Daily hansan
55th Year. No. 98
LAWRENCE. KANSAS
Monday, March 3, 1958
Debate Team Wins St. Thomas Tournament
Another forensic tournament victory was chalked up by the KU debate team of Kenneth Irby, Fort Scott senior, and Ray Nichols. Lawrence sophomore, at the St. Thomas College tournament in St. Paul, Minn. last week-end.
Debating the standard collegiate question, the "right to work bill," the KU team breezed undefeated through eight preliminary rounds to be named by judges as the top-rated team going into the quarterfinals.
The Jayhawkers then defeated Northwestern University, the only other undefeated team; Augustana College of Sioux Falls, S. D., in the semi-finals, and Marquette University in the finals.
Irby and Nichols topped a field of 90 teams representing 45 schools. Northwestern was second in the competition.
A team consisting of Don Bowen, Salina junior, and Lee Baird, Newton senior did not make the finals as a result of their two preliminary losses.
Commenting on his team's latest success, Dr. Kim Giffin, associate professor of speech and journalism, "This seems to be like the theatre which is having a festival this year. Well, we seem to be having a festival ourselves, only I don't know how long it will continue."
The next event for the KU debaters will be the second annual Heart of America Debate Tournament March 12-15 in Lawrence.
Weather
Partly cloudy tonight and northeast half state Tuesday. Increasing cloudiness southwest Tuesday. Low tonight 10-15 north-central and 15-25 elsewhere. High Tuesday 35-40.
Architects Meet Wednesday
The fifth annual architect's conference Wednesday and Thursday will open with a luncheon at noon Wednesday in the Kansas Union Curry Room.
BRINGING HOME THE BACON—From left, junior miler Tom Skutka, who won the mile run at the Big Eight Indoor Track Meet in Kansas City Saturday, and his trophy; Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy, and Bob Tague, surprise winner of the 880-yard dash, and his trophy. More track meet news, Page 5. (Daily Kansan photo by Ron Miller)
Water Lab Moves
Six chemists and biologists, two stenographers and two laboratory assistants began leaving KU today as part of the operations involved in moving the water and sewage laboratory of the State Board of Health from KU to a new location in Topeka.
The laboratory was first organized here in 1890 as a University department. But since the Water and Sewage Act of 1907 it has been operated jointly by the University and the State Health Board.
During its 68-year history the laboratory's job has been to keep a quality control on water processing and assure that the water in this area is safe to drink.
The moving of the laboratory will mean that KU must establish another training program for the student sanitary and water engineers. Dr. Samuel Crumrue, laboratory
head in 1904, became concerned with the high rate of typhoid in Kansas and began a search which discovered that many cities were using water with inadequate processing.
The laboratory worked out a control for this problem. The move is being made in an effort to consolidate the offices of the Board of Health and its Division of Sanitation, all in Topeka.
Trucks began moving the equipment from the present location in the basement of Marvin Hall to Topeka this morning.
Fight Over Kress Proxies
A full-scale proxy fight has evolved between trustees of the S. H. Kress Foundation and Rush H. Kress, 80-year-old chairman of the board of the Kress variety store chain and president of the foundation.
The foundation, devoted to furthering interest in art and medicine, has given financial grants to the University of Kansas Medical Center.
At the Feb.14 meeting, Mr.Kress accused seven trustees of the foundation, including Chancellor Franklin D.Murphy, of interfering with the management affairs of the company.
Trustees Asked to Resign With the accusation went Mr. Kress' personal invitation for the seven to resign from the foundation.
The basis for Mr. Kress' charges was the trustees' Jan. 22 decision to solicit proxies for the Kress stockholders meeting May 13. In a previous agreement the trustees decided to vote for themselves their own stock. In the past the foundation had always authorized Mr. Kress to decide where these votes would go.
Helm Resigns
Ten days after the invitation to
After his resignation on Feb. 25, a New York paper quoted him as saying, "However, the question of conflict of interest has now been raised and in order that the question may be eliminated and that the foundation trustees, with whom I have been in accord, shall be in no way handicapped in meeting their duties and responsibilities, I have resigned from the foundation."
resign, Harold H. Helm, who became a trustee in 1951 at Mr. Kress' request, did resign. Mr. Helm had become a Woolworth director in 1956. At that time he stated he felt there was no conflict of interest in serving on the board of both the foundation and Woolworth.
Financial writers had reported that the trustees had previously demanded a management survey of the Kress Company and that Kress had refused because of Mr. Helm's position as director of Woolworth.
SEC Notified
On Feb. 26, Dr. Herbert L. Spencer, executive director of the foundation, notified the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the foundation would solicit proxies for the May 13 stockholders meeting.
