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University Daily Kansan Tuesday, May 11, 1965
Bomb Scares
Telephones are necessary conveniences and most of the time they are only functional instruments necessary to communication in this fastpaced age.
Necessities can also be handy little things for committing sinister acts, and there are very few things more sinister than a furtive phone call at 3 a.m. notifying the resident director of a women's hall that a bomb is set to go off and the residents had better "get the hell out of there."
SUCH AN ACT CANNOT BE TERMED A prank. That word conveys a sense of harmlessness or a "fun" practical joke, and bomb scares are hardly in the class with tipping over outhouses on Halloween.
Only a sick mind could find any satisfaction in the insidious business of infusing panic and bewilderment into 800 sleep-drugged minds, as was done Saturday morning.
Besides the danger of a bomb exploding, there is the risk that someone could get seriously hurt in an unexpected, emergency evacuation. In the confusion which ensued when 400 women, half-asleep, all tried to get down a flight of stairs at the same time, it is probably a minor miracle that no one fell down the stairs, or bumped into a door, or was trampled.
Childish irresponsibility deserves severe punishment when the "child" is old enough to know better. I am in no position to determine what punishment should be meted someone who would instigate a bomb scare, but when he or she is apprehended, I hope the punishment is severe enough to impress the seriousness of such an act, to convince that person never to contemplate it again, and to set an example for anyone else who might be tempted.
The most famous last words are always "It can't happen here," but in such cases no chances can be taken.
— Karen Lambert
The People Say...
Dear Sir:
PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHTlessly complained that new Fraser will not properly represent KU. Yet the building, if its towers are lopped off, will — even more than new Blake—resemble a giant IBM card. What more fitting and appropriate symbol of our expanding, increasingly bureaucratized and dehumanized University could anyone desire?
Nan C. Scott
Nan C. Scott Lawrence graduate student
Editor:
PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S speech on Viet Nam last month provided a much-needed clarification of United States policy. However, the policy that was clarified leaves a great deal to be desired. Unfortunately its many defects have been little noted, and this paper is no exception.
The President strongly emphasized that we are fighting for a world "where each people may choose its own path to change," "where every country can shape its own destiny." This is an admirable goal, but it is not the one we are fighting for (although it should be). During the ten or so years of the Diem dictatorship — to which we gave our full support — there was little question of the people choosing their own path. The free elections provided for by the 1954 Geneva Convention were denied by the Diem regime, as were other basic freedoms (speech, religion, press, etc.). Yet we continued to support this government. Today we are no more willing than we have been in the past to let the South Vietnamese people decide their own course — unless they want to "choose" our way. The United States is clearly unwilling to allow South Viet Nam the freedom to choose its own government because we fear that it might choose one with a (non-aligned) communist orientation, which at present has the greatest popular support.
In discussing the nature of the Vietnamese conflict, the President stated that "the first reality is that North Viet Nam has attacked the independent nation of South Viet Nam. Its object is total conquest." There is, however, no evidence to support such a view — not even in the State Department "White Paper." This view does provide a convenient, though feeble, justification for the futile bombings of North Viet Nam. And there is no doubt that they are futile, because they fail to cope with the true source of the Vietnamese conflict. In fact, there has never been any reliable indication since the bombings began that they are accomplishing what they are intended to accomplish. There is reason to think that the Viet Cong is receiving limited support from Hanoi (nowhere near the
extent of our support to South Viet Nam), but there is nothing to suggest that this support is the "heartbeat of the war." If it were, would not the intensive bombings by the United States have been in some way effective in altering the war situation? They may possibly have improved the morale of the South Vietnamese government, but this is negligible without any change in the now limited popular support.
Furthermore, there can be little question that the Viet Cong is acting independently of Hanoi and in its own interests. It is not a mere pawn in the hands of the North Vietnamese, or even of the Chinese, and its origins and continued support are in the mass of the South Vietnamese peasants. President Johnson's refusal to recognize this fact, coupled with his certainty that Hanoi is the real enemy, will without doubt delay — if not prevent — any peace talks. Much has been made of the President's supposed willingness for "unconditional discussions." But he has in fact made one clear and unfortunate "condition:" he will not participate in negotiations involving the Viet Cong. Senator Morse has stated emphatically that "the enemy that the United States must deal with if there is to be any peace negotiations for South Viet Nam are the rebels (the Viet Cong) within South Viet Nam," who "control much of the territory and much of the population of the South."
related to the President's distorted view of the Viet Nam conflict is his insistence on an independent South Viet Nam. This is an impossible basis for settlement, and
is in clear violation of the 1954 Geneva Convention which provides that the 17th parallel is not a territorial boundary, and only to be maintained until reunification is achieved.
