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University Daily Kansan Tuesday, April 20, 1965
A Dying Country
There was a house on every 80 acres and churches and schools dotted the farmland. Towns sprang up, fostered by the railroad and the granaries. There was a bank in every town, a bank which did a great deal of business.
And now farm houses are a rare commodity, many of them miles apart. Deserted graveyards, worn tombstones leaning on each other, are the mute remainder of a flourishing country church. Schools stand deserted, windows broken out and the playground equipment rusted.
The towns are skeletons, functioning on the hope that the "good ol' days" will return. Many of the buildings are deserted, with yellowing posters announcing revivals still in the dusty and cracked windows. The banks don't do any business anymore and the most active place in town is the small hardware store, crammed with milk cans, baling wire and farmer's clothing. The farmers sit in groups and talk about the days when their fathers farmed the land and were the most sought-after by the politicians. They joke about how the bank closed awhile back because there wasn't any business in the town, but there is a quiet hopelessness about the way they talk.
THEY SEEM to know that a way of life has ended and that the farmer is a dying breed, living in a dying country. The land is not so fertile now that the same crops have been planted there for a hundred years.
"Progress" has robbed the farm country of its most pressing need, farmers. Many of them have gone to the large cities, finding easier and more lucrative employment. Many of those left on the farm have no prospect of giving the farm to their children. The children plan to find other employment, preferably in the cities. Eventually, the few farms that are left will also be deserted, for lack of anyone to work the land.
It's rather sad to see a country die.
The death of the farmer's country seems inevitable. It is seemingly a part of a pattern which has swept America. The "progress" boosters feel no qualms about its death. They glorify the new with no thought of the old. The abandoned have little hope of recovering the way of life that has been swept up in the program of "advancement."
— Leta Roth
The People Say...
To the Editor:
Leta Roth's "Little Man" paints a tearful picture of a small immigrant businessman who has no mind of his own but is merely a pawn in the struggle between CORE and the Ku Klux Klan. I think that this picture is a misleading one; it tends to obscure the real meaning of the conflict between Jonesboro CORE and Tony James.
It is indeed unfortunate that men can be and are caught in the middle of such struggles as the one now in progress in Jonesboro and elsewhere throughout the South. The central issue of the case, however, is not the plight of Tony James, but whether or not the law of the land will prevail. James claims that the integration of his restaurant would hurt his business seriously. Such a claim cannot be upheld by fact. All but one of the other restaurants in Jonesboro have been integrated and to my knowledge none of them have lost business. Indeed, the Negroes that comprise one-third of the population of Jonesboro would probably more than make up for any white business that would be lost.
The position of the man in the middle is not an enviable one, but neither is it hopeless. The battle against segregation must be won. Enlightenment can hardly cause permanent damage.
Tony James does not lose the battle, no matter what the outcome, as Mrs. Roth asserts. The outcome is already clear: he will be forced to integrate his restaurant or close it; the court order will be coming soon. Since James cannot afford to close, he will integrate. Through integration of such public facilities not only will restaurateurs gain the economic benefit of an increased clientele, but the whole South will benefit as the hitherto-closed society there begins to become open to all groups.
Tim Miller Wichita senior
Editor:
I HAVE SEEN THE PLANS FOR the new Fraser Hall, and agree that it not only "gives a good representation of the University," but is probably one of the most beautiful school buildings ever designed.
Unfortunately, it seems possible that the lovely towers on the structure may go unnoticed. It has been suggested that designs be submitted detailing possible improvements on that which has been reviewed and accepted as the new Fraser Hall plan.
Might it be suggested that the Fraser towers, although beyond question beautiful and integral to the new building's design, may not be completely utilitarian? Obviously smaller in floor space than the average classroom, they could yet be used for rooftop conservatories. The space may even be large enough to permit the growing of certain trees. Imagine the joy
certain trees. Imagine the joy
and awe of alumni and future visitors to the KU campus, at the sight of mighty oak trees arising majestically from the twin towers of new John Fraser Hall. What could provide a more stirring or meaningful focal point for the University campus, unless perhaps some colossal Jayhawk bird statuary? The oak, traditional symbol of strength and solidarity, could lend a swell touch of dominance to the overall plan of Kansas University's architecture.
Dear Editor:
Frank Hess Graduate student
ALTHOUGH THE INITIAL evangelistic fervor of anti "New Fraser" has died down, an occasional outburst still denounces the proposed structure as a monumental monstrosity, inconsistent with the greater plan and atmosphere of the University.
As one of dubious discernment in architectural areas, I feel unqualified in offering criticism as to the general aesthetic effect of New Fraser when compared with existing structures.
I do feel, however, that an element of unfairness enters into the picture when it is maintained that the "atmosphere" of the campus is to be violated by this impending edifice.
It could be quite justly maintained that a much meaner building than the new Fraser would result in no devaluation of the "atmosphere" created when the sound booth facing Balley is in ten form
During nine years in an underdeveloped African country, I heard a great deal of rhythm on par with that which periodically emanates from the KU public address booth. During this same period, I saw exceedingly few educational structures comparable to the proposed KU addition.
