Postal service needs you
Can you imagine the consternation of more than 750 residents of one of our largest residence halls upon returning from Spring vacation to find all the newspapers they received the previous nine days dumped in several boxes and placed in one corner of their lounge? They were told to sort through the several hundred copies of assorted shapes, sizes and forms to find their own; then help themselves.
ACCORDING TO J. J. Wilson, director of housing, vacations pose an unsurmountable problem for his office. He admitted that actually it would be easier to keep the residence halls open over these periods than to close them. But we have vacations, and they are a necessary part of every semester. And with the present system copies of newspapers are bound to get lost. One irate postal patron wrote the Lawrence Postmaster and said: "I sorted through the boxes, over the floor, and under the furniture for my papers, but was unable to find all of them."
ANOTHER COMPLAINER wrote: "Well, in the confusion and after looking almost an hour, I failed to find three copies of my daily paper and the copy of my weekly stamp journal." And who knows how many other residents were unable to locate all of their mail who did not have time to wade through the sea of newsprint.
BOTH OF THE aforementioned writers have since had conferences with John B. Harris, Lawrence postmaster, and Wilson. It was agreed upon after about an hour of discussion that corrective measures would be taken. The residence hall system would deliver all of the mail received during vacation periods. Secondly several other steps would be taken to improve mail service inside the halls.
THE UNIVERSITY of Kansas is not the first university to have trouble with mail service. K-State has been a problem to the post office
department for some time. And after the recent vacation Emporia State even dumped the magazines received during a vacation on the floor for the residents to weed through. We do admit vacations pose a problem. The large in transient populace of Lawrence poses an even greater problem for local authorities. But that does not excuse them from doing their job well.
THE FACT THAT we are a transient population is even more reason why we should receive nothing less than the best service from the local post office. There is no doubt that KU students write an unusual amount of letters to parents and friends out of town and excellence in service and delivery of these letters can speak well for the city of Lawrence. For, what one agency of the city does represents the entire city. Therefore, an on-the-ball post office could do the city of Lawrence, and the University of Kansas, a big favor.
THE POSTAL administration is trying to correct all of the problems which arise, but they must be informed of them first. After the conference held by the two residents with the postmaster he returned a letter which said: "If, after observing the new procedures in operation, you have any more suggestions to improve the service, please don't hesitate to phone me at my office. I shall be happy to discuss your postal problems at any time."
YET, THE POST office must know just what is going on before it can correct the problems. And that is where the postal patrons of this community can be of service to the post office. Instead of giping to friends about poor service, go to the source. The two dormitory residents found their service improved, and probably so can you.
By Robert Stevens and Emery Goad
opinion, fact and fancy
'Observer' is not adequate
By Bill Robinson
A question has been raised that should be answered now, before the discomforts of misunderstanding become more widespread than they currently are. The question, raised by Mr. Beck in a recent Daily Kansan editorial, concerns the relationship and existence of two student governing organizations on campus, the ASC and the AWS. Mr. Beck's question is indeed a valid one, one that should have been answered—or at least raised—by interested students long before now.
THE ASC is supposedly the representative organ of student government on this campus. It claims to be representative of all living groups, all academic divisions of the university, and all classes—what more should be represented? In theory the ASC is truly a representative body; in fact, the ASC is not nearly as representative as it might claim, for it is a group traditionally led by men. Granted, during the years of World War II the ASC did have female chairmen, but not since the early 1950's has there been a female charged with any responsibility greater than the traditionally feminine secretarial function. We have had an occasional woman vice-president of the student body, but very few people can remember the last woman who served as student body president, if there ever was one.
It is not at all surprising that the women should want—in fact, demand—that they be given positions in which they can adequately prepare for the increasingly demanding positions which they are expected to fill outside the university society. When the women were denied general access to positions of responsibility and administration on this campus ('way back in the early 1900's), it came as no surprise that they sought their own organizations within which they could participate, and, in essence, train as the men do, for positions they would accept on the "outside."
Is it fully necessary that the ASC and the AWS exist independently and virtually exclusively of each other? It is not. It has long been the hope of some student leaders that the student government structure might be completely reorganized.
