An open letter to KU
Dear Fellow Students.
On behalf of the men of Phi Gamma Delta, I would very much like to express our thanks to all of those individuals and living groups that have extended offers of help and have pitched in to really lighten the load.
Without the help of so very many people in helping to control the fire and in helping us to salvage what we did, we would be in a predicament that is unbearable even to think about. The Lawrence Fire Department has made it clear that it could not have possibly held the fire to what it was without all of the help and cooperation of those on the scene Tuesday night.
We would also like to express our thanks to
the administration, the Interfraternity Council, the Student Union Bookstore, Templin Hall, and the Red Cross, whose interest and help have made things considerably easier for us.
All in all, we feel that we owe thanks and appreciation to a great number of people. How to possibly repay so many people is a problem beyond our imagination at present, but we can promise you that we will be here for a long time to come trying to live up to what you have done for us.
Appreciatively,
Curt Heinz, President
Phi Gamma Delta
Vietnam: Fight it to win it
To the Editor:
As a student at the University of Kansas it is virtually impossible to keep from coming in contact with discussions on Vietnam. Consequently, I have been exposed to many differing views on our commitment and subsequent involvement.
Initially the United States became involved in Vietnam in 1954. At that time we supported Diem and looked upon the nationalist, Ho Chi Minh, as a radical affiliated with the Communist movement. At that time Ho was primarily a nationalist and subsequently when the U.S. installed Diem and did not hold elections called for in the Geneva agreement of 1954, we pushed Ho into a position in which he had to align himself with the Communists.
SINCE THAT TIME the U.S. has continued a policy of supporting dictators out of necessity. The reason for our seemingly undemocratic position was to keep free elections from being held and having Ho or his representatives elected. The reason for this action being that by 1960 Ho had unfortunately become a figurehead. Evidence supporting this would seem to be in the number of Russian and Chinese advisors, weapons, and above all, the policy put forward by North Vietnam which was in line with the National Liberation movement.
Now where have these actions led us? The answer is of course, into a war in which innocent men, women and children have been massacred by U.S. troops, napalm, and fragmentary bombs. The Communists on the other hand have not gone with clean hands.
They suppress villagers into military service with the threat and use of violent actions such as breaking every bone in their bodies and letting their internal organs lay open and upon the ground to be fed upon by dogs and pigs. Therefore, I think it can safely be said that the war is ugly and one in which we should be ashamed of our actions. However, this gorrilla (sic) type of warfare calls for such action and if we are to be there this is the way it has to be fought in order to win.
SINCE WE NOW KNOW how we got there and that the war is very brutal, the question that now arises is, should we continue. On one hand, if you feel that there is not a Communist conspiracy which includes movements of the National Liberation, then Vietnam and Southeast Asia are still safe for the people and the U.S. should withdraw unconditionally. On the other hand, if you believe that the peoples' freedom is threatened and that we can help insure their freedom, then we must stay for freedom's sake.
Influential Communists, among them Mao Tse-tung, have written that the National Liberation movement is a means to world revolution. I believe that the people's minds and their freedoms are in grave danger. Furthermore, I believe we must fight to insure their freedom or lose our self-respect for allowing murder of minds and bodies to occur.
Yours very truly,
David O. Wilson
Overland Park sophomore
Thoughts on Vietnam
To the Editor:
Sitting in the grass Thursday, at the Vietnam Peace Rally in front of Strong, I felt sick; sick at the poor turnout, sick at the disintegration of confrontation into ditribe and invective.
But most of all, sitting in the grass and smelling the bright greenness, I felt sick at the senseless horror of the war itself. I was struck with the thought, listening to the debate, that no rational analysis of the war's causes and no request for a reasoned program to stop the fighting (both of which are of course necessary) could begin to touch the impact of the blood and the bombing and the smell of na-
palmed flesh. I felt the need for men, at KU as elsewhere, to stop and take personal responsibility for their actions.
I WAS SICK at the thought of Lawrence and KU girls, angry and scared about their lovers fighting and dying in Vietnam, frantically rejecting the efforts of people here to bring the soldiers home.
I was sick at the memory of President Johnson telling Luci that she might not wake up in the morning, that he might go down in history as the man who started World War III.
I don't want Luci Johnson to get killed.
I don't want the kids in Vietnam to get killed.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan
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Newsroom—UN 4-3646 — Business Office—UN 4-3198
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Serving KU for 77 of its 101 Years
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.
Sitting there, crying inside in the bright sunlight. I remembered e. e. cummings' poem about Olaf, who was a conscientious objector. At one point, repelled by war and by the indignities being foisted upon him by his captors, Olaf cries out "There is some s... I will not eat!"
