Kerr and Cal Peaceful education?
California politics and education have fostered enough plots in the last few years to keep Hollywood in story lines for decades to come, and with the advent of a new actor, namely Ronald Reagan, on the scene, the action has begun anew.
The recent dismissal of Clark Kerr as president of the University of California made nation-wide headlines and local headaches for Cal administrators and regents.
Supposedly, the trouble has been brewing for a long time now. The most recent problems have centered around a proposed 20 per cent budget and the innovation of a tuition fee, which would raise Cal's already high registration price to astronomical heights.
STUDENTS HAVE ARISEN en masse to protest Kerr's release, which is quite a swing in opinion from last year's demonstrations favoring Kerr's ousting.
To emphasize his position, Kerr temporarily suspended student admissions, as did Glenn S. Dumke, chancellor of 18 state colleges.
REAGAN REGARDED HIS proposals as "previcial" and subject to compromise, and called the admissions freeze "precipitate and unwarranted." The Regents were disturbed also since Kerr had not conferred with them about the freeze.
The recent dispute was not Kerr's only problem at California. Many Regents and other Californians had blamed Kerr for failing to prevent two years of intermittent disorders at the university.
A week before his dismissal, Kerr and many of the members of the Board of Regents had fought against the propositions.
On the other side of the coin, Kerr placed the blame for his dismissal on Ronald Reagan
and "A legacy of bitterness." The bitterness began with the handling of the free speech demonstrations on the Berkeley campus and was brought up again during the Reagan campaign.
KERR'S OUSTING has met with widespread disapproval, not only from students, but from faculty and other administrators across the country.
Students and faculty on the various Cal campuses have organized a march on the capitol and are requesting telegrams and letters to be sent to the governor.
Now that the situation is a bit calmer, and the shock at the dismissal has somewhat died down, perhaps the incident should be looked at in retrospect.
Clark Kerr has had a long and distinguished history as an educator. In 1964 he was cited by the national association for administrators for outstanding service to the field of education. He has helped the University of California to rise to new academic heights and has made it one of foremost state universities.
It seems the problem, simply stated (perhaps too simply), can be solved by answering this question: Which is more important to a university community—peace or education?
ON THE DEBIT SIDE,Kerr has gotten into trouble recently for reasons mentioned earlier. Many Californians seem to feel that Kerr has not lived up to his own guidelines for university administrators outlined in his 1963 book, "The Uses of the University."
In the book, he states, "the first task of the mediator is peace." Peace is the one aspect of the Cal situation which Kerr has not taken care of.
In California, the answer appears to be peice.
Barbara Phillips
NEW BOOKS
THE SOURCE, by James A. Michener (Crest, $1.65)—Well, the big one is out, and it's in display boxes in drug and grocery stores. Most everybody who reads books will be reading it, or at least having it in the house. In sheer bulk it surpasses even "Hawaii" and "Andersonville," and this one is printed in a type face large enough for bifocal eyes.
It's been going big for some time now, and is as bestsellerish as anything in fiction in recent years. It is not marked, unfortunately, by felicity in language. But like a lot of other big numbers it has plenty of plot—notably, in this case, plot about the Holy Land. Michener does here what he did with "Hawaii," telling the story from virtually prehistoric days up to the present.
A mighty theme, without question. Imagine putting "The Bible" into novel form, and not just the Bible, in the beginning, as Hollywood puts it. That's sort of the accomplishment of Michener. Well, anyway, you might want to have this one.
OF THE FARM, by John Updike (Crest, 60 cents)—Scarcely more than a short story is this recent novel by Updike, the story of a New York advertising man who takes his wife and stepson on a visit to the farm where he grew up and where his mother lives alone. But it is not a simple family visit, for Updike, a competent practitioner in the field of personal relationships, manages considerable conflict and change. The book is simpler in form and a refreshing change from the over-ambitious "The Centaur."
