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University Daily Kansan
Monday, Feb. 22, 1965
Obsessed with Fear
The feverish debate is now in full swing. The topic is an old one: the United States and South Viet Nam. Like grade school lovers picking the petals of a flower and saying "he loves me, he loves me not," the American people are saying "should we, or should we not" remain in South Viet Nam.
At least one group on campus has the answer. This is the Student Peace Union whose obsessive fear of war promotes the firm conviction: "Let's get out."
A WEEK AGO THIS PAST weekend, the SPU demonstrated in front of the city hall in Kansas City, Mo. A gallant minority of twenty students paraded in front of the city hall with signs that read: "Negotiate not escalate!", "Now that we have reunited the Communist bloc, what next?", and the most touching sign of all read, "Johnson, you have betrayed us!" (which sounds like Republican propaganda from the recent campaign; but then there were surely few Goldwaterites in the crowd).
BEFORE MAKING THE JAUNT to Kansas City, the SPU distributed leaflets on the campus. The leaflets pictured a not-too-pretty picture of war on the cover and urged students to write the President and demand "immediate cease fire and negotiations."
On the reverse side of the leaflet, the SPU condemned U.S. involvement in South Viet Nam,
labeling the U.S. the "aggressor" in the present situation, and referring to U.S. involvement as a "tragic blunder" in the first instance, and now a "crime."
THE SPU MUST SURELY BE motivated by sincere feelings, but so was Chamberlain at the infamous Munich conference. Peace is of concern to everyone. Few relish the thought of nuclear bombs, stamped with a hammer and sickle, showering down on the United States. But to negotiate from fear, as the SPU would have the U.S. do, is an entirely naive alternative.
SPU president Glen Head, N.Y., sophomore, drew a parallel between the Soviet Union's military intervention in Hungary in 1956 and the intervention of the United States in Viet Nam. Excessive fear can distort one's thinking. Such a parallel requires a good stretch of the imagination and a willingness to ignore the facts.
THE SPU WOULD HAVE THE U.S. withdraw American troops from South Viet Nam, convene the Fourteen Nation Conference to neutralize all of Southeast Asia, and abide by the Geneva Agreement of 1954. The SPU appears to be unaware of communist tactics and strategy. The slanted "propaganda" leaflets reflect a trembling fear to stand up to an aggressor which has confronted the United States since the end of World War II.
Gary Noland
SE Asia—Dilemma for Russia
Bv Phil Newsom
United Press International
In attempting to re-assert its influence in Southeast Asia, the Soviet Union is carrying water on both shoulders.
On the one hand it accuses the United States of "barbarious" bombing of Laos and of threatening to extend the war to all of Indochina.
On the other hand there is no evidence that the Soviets seek a direct clash with the United States, and, rather, are looking ahead to a betterment of relations through a meeting of their leadership with President Johnson.
IT ALSO HAS BEEN SUGGESTED that in Southeast Asia, even a United States presence is preferable to the Soviets against a takeover by Red China.
One of Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin's chief missions on his visit to North Viet Nam is believed to have been to deliver a warning to President Ho Chi Minh against action which might suddenly escalate the war in South Viet Nam out of hand.
On one phase of his trip, Kosygin seemed to have scored an important success.
That was North Viet Nam's endorsement of the Soviet coexistence policy.
MOSCOW FELT IT NECESSARY to re-assert its position as defender of socialist countries and therefore it was expected that Kosygin would come to Hanoi bearing gifts, probably promises of anti-aircraft weapons and planes which Peking cannot supply.
Yet it had no wish to become involved in a war not of its own choosing and in an area where it always has advocated restraint in contrast to the belligerent policies of Red China.
Ho Chi Minh has a traditional fear of Chinese intervention based on centuries of history and so has sought to keep ties open to Moscow.
BUT HO'S OWN PARTY is split between Moscow and Peking and he has had to look increasingly to Peking as Moscow's aid declined.
The endorsement of the Soviet policy of co-existence, then, appeared to be a declaration of independence from Peking.
Moscow's ultimate aim seemed to be another Geneva conference to establish the neutrality of the whole of Viet Nam, North and South.
She already has called for such a conference to be held on Laos, a call which the United States has rejected on the grounds that it was the Communists themselves who broke the accord of 1962.
A NEUTRAL VIET NAM, as also sought by President de Gaulle of France, would have definite Soviet advantages.
It would re-establish for the Soviets a voice in Southeast Asia which they lost with the renewal of the civil war in Laos.
Violation would pose the immediate threat of U.S. intervention and serve to keep the eyes of Red China looking south instead of to territories it disputes with the Soviets in the north and west.
AS FOR HO Chi Minh, he has obtained neither from the Russians nor the Chinese firm promises of help in case the war should move to North Viet Nam.
