4
Wednesday, January 22, 1975
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers.
Wise voice lost
Members of one of the most strongly dominated Democratic Congresses ever have taken their hand in the absence of one man is conspicuous.
Through his chairmanship of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee he was perhaps the best known Democratic senator in the world: J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
Fulbright wasn't a casualty of the November elections. He was defeated by the Arkansas Democratic primary, last spring by Gov. Dale Bumpers.
Observers said Fulbright lost because he lacked a certain understanding of the nurses and other Southern politicians such as Jimmy Carter possessed.
Fulbright, instead, was an intellectual. Compared to the friendly, outgoing Bumpers, he appeared cold and aloof.
Fulbright summed up the reason for his defeat, "I'm at a disadvantage anyway in an age of television. There are certainly no people who don't have television—much prettier to look at. Including Governor Bumpers."
Ideologically, Fulbright was almost impossible to type. His early condemnation of the Vietnam war and his willingness to battle with his old friend, Lyndon Johnson, thus damaging Fulbright's chances for reelection, made him a darling of the liberals in the 1960s.
On the other hand, Fulbright could be a master of political life or death.
He frustrated much of his liberal following in 1957 when he avoided race to lead Rock and later to when he tried to lead Kennedy's civil rights legislation.
Fulbright often admitted that if he had voted his conscience he might
not have maintained his Senate seat as long as he did.
But if a man is to be remembered
name will linger in the history books.
Years ago he warned the United States of the growing power of the oil rich Arab states and the dangers of an enduring liaison with Israel.
His accomplishments include the Fulbright Resolution, which led to the founding of the United Nations, and the establishment of the American Scholarships that allowed American students to study in other countries.
Fulbright also pushed for the recognition of Red China and Cuba when most Democrats feared being labeled Communists.
His foresight was correct not only in his case against the Vietnam war, but in addition he was the first man to win the war. He is also the demagogue Joseph McCarthy.
As the members of the young, reform-minded Congress take their seats, one wonders whether they will be able to harness intelligence that Fulbright possessed.
Now after spending billions of dollars under the assumption that might is right, many Americans are finally following Fulbright's ideals.
It is hoped the new Congress won't get so involved in a political power struggle that it will narrow its effectiveness.
It is almost frightening to think of the U.S. Senate without a cool, effective William Fulbright, who easily takes what is happening all over the world.
Although it may have been his coolness that caused Arkansas voters to forsake Fulbright, it was his effectiveness that made him more than a senator of the United States.
It made him a sentinel of the world.
—Kenn Louden
Benton's art lives
Benton, Grant Wood of Iowa and John Stuart Curry of Kansas led an artistic movement of the 1930s that was to be called "Regionalism." The movement, first called the "white" movement, was called the celebration of America and Americanism—America seen through her own eyes.
the popularity of the regionalists declined as abstract and expressionist painting became the rage, but another stuck to his work style.
A fellow Missourian once called him the "best damned painter in America." Art critics may not have agreed, but Theon's appraisal of Thomas Hart Benton, but thousands of unsophisticated did.
Benton died Monday night. He was 85 years old when he completed his last work, a mural, Sunday. Benton was a rugged man and his paintings were worn by women—the people of the Midwest that he loved so much.
"Pictures may fail to please, movements may fail to survive, but the artist has his rewards anyhow." Benton once said. But he maintained that "the only way an artist can personally fail is to quit work."
Benton never quit working, although he threatened several times that a particular painting would be his last. And Benton never quit being controversial. He called abstract paintings "decadent" and "dramatic." But he damn't about critics. He said he knew what was wrong with art.
"I'll tell you what's the matter
Benton painted memories of a brawling America—a land of slavery and race characters that he saw as the strength of America. He said it best;
"My American image is made up of what I have come across, of what was 'there' in the time of my experience—no more, no less. My historical murals, because of this, are full of anachronisms. I paint the past through my own life experiences."
Benton thought art should be of and for the people and he said he would rather sell his paintings to taverns and bawdyhouses than to museums where "they're never seen."
In recent years Benton's work has regained much of its popularity—a sort of vindication for the crusty old artist. Perhaps the popularity resulted from people looking back to an older America and a simpler way of life, painted in images they could understand.
Benton was, in many ways, similar to his great friend and admirer, Harry Truman. Both men were outspoken, proud of their military heritage, and straightforward in their approach to their work.
And I have the same sort of feeling about Benton's death that I had when Truman died. A real person, "the genuine article," is gone.
Craig Stock
This is the first of several columns of short opinion and informational items that will appear in the Kansas this
Jobs, Linda, Watergate
ine column will offer editorial comment, political observations, tips on saving money, occasional humor, trivia and whatever else works its way into the space.