THE GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD, by Don Robertson (Crest, 60 cents)—Much smaller and slighter in form than Robertson's previous "Flag Full of Stars" is this quiet story about a little boy in Cleveland on an autumn day in 1944, and a trip he made across town, a trip that thrust him from boyhood into adulthood. Reviewers compare it with both "Penrod" and "The Catcher in the Rye," and that should confuse you.
Open letter
To the Editor and the Student Body:
THIS WILL MAKE him cognizant of the fact that citizens, not only of California but of the United States, perceive the possible grave ramifications of political encroachment on the autonomy of the University. Such autonomy is a necessity for an academic community.
On behalf of the University of California, Santa Barbara, we ask your help in informing the American public about the present problems facing higher education in the state of California. We especially ask every student sympathetic with our dilemma to communicate his feelings to the Governor of California at Sacramento.
If you desire information on the situation here, please write me. Higher education in California is in a threatened position. Help spread the word.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan Saving KU for 72 years 101 Years
Official A.S.U.C.S.B. newspaper Please send carbon copies of all letters you send to our Governor to: Letter Writing Committee, P.O. Box R15006, U.C.S.B., Goleta, California.
Editor, EL GAUCHO
John Maybury
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.
The Dally Kansan, student newspaper at The University of Kansas, is represented by National Advertising Service, E 18 East St. New York, NY, 10022. Postage paid at Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year 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.
★ ★ ★ ★
Official Bulletin
TODAY
Catholic Center Special Masses, 7
& 8 pm. Jesuits conduct at 9 am.
Sunday, February 25th.
University Theatre, 8:20 p.m. Shiridan's "The School or Scandal"
Big. Man. On Campus
Daily Kansan
2
Wednesday, February 8, 1967
Off-campus living; Slums and shacks?
New apartment buildings are springing up like mushrooms. Most of them offer comfort and a sophisticated atmosphere—for those who are able to pay as high as $240 a month without utilities. A penthouse in New York's Manhattan rents for $300. Less fashionable places in Lawrence run from $95 to $145. Some are within walking distance of the campus, others are located as far as three miles away. Students who worked in Kansas City this summer rented apartments for nearly the same price. But Kansas City is a metropolis where rent is expected to be high.
For the inspired: The UDK Poetry Contest closes at 5 p.m., Feb. 11. Limited to KU undergraduates, the contest allows any form of verse that happens to be typewritten and double-spaced and accompanied by the poet's name and address. Bring your entries to the UDK office, 112 Flint Hall.
These real estate proprietors know the students' situation. They realize that students, whether they are graduates or undergraduates who do not want or cannot afford to live in residence halls, need a place to reside while attending school. They have sensed the students' needs and have taken advantage of the circumstances to the extreme.
If it were not for KU students, most Lawrence men in in the real estate business people who own and rent up to four apartment buildings would probably go out of business.
The off-campus housing problem might be a common denominator in most college towns. This fact, however, neither justifies nor solves the KU student situation.
Rhymes requested
There are students who pay high rents and enjoy their modern apartments, but what about those students who have to pay almost as high a rent and cannot enjoy their dwelling due to innumerable reasons.
As the need for shelter arises, the average-budgeted student searches for a place to live. He may come upon a rooming house—which implies $55 to $55 for an average 15x12 room, in some instances with no kitchen facilities and a gestapo control called landlady. He also may find a basement "apartment"—an Equator in the spring and summer and a Siberia in the winter.
Students not only have to adjust themselves to the financial drain from the landlord, but to his meddling as well.
When the student replies to the "For rent" ad, he usually receives antagonistic treatment. Somehow landlords seem to believe that a student is a diabolic combination of Atila and Al Capone. He is treated accordingly.
KU foreign students and their apartment searching would make another editorial. Enough to say that many of them have encountered unfortunate and shameful situations—occasions in which their international background was sufficient reason to be denied the right to live in the advertised place.
Landowners need to realize that college students are not descendants of J. D. Rockefeller. Whether they think it is fair to charge exorbitant prices for their property is up to them. But the least they could do is to rent their buildings under more-habitable conditions and show more humanity to the people who reside in their otherwise empty houses.
—Norma Romano