KU Students Back Kennedy's Stand on Berlin
By Ron Gallagher
Reaction to President Kennedy's proposals on the Berlin issue were remarkably similar among six participants in a survey conducted yesterday by the Kansas.
JOHN BROWN
"I don't think there will be a war."
Five of the six agreed that an increase in military strength is necessary to convince the Russians of Western intentions concerning Berlin.
Only Don Carlson, Fort Scott, junior, disagreed with President Kennedy's plan to increase military spending by almost 3.5 billion dollars.
"I think Kennedy is being shortsighted in this," he said. "This money could be better spent in federal aid to education."
He also commented that waste could be cut out and the military compressed into a more efficient organization.
The other five expressed varying degrees of approval of the Kennedy plan. The comment of Woodson Roddy, Iola graduate student, was typical:
John Brown, Lawrence senior, and Jay Moore, Nickerson junior attending previews for transfer students, both said they do not think the Berlin crisis will erupt into war. Moore said:
"I am not too worried about a war. However, it sounds like we are about as close to war as we have been for a long time.
"I think the only way we can lay it on the line to the Communists is to do something materially to let them know what we mean," he
ROBERT SIMMERMAN
'.. I'm not too crazy about going'
added.
Three of the six mentioned that they do not think the increase in draft rate will affect college students. Robert Simmerman, Kansas City junior, said:
"I am in the reserves myself. I am not very crazy about going. But if President Kennedy thinks it is necessary I'll go along with him.
However, I do not think they will pull anyone out of school."
Moore also said he feels he will not be drafted as long as he stays in school. Brown said he thinks more people will enlist, thus minimizing the effect on those who want to attend college. The other 3 did not comment on the draft problem.
United Press International reports that Americans are flocking to enlistment centers to ask what they could do for their country and are flooding Civil Defense switchboards to ask what they could do for themselves in an outpouring of response to President Kennedy's call for an arms buildup.
A survey of man-in-the-street reaction to the President's firm stand on Berlin indicated awareness by far more Americans than actually heard or read Kennedy's Tuesday night message.
Enlistment centers reported more inquiries than at any time since the Korean conflict. Draft boards geared for a 5,000-man boost above an earlier August draft call of 8,000.
In Boston, M.Sgt. Frank J. Carr said enlistment inquiries were up 500 per cent over a normal day. San Francisco Army recruiters said the "phone hasn't stopped ringing all day."
Similar reports came from Birmingham, Atlanta, Des Moines, San Diego and perhaps the nation's best known recruiting center in New
JAY MOORE "... we are close to war."
York's Times Square. A St. Louis Air Force recruiter said there generally is a few days' delay between inquiries and enlistments.
SUMMER SESSION KANSAN
49th Year, No.13
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Friday, July 28, 1961
Military Boost Unlikely To Affect Collegians
WASHINGTON — (UPI) — Stepped-up draft calls to bolster America's muscle in the Berlin situation probably will not disrupt the college plans of many young men, a Selective Service official said yesterday.
"We feel that going to college is very important to the nation's future," the official said. "Those who want to go to college probably will be permitted to do so. Selective Service does not now plan to put any great pressure on college- bound youngsters."
There are about 70,000 men classified as I-A who have been examined and are in the draft-ready pool ready for induction. These can be used to meet immediate Defense Department draft needs.
There are about 1.5 million who have been classified but have not yet been examined. Selective Service normally gets a rejection rate of 50 per cent, which means that about 750,000 men would be available for induction as soon as they are examined.
The Selective Service official said that as draft calls are issued, the rate of volunteers for the armed services goes up. He said it was possible that some youths would quit school to volunteer, but he did not believe many would do so.
The draft official said there may be some college students in the group that has not been examined. But he said that if they want to start or continue their college education, they probably will be permitted to do so.
Many of the volunteers are youths just out of high school who want to get their military service out of the way before going to college. Selective Service has no statistics on men who go to college after serving their military tours, but thousands of World War II and Korean War veterans used the GI bill of rights to complete their education after military service.
The average draft age now is 23 years. By that time most college students have graduated. The draft age ranges from $18^{1}_{2}$ to 26. Those who were deferred before they were 26 can be drafted up to age 35.
The draft call for August, originally set at 8,000, was increased late Wednesday by the Defense Department to 13,000. There has been no official call yet for September draft-
ces, but Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara said the need would be at least 20,000 for that month.
The Selective Service official said that if the average induction age of 23 is forced down by demand for more men, "we will look at the situation sympathetically but realistically."
Area Draft Calls Hiked
More young men in Missouri and Kansas will be drafted next month under President Kennedy's plan to build up the armed forces, but National Guardsmen and Army Reservists from the two states are unaffected at present.
By United Press International
Kennedy, in his speech to the nation Tuesday night, said he plans to "double and triple the draft" and proposed to call to active duty several reserve units. The increase in military strength is necessary, he said, because of the situation in Berlin and Communist threats to the free world.
