke out before any of his opponents could go back and resurrect the strategy that was used to defeat Al Smith in 1928. That strategy was to sell the voters on the idea that a Catholic President would get his orders from Rome.
Sen. Kennedy has gone on record as declaring his belief in the separation of church and state as fundamental to our American concept and heritage and that it should remain so. He is flatly opposed to the appointment of an ambassador to the Vatican. There is no question in his mind that Federal funds should not be used for parochial or private schools, he said.
If a Catholic has to clear the board of any prior allegiance to his church before he can run for the Presidency, certainly Sen. Kennedy has done this. This should not be necessary.
What is wrong with having a Catholic as President? We elect them to our school boards. We have Catholic mayors, governors and senators. Why are they discouraged when they aspire to be President?
They are usually discouraged by their own party which feels they would be a liability rather than an asset in a presidential campaign. That will be the case with Sen. Kennedy.
The Democrats at the Los Angeles convention in 1960 will be looking for a sure thing and not a man like Kennedy who can become the victim of the same kind of propaganda that has prejudiced so many Americans against the Negro and the Jew. And so the convention will listen to the conservatives and the non-Catholic Southern votes and once more this country will fall victim to the voices of the prejudiced anti-Catholic groups. —Harry Ritter
. . Chuckles in the News ..
HOLLESLEY. England—(UPI)—Mrs. George Last found a woman's gold-plated wrist watch in a can of pears from Australia.
Mrs. Last said she would inform the canning firm because the watch "may have some sentimental value for someone."
TAIPEI-(UPI)-Lo Ming-Chin, 39, convicted of selling stolen goods, asked the Taipei procurator's office yesterday to send him to jail right away so he can complete his four-month sentence during the slack season. His occupation is peddling cold drinks.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS By Dick Bibler
"BETTER LEAVE HIM ALONE - HE'S LOOKING FOR THESE
MORE WORDS TO FINISH A 10,000 WORD THEME. "
COMUMBUS, Ohio —(UPI)—A recommendation that the Legislature pass a bill prohibiting "unsightly" roadside billboard advertisements brought objections from some of the lawmakers.
CHICAGO—(UPI)—Taxi driver Martin Kritzberg, complaining that his estranged wife left their 22-months-old baby, Ira, with him to go back to strip teasing:
"What about the signs of us political candidates?" one lawmaker asked.
- * *
African natives who are acting as extras in the new Tarzan film are being paid 14 cents per day. And we're complaining about being underpaid!
"She's a stripper, all right. She didn't even leave me with a pot to cook Ira's food in."
Dailu hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
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Supported by International. Moll subscription rates: semester or $4.50 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays, and examination periods. Entered as teacher for Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence Kauai. For office under act of March 3, 1879.
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 associate Editorial Editor.
By John Husar
Dogpatch, U.S.A., should be out of place in the center of a university campus, but Li'l Abner and his crowd were most welcome guests, and the shot in the arm our theater season needed.
After over a year on Broadway, Al Capp's famous cartoon characters spent an evening on the Hoch Auditorium stage last night. As the "Lil' Abner" troupe went through its comical paces, we remembered the pleasant sounds which drifted here from New York after the show's opening there.
Being a bit skeptical that the national touring company could do the same delightful job as the original Broadway cast, our expectations were unusually dim. They could not have been more farfetched.
With an extremely talented cast, using top-flight material, the show had everything. The play by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank contained a well-drawn and easy-to-follow plot. Most of the lines were still topical and funny. Especially humorous were the panned-in comments pertaining to the ineffectiveness of KU's football team should it be opposed by the sexy Stupefyin' Jones, and the unexpected reference to the West Hill Scraggs, a branch of Daisy Mae's shoddy family tree.
The story presented the usual conflict between Lil' Abner and his Daisy. She wanted matrimony and he'd ruther have his druthers—most coinceiving with freedom. He might have kept it, too, had not the terrible Earthquake McGoon (a vile man) decided upon Daisy's hand.
While Li'l Abner was busy getting himself into trouble trying to save Dogpatch (as the most unnecessary place) from atomic destruction and idealistically give the government a valuable body-building potion free, McGoon won a promise from Daisy Mae. She would marry him if he saved Abner's life. Well, natcherly, he did, but Abner came back, and everything worked out fine eventually.
Gene de Paul's jubilant and touching music was exceptionally pleasing, and mated well with Johnny Mercer's perfectly-acceptable lyrics. The music, being the most important part of this type of show, retained its proper proportion with quality.
Robert Kaye (Li'l Abner) and Patricia Northrop (Daisy Mae) both adequately characterized their difficult parts. Kaye's fine baritone voice was particularly pleasing in "If I Had My Druthers," "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands," and "Love in a Home."
One of the brighter characterizations of the evening was that of Marryin' Sam, drawn by Dean Dittman. Mr. Dittman, a native of Frontenac, Kan., had an abundance of charm, which he agreeably radiated through his role.
Choreographically, the show was excellent. The professional dancers performed excruciating assignments with precision and abandon.
Considering Hoch Auditorium's poor facilities, the lighting and settings were exceptional. There were not enough battens to hang the show's entire set, so the players had to improvise new directions in many cases. This was barely noticeable.
The flavor, mood and music were mighty colorful and satisfying. Long will live American humoresque if it continues to be portrayed as appropriately and adequately as it was last night.
By Gilbert M. Cuthbertson
AMERICAN HERITAGE. American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 551 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, New York $2.95.
The February edition of "American Heritage" presents another varied panorama of America, its history and prehistory. Included in this issue is a wide selection of outstanding articles on subjects ranging from the United States Marine Corps to the Stanley Steamers.
Terra cotta figurines, statuary in stone and stucco, and jade carvings trace the art and reconstruct the religion, history and daily life of pre-Columbian America from the Archaic through the Classic period. Emmerich supplements the antiquities with a brief and excellent history of their discoveries.
Of particular interest and significance is the contribution of Andre Emmerich. "Savages Never Carved These Stones." The author recounts the development of Aztec, Olmec, and Zapotec art in ancient Mexico.
Emmerich illustrates in brilliant photographs and a scholarly essay the archaeology of Central America. The folio of multicolored pictures recaptures the ancient grandeur of the ruins of the sites at La Venta, Monte Alban, and Teotihuacan.
Emmerich's article is well summarized by the statement of Albrecht Direr, who, in 1520, examined the gifts of Montezuma to Charles V:
"Then I saw the things which were brought to the King out of the new Land of Gold: an entire golden sun a full fathom wide...
In all the days of my life I have seen nothing which so filled my breast with joy as these things. For I saw among them wonderful artful treasures and I marvelled over the subtle genius of those men in strange countries..."
Billington's "The Know-Nothing Uproar" and Rossiter's "Our Two Greatest Presidents" (Washington and Lincoln) provide additional interesting reading material for both historians and political scientists. These articles are representative of the high caliber of the studies in the February "American Heritage."