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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday. Feb. 4, 1958
We Too Have A Satellite
With little ballyhoo or advance publicity, the Jupiter-C rocket, carrying the United States" "tin moon," rose into the night air Friday. Seven minutes later the earth satellite, named the "Explorer," was in orbit around the earth.
With the announcement by President Eisenhower that our satellite had orbited, the United States officially and actually completed its first lap in the race for space. Our ability to match the achievements of the Russians moved from potentiality to actuality in seven minutes.
Now our potential enemies, the Russians and their likes, no longer have to guess at our scientific ability. They know we are capable of conquering space. The question now is who is going to be able to launch the first manned satellite, the first space station and the first rocket to the moon.
When these questions are answered, the question of who is ahead in the missile race will also be answered. Until that time, we can only guess. Of course the guesses will be based on a lot of scientific facts and data, but they will still be only guesses.
Meanwhile our launching of the Explorer has done much for the United States. We have gained back some of the prestige we lost after the launchings of Sputnik I and II. We have proven to the rest of the world that we are capable of conquering space. We have also gained some bargaining power with Russia. Her demands for a summit conference have immediately taken a milder tone. Of course the scientific instruments in the satellite are relaying back
to us invaluable information on the earth's atmosphere. That may seem to some a minor point, but was really the purpose for which the satellite was launched.
How does our satellite compare with Russia's? It is much smaller than Sputnik II, weighing only 30 pounds compared to half a ton. But it is a little faster, its speed being about 18,000 miles per hour, and the maximum height of the orbit is greater. The most important question is unanswered, which one is relaying back the most information? It would seem that Russia's would be since it is so much larger, but that would be only a guess.
Whatever the United States plans to do, it better do it as soon as possible. Russia isn't going to set and wait for us to catch up with them. But there is a difference between speed and haste. We are in a hurry to move forward in the space race, but it is very important that a high percentage of our attempts be successful.
The Explorer is only the first step. The Vanguard rocket is poised and ready for another try. The Army plans to send another satellite up between now and April. Other attempts are probably being planned that haven't been made public.
Sure we are going to learn even from failures, but that is like learning to load a rifle when your enemy is all ready to pull the trigger. Gaining control of space will undoubtedly be very important. The United States must either gain control, or get in a position where we can peacefully share it.
—Del Haley
Progress Still Possible
Today we think the ultimate has been reached in armaments and atomic weapons and that surely no greater discoveries will take place. The idea seems to be that we will destroy ourselves with A-bombs and H-bombs; since they are such destructive and unsurpassable discoveries, they are bound to be the "monsters" that will cause the end of the world.
But look back now to when gunpowder was developed in China. The prediction then was of world doom by the use of this powerful and destructive material. The thought was that this was the epitome of warfare developments and that nothing more terrible could be developed.
Bringing it even closer to the present, consider the giant bomber planes that were used during World War II. These planes were the most powerful and fastest aircraft developed to that time. Everyone thought no plane could be built to exceed them. However, within a few years jets were streaking across the sky many times faster than the bombers. In fact those bombers, for a time considered the ultimate in aircraft, were almost obsolete.
Examples like these from history could be cited on and on, but the point is that no matter what developments we consider the ultimate and unsurpassable, within a very short time they will became outdated too.
The British crown formed the Dominion of New England by royal order in 1684 for greater control over the colonies. It consisted of the New England colonies, New York and the Jersey's.
Just what this may mean in the case of atomic weapons no one can guess. We can only be sure of the principle: Whatever we have now will shortly be surpassed.
—Nancy Landess
The typical American farm in 1940 contained 174 acres; by 1950 the average size had grown to 215 acres and that may go to 220 acres by 1960, says a recent survey of the Twentieth Century Fund.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
By Dick Bibler
"I TAKE IT YOU'VE JUST RECENTLY LEARNED TO DANCE."
Editor:
.. Letters ..