When the plea for consistency is raised, I would suggest that we be thoroughly consistent and face the fact that the designers of Fraser have been quite avant-garde in pacing out of the '18th century African" that so often pervades Mount Oread.
New Fraser will be relatively expensive compared to what it will cost the University in dollars and cents, in prestige. Why? It is because the administration of the University will not admit that a concrete building is a better looking building before the "face-mask" of expensive non-structural stone is applied. By building every building on campus, since Allen Field House (which is a steel building), out of reinforced concrete, the administration has proved by using it gn dormitories
I HAVE BEEN PLEASED WITH the high quality of criticism that has appeared in the UDK concerning new Fraser Hall.
Orv Wiebe
Garden City graduate student The editor.
The editor:
and classrooms alike that it is an excellent building material.
Just as every new building on campus is built of concrete then skinned extraneously with stone in some way, every new building on campus looks better under construction than it does when it is finished. The new dormitories are the best example. While under construction the concrete beams and columns are visually interesting. The sunlight and shadow on the buildings give it a certain character, a certain depth that disappears upon completion of the building.
Sunlight and shadow are also the elements that contribute to the character of old Fraser, I suggest the students, along with the UDK, support the idea of the University spending its "stone money" on an architect that can be in control of designing the humanities building (to replace both Robinson and Hayworth) rather than getting an architect that allows new Fraser to happen and then says if he were doing it (which he was) that he would have come up with a different solution.
Tim McGinty
St. Louis, Mo., senior Gentlemen:
THIS YEAR I GAVE $100 to Occidental College, my undergraduate alma mater (C62), I would like to be able to give a comparable sum to the University of Kansas, my graduate alma mater (C64); but certain recent impressions I have gained from KU make me hesitate. May I offer the following suggestions (which you may interpret as conditions before I could willingly support KU)?
(1) Please write Occidental College and request recent copies of their Alumni magazine. It puts KU's Alumni magazine to shame. It is free of commercials; yours is spoiled by advertising. Its articles are intellectually stimulating; yours do not begin to move. Its artful photographs inform on recent campus developments; yours are devoid of meaning.
(2) Please reconsider your choice of design for the new Fraser Hall. Judging from a photograph of the model published in the undate (1 assume recent) edition of "KU Today," the architectural design of new Fraser is, by all standards, repugnant. It is contrary to any architectural concept of aesthetics I have ever known, and I can hardly believe that the photograph is merely unflattering.
I do not wish to sound vehement, but I cannot stand by and not express concern about the public image KU presents in its Alumni magazine and its new buildings. As an alumnus, I would like to regard KU with pride.
Unfortunately, gentlemen, I must voice strong objections to the image presented of KU by the forementioned. My wife, also a KU alumna, concurs.
Denis W. Thompson San Francisco, Calif.
HERBLOCK
MAYORING BROTHERS
"Keep Backing Up—It's A Trap!"
Hecklers Mirror Society's Sickness
I stood and watched a demonstration yesterday. I did not participate because I did not believe in the policy being advocated by the demonstrators. But before long, I was ashamed to be standing here—ashamed because I did not want to be identified with those others who were standing there and watching.
"Stupid idiots! Most of 'em don't even have their citizenship," one muttered to his pal. I looked at the group quietly marching in front of Beardshear. Some of them didn't have their citizenship. There was a sociology major from Peru, perhaps a little too concerned with humanitarian utopias, but hardly stupid. And a student from Greece, here working on a doctoral degree in nuclear physics.
The students who shouted those remarks and who waved signs reading "Down with Demonstrators" were not objecting to the specific policy urged by the demonstrators. They were rejecting the basic idea of a democracy, the idea that people can disagree.
There were the others, who did have their citizenship. "Commies, go home," a convertible-load of boys shouted. Again I surveyed the demonstrators. A history instructor, a secretary for the history department, and several graduate students.
Actually, though, it didn't matter who was marching in that demonstration. They were exercising one of the basic rights of our society—the right to express their view on a controversial topic of great importance.
By calling all those who disagree communists, those students are implying that only people who hold views similar to their own are privileged to be considered "freedom-loving Americans."
But I could not remain unperturbed. To me, this represented a sickness in our society, which is much more dangerous than the threat of communists.
Because they exercised this right, because they represented a point of view in conflict with that held by others, they were branded as communists, they were jeered at and insulted. The demonstrators just marched quietly along, seemingly unperturbed by the shouts and jeers.
— Reprinted from Iowa State Daily.
Daili' Hänsan
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University of Kansas student newspaper
University of Kansas student newspaper
Founded 1889 became biweekly 1904 trinity
Inada 1889, became biweekly 1904, triweekly 1908, daily Jan. 16, 1912. Member Inland Daily Press Association, Associated Collegiate Press. Represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East 50 St., New York 22, N.Y. News service: United Press International. Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $5 a year. Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays, and examination periods. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas. Accommodations, goods, services, and employment advertised in the University Daily Kansan are offered to all students without regard to color, creed, or national origin.
Leta Roth and Gary Noland Co-Editorial Editors
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Editor; Harry Krause, Picture Editor.
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