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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1964
The ASC's Role
THE FATE of the anti-discriminatory amendment to the ASC human rights bill, passed two weeks ago, raises some interesting questions about the role of the All Student Council.
BOB STEWART, ASB president, voiced the most important question during an interview last week when he said: "I have a serious reservation as to whether or not the ASC, or any student group, can dictate to the University what it shall do. In my opinion, the ASC's position in this area is to reflect student opinion by suggesting and encouraging the University to take action, but not to demand action."
THE AMENDMENT to ASC Bill No. 7, passed 23-7 with one abstention, set a one-year deadline for removal of discriminatory clauses from the constitutions of all University organizations. If this was not done, any organization still having such clauses at the end of a one-year period would not be recognized by the University.
IN SHORT, the ASC's action had the effect of dictating policy to the University. And it is certain that the University is not going to allow such a far-reaching precedent to remain on the books as law. Such a precedent conceivably could have serious consequences; it means that students might assume the power to set University policy in other areas. The University is not willing to relinquish any of its authority, but as a result of the ASC's action it found itself in an uncomfortable position.
FOR YEARS Chancellor Wescoe dragged his feet on establishing a firm University policy on racial discrimination in Greek housing that is in harmony with the ideals of the progressive educational center that KU is striving to become.
THE STUDENTS OF KU expressed, through their ASC representatives, their feeling that racial discrimination could be tolerated no longer and that the University should take appropriate action to end such discrimination.
IN EFFECT the University found itself being led, rather than leading. Since it was an uncomfortable situation, to say the least, the University set about remedying their position.
THE AUTHORITY OF STATE universities to define the policies that govern membership in fraternal organizations was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1954. So, with that knowledge in mind, Chancellor Wescoe and President James A. McCain of Kansas State University finally exercised their power to end overt racial discrimination in Greek housing.
A LETTER from Chancellor Wescoe and President McCain to the national Sigma Nu fraternity said in part: "In this year, 1964, constitutional clauses that militate against free selection of individuals because of reference to race, religion or national origin are patently out of place on, or associated with, university campuses. There are only a few fraternal organizations that still retain such clauses, and yours is one of these.
"It's a matter of fact that under present circumstances, invitations would not be extended to
groups with such clauses to enter into any association with either of our universities."
WITH THAT LETTER Chancellor Wescoe took the lead in ending racial discrimination at KU. But he and Bob Stewart still were faced with the problem of signing the anti-discriminatory amendment, that would set the unwanted, by the University, precedent of student formulation of University policy.
SUDDENLY THE SITUATION became complicated. Bob Stewart "learned" last week that ASC Bill No. 7 was not law, hence not amendable, because Chancellor Wescoe had not signed it.
SOMEWHERE A BREAKDOWN in procedure occurred. University Party has been blaming VOX for neglecting their duties, but one might ask why UP, as an effective, opposition party, was unaware of the lapse in procedure.
According to ASC officials the human rights bill was passed in October, 1963, and signed by the proper ASC officers, but was not sent to the chancellor, whose signature is required to make it law.
And knowing that Chancellor Wescoe pays careful attention to ASC activities, one might inquire why he neglected to ask the ASC officers about the procedural breakdown. He knew the ASC was passing legislation, yet he seemingly did not inquire as to why no bills were being delivered either for his deliberation and signature'or for his veto.
AT ANY RATE, the breakdown existed and cast a shadow on the attitude of the chancellor toward student government and on the effectiveness of the ASC.
HAVING "LEARNED" that Bill No. 7 was not law, Stewart decided no action on his part was necessary. I would suggest that Stewart "learned" from the administration. That is only a guess, but he has not shown, to date, the imagination required to discover a convenient loophole that would kill both the bill, and its amendment, and would allow the University to retain all its authority.
NOW BILL NO. 7 and its amendment must be reconsidered by the ASC and then sent to Chancellor Wescoe for his approval. A possible solution that may be reached would entail the rewriting of Bill No. 7 to ask that all University organizations comply with the new University policy as stated in the chancellor's letter to the national Sigma Nu fraternity. Since the thunder has been taken from the anti-discriminatory amendment by Chancellor Wescoe's action it is no longer needed. A resolution, probably to be submitted by Walter Bgoya, the original sponsor of the amendment, commending the chancellor for his stand, might be added to the revised bill.
THUS, THE UNIVERSITY takes back the leadership it never would have lost except through its own inaction; and it reaffirms that the ASC is only an advisory board when major University policies are under consideration.
When Old Friends Convene
By Ed Schwartz
Collegiate Press Service
THERE ARE FEW MORE discomfiting experiences for an undergraduate than comparing notes with high school buddies as to recent accomplishments and future plans. You would think that such occasions would be marked by benevolence, camaraderie, and reminiscences from the glorious past. Not by a long shot.
IN THE FIRST PLACE, everyone's become a psychoanalyst. You know the look — that faintly derisive smile which says, "Aha! He still hasn't overcome that latent inferiority complex which plagued him in high school," or more simply, "What a phone!"
Of course, you never say these things to each other. You wait until all but one has departed, at which point the two of you dissect the rest with unrestrained brutality.
ALONG THESE SAME lines.
it is imperative that you prove how much you have changed. If you were jovial in high school, wince periodically to indicate the unremitting torment which afflicts you now. If you were known as a cynic, be sincere; if you were ingenuous, act jaded. Let the loquacious become silent, the witty become sombre, the Rock 'n' Roller become beat, the artistic become materialistic, and the Don Juan become Victorial. The most humiliating insult is to be accused of "not having changed a bit."
