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University Daily Kansan Thursday, Oct. 29, 1964
Morality Monopoly
MORALITY has come to be the chief issue raised by Republicans during the closing weeks of the campaign. They charge that America is rotten with moral decay and that the conduct of our national leaders has contributed to that decay.
Goldwater, to some voters, appears to be the Moses who will lead the nation out of that wickedness. To the contrary, Goldwater and his most ardent supporters have shown by their actions just how deep the moral decay has permeated our society.
THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LAST several weeks illustrates the Republicans' abandonment of morality for political expediency.
ONE MIGHT WELL ASK why the Republicans, who criticized the Democrats for leaving God out of their platform, have lost the support of most of the nation's religious leaders. The clergymen have felt so strongly about the morality issue that many have made public stands. Even national councils of several denominations have felt the need to comment publicly. It seems ironical that now the Republicans should tell the churchmen that they have no business in political campaigns and that they should confine themselves to pronouncements on religious matters.
WHEN THE WALTER JENKINS case broke, Sen. Goldwater said he would not comment on it publicly. Last week, according to James Reston of the New York Times, the Republican national committee began producing bumper stickers reading: "Light Bulb Johnson. No wonder he turned out the lights in the White House." Other Republicans have intimated that more men like Jenkins surround Johnson in top positions.
THE EVENTS of two weeks ago, the explosion of a nuclear bomb by the Communist Chinese, the ouster of Premier Khrushchev, and the British elections were conceded by Sen. Goldwater to be important and serious events. But when the President spoke to the nation about those events on Sunday, Oct. 18, the senator claimed it was a campaign gimmick and demanded equal time.
WHEN NBC finally gave the Republicans equal time to express their views of those events, Republican National Chairman Dean Burch used it to attack Johnson and to appeal for campaign contributions, instead of discussing the issues.
AS RESTON PUT IT: "To condemn the corruption in a nation is a duty; to appeal to its noblest qualities, to try to exalt it is admirable; but to condemn expediency in Johnson and then use it yourself, is hypocrisy."
And, finally, last week there was the film, produced by Goldwater supporters, that tried to tie street riots, delinquency, strippers and topless swimming suits to the model of Johnson in a speeding car, throwing beer cans out the window. The film created such a stir that Goldwater publicly disassociated himself from it.
The longer this mud-slinging campaign has continued, the more Sen. Goldwater has adopted the political expedition that he once condemned.
BARRY GOLDWATER AND WILLIAM Miller have demonstrated just how deep this moral decay is and in the process have lost any right to claim to have a monopoly on morality.
— Rick Mabbutt
The Visit
MOMENTS WHEN YOU feel like an oddity are not pleasant. But the feeling can come, especially when you visit a mental hospital.
When you drive through the archway and up the hill on which Osawatomie State Mental Hospital is built, you enter another world. You may think it the world of barred windows and strange people. But you are the stranger in this place.
YOU PARK IN THE DESIGNATED place for visitors and get out of your car. You see a fountain with boys not so far removed from your age standing around it. One of the boys calls out: "Hey, do you want to buy some walnuts?" It flashes through your mind that it may be a trick, a strange question asked in jest. You stick to the safe answer: "No, thanks."
PEOPLE WANDER aimlessly down the paths, staring at you, the person they cannot understand. You plot your path and
walk slowly, deliberately, towards the administration building. You notice the barred windows as you mount the ancient steps to the building. You enter the building and the secretary asks if you are visiting a friend or a relative as you sign the register. The secretary gives you a pass and directions towards the building where your friend is.
BACK AT YOUR CAR you notice the same people, perhaps a little further on their way, taking note of you again. With your map, you guide your car towards the building where your friend has lived for six weeks. Once again you park your car. But this time the atmosphere seems less heavy. For, the building which is your destination has no barred windows and has a more modern architecture.
YOU ENTER THE CENTER door of the building. Visitors like yourself are evident here. There is no nurse at the desk,
but she soon comes to direct you down the hall. The smells and the atmosphere are that of any hospital. You reach the end of the corridor, you pass through the door and cross the big sitting room. Patients watch you with curiosity. Just when you think you cannot stand it another minute, your friend comes to greet you.
THE FRIEND CANNOT leave the building, so you talk in the sitting room. All the time the other patients sit watching. It is difficult, but you retain your self-composure.
WHEN IT IS TIME to leave you wind down the now familiar road and out where the atmosphere is free. But the feeling still remains. For an afternoon, perhaps for weeks afterwards, you do not feel that the patients were the prisoners.
YOU FEEL THAT you are the one that is the oddity, the prisoner in this world.
— Nancy Schroeter
Flight in the Absurd
FLIGHT AND ESCAPE are portrayed in the absurd in the production of three one-act plays by Slavomir Mrozek. a Polish, avante-garde playwright.
"At Sea," "Charlie," and "Strip Tease" each vividly depict elements of escape; however, in different settings and situations. They look at escape and flight grotesquely, yet humorously, bringing out the traits of man that commonly thrust him into the escape situation.
THE KU EXPERIMENTAL Theatre production makes excellent use of the actors; all of whom do an outstanding job of conveying the reality of totally absurd situations.
Paul Broderick, Jacques M. Levy, and Richard Friesen are extremely convincing in the roles of three men, clothed in
tuxedos, who are stranded on a raft without rations, and who are faced with the decision of which of them should give himself to be eaten. They parody many of the processes of selection used through the ages; drawing lots, election by secret ballot, and volunteer.
