Daily hansan
58th Year, No. 79
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Thursday, Feb. 9, 1961
Prestons Tell of Being Hostages
By William Mullins
Floyd Preston, associate professor of petroleum engineering, said at a press conference at Strong Hall last night that "a plan to stage an uprising and just literally shoot it out with the rebels" was thwarted by barely more than an hour on the last day of the Santa Maria's roving at sea.
Prof. Preston explained that a number of South American passengers in the tourist section had their own arms. They and the crew scheduled the uprising for noon.
Solons Approve Funds for KU
KU will receive part of a $100,000 appropriation approved by the Kansas Legislature yesterday to care for more than 900 students over the original enrollment estimates.
Other state schools sharing in the additional appropriation are Kansas State University and Kansas State College at Emporia.
The bill is designed to provide additional library supplies and other materials. Rep. John Conard, R-Greensburg, chairman of the house ways and means committee said, "This is in line with the growing pressure of students which our state colleges and universities are facing."
All three of the colleges and universities exceeded their enrollment estimates by more than 300 students.
CRC Referendum Petition at 1,000
The Civil Rights Council now has more than 1,000 signatures for its petition condemning discrimination and calling for a student referendum on the civil rights resolution presented to the All-Student Council by the National Student Association committee.
"We are optimistic about getting the 2000 signatures," Tom Heitz, Kansas City, Mo., junior and CRC member said.
The CRC will leave petitions at organized houses as part of the effort to get the signatures. A petition will also be posted on the information booth.
Preston and his family were told to stay below decks. But a boat carrying American officials arrived at 10:30 that morning and the uprising was postponed. Despite this there was still a demonstration by the group.
There was a second demonstration by the crew while the passengers were being unloaded as they hadn't received assurance that they would be released by the rebels, he said.
"Some crewmen were jumping into the water to get away from the ship," Mrs. Preston said.
But word finally came that everyone would be released.
"If we hadn't been released that day, there would have been serious trouble." Prof. Preston said.
A United States Navy boarding party was standing by to seize the ship if it was necessary, he added.
Prof. Preston, his wife and four children were six of the American passengers aboard the Portuguese-owned liner, the Santa Maria, seized Jan. 22 by a group of rebels protesting against the regime in Portugal.
The rebels controlled the ship until Feb. 2, when they handed it over to Brazilian authorities in Recife, Brazil.
Describing relations with Galvao, the rebel leader, Prof. Preston said, "We tried to be friendly, but not cooperative with him.
"I got the impression that he was very much of an idealist. How much of a soldier he was, I don't know."
Prof. Preston said that he and Mrs Joan Harberson were the only Americans who spoke Spanish, and they acted as spokesmen for the Americans on the ship. Mrs. Harberson's husband had been working as an engineering consultant and they too were returning home.
"He (Galvao) held meetings with is and indicated he would be willing to talk to American or British officials," Prof. Preston said.
The meetings were always pre-
(Continued on page 3)
FINALLY HOME—Mr. and Mrs. Floyd W. Preston, and Don. 5,
recount their experiences on the hijacked liner Santa Maria.
Pirates Are More Than Child Fantasy
(Editor's Note: Harold and Bruce Preston, 9 and 11-year-old sons of Floyd Preston, associate professor of petroleum engineering were full of excitement about their recent episode aboard the Mirage inner Santa Maria. This is their story.)
By Harold and Bruce Preston as told to Kelly Smith
I saw 'em, too, the "pistoleros" I mean. That's a Spanish word that's about the same as gunslinger. Well, maybe I'd better start at the beginning.
We're about famous now, I think. The only people in Lawrence, Kan, who've ever been on a pirate ship.
See, we'd just left Curacao. That's where I got my new shoes (Funny, the bottom's split out already. Curacao has the best ice cream I've had in my whole life!)
ANYWAY. WE WERE out in the middle of the ocean on our liner the "Santa Maria." One morning I went up to breakfast and saw these guys I'd never seen before with red and green bands on their arms. They were shooting birds. I told mommi, then daddy told me to take a nap. I didn't.
Pretty soon Bruce, that's my big brother, knocked on the door and said daddy wanted to see us. He told us it was a revolution.
Shades of Thurmond
Demos Din Domestic Difficulty
Much is written in history books concerning inter-political party struggles for power on the American scene, but this sort of struggle is not exclusive to the national picture.
By Tom Turner
The KU Young Democrats, organized for the promotion of Democratic party policy and candidates on the college campus, is at present undergoing such a struggle.
THE KANSAN HAS received two "releases" from Jim Lawing, Okmulgee, Okla., graduate student and secretary of the organization, announcing a meeting by "petition" to be held tonight in the cafeteria of the Kansas Union.
"No regular meeting date was ever set up in the one meeting held this year to transact club
Included in the agenda for Lawing's "impromptu meeting" were the forthcoming election of officers; the reorganization of committees and revision of the club constitution "to prevent railroading tactics of past elections"; and preparations to "purge liberal and scholarly chapters of the KYD at the upcoming state convention in Hutchinson".
business," said Lawing in the first release, "and the present president has refused or simply failed to call a special meeting heretofore. . . the only thing we now lack is adequate leadership to exploit the latent talents of (our) membership."