Readers are invited to contribute information, opinion or rumors to the column by letter, email or an anonymous telephone call.
Graduation is only four months away for several thousand seniors at KU but jobs may not await graduates. As unemployment figures attest, jobs are scarce in many fields, so job hunters begin early.
The way the economy looks, the class of 75 might adopt the new system back, when the last recession was in force. Once again the slogan might be "KU Seniors will be my ment Statistics Tomorrow."
The latest issue of "Playboy" magazine contains an interview with Linda Lovelace about her movie "Linda Lovelace for President," part of which was filmed on campus. The pictures
accompanying the "Playboy" article make it pretty plain the movie won't be G. W. Proud+ed, but I'll be when the film company was in town.
good for them, be it cover or per jury, rather than about what was good for the country. Liddy of the fusee case, two recent information about his operation and his wife has called him a "hero." Liddy still
The type of mentality that brought on the Watergate affair
By Craig Stock Associate Editor
Liddy said former President Richard M. Nixon was "insufficiently ruthless" in dealing with the Watergate affair. Nixon should have destroyed the tapes that were used as evidence against him, Liddy said.
Liddy's attitude is precisely what was so dangerous about the Watergate mentality to him. She thought this men thought about what was
confuses, as did Nixon and his staff, the Presidency and the President. Thus, they thought what was good for the man was automatically good for the country.
It was a strange story that came across the wire over Christmas break. The Beatles legally dissolved their partnership known as the Beatles and Co. Of course, the inquiries have been saying for several years that the group was dead
Still, the announcement brought on some memories that won't die—
The strange sight that greeted my 10-year-old eyes that Sunday as I watched four "long haired" English youths with their hands in the Your Hand" and "Love Me Your Hand" and "Edd Sullivan Show."
--Watching "Help," "A Hard Day's Night," "Yellow Submarine," and "Let it Be" at the movies,
-Hours of listening to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Yesterday and Today," "Mystical Magery Tour," "the white album" and "Abbey Road."
—Consoling my friend, Don,
who considered suicide upon hearing in 1969 that the Beatles had disbanded.
—Secretly hoping that reports of a Beatles comeback were true, while knowing they would never be the same.
Former President Richard M. Nixon is "a beaten man," according to his former press secretary, Ron Ziegler. Nixon is in "exile" in his San Clemente home. Ziegler said recently.
That picture is quite a contrast to the one painted of Spiro T. Agnew, former vice president and Nixon vice president in the order "minister". Agnew's business associate, Walter Dibble, says
Agnew is hardly an exile as he jets around the world setting up business deals. If he shows the same instincts for making changes when in public office, Agnew will fulfill Dilkeck's prophecy.
It appears that resigning from high office in disgrace has been a much greater punishment in Nixon's case than in Agnew's. It makes one wonder whether the government's own agents are responsible for Agnew to containt pleas to charges of tax evasion.
Agnew seems not to have suffered from the ordeal and his associate, Dilbek, seems to be a little more serious. Agnew, Dilbek, speaking of the witnesses who told of giving kickbacks to Agnew, said, "I think the American people hate that the president is saying," he hone Dilbek is wrong.
Agnew will become a multimillionaire because of his contacts with Arabs.
Students tired of going through the hassles of buying a drink through a private club will be interested to know that a constitutional amendment to allow liquor-by-the-drink in Kansas has been introduced in the Kansas House.
Cheers.
Vacations are escape valves
Inflation and recession have swept through the American economy over recent months. Further so, in recent months, the American, are still willing to spend their cash on accounts, good times and just plain money.
Although the U.S. travel industry had suffered a depression in recent years and experienced costs, it experienced an unexpected upsurge during the Christmas holiday season as thousands of Americans are overseas throughout the United States.
Florida was one area hit particularly hard by the hordes of hurricane surfers, trailers, campers, vans, mobile homes and cars rushed into Florida like an invading army under major southbound highway.
The sudden influx of tourists created traffic jams, bumper to bumper traffic all the way into Georgia and numerous headaches for the local police and highway patrol.
Florida merchants and businessmen who expected a slow to moderate Christmas season were taken by surprise. To them, the huge crowds didn't in an economy that was in a slump.
them tried to answer; "What happened?" "Why the sudden boom?"
But they weren't complaining, especially since a lot of people were paying their tabs for it. Did they really question that practically all of
It seems that a number of things contributed to the sudden boom in Florida tourism. Gloomy economic conditions in Florida were enough to prompt many northerners into a quick
Unemployment was also a contributing factor in the sudden Florida vacation boom. The large number of cars carrying Michigan license plates that showed up in the southbound lanes and in hotel rooms at the hotels is the theory that many people laid off because of the recession in the automotive industry were spending their unemployment benefits on a Florida fling.
vacation to "get away from it all."
