KU
kansan A student newspaper serving KU
EXTRA
78th Year, No.112, Extra
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Friday, April 5, 1968
King's death spawns riots
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — (UPI) — Martin Luther King Jr., the nonviolent prophet of the civil rights movement, was assassinated by a white sniper Thursday with a single shot that triggered violence from New York to Mississippi.
Kiots erupted in Memphis,
Nashville, Tallahassee, Fla., and Raleigh, N.C., despite President Johnson's televised plea for calmness. Racial disturbances were reported in Harlem and Brooklyn and a 24-hour curfew was clamped on Memphis.
Photo by Moe Behravesh
SORROW FOR A SOUL BROTHER
Bill Cosby's face reflects his sorrow after he was told of the murder of Martin Luther King.
Cosby: funny despite
By Paul Haney
Bill Cosby came to KU Thursday night to entertain.
Cosby learned of Martin Luther King's death between shows.
But it was easier for the Negro comedian to perform during the first show in Hoch Auditorium than it was during the second.
He went on with the second show, though, because, "you people came here to laugh and forget. I came here to entertain. I entertained, but I cannot forget."
Cosby's remarks concerning the assassination came at the end of the second show and even surprised his manager, who told newsmen the comedian had decided not to make a statement.
"I humbly apologize for depressing you during these past few minutes," Cosby told the silent audience of 3,200 at the close of the second performance. "I just want to be with myself now."
A comedy monologue referring to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace was deleted from the second show. Otherwise, the two performances were identical and students who saw both said Cosby didn't show how he felt during the second performance.
Newsmen converged on Hoch in an effort to get a statement from Cosby. One of his road managers, John Gordon, banned newsmen from meeting with Cosby, saying only that the comedian was "stunned" and that he wanted to be alone.
Gordon asked a wire service representative to furnish Cosby with the latest wire dispatches concerning King's death.
Strips of yellow paper that told the story in "bulletins" and "urgents" were torn off the Daily Kansan's UPI printer and taken
backstage throughout the second show.
Cosby read them carefully while the Pair Extraordinaire, a Negro duo, performed.
News of the outbreaks of violence in reaction to the assassination troubled the funnyman.
Those who sensed how Cosby felt found the second show hard to enjoy. Every laugh from the audience only added to the gloom. He didn't want to be on that stage. He wanted to be alone.
As his crew prepared for a quick exit from Hoch, the comedy ended on stage and Cosby suddenly got serious.
The silence broke into applause as Cosby strolled off the stage much as he had walked on 90 minutes earlier.
"Let's avoid any sudden moves. Let's join hands together and keep a cool."
Holloman announced early today that "certain evidence has been found which we believe will be helpful in apprehending the suspect."
The 39-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was mortally wounded by a single bullet from a .30-06 Remington pump rifle with a telescopic sight, fired from the window of a communal bathroom in a flophouse across the street from his hotel.
The bullet tore a gaping wound in his neck and King fell in a pool of blood on the third floor balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Hotel. He was shot at about 6 p.m. CST. He died an hour later.
He fled from the flophouse, dropping the rifle and a suitcase in the doorway before he leaped into a late model white car and sped away. Holloman refused to divulge the contents of the suitcase.
said Holloman. The assassin was described as a white man, six feet tall, 165-175 pounds, between 26 and 32 years old.
Shock waves spread across the world. President Johnson cancelled his planned departure today for Honolulu to discuss Vietnam peace negotiations. He appeared on nationwide television two hours after the killing and urged citizens to "reject the blind violence that has struck Dr. King, who lived by nonviolence."
"From evidence we have at this time, only one man was involved."
out in Memphis, Nashville, Raleigh and Greensboro, N.C. A Nashville police officer was injured when his car was stoned.
Two Negroes were shot and wounded in Raleigh, where two policemen were injured in a clash that resulted in the use of disabling gas.
Hill, Spikes and Hines win races for class president
New York Mayor John Lindsay walked the streets of Harlem in an effort to restore order and 7,000 policemen, due off duty at midnight, were kept on to cope with a rash of looting, window smashing and burning.
In the junior class race, the coalition headed by Larry Spikes, Garden City sophomore, topped that headed by John Geissal, Prairie Village sophomore.
Chief Holloman said Memphis was "under attack. People are looting, breaking into stores and shooting, principally at police cars." However, the streets of the city appeared deserted today.
Only one complete class officer coalition was voted into office in the student body elections Wednesday and Thursday.
Conrad, UP in landslide
The National Guard was called
Other junior class officers elected were Rick Durrett, Shawnee Mission, vice-president; Janet Merrick, Prairie Village, secretary; and Patricia Scott, Topeka, treasurer.
Clif Conrad, Bismarck, N.D., junior and University Party (UP) candidate, Thursday was elected president of the student body in the lowest voting turnout in several years. UP collected 17 of the 26 All Student Council (ASC) seats.
Iowa, vice-president and Merry Sue Clark, Wichita, were the other members of the winning coalition. Andrea Sogas, Prairie Village, was the winning secretarial candidate on the opposing coalition.
Three members of the coalition headed by John Hill, Prairie Village, were voted into senior class offices. Brent Waldron, Denison,
ISP takes five ASC seats
A referendum allowing three hold-over seats also was passed in the election making a total of 29 seats in the ASC.
Shortly after learning of the death in Memphis, Tenn., of Martin Luther King, a Negro coed wrote a eulogy to the civil rights leader which was posted on the door of a friend's room in one of KU's women's residence halls. The eulogy to King read:
Coed pens eulogy to Martin Luther
"My black brother is dead. His only sin was a desire for peace, his only wrong was a love for the black man. Here in America, the land of the free press, the land of free speech, he took a stand, fought, spoke and died for what he believed in. The only calm in a black storm of violence and despair. Now comes the death and destruction. Now comes the fears and the pain. The lock is broken. The door is open. The violence pours out, the voices scream. The black man will be heard. No more noviolent marches, no more silent prayers, no more soulful entreaties. Let the gunfire speak, let the blood run warm. Martin Luther, we love you, we miss you."
