Fair housing could be a reality in Lawrence Another star has risen in the East and is at this very moment hovering high in the air over City Hall, for this afternoon a new era of justice and equality may begin right here in Lawrence Kansas. The city authorities are beginning to realize that Lawrence is a university town and may do something about it. OUR LEADERS will consider a proposed fair housing ordinance at the city commission meeting, and may take action on the proposal, which would outlaw "discriminatory practices in renting, leasing, selling, financing, showing and advertising of dwelling units, commercial units, or real property. "Aggrieved persons may be residents of Lawrence, persons who have accepted employment in Lawrence, or students." It is well known that most international students have difficulty in finding decent places to live, and with the increasing foreign enrollment at KU, apartments at reasonable prices will become more and more elusive. One of the most amusing parts of the whole situation has been the creation of a Human Relations Commission which has had no power since its conception in 1961. THE ORDINANCE, if passed, will give the commission the power of enforcement. The proposal was based on interviews with minority group complainants from both the town and the University, and on surveys conducted in two Iowa cities with similar situations. The joke which is intrinsic to the commission's consideration of the ordinance is that it took so long to come. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS have almost given up hope for a fair housing proposal; they have fought too long for it and are getting tired of the cold war. This is not to say they have accepted the present situation, but have merely learned to live with the status quo. The city fathers still may not act on the proposed ordinance, but at least it will have been brought to their attention by a method they consider legitimate. Perhaps they will pass it and finally Lawrence will become worthy of the title of university city. -Barbara Phillips The Daily Kansan, student newspaper at The University of Kansas, is represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East 50 St., New York, N.Y. 10022 second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University except Saturdays and Sundays. University holidays and examination periods, institutions, goods, services and employment advertised in the University Daily Kansan 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 EXECUTIVE STAFF Managing Editor Joan McCabe Business Manager Chop Editorial Editor Dan Austin, Barb Pollitt NEWS AND BUSINESS STAFF Managing Editors Ga v Murrell, Steve Russell Linda Sleefel, Robert Stevens City Editor Will Hardesty Advertising Manager Ken Hickerson Wire Editor Betsy Wright Natal A.v. Manager Howard Pankratz Sports Editor Mike Walker Production Manager Joe Loe Feature Editor Jacki Campbell Circulation Manager Don Huntley Photo Editor Earl Hachil Classified Manager Joe Godfrey Asst. City Editor Carol D'Bonis Merchandising Manager Steve Dennis Executive Reporters; Eric Morgenhalter, Judy Faust. Jack Harrington FACULTY ADVISERS: Business; Prof. Mel Adams; News; Malcolm Applegate; Editorial; Prof. Calder Pickett Foreign Students: Interested in special summer job with VISTA? See Dean Coan for information. Early deadline date. Ph.D. Final Exams, 3:30 p.m., Donald I. Yeats, English, 149 C; 4:00 p.m., Cherrie L. Soper, Spanish, 210 Strong, 1965 Winners National Student Film TODAY Official Bulletin Faculty Club Annual Meeting, 7:30 p.m. Main Lounge, Faculty Club. Festival, 7 & 9 p.m. Dyche Aud. Faculty Club Annual Meeting. 7-30 Faculty Baroque Trio, 8 p.m. Southern Bracket Hall Experimental Theatre, 8:20 p.m. "The, Thee, Coogs." TOMORROW Iulus. Lecture, 4:00 p.m. Prof. Orton, Leeds U. England. 306 Kansas Union. Psych Colloq., 4:00 p.m. Dr. Alfred Baldwin, NYU. Forum Room, Union. German Honors Banquet, 6:30 p.m. Kansas Room. Union. Classical Film, 7 & 9 p.m. "Dr. Strangeleaf." Dyche Aud. Miller, pianist. Swarbrick Recital Hall. "Hate," wrote a stare, 8:20 p.m. "The Wicked Cooked." Daily Kansan Tuesday, May 16, 1967 'Countess' sparkles 2 Bv SCOTT NUNLEY If "A Countess from Hong Kong" fails as a comedy, why is everyone laughing? No one ventures that Charles Chaplin's new comedy will be remembered as a classic. Chaplin in 1967 suffers from what certainly should be an enviable malady: his own early success as America's finest comedy writer-director-star. When no one else has been able to equal the performance of the youthful Chaplin, the aging Chaplin should not expect to. What Chaplin-1967 has created is a funny low-key comedy that exposes another facet of Marlon Brando's unique style and makes unashamed cinematic love to Sophia Loren. The appearance of The Wife should have offered Chaplin sufficient fuel to re-complicate his extra-domestic love affair with glee. Unfortunately "Martha" is a stale and shallow characterization, mouthing the stock responses of The Frigid Bitch who finds her husband in An Affair, Just at the point when "A Countess from Hong Kong" most required a jolt to spark the uproarious finale, Mrs. Wet Blanket collapses horribly over the proceedings. "A Countess from Hong Kong" is a classic comedy in the sense that it is people, not gimmicks, that make the gags. In this sense the film is "old-fashioned," concentrating the audience's interest and laughter upon the plight of a few human beings caught up in a ridiculous situation. The amount of laughter evoked laudable comments on the value of the traditional formulae. One of Director Chaplin's favorite ploys in the film is the unexpected interruption. Buzzers, knocks, voices crack again and again into the middle of quiet conversation. Everyone reacts ludicrously, time after time, and the audience is never able to resist laughing. Chaplin so deftly modifies his expected interruptions that he continually catches his viewer off guard. When the film has well-exploited one set of characters, a new face is added and the fun renews. In fact it is the failure of Chaplin's final "new character" to capture audience interest and sympathy that most cripples the film. If Charles Chaplin carries a special enmity for this type of woman, a budding comedy was no place to settle the feud. In contrast to "Martha," the remainder of the roles are remarkably solid and fascinating. Marlon Brando as the oil-filthy "Ogden" presents and destroys the facade of the serious Rising Young Man. The familiar Brando style of stiff and sensuous power is expertly satirized by Brando himself. Unlike "Casino Royale" and "Oh Dad, Poor Dad," this comedy is built upon characters for whom the audience can care. Sophia Loren as "Natascha" has every quality of human warmth that so obviously eludes other comedy-sex symbols like Ursula Andress. Sophia projects love shamelessly from each beautiful dark eye, immediately before prattfalling over her own feet. "A Countess from Hong Kong" does not pretend to be either capadcap or psychological. It is a low-key comedy that produces low-key fun, where more pretentious recent comedies have failed miserably. Charles Chaplin has not produced the miracle that too many expected of him, but he has produced a very comfortable evening's entertainment.