Cuban Student Returns to Class
Sonia Alvarez, Gardenas, Cuba, junior who returned from her home country Friday night, was back in class today.
Miss Alvarez left the Cuban mainland about noon.
"I was among the first Cuban allowed to leave the country," she said. She was unable to leave sooner because of a four-day strike declared Jan. 1.
"Except for electricity and telephones, everything on the island was at a standstill," she said.
Miss Alvarez was granted permission to leave the country last Tuesday by a chief of the rebel army. The very first planes leaving the islands carried only Americans, she said.
"I received a telephone call early Friday morning from the ticket agent to come to the airport right away," she said. About 30 persons, 15 of them students, left the country about noon.
Miss Alvarez said the country had returned to normal when she left it.
"There was a little trouble with groups that did not want to accept Fidel Castro's appointments," she said.
She said she had talked with her mother by telephone yesterday, however, and that "the groups had surrendered their arms and had completely accepted Castro."
She gave this account of the uprising
Miss Alvarez left the University Dec. 17 to spend her Christmas vacation at home. She said she had no difficulty entering the country.
"When I got home rebels ha conquered most of Las Villas, (the province adjacent to Matazas where Miss Alvarez lives). The government had started bombing the cities which the rebels had liberated.
"On Dec. 29, one of the chiefs o,
the army went to visit Castro and
offered to make a treaty with him
so things could get quieted down.
"On Jan. 1 we got a telephone call from one of our friends telling us that Batista had left the island. We didn't believe it, though, until it was announced over an American radio station."
"He left a military junta in charge, That day Castro declared the strike, to last until he had completely taken over.
"As soon as the people knew Batista had gone, flags were displayed in all the windows and on automobiles," she said.
"About 89 per cent of the Cubans supported Castro," she said. "Batista had only the army behind him."
A student from her hometown was one of the main rebel leaders,
she said. When he was killed, other Castro troops entered the city to honor him.
She said she got a glimpse of Castro as he was leaving the city by automobile.
Many of the rebels were students she said.
The country is now holding martial court. Persons who fought to support Batista will be punished, she said. Three or four in her hometown have already been executed.
Sonia Alvarez
Miss Alvarez said there was no Christmas celebration in Cuba. There were no Christmas trees or other decorations.
"The people didn't think it was right to have fun and to enjoy themselves while the revolution was going on."
Miss Alvarez said she was glad that things were back to normal:
"My family even went to a movie the other night. They hadn't been to a show in more than a year."
William L. Walker, Parsons senior, was taken to Watkins Hospital by ambulance at 1:30 this afternoon. He became ill while attending a class in Marvin Hall. The immediate cause of his illness was not known.
Bulletin
Daily hansan
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Monday, Jan. 12, 1959
Students Protest Bus Cafe Discrimination
Ten members of the International Club protested an incident of segregation in Dallas, Tex., in a letter to the president of the Greyhound Bus Lines.
One member of the group, a student from Nigeria, Africa, was refused service in a bus station restaurant while the group was on a trip to Mexico during Christmas vacation.
Another Greyhound-operated restaurant in Laredo, Tex., had not refused the student service on an earlier stop.
The letter said in part:
"We were astonished by the contrast between your desegregated restaurant in Laredo and your segregated restaurant in Dallas.
"It would seem to us, therefore, that no legal bar to the advent of
French Constitution Seen as Cure for Woes
"Matters of great question or importance must be referred to the people through referendum. There is a new Constitutional Council which acts as a Supreme Court," Father de Bertier said.
The new French constitution gives France a stronger chief of state and a more stable government.
The new Fifth Republic should cure some of the problems of the Fourth Republic" Father Guillaume d Bertier de Sauvigny, professor of history at the Catholic University in Paris, said. He described the new French constitution at the Current Events Forum Friday.
He suggested, however, that the constitution's strength depends upon de Gaulle's popularity.
Father de Bertier paused and smiled when asked whether he felt the new constitution would last.
"There is different parliamentary procedure. This procedure prevents the assembly from acting arbitrarily. Subjects for Assembly discussion are provided for by the constitution through the power granted the Council of Ministers to decide what will be discussed," he said.
"A constitution is not an abstract idea imposed upon a nation, but a rejection of a surrounding situation. It answers clearly defined needs of a nation," he said.
"There have been 16 French constitutions since 1800," he replied with a shrug.
"The mechanism to overthrow the government is more difficult. The Assembly must pass a motion of censure by an absolute majority (over one-half of the deputies)," Father de Bertier said.
"This makes the kind of make-shift coalitions of political parties which have voted governments out of office in the past virtually impossible," he said.
Faults of the old Republic cited by Father d Bertier are:
1. Too great Assembly power.
2. A downgraded status of the president.
He noted that the new constitution provides that political parties must respect democratic principles and French sovereignty.
"This means the Communist party in France could be banned," he said.