Red China knows that extension of the war would lay its cities and industries hopelessly open to U.S. air attack. So far as North Viet Nam is concerned, so does Ho Chi Minh.
The People Say...
Dear Sirs.
FAR BE IT FROM ME TO deny any person their rights to publicly air their grips, but I can't help but feel Miss Hellerstein and her Committee on Lowering Coffee Prices, (COLO-COP) is a step from the sublimie to the ridiculous. Apparently this student takes pride in being a member of minority groups which she feels are being "discriminated against" (A very trite phrase): if she can't find enough legitimate gripes to feed her discrimination complexes, then she and her cohorts will trump one up, no matter how trivial.
"I mean, like it's the latest fad, let's go find a minority group to soldier for and if we can't fine one, then, hell, we'll form one! Like you just aren't anyone until you belong to a minority group that is being discriminated against."
The pathetic part of the whole
situation is that 100 persons joined this overly sensitive person who has gotten her feelings hurt because an all-night restaurant she occasionally patronizes switched from a waitress system of serving coffee to a cafeteria system with a resulting 5c or 10c extra cost to Miss Hellerstein.
Yours truly,
Karl Zetmeir
Emmett, Kans., senior
PRESIDENT JOHNSON RAN on a platform of "responsibility" and "moderation." The U.S. escalation of the war in Viet Nam is neither responsible nor moderate. The present state of world armament makes any attempt to win a limited war a dangerous absurdity.
Dear Sir:
Dailijl Hänsan
Philip Bavles
Houston, Texas, freshman
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EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Leta Roth and Gary Noland ... Co-Editorial Editors
© 1965 HERBLOCK
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Yup—That Tough Guy On The Cycle Isn't Following Me Any More"
"Little Mary Sunshine"
Absolutely delightful is the only term that could describe the KU Experimental Theatre's production, "Little Mary Sunshine."
Playing to a "standing room only" crowd Saturday night, the performers carried off the melo-dramatic operetta with high spirit and great gusto.
The scene is early 20th Century Colorado—when that state was still part of the untamed wilderness. The costume is strictly Victorian—as is the behavior of the young ladies of the plot.
From the opening moments the good characters and the bad are distinctly obvious. The hero, Captain Jim of the U.S. Forest Rangers, is strong and rugged with facial features that could have been chiseled from Colorado granite. Mike Riley projected the character with all the force of the hero of the early twentieth century melodrama. His voice is robust, and he leads the troop of red-coated forest rangers with "honor and dedication."
Second in command of the Forest Rangers, Corporal Billy Jester, lives by the Forest Rangers' Manual and by Nancy Twinkle, a man-happy helper in Mary Sunshine's inn. Sandy Gresham as Nancy shows expert showmanship in her cavortings which include a sinister black and red satin cape, a camisole and lace-trimmed pantaloons.
Her old friend and benefactor, a stolid Indian, Chief Brown Bear, is attempting to sue the U.S. Government for the land of his fathers, the Kadota Indians. He is suing for approximately one-fourth of Colorado. Bruce Levitt uses the Indian words of the Kadota Indians with great fluency—throwing in such area-known terms as Tonganoxie and Osawatomie. He is also able to concoct brews of eagle brains and mountain lion eyes which will "give man courage."
The plot is an old one—Mary, portrayed by Mary Phillips, has taken out a mortgage on her small inn high in the Colorado Rockies. The government has notified her that her mortgage is due in a very short time and she must pay her debt or be evicted—in terms of the play—"Thrown out—penniless."
THE TENDER LOVE story of Captain Jim and Mary Sunshine grows surrounded by the love affairs of the troop of Forest rangers and six lovelies from an Eastern girls' finishing school. The young ladies are cultured, good looking and "ever so rich," as Henrietta (Mary Lou Groom) so aptly put it.
"LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE" is a demure, beruffled heroine who highlights her opening number by throwing a fresh rose to a member of the audience. Her motto is to "Look for a Sky of Blue."
Jester is played by Dick Caskey who is the living image of a "cautious" Forest Ranger. His antics on the stage and his personal contact with the audience are excellent. He even makes a good third member of the Kadota tribe when he becomes Chief Brown Bear's adopted son.
The obvious interest with which the players put their roles across to the audience made the play more delightful.
MUSICAL scoring for the play is carried out by drummer Bob Laushman and pianist Roger Rundle. These two instruments combine to give the play an authentic melo-drama flavor.
The scenery made full use of the three dimensional stage. The audience sat in individual revolving chairs in the center of the three-winged stage.
One revolving set made possible taking the audience into the bedroom of the six young ladies, each of whom was keeping an all night vigil for their beloved Forest Rangers.
"Little Mary Sunshine" is another success for the University Experimental Theatre. It will play again Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Bobbetta Bartelt (Assistant Managing Editor)