Editorials America the beautiful
A large percentage of the people in the University community made a trip to other parts of the country during the Thanksgiving holiday. We saw a lot of junkyards along with other types of scenery wherever we traveled.
If we happened to see the television presentation of Lady Bird Johnson's tour of Washington, some of us realized what she rmeant when she said that in a few decades the inhabitants of the United States—soon to reach 200 million—may be living on top of a junk heap unless steps are taken now to beautify our nation and head off the ever-growing blighted area so evident as one travels the country in any direction.
MUCH FUN HAS been poked at Mrs. Johnson's beautification program, most notably by Representative Robert Dole of Kansas. But if one took the trouble to watch her televised tour of the Capitol, to accept the southern-accented voice which seems strange to many Americans, to understand the valid feeling behind the sentimental parts, there emerged a realization that her words were a very good pitch for a very good program much needed in this country.
Many prominent ladies have taken time via television to tell us of something dear to their hearts. Mrs. Johnson chose to show us Washington, a city she knows well and whose welfare should be the concern of every American. Certainly it is not the model city our early leaders hoped to build, but much has already been accomplished in the redevelopment and beautification of Washington. There still are pockets of poverty and ugliness there which must be corrected. This is true of all of our country.
IF ONE IS NOT willing to go along with this program on purely aesthetic grounds, then there
is the real and ever-increasing problem which must be considered of pollution of rivers, squandering of our natural resources, and misuse of the very land by which we all live—though some of us may feel that the farms, the virgin forests, the clean rivers are only something to fill up the distances between urban areas, sort of buffers to keep all the cities from running together.
These problems are certainly apolitical: one does not consider party lines when the welfare of a nation is concerned. The problem of slums is, of course, a complicated one involving sociological and economic questions that are not easily solved. There are many suggested controversial solutions being tried in different communities—some will work and some will not—but this is a problem that is being attacked by every urban community.
BUT WHAT OF the rural areas? There is no organization to attempt to save, beautify, and utilize these areas. From a purely pragmatic viewpoint, our countryside must be preserved if it is to continue to support us in the style to which we are accustomed. All of us—Republicans, Democrats, conservatives of every persuasion, liberals of every stripe—must unite on solving this common problem for the sake of conservation of resources and for the sake of beauty as well. The well-being of our nation now, and certainly in a few decades hence, demands it.
We need only to imagine what a Thanksgiving holiday trip in 2000 A.D. might reveal to us to realize that the natural resources and beauty of our land must be preserved if we are to avoid becoming a nation of slum dwellers.
-Yvonne Willingham
The People Say...
More enlightenment TO THE EDITOR:
I wish to take exception to the editorial Enlightenment unlimited (Dec. 1, 1965), which condemns virtually all persons
and organizations opposed to the wa- in Viet Nam. While I am unacquainted with the local campus organizations mentioned (SPU, SDS), I do think that these criticisms should be
Chain letters pose risk
Chain letters have once again descended at KU and are being circulated through several living groups. In this case, as happened two years ago, the question of the legality of such letters arises.
ACCORDING TO A RULING by the office of Kansas Attorney General Robert Londerholm, chain letters which contain money or something of monetary value are illegal under the restrictions of Kansas lottery laws.
Robert King, Douglas County attorney, stated circulating such letters is a felony and is punishable by one to three years in prison.
MANY OF THE students passing the letters argue it is impossible for them to lose money, therefore how can the scheme be illegal? They buy a letter for $10, pay the top person on the list $10, then sell two copies of the letter for $10 each. By this time their entire $20 investment is returned.
Yet the fact is that by placing their name at the bottom of the list and removing the top name, they theoretically can win $320. According to the Attorney General's office, this comes under the old practice of "something for nothing" and falls into the category of a lottery.
AS DEAN OF STUDENTS L. C. Woodruff points out, chain letters flair up, get squelched, and die out.
As KU becomes infiltrated with these letters, it will become harder and harder to pass them. Eventually they will die out. Consequently many people on the list will not get their money, or only receive a fraction of what they should. Also, it is possible that some scoundrels will buy the letters, sell them to others, but forget to pay the first person on the list.
When the student body here becomes saturated with the letters, they will move on to another area. At this time, the payments may enter U.S. mail and when this occurs, not only are Kansas Laws involved, but also federal statutes.
According to Lawrence Postmaster Jack Harris, "Any form of payment of a lottery share" by mail is prohibited by the Postal Service.
ILLEGAL OR NOT, eventually the letters die out; fewer and fewer people will be able to sell their letters and more and more will lose money.
It may be a nice money making project for those who originate the scheme, but for many others, it will be money lost in an attempt at getting something for nothing that failed.