(A proxy is written permission from one stockholder to another to vote his stock at a stockholders meeting. In proxy solicitation every stockholder on the list must be accounted for.)
Filing of a proxy solicitation statement is customary before a proxy fight. Material or comment on the situation may not be released until after giving the SEC 10 days to clear it.
At the same time, officers of the Kress Company also filed to solicit proxies.
The trustees' interest in the management of the company was stated as a desire to protect the foundation's interests. The foundation's income depends upon the dividends earned by its 42 per cent share of Kress stock.
Kress dividends were reduced in the fall of 1956 from $3 to $2 annually per share. This reduced the income of the foundation by one third.
Hoover Probe Draws Replies
Committee Members Give Their Side Of Case
Three members of All Student Council committees who were criticized in the Little Hoover Commission report Friday defended their positions in statements to The Daily Kansan Saturday and Sunday.
Another committee member, Fred Allvine, chairman of the Public Relations Committee, said he would reply in a letter to The Daily Kansan.
Billings Named ASC Probers
The Little Hoover commission, originally appointed by Jim Austin, Tooeka sophomore, to investigate ASC committees, received special appointment from Bob Billings, Russell junior and student body president, William L. Reed, Kansas City, Mo. junior and commission executive chairman, told The Daily Kansan Sunday night.
"We did not intend to write a biography on the lives of the committee members we investigated and only presented summaries of their work on the committee," he said. "The Hoover commission's job was to investigate only the work of those on the committees so we could study the functioning of the committees."
"John Husar, Chicago junior and commission member, Billings and I were the only ones having access to the report while it was being compiled," he said.
"The final copies were checked by Billings about a week and a half before they were published." Husar explained, "Billings could have done anything he wanted with the reports at any time."
"He was very cooperative while we were writing the reports and I have the greatest respect for him. We agreed in the beginning that the report was not to involve politics
"The idea behind taking individual statements from the persons interviewed was to let Billings know the facts on which we based our summaries and conclusions." Reed said.
To Clarify A Point
Some misunderstanding has risen from a story quoting from the Little Hoover Commission report that appeared in the Friday issue of The Daily Kansan.
Quoting the report, the story says: "Trudy Gier (McPherson sophomore) must be officially dropped from the committee and be replaced by a more reliable individual...she is not interested in the Traditions Committee, and she herself, has actively withdrawn."
This statement in the report was not intended as an aspersion on the reliability of Miss Gier outside of the committee work.
The statement was justified by Bill Reed, Kansas City, Mo. junior and commission executive chairman, who said:
"The recommendations by the commission about persons concerned only their work with the committees under investigation and had nothing to do with their reliability outside the committee."
The Daily Kansan hopes that this article corrects any misunderstanding that has come about.
Trudy Gier, McPherson sophomore and member of the Traditions Committee, in her reply to the criticism in the report, said "the whole thing is a misunderstanding" between her and the Traditions Committee.
Miss Gier said she had worked on committee projects early in the year, but had later talked to another committee member and resigned.
She assumed her resignation was effective, she said, as the committee chairman did not call her for any more of the meetings.
After the Hoover Commission had talked to her, she said, a committee member called and told her there was a meeting. Apparently, since she did not make the resignation in writing, her name was still carried on the committee roster.
"Wasn't Informed"
In its report on the Labor Committee, the Hoover commission criticized the executive branch of the student government for failure to notify committee members of their appointments.
Phil Stuart, Lawrence junior, who only learned of his appointment as chairman of the committee when the commission called him, told The Daily Kansan, "It certainly isn't disinterest on my part. I just wasn't informed.
"Even though we have a late start, there is still a lot of time to accomplish the purposes of this committee. I have a very close interest in this."
The Hoover Commission did not criticize the Labor Committee members, but only recommended "that this committee be given a chance to function."
Stuart said the committee would meet this week.
Vyrl McFadden, Hanston junior and chairman of the Housing Committee, in a written statement on the commission's report, said:
1. The assumption that the Housing Committee is a 'miserable failure' is entirely false.
"2. A standing committee has one school year in which to accomplish its function; it should not be judged by its accomplishments until the end of that period."
3. Concerning the Housing Committee, the report is not inclusive and gives only an approximation of the truth.
"4. The few facts that the report does present are given a political and highly colored interpretation."
Bob Billings, Russell junior and student body president, and Ralph Varnum, Kansas City, Mo. junior and chairman of the department of student welfare, had no comment on the report Billings said a statement would be released after a meeting Tuesday.
John Husar, Chicago, Ill., and William Reed, Kansas City, Mo., both juniors, who made the Hoover investigation, said Sunday they stand by the report as prepared by them.