The constitution also re-establishes the Senate as a part of the government. This means that France has a bicameral assembly similar to the House and Senate of the United States.
The constitution provides a seven-
year term for the French president
"This is long—and dangerous—but the seven-year tenure in France is a tradition. This is the reason that it wore out, then cut it out and institution." Father de Bertier said.
He added, however, that there is little danger of the president becoming a dictator, for there are too many safeguards written into the constitution.
liberalism in your dining facilities can exist even in the state of Texas!
"We felt certain that since you enjoy the standing of a public service, your company would have been one of the first to comply with the very unambiguous directives of the Supreme Court on the subject of segregation."
Students Were Surprised
Margaret Savage, Herts, England, graduate student, made this comment concerning the incident:
"We were surprised to confront the segregation issue since the Greyhound Lines are a service to the public. There is no segregation in their bus lines service—only in some of their restaurants."
Miss Savage said the letter, written to the head of the Greyhound Lines, was not in criticism of segregation in private concerns. The Greyhound Lines are governed by Interstate Commerce law.
Denis Kennedy, Dublin, Ireland, graduate student, said the group had expected the segregation problem in privately owned restaurants.
"We didn't expect it in places governed by the law of the land," he said.
Kennedy said he did not know whether the club had faced a similar problem in Texas on previous trips. The club makes an annual trip to Mexico during the Christmas holidays.
Group Left Restaurant
Gretel Mueller, Bonn, Germany, graduate student, said most other members of the group left the restaurant when the Negro student was refused service.
"Some didn't realize what had happened so they went ahead and ate at the restaurant," Miss Mueller said.
Other members of the club who signed the letter to the Greyhound Lines are Garret Ormiston, Winfield junior; Richard Reitz, Council Groves senior; Carlo Mercant, Vicenza, Italy, graduate student; Shinichi Shigihara, Osala, Japan, graduate student, and Horst Trojan; Flensburg-Murwik, Germany, graduate student.
Cold Fear on Icy Roof
Fraser Flagman Reveals All
Fear strikes the heart of many persons—even those who think themselves courageous. A KU student felt fear on top of Fraser Hall Saturday night as he played "cat man" for the glory of a college stunt.
The fear-striken John Doe was able to relate his experience. Here is the letter of the intrepid mountain climber:
"The original objective of the stunt was to replace the KU flag with one of our own makings. With our flag in hand, I attempted to climb the west face of Fraser. However, due to someone's burning the midnight oil in a room directly adjacent to the fire escape, I was unable to make my ascent from that side of the building. I and my two accomplices found another fire escape on the east side of Fraser.
"The windows were locked, but when I returned to the east side I felt a current of warm air. Investigating this draft, I found that a pane of glass was missing from the east window. Through this it
"I climbed the fire escape without incident, walked up the roof to the base of the tower and climbed to the level below the flag. Seeing that there was no way to reach it from the outside, I thought of breaking into the room which was under the flag.
was relatively simple to gain admit- tance.
"With this done, I made haste to the edge of the building where I would climb down to safety below. However, said safety was not to be had. Once again the burners of the midnight oil had dealt me a cruel blow.
"I crossed the room to the door which led to the stairwell, only to find another door securely locked. I resigned myself to placing our flag in front of the window by which I had entered.
"I stood there undecided for a moment, and suddenly the campus police appeared on the scene. I dropped to my stomach and crawled to the roof, then to the tower.
"I was panic-stricken. One false step on the ice and I would fall. One sound and I would be found. I looked around for a place to hide and found a ledge on the west face of Fraser. It was two stories below the flag, to the right of three small windows one of which showed a light.
Weather
Mostly fair this evening through tomorrow. Continued mild. Low tonight lower 30's. High tomorrow in the 50's.
"I was cold. The wind was biting against my face, and the ice beneath my feet made it hard for me to stand. I began to quiver from the cold, to fire from standing plastered flat against the cold stone. Then the lights went out inside. At last I could sit down. After a few long moments I cautiously arose and crossed to the east face of Fraser, and descended the fire escape.
"The police were up now. I was frightened but not yet ready to give in. I saw a beam of light strike to the right of me, then after a few moments to the left. Voices, foot-steps, rays of light; these commonplace things were now so terrifying to me.
"There was a man seated beside a window, but I had to get by him. Somehow I slipped by him and reached the bottom. My two friends had gone. I ran, faster than I had ever run before, and probably farther, too."
"All in all it was a very interesting evening, an experience which I am sure I will never forget.
"Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas." (Happy is he who is able to find the cause of this.)
"Why did I do it?"
The Triumvirate
A LITTLE HELP. Three hands don't seem too many to Tom Taylor, Kansas City, Mo., as Jay Gruver, Prairie Village, helps him button his bulky band uniform, in time for the University Band concert yesterday. Both men are freshmen. A large audience attended the band's annual winter concert in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building.