Robert Stevens
applied categorically to groups XYZ (whatever they are). The contributor of the editorial has simply misunderstood the nature of the various pacifist positions on Viet Nam, of which there are two main categories.
A PACIFIST on philosophic or political grounds today questions both the past activities of the United States in Viet Nam and the present policy. This person disagrees as to what tactics should be used in the defense of Southeast Asia. As an alternative to 200,000 ground troops in Viet Nam he might suggest 200,000 workers building schools, roads and harbors.
A pacifist on religious grounds does not oppose this war any more than any other war—to him all wars are a contradiction of the love ethic of the Gospel. He further believes that the war in Viet Nam is not so much a failure of the Johnson administration as a failure of the entire American people.
Admittedly pacifists are occasionally personally repulsive, sometimes they cannot express what they think and feel, sometimes they do not know what they think, but it would be a grave mistake to dismiss them as egocentric quacks or screw-balls. Pacificism has a long history in America and is deeply imbedded in our national character. If it needs criticism let it be honest criticism, specific criticism, and not an emotional outburst such as Enlightenment unlimited.
William Urban Dept. of History
2 Daily Kansan Monday, December 6, 1965
In spite of taming, 'Shrew' is rough
By Larry Ketchum (Kansas Reviewer)
Ben Jonson, an Elizabethan playwright, said, in speaking of William Shakespeare, "Reader, look, not at his picture, but his book."
A good number of the actors in KU's production of "The Taming of the Shrew" should heed well Jonson's advice.
TOO MANY OF THE actors in the cast have seemingly found themselves down on their knees before the Great God Shakespeare. They bow and scrape and saw the air too much in their acting, dependent on excess gesture for comic reaction instead of the Bard of Avon's words.
Shakespeare was a popular playwright in his day and remains so to this day, as evidenced by the large audience last Saturday at the University Theatre. His plays are tragic, comic, heavy, light, cruel, kind, bawdy, pristine, with something to say to all time.
SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS are not beyond comprehension. The language of his time is hard to master in the day of the swinging generation. But it is not a foreign language to be looked upon with dread and its construction is not so difficult as to dumbfound our college-educated actors. The plays should be presented with an ease of tongue, a smoothness of gesture, and a spirit filled with life.
In the latter, KU's "The Taming of the Shrew" succeeds. The energy of the actors is powerful and, in general, it is kept under control. This can be difficult to master, especially in a comedy of rough-housing and active wit.
Gestures are overdone and overdrawn, as if to compensate for a lack of understanding of the lines.
SPEECH IS A problem with the majority of the actors. Some are better than others; the others are very bad.
The roles of Christopher Sly and Petruchio are well played by an actor who has progressed greatly in the past two years—Dennis Dalen.
Dalen understands his role and his lines are generally well spoken and strike at the meaning very well. Of all the actors, Dalen has his roles best under control. His performance is meaningful, comic, and smooth.
Julia Callahan, in the roles of a tavern hostess and Katherine, shows her extreme talent once again. Her ability to keep her characterization intact throughout the show should serve as a lesson in good acting to the rest of the cast. At times, Mrs. Callahan was hard to understand, particularly in moments of high emotion. Since the American ear is not treated often to the English tongue, some static is liable to interfere with the American's comprehension.
THE ROLE OF LUCENTIO should never have been trusted to David Robinson. Mr. Robinson, in a difficult role, is in need of further development in acting before he can handle such a characterization.
Marcia Dalen, in the part of Bianca, Katherine's whining younger sister, is a good actress. Her voice, in the role, is comic without being overdone.
Tranio, servant to Lucentio, is well played by Gary Mitchell, even though lines are not presented with clarity, in a few instances, to the audience.
Vincent Angotti, as Grumio, servant to Petruchio, is basically good. He does an admirable job with a difficult role.
THE REMAINDER OF the cast are within that usual sphere of mediocrity which plagues the amateur theater.
The production is staged by Lewin Goff. It should have been directed—the actors need more work.
James Hawes' sets are skeletonized and very practical, Chez Hashl's costumes are complementary to the play, and Charles Lown's lighting serves its purpose.
"The Taming of the Shrew" will be presented Friday and Saturday at 8:20 p.m. in the University Theatre.
We were thinking...
Of "Americanism" of the right sort we cannot have too much. Mere vaporing and boasting become a nation as little as a man. But honest, outspoken pride and faith in our country are infinitely better and more to be respected than the cultivated reserve which sets it down as ill-bred and in bad taste ever to refer to our country except by way of deprecation, criticism, or general negation.
— Henry Cabot Lodge
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