Daily Hansan
62nd Year, No. 143
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Tuesday, May 25, 1965
Professor George Hood Dies From Fall Injuries
George Jussen Hood, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering who taught at KU for 46 years, died last night from injuries received in a fall.
He was found by a student on the east side of Strong Hall about 2:45 p.m. yesterday.
Robert Adams, associate professor of mathematics, teaching in the building at that time was summoned and sent a student to call an ambulance. The ambulance and KU police arrived about 2:50 p.m. and took Prof. Hood to Lawrence Memorial hospital. He died at 8:15 p.m. yesterday.
AFTER LEARNING of Prof. Hood's death last night, James Surface, dean of faculties, said, "Prof. Hood had a distinguished career as a professor and inventor and his loss will be felt by his many friends in the university community and by his former students."
John McNown, dean of the School of Engineering and Architecture, said, "Professor Hood devoted his entire career to the
School of Engineering and Architecture. Probably every engineering student who attended KU in the first half of this century knew him. He taught most of them engineering drawing or descriptive ge-
... George Jussen Hood
KU Favors Changes For K-State ROTC
By Eric Johnson
The decision by the Kansas State Board of Regents to change the ROTC program at Kansas State University from mandatory to an elective course has evoked mostly favorable comment at KU.
K-State, which, under a 1931 state law, was required to make ROTC training mandatory, is the only school in the state to have such a program.
Authority to change the mandatory status of the program was given to the Board of Regents by the 1965 Kansas Legislature. The board ruled last Saturday that this could be done at K-State.
GEORGE B. SMITH, vice-chancellor for institutional planning, said the ROTC program has never been compulsory at KU. "The schools which got money from the act (Land Grant College Act), had to have a ROTC program. This was_taken to mean a compulsory program." Smith said.
Smith said that when the 1931 act was passed, boards of regents all over the country began changing the compulsory status.
The board's ruling also evoked favorable comment from members of KU's military science staff.
Colonel Max Pitney, commander of the Army ROTC detachment, said, "It's a trend, there's no doubt about that." Pitney said that although compulsory programs would assure a larger program, members in an elective program of the corps are "certainly motivated toward doing their part to protect the country."
LIEUTENANT COLONEL G. E. Hallas, commander of the KU Air Force ROTC unit, said, "We feel strongly that the voluntary system is best and our commissioning rate is as high or higher than that of K-State although we have a smaller number. Boys in the program now are interested in earning a commission."
cometry. His interests were wide. His many contributions to the world also included new methods of teaching drawing, important inventions and a successful and respected family."
A close associate of Prof. Hood, Charles J. Bear, professor of mechanical engineering, said Prof. Hood was one of the most outstanding engineering professors that KU has ever had, and one of the most outstanding professors in his field in this country.
PROF. HOOD was born Dec. 31, 1877, in Chicago, Ill., and moved to Kansas with his parents. The 87-year-old retired professor graduated from KU in 1902 with his B.A. degree in mechanical engineering. He received his professional M.E. degree in 1917.
He became a full professor at that time although he had been teaching at KU since 1902. After teaching here for 46 years, he retired in 1948.
"One of his most outstanding inventions," Albert S. Palmerlee, assistant dean of engineering and architecture and a close friend, said, "was the Dermatome."
Early in the 1930's, Prof. Palmerlee said, the late Dr. Earl Padgett, then a professor of clinical surgery at the KU School of Medicine in Kansas City, approached George Shaad, then dean of the School of Engineering, with a request that he recommend someone to undertake the invention of an instrument that would cut uniform skin grafts.
UP TO THAT time, skin grafts were not unknown, but the operation of removing a layer of healthy skin to replace that which had been damaged had to be done by free hand. Surgeons had no instruments to aid them in the slicing of a regularly shaped piece of skin of a desired thickness.
The accuracy of early grafting was solely dependent on the surgeon's skill. Prof. Palmerlee said.
The problem was placed in the hands of Prof. Hood who worked for years developing such a machine. The Dermatome was first used at the University of Kansas Hospital, later named the KU Medical Center.
Prof. Hood was present at an operation when the surgeon shook his head indicating that he was
(Continued on page 8)
City Hears New Fraser Pleading
Razing Delay Plea
A plan requesting that KU temporarily delay plans for razing Fraser Hall will be submitted today to the Lawrence City Commission by Dr. Ted A. Kennedy, former mayor of Lawrence.
The commission meets at 3 p.m today.
Dr. Kennedy and a group of Lawrence citizens want Fraser Hall to be preserved as an historical monument to the townpeople who built the structure in 1872. At that time, it was the largest university educational building in the United States.
"WE DONT have any grand plans, but a good many folks are interested in the building. We base our request on the historical background of Fraser Hall," Kennedy said.