The sophomore coalitions were split evenly with the slate headed by Bob Hines, Kansas City freshman, taking the top two spots.
Winning with Hines was his running mate, Jeff Van Sickle, Emporia, vice-president. Janet Winn, Falls Church, Va., secretary and Patty Johnson, Shawnee Mission, treasurer, were members of the opposing coalition.
Conrad received 2,016 votes
against the Independent Student Party (ISP) candidate Peter Monge, Wichita junior, who received 232 write-in votes. Joe Goering, Moundridge junior and UP candidate for student body vice-president, won the election over Lyle Fisher, Bird City junior and a write-in candidate, by a vote of 2,101-128.
The low voting turnout surprised both parties. "I thought the students cared more about student government," Scott Brown, Wichita sophomore and president of UP, said. "The low vote shows they obviously don't care. That takes the victory out of the election."
Fisher saw the election as a "significant shift in student government at KU."
"The five elected ISP candidates are willing to use every available means to implement effective
policy." Fisher said.
Fisher added that the low turn out "is a reflection of past ASC irrelevancy."
ISP had its greatest success in the unorganized districts. In the married-unorganized and the unmarried - unorganized districts, ISP won three of the five seats. By the first election returns for these districts, there were to be only three representatives—all ISP candidates. Because of the size increase in the districts, two more seats, which went to UP, were allowed.
Brown attributed some of UP's losses to the low vote turnout. He said one of UP's candidates, who lost by a very small margin, had calls from friends saying they hoped he would win but they hadn't time to vote.
Four of the ASC seats were won by unaffiliated candidates.
ELECTION RETURNS
VICE-PRESIDENT
*STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT*
216
Peter Monge (ISP) (write-in)
232
Joe Goering (UUP) 2,101
Lyle Fisher (ISP) (write-in) 128
COLLEGE MEN
Bob Stoddard (UP) 508
Peter Monge (ISP) 236
COLLEGE WOMEN
Kathy Newcomer (unaffiliated)
Penny Newcomer (unaffiliated)
Dana Harter (ISP)
EDUCATION
Mark Corder (unaffiliated)
Mark Joe Hanison (ISP)
BUSINESS
Lee Johnson (UP)
JOURNALIST
Maggie Ogilvie (UP) 26
Carla Rupp (unaffiliated) 13
Joanna Wlebe (ISP) 12
FIVE ARTS
Collie Collins (UP) 133
Chris Poelma (ISP) 39
ENGINEERING
John Sutton (unaffiliated) 133
Dick Grote (UP) 61
Steve Morse (ISP) 20
PHARMACY
Jim Craig (UP) 25
GRADUATE
Mike Warner (ISP) 41
Rick von Ende (UP) 38
LAW
Bob Van Cleve (UP) 71
SMALL MEN'S HALLS
Mary Anderson (unaffiliated) 29
Mary Torrance (ISP) 26
Dana Nelson (UP) 21
SMALL MEN'S HALLS
Chuck Loveless (UP) 57
Jim Young (ISP) 34
LARGE MEN'S HALLS
Martha Fowler (UP) 215
Lois Orth (UP) 97
Cathy Miller (UP) 69
Jo Ann Jones (UP) 40
LARGE MEN'S HALLS
Dave Miller (UP) 114
Frank Zilm (UP) 24
Janice Dachfield (UP) 52
Steve Braum (ISP) 37
Dave Shoultz (ISP) 23
Harold Fosmire (ISP) 17
SORHRITES
Mary Tudor (UP) 135
Carol Leek (UP) 134
Nancy Elder (UP) 105
FRATERNITIES
Rusty Lees (unaffiliated) 29
Bill Ebert (UP) 295
Dave Lutz (ISP) 115
Steve Stanton (UP) 113
UNMARRIED-UNORGANIZED
Lyle "Buzz" Fisher (ISP) 92
Gus dlZerega (ISP) 91
John Lundstrom (UP) 72
Mark Soulke (UP) 39
Bill Kissell (UP) 39
Jack Krebs (UP) 36
Said Adra (UP) 24
MARRIED-UNORGANIZED
Bob Howard (ISP) 40
Don Childress (UP) 38
SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT
John Hill 410
Tom Hitchcock 333
VICE-PRESIDENT
Brent Waldon 384
Rick Lucas 354
SECRETARY
Andrea Sogas
Judy Stout
TREASURER
Merry Sue Clark
Jane Frazier
JUNIOR CLASS PRESIDENT
Larry Spikes ... 365
John Geilman ... 131
VICE-PRESIDENT
Rick Durrrell ... 436
Monte Lightner (write-in)
SECRETARY
Jan Merrick ... 344
Barb Nash ... 142
TREASURER
Patricia Scott ... 362
Cecce Starnes ... 127
SOPHOMORE CLASS
PRESIDENT
Bob Hines ... 448
Ward Whelan ... 424
VICE-PRESIDENT
Jeff Van Sickle ... 443
Frank Coffey ... 432
SECRETARY
Janst Winn ... 454
Susan Petefish ... 428
TREASURER
Patty Johnson ... 477
Barb Paulson ... 398
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Provides that student court justices
must be law students:
For ... 1,716
Against ... 690
Creates three at-large seats on the
All Student Council; the representatives to be selected from the outgoing council:
For ... 1,827
Against ... 524
(Winners in boldface)