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University Daily Kansan
Monday, Jan. 12. 1959
Profs Procrastinate
A contradiction exists in the relationship between students and faculty at KU—a contradiction in what one has the right to expect from the other.
It is apparent that faculty members expect, sometimes demand on threat of failure, that students be prompt in completing assignments.
But the student has no means of retaliation against the instructor who allows these assignments to collect dust in his office for several weeks before grading and returning them.
Tardiness and procrastination are bad habits. That the faculty is guilty of them is no less worse than the student.
Let us look at this problem from the student's viewpoint.
He, we shall assume, has spent a great deal of time preparing a paper or studying for an examination. In many courses it will be the only
paper he writes all semester. It may be the only test he is given besides the final.
When an instructor delays grading these papers, returning them weeks later, the student may only then realize that he is not doing as well in the subject as he had thought. If he discovers this late in the semester, it could prove scholastically fatal.
One can argue that faculty members have not only the one paper, but many others to grade. But they should remember also that the student does not have only the one paper to write or the one test for which to study. He has similar obligations in all his other classes
Students, as a whole, respect the faculty's demands for promptness in classwork.
In return these students have the right to expect the faculty to show respect for their time and effort by promptness in returning the work.
Pat Swanson
The Humanitarian View
With the Russian launching of Lunik I, the United States is again subjected to the cries of her allies to catch the Russians in the race for rocket supremacy.
One noted Westerner who seems to feel just the opposite is 86-year-old philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his new book, "Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare," Mr. Russell expresses fear that there may be assaults on heavenly bodies which could possibly cause them to disintegrate. Such acts of aggression would certainly tax the peace of the solar system!
Any green-blooded moon man worth his weight in green cheese would rise up in violence
at the prospect of having craters blown in his home.
It is also possible that such a war between earthlings and moon men could not be held to a local conflict. The Martians, after seeing their canals destroyed by H-bombs (or even worse, flooded by water poured from low flying satellites) could no longer remain neutral.
But how could we solve such a momentous problem? Well, Mr. Russell sees salvation, but only when gleams of sanity shine on earthling statesmen. If he is correct, then fame and fortune will no longer belong to the man who builds the perfect moustrap, but to the one who constructs the first sanity lamp.
—Jack Fenton
Teenage College Snobs
Colleges were established in order to give whoever is willing and capable an opportunity to further his education and specialize. The unknowing originators of higher education were unaware of the snobbish clusters of teenagers who were to inhabit the institutions.
The teenagers direct their snobbery toward older students on campus who return to college after a lengthy absence.
It takes a certain amount of courage to return to college after a one or two year absence, knowing that you will be older than the rest of your class and will probably find it difficult to fit in.
The students on this campus who came to college fresh from high school rate themselves the ruling class. They have no consideration for those who have returned after several years' absence.
Persons who do return, even though they are mature enough not to pay attention to the rudeness of younger students, probably have a hard time adjusting to college without any discouragement from this younger set.
They are here for a definite purpose, for an education and a degree. Let's help them, not hinder them by showing our adolescence.
—Jeanne Arnold
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS By Dick Bibler
"I'M GIVING THEM THEIR FINAL EXAMINATION ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION."
Telephone VIkking 3-2700 Extension 711, news room Extension 376, business office
UNIIT FRANCE
Dailu fransan
Founded 1889, became biweekly 1904,
triweekly 1908, daily Jan. 16, 1912.
University of Kansas student newspaper
Member Inland Daily Press Association. Associated Collegiate Press Representation by National Advertising Ser-
lature, Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. New York, New Yor-
kia, international. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $4.50 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays. University hall
expired on May 16. Entered as second-class matter Sept. 17, 1910, at Lawrence, Kan. post office under act of March 3, 1879.
Malcolm Applegate ... Managing Editor
Leroy Loyer, Pat Lord, Martha
Marten, Doug Parker, Assistant
Managing Editor, Jonne McNair
City Editor; Jeanne Arnold, Society
Editor; Sandra Hayn, Assistant
Society Editor; Bob Maey, Telegraph
Graph Editor; Brian Rushford,
Graph Editor; Jim Cable, Sports Edi-
tor; Don Culp, Athletic Sports Editor.