Is the President trying to buy peace, as some critics have claimed? No, it is unlikely that the "billion dollar American investment" would accomplish this even if that were his goal. It is sad, however, that this economic gesture is so belated. The development and continued support of the Viet Cong is in no small way related to the miserable economic conditions which existed in South Viet Nam under the Diem regime and remain today. The Viet Cong's promises of land reform and economic improvement contribute significantly to the solid support that it receives from the peasants. Also, the fact that we supported the denial of elections gives much credence among the peasants of Viet Cong accusations of United States imperialism.
Our present policy in Viet Nam—to an unfortunate extent shaped by the military—is based on a gravely distorted conception of the conditions existing there and the origins of the conflict. The more peaceful pose that the President assumed in the Baltimore speech is deceptive, because no indication of a sincere desire for a just and peaceful settlement has really been given by the Administration. In the meantime, the contingent of Marines in Viet Nam is continually increased, and the bombing of North and South Viet Nam is stepped up.
A. Bvron Leonard II
Dailij Hänsan
Sincerely yours.
111 Flint Hall
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Leta Roth and Gary Noland Co-Editorial Editors
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Don Black ... Managing Editor
Bobbie Bartelt, Clare Casey, Marshall Caskey, Fred Frailey, Assistant Managing Editors; Judy Farrell, City Editor; Karen Lambert, Feature-Society Editor; Glen Phillips, Sports Editor; Janet Chartier, Telegraph Editor; Harry Krause, Picture Editor.
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Tom Fisher ... Business Manager
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Springtime
Students Steal Books
The following is an excerpt from a memo circulated in the Department of Geology by Prof. Wakefield Dort, Jr.:
"IN KEEPING WITH THE SPIRIT of the Stop Week experiment of last semester, and in order to instruct students further in the use of library facilities, an assignment requiring use of Lindley Library was given to all Geology I students. As a direct consequence of this assignment, the following journals were stolen from Lindley Library.
American Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Bulletin, vol. 48, no.11,
Nov. 1964, vol. 45, no. 3, 1964 American Geophysical Union, Transactions, vol. 45, no. 3, 1964
Economic Geology, vol. 59, no. 7, 1964
Geological Magazine, vol. 10, no. 1, 1964
Geologists Association, Proceedings, vol. 75, no. 2, 1964
Geological Magazine, vol. 101, no.5, 1964
Geophysics, vol. 29, no. 6, 1964
GeoTimes, vol. 9, no. 5, 1964
GeoTimes, vol. 9, no. 5, 1964
Jour. Geophysical Research, vol. 69, no. 24, 1964
Jour. of Paleontology, vol. 38, no. 6, 1964
Jour. Sedimentary Petrology, vol. 34, no. 3, 1964
Mountain Geologists, vol. 1, no. 2, 1964, vol. 1, no. 4, 1964
Rock Products, vol. 67, no. 12, 1964
Drilling vol. 26, no. 2, 1964
Drilling,vol.26,no.2,1964
THESE ISSUES MUST BE REPLACED before the 1964 volumes can be sent to the bindery. Furthermore, without replacement the information in the missing issues is unavailable to our own students.
That such a loss to the University Library should occur is shocking. Perhaps publication of this letter might remind students who have "borrowed" these journals that they are valuable, and that money which could have been spent for new books or journals must be spent to replace them. Any student who still has one of these journals would make us all happy by returning it to my mail box just outside the Geology Departmental Office in Lindley Hall.
Sincerely yours,
M. E. Bickford, Assistant Prof. Chairman of the Departmental Library Committee Department of Geology
BOOK REVIEWS
ANDERSONVILLE: A STORY OF REBEL MILITARY PRISONS, by John McElroy (Premier Civil War Classies, 75 cents)—The Civil War centennial is over, but the books about the war will pour forth for some time. This is an abridgment in the Premier series, written 100 years ago by a man who was in the first contingent of union prisoners sent to the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia. The details are stark and ugly, and those who think MacKinlay Kantor fabricated for his novel "Andersonville" should read this volume.
** **
THE ROMANCE OF TRISTAN AND ISEULT, retold by Joseph Bedier (Vintage, $1.45)—One of the great classic stories, in a translation by Hilaire Belloc and completed by Paul Rosenfeld. This is a beautiful little volume that will prove attractive not only to the student of medieval literature but to those who are finding new enjoyment in going to the great works of the classics.
THE ARAB A WAKENING, by
George Antonius (Capricorn, $1.95).
This book, almost 20 years old, may be the best full account of the development of Arab nationalism, which has been such a portent in the world since World War II. The author did extensive travel and research in the Arab world to obtain relevant documents and insights.
antonius and his movement. Antonius goes back to the 19th century and brings his story up to comparatively recent times. There are descriptions and evaluations of military and political leaders, including the mysterious Lawrence of Arabia. There also are basic documents in the Arab movement.
RANGER TO THE MOON, by Willy Ley (Signet Science Library, 60 cents).
Here is an original volume, by a scientist-writer, that is technical yet suspenseful, and likely to find many interested readers. Mainly Willy Ley records here the information that has been gathered by rocket research about the topography, orbit and origins of the moon.