Impressed
I found your physical facilities superb, your people most gracious and kind, and your total university community one of great beauty and loveliness. Our conference was a great success, and my stay in Kansas was indeed a most significant and meaningful one.
I was privileged to be a delegate to the Sixth Quadrennial National Methodist Student Movement Conference recently held on the Kansas University campus.
Thanks to your students, your faculty and staff, and to the people of Lawrence for the sharing with us of so much.
Paul R. Rogers
Louisiana State University
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NEWS DEPARTMENT
Dick Brown Managing Editor
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Del Haley Editorial Editor
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Ted Winkler Business Manager
Pushbutton Pledging
Pushbutton pledging has become the latest feature of fraternity rushing at Dartmouth College.
IBM machines have been used this year for the first time here to match fraternity choices of prospective brothers with the preference lists of the 24 fraternities on campus.
ing system so that those who have not made a fraternity will be spared the disappointment of being left in a back room while others are asked to become pledges.
The college's Interfraternity Council inaugurated the automatic match-
Dr. G. Baley Price, chairman or the K.U. mathematics department, is president of the Mathematical Society of America.
A SCHOOL AWAY FROM SCHOOL
And what is being done about this unhappy situation? I'll tell you what: Enlightened corporations everywhere are setting up on-the-job liberal arts programs for the newly employed science graduate—courses designed to broaden his cultural base—for the enlightened corporation realizes that the truly cultured employee is the truly valuable employee.
Students majoring in science, like all other American students, have a wild yearning for culture, but, alas, when a student is after a degree in engineering or math or like that, he simply does not have time to take all the liberal arts courses his heart pines for.
Take, for example, Lambswool Sigafoos.
A week after his graduation, Lambswool reported to Mr. Femur, the personnel director of an enlightened corporation engaged in the manufacture of cotter pins and wing nuts. "How do you do?" said Lambswool. "I'm Lambswool Sigafoos and I've come to work."
"Sit down," said Mr. Femur, chuckling kindly. "Have a Marlboro."
"Thank you," said Lambswool. "I like Marlboros. I like their filter and their flavor."
"Me too," said Mr. Femur, blinking humanely. "And I like their flip-top box. When my flip-top box of Marlboros is empty, I use it to keep fish books in."
"Know what I do when my flip-top box of Marlboros is empty?" asked Lambswool.
"What?" said Mr. Femur, snigging graciously.
"I buy some more Marlboros," said Lambswool.
"Campus?" said Lambswool, puzzled. "But I've come to work. Take me to my drawing board."
"A sound idea," said Mr. Femur, vibrating fetchingly.
"But enough chit-chat. Come along to the campus."
“This is an enlightened corporation," said Mr. Femur, yodelling viciously, "First you must get your cultural base broadened."
Mr. Femur took Lambswool to the training campus, which looked like any other campus. It had ivy-covered buildings, dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, a stadium, a deer park, and a moat. Lambswool was given a roommate, a beanie, and copies of the company hymn and roser, and the enlightened corporation proceeded to fill the-gap in his culture.
First he was taught to read, then to print capital letters, then capital and small letters. Then there was an attempt to teach him script, but it was ultimately abandoned.
From these fundamentals, Lambswool progressed slowly but steadily through the more complex disciplines. He was diligent, and the corporation was patient, and in the end they were rewarded, for when Lambswool finished, he could play a clavier, compose a triolet, parse a sentence, and identify the birthstone for every month of the year.
His lengthy schooling finally over, Lambswool was assigned to an important executive position where he served with immense distinction. . . Not, however, for long, because one week later he reached retirement age.
Today, still spry, he lives in St. Peterburg, Florida,
where he supplements his pension by parsing sentences
for tourists. © 1088. Max Shidman
Here's a sentence that's easy to parse: Subject—you. Verb—get. Object—a lot to like in a Marlboro, whose makers bring you this column throughout the school year.