Mr. White of Emporia; ad astra per aspera
Today, on this campus, we of the Fourth Estate pay homage to one of our heroes, William Allen White.
And what a hero he is!
For Mr. White of Emporia, who chronicled American history from the roll-top desk of the small town editor, gave this profession apart of its morals, most of its humor and the basis for its character.
HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION, however, was that he took our rural Kansas ancestors and made them seem "respectable" to the "city slicker" cousins in the East.
As an editorialist, he was the master of the pungent phrase. Contemplating the whiskey hypocrisy of the state, White wrote, "Kansas will vote dry as long as they can stagger to the polls."
At times, he would combine the sardonic with an affluence of rolling prose. "What's the Matter With Kansas," White's 1896 invective against the Populist Party, made him famous partly because he could turn phrases such as these:
"WE HAVE RAKED the old ash heap of failure in the state and found an old human hoop skirt who has failed as a business man, who has failed as an editor, who has failed as a preacher, and we are going to run him for Congressman-at-Large. . . Then we have discovered a kid without a law practice and have decided to run him for Attorney General. . . Oh, this is a state to be proud of!"
In his later years, White's political convictions changed from fire-breathing conservative to deliberate liberal. But he espoused no single
dogma, and after Franklin Roosevelt had defended the nation—and Kansas—from the peril of depression, White raised his glass, grudgingly, in praise:
"Well, darn your smiling old picture, here it is! Here, reluctantly, amid seething and snorting, it is. We, we hate your gaudy guts, salute you."
DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE of civil liberties. White won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for advocating free speech in the midst of the Red Scare. He lashed out at anybody, anywhere, who would hamper free speech, and after laughing the Klan out of Emporia, he took on the American Sacred Cow, The Daughters of the American Revolution.
"The D.A.R. has yanked the Klan out of the cow pasture and set it down in the breakfast room of respectability, removing its hood and putting on a transformation."
But William Allen White has been dead for almost 23 years, and the men who knew him well have grown old. The memories of White the man grow dim, and this generation can know him only from the printed page or classroom lecture.
IT IS HIS STYLE and thought that permeate time.
Nevertheless, how wonderful it would be if Will White of Emporia would suddenly appear—to stroll down his "Main Street" once again, spreading to those around him the virtues of life and laughter.
But he is dead now, and we must perpetrate the legend if not the man. —Dan Austin
A better deal
Tax credit for students
Somebody once said money is the root of all evil. And don't forget that money can't buy love or happiness or whatever. But one thing that money can buy (and I leave it up to you whether it's evil or not) is a college education.
For many families, the cost of higher education is prohibitive, or if not prohibitive, difficult to manage. The situation isn't getting any better, and will continue to become more costly.
BUT FEAR NOT, help may be on the way. Senator Abraham Ribicoff recently introduced a bill in the Senate which would provide an income tax credit of up to $325 on the first $1,500 of tuition, fees, books, and supplies. It would go to anyone who pays these expenses for a student at an institution of higher education. $
The idea is not new, having been introduced four years ago by Ribicoff. This time, however, Ribicoff has added something new, and with it gained the support of 46 Senators who are co-sponsoring the bill.
The something new is an amendment which includes coverage for students in accredited post-secondary business, trade, technical and other vocational schools.
THE PROPOSAL WOULD, in the main, benefit families earning less than $10,000 a year, since there is an additional clause which lowers the credit as the income bracket rises.
Although it has been proven that a student can attend college no matter what his financial status is, it isn't easy. Scholarships are, of course, available, and loans can be had by almost anyone who applies for them.
Yet scholarships are usually available just to students with high academic standings, and loans, unfortunately, must be repaid with interest.
EVEN WITH OTHER AID, the tax credit would be helpful, either to families who are financing students, or to those students who are paying their own way.
The editors would like to give their wholehearted support to Ribicoff's tax credit proposal, and hope that Congress will give their full consideration to the bill.
Now if Congress should just figure out some way to give grade point credits to those who need such help, two of the college students main problems would be solved. Barbara Phillips
Serving KU for 77 of its 101 Years
KANSAN TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Newsroom—U 4-3464 — Business Office—U 4-3198
The Daily Kansan, student newspaper at The University of Kansas, is represented by National Advertising Service, 18 East 50 St., New York, NY 10022 or by the Daily Kansan Postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturday and Sundays. University holidays and examination periods, observations, 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 expired in the Daily Kansan are not necessarily those of The University of Kansas Administration or the State Board of Regents.