Some of the holiday visitors that I talked to is a bellman at a Ramada Inn near Disneyland after watching the future economic conditions. They said they believed that it would be only a matter of time before the economy would once become a productive and stable stage.
However, others weren't so optimistic. Some people said they feared that the economy
would only get worse and that it was better for them to take their vacation now when they had the money and the time.
The only thing that people knew for sure was that they were out to have a good time, and there was little doubt in the mindslaught of highway travelers accomplished that very goal.
Tourist attractions throughout Florida had either record crowds or larger crowds than in previous years. Disneyland also gates into the park more than once over the holiday season because of crowds that sometimes exceeded 70,000 and Busch Gardens in Tampa also recorded large crowds.
Other attractions such as Cypress Gardens, Kennedy Space Center, Circus World and Citrus Tower benefited from the increase in holiday visitors from last year.
For some of the northern tourists, their last-minute fling in the sunshine was more of a surprise than they bargained for. Arriving without reservations or an established plan for their leisure time, many of the vacationers found they couldn't get a room or had to stay at a hotel or be secluded and quiet beach with thousands of yelling, screaming and happy travelers.
Hotels, trailer parks and
camping grounds were almost 100 per cent full during the busy holiday season. Many had to walk for a long period of a place to stay. Other hotels that had been in mothballs because of last year's energy crisis suddenly had more stress than they could handle.
They couldn't even recommend a place to stay because almost all hosteliers were female, and they didn't care during the busy season.
Some travelers slept in their cars, camped out on beaches, or slept in the parking lots of recreational facilities.
But they still had a good time. Many of the travelers brought their Christmas with them—trees, presents and all. Some kids asked for gifts at hotel doors. They had a lot to talk about and a lot to do. They were out to buy and find a little happiness in the Sunshine State.
Contributing Writer
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John Pike
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Ford's economic plans show gutsy leadership
President Ford has just given us his best week of leadership since he assumed the presidency.
He has made economic proposals and cabinet appointments that show two thinks:
-In making two gutsy cabinet appointments, he has to be careful perception must be must be. We are to restore confidence in this
—While Ford is regarded as both conservative and stubborn by nature, he didn't hesitate to abandon long-held philosophies in the face of potential national calamity.
nation's law enforcement machinery, and if we are to free the national bloodstream of the racial poison that was fed into it
criticisms. While the proposed tax cuts for 1975 are allocated fairly on the basis of ability to pay, the rebapture plan for 1974 is
By Carl Rowan
Copyright 1973 Field Enterprises, Inc.
in recent years.
First, a few words about Mr. Ford's new economic proposals. There are many possible
grossly unfair. It would have the government giving back pennies to the average family while handing a $100 rebate to
families with incomes of $40,000 and even more.
Beyond doubt, Congress will find some of these criticisms valid to the point of rejecting enacting other laws. A program of gas rationing may very well be instituted instead of the House proposal to disassemble consumption by raising prices.
Nonetheless, Mr. Ford deserves plaudits for his proposals. He cast off "the old time religion" and advocated a new one, the one normally associates with liberal Democrat philosophy.
And would you have believed,
three months ago, that Jerry
Ford would ever propose a
"negative income tax"—that is,
that the government actually
give some money to those who
earned so little they didn't pay
taxes?
Mr. Ford is endorsing only what is obviously fair and moral: If you deliverably raise the price of something vital to the well-being of all families (gasoline, heating oil, natural gas) you will not be able to afford families that you'll give them a tax cut to balance off the price hike, then you've got to give balancing cash to
It's comforting to see that
families so poor that they have no taxes to cut.
for his appointments, I've said enough already about President Ford's wisdom in naming Edward H. Levi to be Attorney General. I recently wrote a column on Levi and what he can do toward lifting the Justice Department out of shame after being assured by the White House that the President wouldn't "chicken out" in the face of objections like James Easlindson or Roman Huske (R. Neb).
Yet, I wish to say that the
White House assurances mean something again.
Now—the appointment of William T. Coleman, Jr., a black Philadelphia lawyer, to be Secretary of Transportation. Some whites who are still Democrats in the phony contemps over "quotas" may argue that Mr. Ford "named him just because he is black." But that would be a silly assertion, given the abundant evidence that Coleman is a gifted man, aberger a politician, people who have held cabinet posts in the last decade.
President must be commanded if he did say to himself, "I especially want Coleman because he is black."
Let's face it: symbolism is crucial to the art of governing. "I intend to be President of all the people" is a popular line. But putting that qualified, trusted, respected black person in front of a lot more conviction than a lot more conviction than a more TV speech cloze.
Yes, it was a rather extraordinary week of presidential leadership by a President who himself had become a symbol of uneasiness and doubt.