A CALL FROM PHIL Brooks, Independence, Mo., junior and president of the organization following Lawing's "release".
"Mr. Lawing is somewhat the rebel kind," said Brooks. "It's sort of a struggle for power within the ranks. We do have scheduled meetings for this semester, but the plans for them are not completely formulated as yet so the dates for the meetings have not been announced. Mr. Lawing is trying to promote a party split," he said.
Today's Lawing release, a little milder in wording, made reference to the "rapidly deteriorating position of the collegiate groups in the state organization" and the need to create "more active and far-reaching committees."
THIS IS A crucial point for the Democrats at both the state and the campus levels," Lawing concluded.
Dixiecrats, anyone?
Dad told us to be quiet, and we were.
I knew about revolutions because I've lived in Caracas, Venezuela, for two years and they had jillions of 'em. Well, maybe only two, no, three.
The second day the gunmen who took over put chains and machine guns on the upper boat deck.
THE PISTOLEROS were OK.
Some were crummy. Some were nice. Regular men.
I talked to a fat stubby one who played with Donnie. (Donnie is my little brother who's five.) I talked to him in Spanish that I learned in Caracas.
There were 26 of them. I think They all carried hip-pistols around.
Capt. Galvao gave dad and four other Americans passes to go anywhere they wanted to on the ship. Us kids, well we played chess most of the time. Oh, and cards and shuffleboard, and hide-and-seek all over the place. We had a good time. I love the ship.
I saw the radar plane, the hurricane hunter. There was a whole group of people watching. In fact, it was a big mess and we all tripped and fell over shouting and waving. The hurricane hunter signaled back with its blinker light in Morse Code but I don't know what it said.
**IN A COUPLE** of days Adm.
Smith came. Everybody was aw-
fully excited and —
(Bruce speaks now) I'll tell this part. I can remember it real well. I'm 11.
Yeah, you see next Adm. Smith, who's a U. S. Rear Admiral, came to try to get us off. He rode to the ship on a launch with some other guys. It was sort of funny because one guy had to climb the plank on his hands and knees and didn't make it.
Anyway, they left, then it was Thursday morning, isst morning on the ship, that the Brazilians came to get us off.
They talked to the Poorese passengers and all of a stance everyone started shouting libertios, libertios" which is liberty. One of the pistoleros drew his gun, and another guy went through one of the glass doors. There was a lot of running and cheering and we hurried back to the upper deck.
(Continued on page 3)
Geographer Sees Legal Bars to Water Projects
Citizens of the four county area (Douglas, Shawnee, Osage and Wabaunee) can't have both the local Wakarua Watersheds and the Missouri Basin Clinton Dam, according to the present federal laws.
Walter M. Kollmorgen, professor of geography and editor of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, told colleagues at yesterday's Faculty Forum that the watershed program can be completely destroyed if the Clinton Dam project is authorized.
THE PRESENT FEDERAL laws say that in order to receive government funds, both watersheds and dams must be justified by their flood control benefits. You can't have two projects doing the same thing in the same place at the same time, according to Prof. Kollmorgen.
"The Wakarusa Watershed must receive 60 to 70 per cent flood control protection on its 35,000 acre flood plane to be justified," Prof. Kollmorgen said. "Clinton Dam would flood one-third of the Wakarusa flood plane. This would result in loss of the lands which the watershed must protect for its benefits. The watershed faces the danger of being unable to meet these federal requirements necessary to receive federal financial support. Clinton Dam will receive flood benefits from the area where it is built down to the Gulf of Mexico.
"MANY COMMUNITIES have had this problem since the beginning of the watershed program in 1954-55. The Farm Bureau, Farmer's Co-operatives, Granges and Livestock organizations have pointed out the conflict in many resolutions sent to Congress."
Prof. Kollmorgen said later that U. S. Sen, Andrew Schoeppel and (Continued on page 4)
JFK Presents Medical Plan
WASHINGTON — (UPI) — President Kennedy asked Congress today to safeguard the health of Americans from childhood to old age through a vast program topped by social security financing of hospital and nursing care for persons over 65.
The controversial plan highlighted a special message in which Kennedy also proposed federal scholarships to increase the supply of doctors and dentists; grants to bolster community nursing and hospital services; aid to medical and dental schools; action to improve the health of children and youth, and stepped-up medical research.
One part of the plan called for federal scholarships and a $700 million program of aid to medical and dental schools as part of a 10-year plan to end a developing shortage of physicians and dentists.
It was understood the administra-
on hoped to provide some 20,000
such scholarships in the next four
years.
"Decisive federal action is necessary to stimulate and assist in the blishment and expansion of
clinical and dental schools and to more talented but needy stud es to enter the health professions while bolstering the quality of their training," Kennedy said.
These officials said it would cost $1.1 billion in its first year of full operation, and would mean a $1.5 billion a year increase in social sea year increase in social seety payroll taxes.