NEWS DEPARTMENT
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Bill Irvine ... Business Manager
William Feitz, Advertising Manager;
Robert Lida, Classified Advertising
Manager; Maurice Kane, Circulation
Manager; Clyde Kane, Promotion
Manager; Maurice Nicklin, National
Advertising Manager.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Al Jones Editorial Editor John Husar, Associate Editorial Editor
Allen - Lanitx
By Kay Reiter
"FROM THE TERRACE," by John O'Hara. Random House. $8.95.
From the terrace, from the chandelier, from the bedroom, the view is much the same—Alfred Eaton trying to assert himself and doing nothing.
We see Alfred, the rejected younger son of a steel magnate, the irresponsible Prince Halish member of the Racquet Club, the hard working government-Wall Street man, the cantankerous old busybody.
We see Alfred, after he has realized his life's ambition of making more money than his father, and we look away, not with contempt or pity, but because there is nothing in this man to hold our attention, not the ideas of a poet, the principles of a gentleman, or even the vestige of friendliness.
Hailed as O'Hara's finest, "From the Terrace" will probably be a very popular book. But it will never be a great book for two reasons.
Otherwise, he is merely an integer in our machinated way of life and, as such, what he says or does is only of interest to the reader, not of importance. This is exactly the case with A. Eaton. No matter how interesting the study of his life may be, it is not important.
First, it has no hero. I refer you to a paragraph in Arthur Miller's essay "On Social Plays" which says, in effect, that a hero is one of such character and abilities that he is more than theoretically capable of being recognized by the leaders of his society.
Secondly, although this is a sad story, smooth and sophisticated, and although O'Hara tells it well, it fails to come to odds with the social problems it hints at.
A great novel is, at the least, positive about the situation with which it deals, but "From the Terrace" is much too involved with the affairs of one Alfred Eaton to be even a general criticism of his way of life. (As examples of great novels, I give you "Gulliver's Travels," "Alice in Wonderland," or "Atlas Shrugged.")
Summary: An interesting story can be read in less than 897 pages.
By John Husar
One of the brightest performances to be given on campus this season was "The World of Cilli Wang," offered Friday night in the University Theatre. Sponsored by the KU Concert Course, Miss Wang, a sprightly little pantomimist, entertained the small, but appreciative audience.
"The World of Cilli Wang" is a series of impressions, created by Miss Wang, of various people and things. These ideas, 12 in all, have been worked into choreographic pantomimes designed to picture or tell something important about the character being portrayed.
Working with ingeniously contrived costumes, Miss Wang shows much talent both as a dancer and an actress. Her lithe movements, whirling, intricate steps and complete bodily control are complemented by the delightful reproduction of looks and traits suitable to her characters. Her wardrobe ranges from dresses and men's wear to animal costumes and dancing ensembles complete with a dummy-partner attached. She uses no scenery and very few properties. Her lighting is simple, but adequate and effective. Her tiny, five-foot-minus person dominates the stage.
Each act is a little vignette of life in which Miss Wang graphically comments upon the particular item under consideration. Her wordless comments, neither caustic nor mean, are rather happy observations on the way life appears to her. In different scenes, she humorously ridicules today's band of radio programs by being a dog listening and tortuously reacting to a set; she depicts the frustration of a man forced to hear the neighbor boy's piano exercise; she reviews the idiosyncrasies of ballet and society dancers, the painter's dramatic temperament, and the ordinary citizen's ordinary day.
In her most attractive sequence, she becomes a green plant, her hands flowers, all which develop into a myriad of colors and glory flourishing in sunlight until night brings green shadows and deathlike sleep.
The characterizations, exaggerated considerably, are out of reality, but do keep within one's emotional range. Every now and then, the sketches have a tragic, "Poor Pierrot" quality, but generally maintain a highly humorous vein. All but one or two corny, superficial scenes are finely executed.
The audience laughed neither uproariously nor loud, but softly, sensitively—as if it were enjoying the performance too much to cause distracting noise. It fastened its attention upon Miss Wang as though the most important thing in the world was happening upon the stage.
As she dances or acts through her numbers, Miss Wang gives the feeling of a person who is happy in her work. If so, she has a right to be. Her delightful evenings, spent in the realms of fantasy and fiction, are sources of good entertainment to audiences which appreciate her art.