"CHARLIE" DEPICTS escape from a present, real enemy. Tom Winston portrays an oculist who is pursued by a senile old man who has spent his life searching for an unidentified character known only as "Charlie." Winston comes through to the audience especially well by displaying a nervous desire to escape from the old man who has decided arbitrarily that he is Charlie.
THE "AT SEA" THEME is made more absurd by the appearance of a postman and a butler who come swimming through the "water."
The idea of the author at this point, is escape from authoritarianism.
JAGQUES LEVY, a member of the "At Sea" cast gives Grandpa reality in his pursuit of a "hate object" without any real justification. And re Sedricks, who played the postman in "At Sea," was the smooth talking Grandson who kept edging the old man on, and who terrorized the oculist with his "logic of killing Charlie."
"STRIP TEASE" pointed to the absurdity of the look-alike businessman who has a pattern of everyday life deeply established. Paul Broderick and Jacques Levy return as the sole performers in this protest of automation.
— Bobbetta Bartelt
The People Say...
Dear Sir:
I am afraid that in the statement of Mr. Morris Kay printed in your newspaper on Oct. 27 the aforesaid gentleman is not using even the crudest principles of a fair fight and is definitely trying to hit me below the belt. He is accusing me by association of being either a communist or a communist dupe. Nobody likes to be called what he is not and indeed I can point to my life long record of an active fight against totalitarianism, communist or national, but I also strongly object to being called a dupe. Mr. Kay argues that the statement signed by me is "almost identical to a feature article printed October 11, 1964, in the Worker" and I submit to you that the crucial word is "almost." I challenge anybody to compare the two and find for himself that the statement signed by me and the article in the Worker bear no resemblance at all. Stretching the "almost" far enough you can prove that the views of Senator Goldwater are "almost" identical to those of Marshal Malinovsky of the Soviet Union (hero of the Order of Lenin) because both advocate an increase in military preparedness. Furthermore, even if somebody is advocating the same thing as the Communist Party of the U.S., does that automatically make him a communist? Apparently in the eyes of some—Yes, but in that case I am in the good company of that Mr. Republican, Gen. Eisenhower, who himself was accused of being "a devoted agent of the International communist movement." For the sake of education may I also point out that the methods employed by Mr. Kay resemble very closely the tactics of the extreme right everywhere where the opponents of the totalitarian movement have automatically been branded with the Red stamp.
Jaroslaw Piekalkiewicz Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dear Sirs:
THE SENIOR DAY and its festivities are now memories. However, the repercussions of that day will ring long in the memories of some alumni; those who regard the activities of a few thoughtless individuals as degrading to their Alma Mater: degrading in the sense that they were ashamed to admit that they were a part of a university in which students conducted themselves so irresponsibly.
THE STUDENT MAY REPLY that it was all done in "fun." But what does "fun" consist of? Periods of drunkenness in which the participant can become lost from the world around him? It would seem that to some students, the word "fun" implies partaking of some form of alcoholic beverage. Without this anesthetic the student cannot enjoy himself.
PERHAPS THIS is the reason that the Homecoming Dances in past years have not broken even; the reason that the Ballroom is seldom used for parties; the reason that social functions held in the houses are not well attended. How can one have fun if he is not allowed to consume an anesthetic?
Yet how many of these same persons would be proud to escorp his parents to a barn or sandbar party —or Senior Party? More realistically, how many would take his parents to a football game during which it is quite likely that liquor will either be spilled or poured on them?
I DO NOT CONDEMN those who drink—whether a person drinks or not is his own business—UNTIL HE INFRIRES UPON THE RIGHTS OF HIS NEIGHBORS. If we are adult enough to be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages, then surely we can be adult enough to conduct ourselves in such a manner that anyone looking upon us can say with pride, "There is a KU student."
Albert O. Bendure Kansas City, Mo., senior
Editor:
Those who mistrust Senator Goldwater's radical stands on domestic and foreign affairs ought to learn from the errors of what they oppose and refrain from "extremism in the denunciation of extremism." In particular, it appears to be a gross simplification of Senator Goldwater's politics and an irresponsible exaggeration of his threat to liberal values to label him a Fascist. If it is said that Senator Goldwater's exploitation of the white backlash parallels Hitler's use of antisemitism, if it is said that both men used the mensace of Communism as a play to frighten people and gain power, if it is said that Mellon and DuPont are playing the role Krupp and Tyssen did in Germany, if it is said that Goldwater's slogan "Why not victory?" is a rough translation of the fascist salute "Sieg heil!" if these things are said, they are said irresponsibly, and those who say them employ an extremely superficial analysis of the situation which does more to obscure the real issues than to clarify them. The fact is, Senator Goldwater has never talked about increasing the power of the state, and, in fact, he openly advocates decreasing it.
Charles Hook
Lawrence sophomore
Dear Editor:
We have become increasingly aware of an "earsore" on this campus. It seems that whenever one walks out of a campus building in the vicinity of the Information booth, notably Bailey Hall, one is met by a tremendous blast of "music." Usually this blasting accompanies an enthusiastic recorded voice announcing some fabulous forthcoming event. Advertising is acceptable, but does it have to turn our campus into a carnival? Is it not possible to announce campus events without this deafening, monotonous noise? If whoever is sponsoring the information booth feels it absolutely necessary to advertise in such a manner, why not at least include a little variety now and then. Hearing the same appeal and music four or five times a day, often for several days in a row, does get a little tiring to almost anybody's ears.
Lawrence senior
Bob Fanning
Dave Miller
Lawrence graduate student
Dailij Mänsan
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