EXECUTIVE STAFF
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Business Editor Joan McCabe
Business Manager Tony Chop
Edwardian Editors Dan Austin, Barb Phillips
NEWS AND BUSINESS STAFF
Assistant Managing Editors Ensy Good, Steve Russ ll
Linda Sloffel, Robert Stevans
City Editor Will Hardesty Advertising Manager K. Hookes n
Wire Editor Betsy Wright Natl Adv. Manager Howard Pankrzak
Susie Ednor Mia Walker Jr. John ve
Fashion Editor Jack Cumb II Circulation Manager Daniel Gorgetty
Photo Editor Pristina Caldman Joe Godray
Aust. City Editor Carol D Bonis M rechandising Manager Steve Deems
Excusive Reporters: Eric Mongaler, Jaquie Faust, Jack Harrington
Official Bulletin
Foreign Students: Check the calendar issue of International Newsletter.
Foreign Students: Sign up now, 226
Str. ng or Topaska Bayes & Law
Foreign Students: Sign up now, 226
Lutheran Grad Group, 7:30 p.m.
Program: Dr. Tsd Fritsch i, K.C.
"Tie Preacher as a Bum." Campus
Parsonage, 1506. Crescent Rd
TODAY
Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship,
7 May 2015, "The Stud m & Illu-
tation," $29 MJU.
Popular Film 7 & 9:30 p.m. "The Killers." Dyche Aud.
"The School for Scandal," 8.20 p.m.
University, Theatre
SATURDAY
Varsity Basketball 1:15 p.m. Kans-
son Stadium, TX 212-476-3080
TX: Crambley, 212-476-3080
Popular Film, 7 & 9:30 p.m. "The Killers." Dyche Aud.
"The School for Scandal," 8:20 p.m. University Theatre.
SUNDAY
Duplicate Bridge, 1 p.m. Jayh: wk Room, Union.
Lutheran Students Assoc, 5:30 p.m.
Program pastor, Ackermann, ekman
program pastor, Ackermann
Popular Film, 7 & 9:30 p.m. "The Killers." Dyche Aud.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
"SOMETIMES IN THE SPRING THE STUDENTS ARE VERY APT TO TAKE ISSUE WITH SOMETHING AN INSTRUCTOR TO SAY."
Berlin funeral suffers plot
By SCOTT NUNLEY
Cinema-1966 produced a few over-rated films (such as "Dear John" and "Georgy Girl") and several under-rated films (principally "Morgan" and "A Man and a Woman"). A constant element in recent months, however, has been the rise of British newcomer Michael Caine to stardom.
Caine's one-man-showing of "Alfie" is probably the best movie of 1966. His performance in the earlier "The Ipress File" and "The Wrong Box" promised this sort of success. Caine is today Britain's male star to watch—a position formerly filled by Burton, Sellers, and Connery.
But his latest film, "Funeral in Berlin," insists, to its misfortune, on being compared with "The Ipercex File." In the first place, both films are from novels by Len Deighton. In the second place, they are in sequence in the life of British agent Harry Palmer.
Caine's original creation of Harry Palmer could only be compared in the annals of the screen-thriller to Burton's Alec Leamas of "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold." Sadly, a cunning British ruse has been perpetrated on the moviegoer in this sequel: between films Harry Palmer has been killed and replaced with a crafty double.
Oh, the impersonation is professional. When the new Harry comments "I have my Lugar pistol, my cyanide pills, and my inflatable Batman suit," the old Harry lives again. But the movie-goer sees through the ruse: Harry Palmer was a down-on-hisuck crock turned unvilling-spy, but now he has been promoted to a successful Organization Man! Bloody awful.
Caine, playing the new role with only occasional enthusiasm is unstaged by Oscar Homolka. As the Russian officer Stok, Homolka exhibits the picture's best performance. When Stok and Palmer clash, the movie sparkles—Palmer threatens once to defect to the Russian's cave and it would have made a better movie.
If a spy film must either suffer (like the Bond films) from an excess of gadgets or (like "Funeral") from an excess of plot, the gadgets are at least colorful. Deighton's plot is psychological, as was Le Carre's in "The Spy Who Carve in from the Cold." But the movie-version seems embarrassed to glare into Palmer's psyche.
Perhaps this saves the film as entertainment; it is an entertaining movie. A psychological case-study that failed would have been miserable (witness many ambitious Swedish and Italian films). "Funeral in Berlin" is a shoot-em-up, tense in spots, fast moving, and never dull.
The fan of "The Ipcress File" will lament the passing of that owlish regue and miscast spy, Harry Palmer. Michael Caine does give it a go, however cold it must have seemed after "Alfie," but both script and direction were in on that famous ruse.
CO-STARS
HOLLYWOOD — (UPI) —Maureen O'Hara and Fred Clark will co-star in a television musical comedy special titled "Who's Afraid of Mother Goose?"
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Daily Kansan
editorial page
Friday, February 10, 1967