The Selective Service office in Jefferson City was less conclusive about the Missouri draft call because Draft Chief Col. L. B. Adams is attending a conference in Denver.
The Selective Service office in Topeka said that Kansas' draft call for August will be from 105-110, compared with 71 men drafted this month.
At Camp Ripley, Minnesota, the commander of the 35th Division of National Guardsmen from Missouri and Kansas said Kennedy's plans apparently do not change the unit's status.
Limited Military Powers Are Likely, McNamara Testifies
WASHINGTON—(UPI)Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara said yesterday that President Kennedy would use sparingly the new powers he has asked to call up reservists and lengthen military service periods.
McNamara told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and the President "are well aware of the disruptive effects and the hardships that such recalls to active duty have on the individuals involved."
McNamara told the Senate group: "We plan to use the authority to extend the terms of service of military personnel to the minimum extent necessary. We hope to restrict its use to only those personnel whose skills and experience are essential during the build-up phase—and for as short a period as possible.
McNamara testified on two bills which are part of the President's military build-up plans to deal with the Berlin crisis. One would empower Kennedy to call to duty as many as 250,000 ready reservists and keep in service military personnel who ordinarily would end their tour of duties.
The other bill would authorize the Army, Navy and Air Force to spend an additional $958,570,000 for planes, ships and missiles.
Republican congressional leaders pledged support of President Kennedy's Berlin program but demanded that the administration make belt-tightening cutbacks on domestic spending.
"We also expect to make limited use of the authority to extend the training periods of certain selected reserve units."
They said Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev could make no greater error than to believe the United States would "point a weapon but not be willing to fire it."
But House GOP Leader Charles A. Halleck, Indiana, told a news conference that in the 54 days since Krushchev put Kennedy "on notice" regarding Berlin, the administration has not lifted one finger to halt the vastly increased spending
program of the new frontier."
Sen. Everett Dirksen, Illinois, Republican leader, echoed Halleck's statement and in a prepared statement of his own pledged GOP support of the President's firm Berlin stand.
"Let it be clearly understood that President Kennedy has the complete support of the Republican leadership in Congress in the Berlin crisis," he said. "If differences should appear, they would be on how to uphold our Berlin commitments, not whether to uphold them. We are all aware that the issue is not a city named Berlin, but free world unity."
In Berlin, Western intelligence experts said they believed the Soviet Union is worried about how much loyalty they would get from the 110,000-man East German army in a fight over Berlin.
They caution, however, that any underestimation of the East Germans could prove embarrassing for the West.
At a glance, East Germany's armed forces appear well-equipped with modern Soviet weapons to meet combat conditions of the atomic battlefield.
They are composed of a seven-division army, a small air force and a small navy.
On June 17, 1953, when East German workers revolted against the Communist regime, the "Barracks People's Police"—forerunner of the "People's Army"—refused to crack down on them.
Russian troops, part of the 400,- 000 men the Kremlin has stationed in East Germany crushed the rebellion.
In London, British leaders were reviewing mobilization plans and contingency arrangements for any possible Berlin emergency.
But a decision on concrete steps was put off until after the meeting of the U.S., British, French and West German foreign ministers in Paris next week.
Government sources hold that no emergency has as yet arisen which would justify the immediate callup of reservists.
Berlin, they said, is still primarily
a political—not a military—problem and must be tackled first by diplomatic action.
An American "task force" planned to leave for Paris to begin coordinating Allied political, military and diplomatic strategy against Soviet efforts to force the West out of Berlin.
Officials described this as a significant move in President Kennedy's plan to seize the diplomatic initiative from Khrushchev while also strengthening the Allied military front.
In addition, the "task force" expected to explore with the major U.S. allies the possibility of economic reprisals against the Soviet bloc if the Russians further tighten the screws on Berlin.
In Los Angeles, former Vice-President Richard M. Nixon urged all Americans, regardless of party, to back President Kennedy in his warning to the Soviet Union.
Nixon, now an attorney in Los Angeles, fully endorsed Kennedy's emergency program to meet Khrushchev's challenge.
Overflow Audience Sees 'Calamity Jane'
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-(UPI)—The largest Starlight Theatre crowd in about five year's 7,946, saw Carol Burnett Wednesday night in "Calamity Jane."
Officials said there was an overflow of 346 persons. Of the total 255 sat on benches hauled into the theater several days ago to meet the demand for tickets. The others stood.
The all-time attendance record for the theater is 10,251, recorded for a performance in 1956 of "Annie Get Your Gun," starring Gisèle MacKenzie.
Western Civ. Exam Tomorrow
The Western Civilization exam will be given from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in various rooms throughout the campus.
Approximately 300 have enrolled for the exam. Results should be out in about a week.