AND I KNOW, in my heart,
that they all may, if this horrible thing is allowed to go on.
I certainly don't want Rachel and Howard and Warren Burke to get killed.
I THINK WE NEED more Olafs, here at KU and all over, to say NO! to this war and to the fighting and to the killing:
to become C.O.'s and do alternative service:
to emigrate to Canada;
to be willing to go to jail if necessary.
I hope that enough of you feel sick along with me. sick enough to do something about it.
Richard L. Burke
Assistant Professor of
Human Relations
Richard L. Burke
2
Daily Kansan
editorial page Monday, May 22, 1967
Is the CC different? (A survey tells all)
To the Editor:
A letter to the Editor from Marc Fisher (May 18) asked about the questionnaire that is being given to about 800 freshmen. Its purpose is to determine if the effects on students of the Centennial College program are different from the effects of the regular program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
KU is one of about forty colleges and universities currently experimenting with some method of "clustering" students to overcome the problems arising from growing size and resulting anonymity, isolation, and fragmentation of student life. But, we are the only one of these schools that will be able to accurately assess the effects of "clustering" because we have selected students that are a representative group of freshmen. On other campuses, only students of outstanding ability were admitted to the subcollege, or it was open to those who wanted this special kind of experience.
With only students of exceptional talent or strong interest they are bound to succeed.
To make sure the changes in students are due to the new college-within-the-college plan we drew the names of a similar group of freshmen who were not in Centennial College, and we are gathering the same information about both groups.
The questionmaires we are using were constructed by behavioral scientists at other major universities, and they have been given to thousands of other students. They have been tested and improved, and the findings we get can be compared with the characteristics of students on other campuses. The questions themselves are designed to tell about reactions to college, and to also give background information that will enable us to understand why students with different characteristics
and previous experience will react in diverse ways to the subcollege plan. In addition to academic progress, we are interested in changes in values, that are the traditional objective of a liberal education, and in attitudes toward the university and higher education.
The results will be analyzed by a computer and reported in the form of statistical tables, measurements, and graphs, with a narrative explanation and interpretive conclusions. No information about individual students will leave my office or be available to the Administration. We will be mainly interested in comparing Centennial students with the comparison sample of non-Centennial students, but also comparing KU freshmen with those on other campuses, and in making internal comparisons between men and women, and comparisons based on other social and psychological characteristics.
So far about 70 per cent of the students in our sample have given us their replies. But we need to have replies from as near 100 per cent as possible to be sure our findings are truly representative. We earnestly hope those who have not yet responded will do so. Come to Fraser, Room 753, or phone us at UN 4-4111 and ask for me or David Mitchell, my research assistant, and we will get a copy to you. Regrettably, internal checks of the answer sheets showed that some students did not consciously record their replies. We hope you, too, will contact us to correct your answer sheets. If you are too busy now, come in later, after finals, or any time up to the middle of June.
E. Jackson Baur,
Prof. of Sociology and Director of Research for the College-Within-the-College Plan
NEW BOOKS
FAMOUS AMERICAN SPEECHES, edited by Stewart H. Benedict (Dell, 50 cents)—A handy compilation for the student. You'll find Patrick Henry calling for liberty or death. Washington delivering his farewell, Webster replying to Hayne, Lincoln at Gettysburg and asking for malice toward none. Bryan urging that mankind not be crucified on a cross of gold. Wilson asking the meaning of progress. Roosevelt tells us the only think we have to fear is fear itself, Huey Long letting us know we are all kings. Taft asking for equal justice for the Nuremberg criminals, MacArthur making us weep about old soldiers just fading away, Stevenson accepting the nomination and telling us the meaning of patriotism, Eisenhower remarking on the spirit of Geneva, and Kennedy asking us to consider what we can do for our country. Besides these, you can read Darrow on capital punishment, Russell Conwell on "Acres of Diamonds," Teddy Roosevelt on the strenuous life, Mark Twain making light on womankind and the German language, Sinclair Lewis on American literature and Faulkner nobly accepting the Nobel prize and telling us mankind not only will endure but will prevail.
***
DARK COMPANION, by Bradley Robinson (Premier. 75 cents)—A biography of Matthew Henson, a Negro who accompanied Peary to the North Pole. It's also a vivid picture of arctic exploration. Peary and Henson were friends over a span of about 20 years, and the friendship successfully evaded the color problem.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN
**Foreign** Stud nts! Interested in
Lake Bailey!! This summer!
Susan Da Costa. 220 S.
Foreign Students: Complete information forms in May issue of Newsletter & return to 226 Strong
NHBAN
Faculty Recital, 8 p.m. Joan Marie Maynagh, soprano. Swarthout R. recital.