THIS PSYCHOLOGICAL gambit is reinforced by an overt intellectual one-upmanship. For the uninitiated, one-upmanship is the conversational antecedent of status seeking — an interchange of remarks designed to belittle the accomplishments of the opposite party. Novels usually provide the battleground for collegiate friends. You list three or four of your most recent finds, he assures you that he has read
them and adds two more, and so forth. The important criteria are length and time. As to the former, Durrell's Alexandria Quartet is the ideal, comprising four volumes, all of which must be completed to understand the first. Tolstoy's War and Peace may be substituted, particularly since Russian writers sound more impressive than English or American. The time factor indicates when you have finished a novel two years before any of your friends and magnanimously to allow them to discover it themselves, when you can say that you have outgrown it.
NOVELS ARE only one area of combat. For some, new clothes become the target. Past seductions are also popular. In hip circles, it has become fashionable to describe the latest encounter with LSD or morning glory seeds. The games are different, but the rules are the same: never let 'em out do you.
The People Say...
Dear Editor
LETA CATHCART's editorial "A Journey Completed" is a misleading and fact distorting, trash. I am not anti-semitic. I belong to that one race and, therefore, I am, at the most, a pro-semitic.
Quoting: "Israel . . . had been promised to them (the Jews) millions of years." What kind of ignorance is this? Israel, according to the Old Testament was promised about four thousand years but not millions. To quote: "Unto thy seed will I give the land." However, a great many people are misled by the above declaration. Alfred Guillaume, a professor of Old Testament Studies in the University of London, in his pamphlet "Zionists and the Bible" criticizes these claims in the following words:
"BUT SUCH VIEWS are a distortion of the Old Testament which predicted a return from Babylon. And these prophecies were fulfilled. The Jews did return to Judea, they did rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and they did secure independence and expansion under Maccabees. Thus, the prophecies of the return have been fulfilled and they cannot be fulfilled again . . . there are no prophecies of a second return . . ."
THE STATEMENT OF "... the national homeland of the Jewish people" needs examining. Is Israel truly a nation? There are people of Judiaic faith who live in Israel and are Israelis. Many more people who practice the same faith live outside the small Middle Eastern state and clearly do not belong to that nation. There is nothing extraordinary about this. The Western world is occupied by people who share the same religion but they do not belong to the same nationality. Morris Lazaran, a noticeable rabbi, was quoted as saying "Israel shall not live on one soil but in the souls of men ... and together they shall build the Kingdom of God." Alfred Lilienthal, who is a well known American Jew and the author of many books, in his book "What Price Israel," says "Jewish nationalism knows no borders ... Jewish nationalists are forever propagandists of their secular faith. ... Albert Einstein, one time a professor at the Hebrew University, was asked by Ben Gurion if the latter would accept the presidency of Israel upon the death of Dr. Weizman. In January, 1964, Einstein stated, "The state idea is not according to my heart. I cannot understand why it is needed, I believe it is bad. I have always been against it" (from Lilienthal's "What Price Israel").
CATHCART ACCUSES Israel to be over with its projects. "The pioneering days of Israel are over..." Hear what Ben Gurion declares to The New York Times of October 26, 1958, "... the movement is more necessary now than ever." And again, in May 30, 1961, he was quoted by the same source as saying, "... although we realized our
dream of establishing a Jewish state, we are still at the very beginning. . . ."
TO SAY "...the land has been conquered and forced to yield the food for a nation" is simply not correct. This is evident from the huge sums of money that go from the United States Treasury to Israel. With reference to the U.S. Congressional Record of July 30, 1958, Senator Ralph Flanders says, "In fairness to American taxpayers, the Treasury must re-examine the tax free status of contributions to the United Jewish Appeal." Israel does not stand on its feet. Israel is the result of fund raising banquets and speeches in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Israel is the result of handouts and editorials like Cathcart's.
Ismail Shaltuni
Dear Sirs:
IN YOUR NOVEMBER 5th editorial you spoke of four "pests" likely to infest the stadium for the Homecoming Games this Saturday. Let me add a fifth pest, one who is of greatest importance not to those in the stadium itself but to those who have the misfortune to live near the stadium during the football season.
MY WIFE AND I are among those few in the general neighborhood who do not care to make a quick buck by renting drives and yards for parking spaces; somehow the real and possible damages and the inconveniences resulting just don't seem worth the effort. No one really seems to mind our desire not to rent space and we have been under no pressure so far to change our ways. The real problem rests, however, with those who insist upon parking in the neighborhood (say across the alley) and then walking through our yard, with little or no concern whatsoever for people or things which might stand in the way.
WHEN FIRST such open trespassing occurred I was surprised; when it tended to persist even after we put up signs and spoke to the people as they tried to violate the trespass notice I was shocked. For the last game we were pretty successful (by means of signs and partial barricades) in keeping people out of the yard; so instead of using our yard they used the yards of the people on each side of us and were generally oblivious to shrubs and flowers which happened by nature or design to be in the way.
OUR PROBLEM can be easily resolved by the construction of a fence but I wonder how many others in the area have the same problem and no easy way to resolve it? Perhaps it might be of interest to officials of the University to investigate the general problem with a view toward advising and requesting alumni and friends to be more concerned with the rights and properties of others.
J. T. Moore Graduate student
BOOK REVIEWS
DR. SPOCK TALKS WITH MOTHERS, by Dr. Benjamin Spock, M.D. (Crest, 60 cents)—You college girls embarking upon (to use an entirely new phrase) the sea of matrimony should know about Dr. Spock, who has been the guide for many young mothers in recent years. This is a new book, and it considers early teen-agers as well as the baby.
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