"We would like to see the university administration halt plans temporarily until an impartial architectural expert can survey the building and report just what the condition of Fraser Hall is," he added
"Fraser Hall is the number one building on the campus. It was built by the citizens of Lawrence and is a building of historical significance. Of course, if the building is in such poor condition that it cannot be preserved, then, of course, it should be razed," he said.
Humid weather and cloudy skies will continue through tomorrow. The weather bureau predicts thunderstorms over 30 per cent of the area tonight and tomorrow. Winds will be southerly, ranging from 20 to 35 miles per hour. Tonight's low will be in the 60's and tomorrow's high will be in the lower 80's.
"We just want to be sure that the building is beyond hope," he added.
Weather
ERNEST PULLIAM. Mayor of Lawrence and KU housing manager, said, "I don't think we'll (the city) take any action. What will be done with Fraser Hall has already been settled by KU and the Kansas Board of Regents. There is no chance that we'll do anything.
"THE BUILDING is dangerous," he added. "It should come down."
Mike Getto, city commissioner,
said this morning he knows nothing
about the plan which Dr. Kennedy
is to present this afternoon. Getto
said he wouldn't be surprised if
a resolution of some kind is passed
by the commissioners regarding
Fraser this afternoon.
"Some of us (Lawrence residents) have pretty strong feelings about Fraser Hall." Getto said. "It's a question of what we can do after the Board of Regents have pretty much said what will be done."
—Photo by Harry Krause
LOCKER ROOM BUDDIES—Wes Santee, former KU track star, and Bill Easton, KU track coach, get together for a chat after last night's "This Is Your Life" banquet in honor of Easton.
Bill Easton Honored By Students, Fans
By Jim Sullinger
An obviously moved Bill Easton listened to thousands of words of praise at a testimonial dinner last night.
About 330 coaches, athletes, and friends honored the recently dismissed KU track coach and presented him with a 1965 automobile.
"This is the moment I've been waiting for. You always dream of it but you don't realize it can happen to you." Easton said.
athlete and to build character without losing. We're proud of your record and your manhood."
"This dinner is one of the greatest
Dr. Forrest (Phog) Allen, Kansas basketball coach emeritus, said, "Faston has done things that no other track coach has ever done. No one has the record Bill Easton has in track and field."
ALLEN SAID, "I have have never seen a man exhaust himself more or put more of himself into anything than Bill does track. Anytime Bill Easton takes a group he won't be
Easton was presented with a white 1965 automobile during the dinner, but he was not prepared for the extra surprise which was awaiting him.
Bill Easton, recently dismissed KU track coach, was greeted with a big surprise following the "This Is Your Life" dinner held last night.
On the front windshield of the car was a parking ticket as the car had been parked in an illegal zone.
things in my life," he said.
REFERRING TO HIS dismissal April 20, Easton said, "The door has been closed and the incident is over."
He closed his remarks by saying, "I want to thank the Jayhawks for the many, many victories that have come to us."
Easton was discharged April 20 in a disagreement with KU athletic director Wade Stinson. During his 18 years as Kansas track coach his teams won 40 Big Eight championships, including indoor, outdoor and cross country competition.
The latest victory for an Easton-coached Kansas team was the recent Big Eight outdoor track and field championship.
Easton cited the last three Big Eight victories as the real trademark of his track athletes.
"THEY DIDN'T KNOW what it was to quit. The sports writers picked us to lose all three times and we won."
In 1960 Easton was selected as the nation's top collegiate coach by the U.S. Track Coaches Association.
Wes Santee, an Easton pupil who became the nation's best miler in the late 1950s, spearheaded the dinner. He acted as moderator as dozens of speakers lauded the coach.
A close friend and his former minister, the Rev. Dale Turner, now of Seattle, summed up the laudatory phrases:
"Bill Easton made a great coach because of his tremendous ability to stimulate the most talent from an
beaten even if he has only three Phi Beta Kappas and two coeds."
"You gain something from knowing a man who can do things," Allen said. "If I had a man like Bill Easton, he'd have to do a lot of things before I'd fire him."
Easton expressed his intentions to stay in Lawrence after his position is terminated May 30.
During the program awards were presented to the outstanding track freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior.
Recipients were Gene McClain, Salina freshman and miler; Thomas Yergovich, Kansas City sophomore and miler; John Lawson, Kansas City junior and distance runner; and Herald Hadley, Scott City senior and contain of the KU track squad.
Toward the end of the banquet Easton was presented with the keys to a new automobile.
The car is to be purchased from donations to the Bill Easton fund. Santee said about 900 letters were sent to friends and alumni with replies averaging around $15 per donation.
Stinson explained after the incident that the firing was necessary because of Easton's unwillingness to follow the administration and financial procedure necessary to the successful functioning of the athletic program.
The dismissal created quite a furor among some students and alumni as an effigy-hanging of Stinson and a petition calling for Easton's reinstatement followed.