KU Professor Was Costa Rican President
By Lacy Banks
A visiting KU professor has had the distinction of being a national president, a prolific author and a university professor — all at the same time.
He is Visiting Professor Ablardo Bonilla, a former honorary president of Costa Rica. Prof. Bonilla is presently teaching four advanced Spanish courses, three literary and one conversational, at KU.
In an interview last night, Prof. Bonilla reminisced his ten-day experience of June, 1960 when he was President of Costa Rica.
Already vice-president of the republic 1958-62, Prof. Bonilla was president on the Costa Rica chapter of the Congress of Philosophers. Costa Rica hosted the Inter-American Convention of this organization and Mario Echandi, national president, took a leave of absence so that Prof. Bonilla could host the convention as national president.
Latin American leaders often do this to show honor and respect to their professors.
Prof. Bonilla's honor lasted for ten days, and although he passed no extensive legislation, he "accepted and carried out his obligation in a warm spirit of gratitude."
"The President needed rest," Professor Bonilla said. "He was overworked so he called me and gave me the charge. The main problem that I had was being the
national President and a professor at the same time.
"I am not a politician," he continued. "I am a teacher above anything else, but that obligation was an honor to the Congress of Philosophy and to myself. I had to accept it."
THE CONGRESS of Philosophy is an inter-American organization, Professor Bonilla said. It has two main aims: to establish an American not European philosophy; and to analyze various elements of the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, English philosopher and mathematician.
The inter-American congress comprises 21 Latin-American Countries, he said.
Prof. Bonilla has written five
books, including a novel. For his literary and educational achievements he won the highest Spanish award for achievement that one could win — the "Grand Cross of Alfonso X. 'the wise.'"
Alfonso was a 13th century Spanish king who did much to develop Spanish prose.
PROF. BONILLA'S BOOKS are, "History and Anthology of Costa Rican Literature"; "Philosophy of Law"; "Conscience, Truth and Beauty"; the "Crises of Humanism," and his novel "The Cloudy Valley."
Commenting on the first book, Seymour Menton, professor of romance languages, said, "This book is considered by many as the best on the history of Costa Rican
literature. It is the only book of its kind that has been written since 1927."
The 64 year-old visiting professor was born and educated in Costa Rica. He received his doctorate from the Law School of the University of Costa Rica. He has been a professor of Spanish literature for 24 years.
"KU STUDENTS attending the University of Costa Rica on the junior-year-abroad program considered Prof. Bonilla the best teacher at the University," Professor Menton said.
Commenting on American students, Professor Bonilla said,
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Daily hansan
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
62nd Year, No.100
Ad Policies Amendment Goes Before ASC Tonight
Amendments to Human Rights Bill No. 7 will be among legislation discussed by the All Student Council at its meeting tonight.
The amendments concern advertising policies in University publications.
Mike Miner, Lawrence senior and ASC chairman, and Bob Stewart, Vancouver, B.C., senior and student body president, said yesterday they had been working on additions to the bill.
Stewart said the additions will be introduced as a substitution to the present amendment. The ASC could then vote on the bill tonight, he said, as the amendment would already be on the floor.
MINER LISTED THE PROPOSED substitutions:
- No student publication shall accept advertising which includes references to discrimination in its content.
- A student publication shall carry a statement saying that all "goods, accommodations and services advertised are offered to students of all creeds, color, and national origins."
- No publication shall accept advertising for accommodations, goods or services unless they are offered equally to all students without regard to color, creed, or national origin.
- The final provision states that the University Human Relations Committee, composed of students, faculty, and administrators, shall hear all cases involving discrimination and shall lay down binding decisions.
GEORGE TANNOUS, Lebanon junior and vice-chairman of ASC and chairman of the Committee on Committees, said that his committee will recommend that the Council defeat a bill to establish a Discriminatory Board.
Tannous said the recommendation will be made because the Human Relations Committee (UHRC) established by Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe, is presently fulfilling the duties and purposes of the proposed ASC Board.
Miner and Stewart repeated this idea and added that such a Board would only be a duplication of the present UHRC.
Miner explained that the amendment endorsing the UHRC is to be attached to Bill No. 7 "to define its powers properly."
STEWART NOTED THAT in drawing up the new amendments he and Miner had contacted the various groups for their opinion. These groups included the CRC, Kansan Board and UHRC.
"I'm sure that all the parties involved know what the bill is and have expressed their opinion one way or another." Stewart said.
Tannous said he hopes that any of the legislation which is passed will be satisfactory to all people concerned. He expressed his own desire to hear any further discussion on the pros and cons of the
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Temperatures will drop into the low 20's tonight. Tomorrow's expected high is in the upper 30's, the Topeka Weather Bureau predicted. Skies will be overcast with strong shifting winds.
Weather
MARCH WINDS—Spring breezes have hit KU at last, and the best solution to the problem of windy days is kite-flying. But, putting a kite together is a problem in higher mathematics for some KU women. Bill Manners, Glen Head, N.Y.,
(Photo by Harry Krause)
senior (center) assists Sue Ramberg, Palatine, Ill., junior; Joan Olson, Omaha, Neb., junior; and Tirsh Wulf, Morton Grove, Ill., junior, with the construction of their kite.
Johnson Proposes Voting Rights Bill
WASHINGTON—(UPI)President Johnson today swung the full weight of the federal government behind a drive to make good the promise of equality—unkept for a century—given the American Negro.
In an often eloquent address before an extraordinary joint session of Congress Monday night, Johnson told the lawmakers and the nation that "the time of justice has now come. No force can hold it back."
Even as he spoke, a small band of pickets paced in front of the White House, as they have for a week, singing and chanting slogans urging federal intervention in Alabama.
JOHNSON URGED Congress to work days, nights and weekends to pass a voting rights bill which would guarantee "the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy."
"There is no cause of self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of Americans.
"There is no cause for pride in what happened in Selma.
"BUT there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy in what is happening here tonight."
Johnson said, "The real hero of this struggle is the American Negro.
"His actions and protests—his courage to risk safety and even life—have awakened the conscience of the nation," Johnson said. "His demonstrations have been designed to call attention to injustice, to provoke change and stir reform. He has called upon us to make good the promise of America."
Chancellor OK's Change UHRC Lists Ad Rule
Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe said this morning that he has just received from the University Human Relations Committee (UHRC) its recommendations relating to the matter of commercial advertising in student publications.
The basic recommendation is that "all student publications will henceforth reject for publication commercial advertisements for housing, goods, services, and employment opportunities that are not available to all students on the basis of their individual merits.
"Since student publications are directly responsible to the All Student Council," the Chancellor said, "I am transmitting the Committee's recommendations to that Council for its consideration of appropriate legislation, with my request that legislation embodying the recommendations be passed as soon as possible.
"PERSONALLY, I find the recommendations forthright and appropriate. It is my understanding that the Council has under discussion an amendment to its Bill No. 7, on Human Rights, which is concerned with this matter. When the Council convenes this evening, it will have my letter and the Committee's recommendations before it."
The recommendations of the University Human Relations Committee are as follows:
In keeping with the principle of the University of Kansas that no rights or benefits shall be denied to anyone by reason of race or creed, the University Human Relations Committee recommends that the following policy be adopted by all student publications and implemented without delay;
ALL STUDENT publications will henceforth reject for publication commercial advertisements for housing, goods, services, and employment opportunities that are not available to all students on the basis of their individual merits.
The implementation of this policy will require the following steps:
This policy will be announced by the student newspaper and made a part of the permanent format of all student publications which accept advertising.
Commercial advertisers will be informed of the policy at the time of the placement of the advertisement with the publication.
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