THE AUTONOMY of the ASC or the AWS would' not be de-
stroved by such reorganization, but the effectiveness would certainly be increased for both groups. The AWS now makes regulations and handles matters pertaining only to women, a privilege most men would demand if they were to be similarly regulated on this campus. The ASC, on the other hand, does involve itself with matters not necessarily pertinent to a single sex, but rather to the campus as a whole. There should be some way that the two groups could sanction more involved interaction and cooperation, considering the nature of their responsibilities.
The ASC Billbook now provides for an "Organizational Observer" from the AWS to be seated on the ASC with no vote, but with full speaking privileges. The AWS observer has long been a silent, and for much of the recent ASC meeting-time, non-existent member of the ASC. And it is certainly not surprising that the AWS observer chooses not to attend ASC meetings, especially since she has no vote, and consequently can make very little impression on the other members of the ASC should she attempt to take a stand on an issue. The ASC should therefore recognize that its once-adequate, now-antiquated attempt at cooperation is no longer satisfactory and must be revised. Any revision, or better yet, the revision, should come from the combined efforts of the chairman of the ASC and the president of the AWS, and should be mutually accepted by both the ASC and the AWS. How about it, ladies and gentlemen?
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
kansan
For 76 Years, KU' Offictal Student Newspaper
KANSAN TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Newsroom—UN 4-3646 ---- Business Office—UN 4-3198
The Daily Kansan, student newspaper at The University of Kansas, is represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East St. 50, New York, N.Y. 10023. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University except Saturdays and Sundays, University holidays and examination periods, Accommodations, goods, services and employment advertised in the University are offered to all students without regard to color, creed or national origin.
The opinions expressed in the editorial column are those of the students whose names are signed to them. Guest editorial views are not necessarily the editor's. Any opinions expressed in the Daily Kansan are not necessarily those of The University of Kansas Administration or the State Board of Regents.
2
Daily Kansan
editorial page Tuesday, May 3, 1966
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE HE GRAPHS HIS ONN EXAMS
I NEVER SEEM TO DO WELL ON MACHINE SCORED TESTS.
The people say...
No congrats due yet
To the Editor:
As a graduate of the University of Kentucky, I would like to thank you for your inclusion of an editorial Friday, April 29, from UK's student newspaper, The Kentucky Kernel. The Kernel has a reputation for supporting stands frequently unpopular even with the university student body—such as a de-emphasis of athletics. The University of Kansas should consider itself fortunate that it has not yet had to deal with a state speaker-ban law such as the one pending in the Kentucky Legislature and attacked by the Kernel. Kansas has a right to be proud of the controversial men invited to participate in its recent Centennial celebrations.
BUT IT will not do the University of Kansas to pat itself congratulatorily on the backside. Kansas state laws regulating the sale of commodities on the KU campus, such as cigarettes and alcohol, regardless of the age of the purchaser—mere possession in the case of alcohol—are of the same nature as the proposed Kentucky speaker-ban. The recent Lawrence city ordinance seeks to impose censorship regulations upon the University community regardless of the feelings of that community. The KU bookstores and library are already reacting to the "smut" law, ready to place the reading matter of the university at the hands of city censors. The University of Kentucky may face an important test of the freedom of the university community, but the University of Kansas has already faced—and lost—several tests.
— Scott Nunley
Ashland, Ky., graduate student
books in review
That brilliant book of 1965, Jean-Paul Sartre's *Situations*, is now available in paperback (Premier, 95 cents), and for the KU intellectual it may be the best buy of the month.
Philosophy, politics are new paperback offers
More eloquently than almost any other contemporary philosopher, Sartre attempts to analyze the human condition. He interprets in "Situations" such men as Gide and Camus, and in deft strokes he deals with ideas that are especially popular with the current generation in revolt.
ANOTHER one this month is Richard B. Morris' revised version of Great Presidential Decisions (Premier, 95 cents). This is about the same as the volume published a few years ago, except that it contains chapters on John F. Kennedy—the quarantine on offensive weapons to Cuba; the speech at American University in which Kennedy announced his decision to reach a detente with Russia.
One of the significant books of our time is A. J. P. Taylor's The Origins of the Second World War (Premier, 75 cents). Taylor tries to look at World War II not as a closed matter but as something always open for investigation, and he considers the extent of the Nazi war guilt. In so doing he opens some old sores and will make a new group of readers angry.
MORE TO certain tastes will be Hal Dresner's book about a pornographer, The Man Who Wrote Dirty Books (Crest, 60 cents). This is mainly for laughing. And it is not pornography itself. Sorry.