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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, April 1, 1968
UPI's seven bells
Seven bells sounded on United Press International teletypewriters in newsrooms throughout the country last night. Only once since Nov. 22,1963,has a news event been so dramatically announced to the nation's press.
Lyndon Johnson's statement on nationwide television that he will not seek and will not accept renomination for the presidency indeed may be as significant historically as the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Nationally the repercussions will be legion. Every event in this election year now must be viewed in a radically altered perspective. Speculation will reign until opinion coagulates. The next week will be comparable to the six months following the assassination.
Should it become apparent that the President's abdication is tantamount to admission that the war is a mistake and that a military solution is impossible, the thunder will be gone from Richard Nixon's exhortations to wage a vigorous war.
Democratic senators and presidential aspirants Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy now must discover a point of difference unless Hubert Humphrey takes up Johnson's cross.
Nixon without a threat is Nixon without a voice, and the Republican party may forsake its reactionary relic to draft Nelson Rockefeller at the convention in Miami unless the New York governor re-evaluates his position, following the lead of Kennedy, and chooses to garner the nomination via primaries.
Regarding Vietnam itself, Johnson announced early in his speech a halt in the bombing of all of North Vietnam save that portion immediately above the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Vietnams, a gesture he hopes will be the first in "a series of mutual moves toward peace."
That Hanoi would respond to a bombing cutback even in the face of continuing war is improbable since a devastated country has little to lose by carrying on. But it is extremely naive to think Ho Chi Minh will talk now when a more accommodating opponent may be but a few months away. Johnson's announcement destroyed much of the incentive for the North Vietnamese to come to terms before this summer's conventions at the earliest.
That Johnson is cutting back the bombing without the possibility of political aggrandizement will exonerate him in the eyes of many Americans. In this instance, it is true, the President has risen above partisanship. For others, he cannot escape responsibility for the deaths of 20,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese.
However he may be viewed, Lyndon Johnson has taught us all a lesson, that even the office of the President of the United States does not necessarily lift a man above the considerations of his own ego, nor does it liberate his viewpoint.
Johnson's departure from the White House next January hopefully will signal the beginning of the administration of a president who can transcend the debilitating desire for too great a place in history. Any of a number of men in both parties today can attain that character, and their number makes the future encouraging.
— Don Walker
Black 'Ugly Americans'
One of the most serious indictments of American diplomacy expressed in Eugene Burdick's and William Lederer's 1958 novel "The Ugly American" was the U.S. State Department's failure to win over a country's indigenous population.
America's reputation of racism, largely deserved, will not easily be set right in Black Africa even after the American Negro has achieved his identity and equality. With such a history, white Americans certainly will be handicapped in their attempts to convince the citizens and rulers of the emerging African nations of this country's sincerity in helping them to progress through the stages of economic growth.
What the American diplomatic corps needs here are intelligent and articulate Negroes who are acquainted with Black Africa as well as the United States. The source for these diplomats may be the growing Afro-American subculture
in the nation's urban ghettoes and Negro districts.
In central Harlem, for example, little African shops contrast with the seamy restaurants, and young men and women stroll about in bright African dress. In one Bronx high school, Swahili is offered, and other schools plan to include the course next year. Parents are giving their children African names, and adults attend night classes in African culture and language courses.
This is not a back-to-Africa movement, famed Nigerian drummer Olatungi told a New York Times reporter, but instead an attempt to identify with something other than white.
When the Afro-American does find himself and becomes confident in American society, he could be the key to achieving and maintaining secure diplomatic relationships between the United States and Africa because he understands the Africans and because of his own blackness. Don Walker
Fee problems for military dependent
Letter to the editor
After reading my petition, the first man looked up and said:
I am writing in regard to a letter from James R. Prentice concerning the payment of non-resident fees. Perhaps he has a valid argument. I pretend to be no judge. What I would like to point out is the case of a military dependent paying out-of-state fees. I would like to cite my case, as I presented it to the registrar September, 1966. It should be noted that what I have to say is in regard to my position last year.
To the Editor:
"You certainly have an interesting case!"
As I have said, I am a military dependent. When I enrolled at KU, in the Fall of 1666, I petitioned for a Kansas resident status. After I filled out all the proper petitions, I found myself in a room being interviewed by four men concerning the validity of my petition. I am ashamed to say that at the moment I cannot even remember the names of the men who interviewed me.
"On Okinawa." (A U.S. occupied island south of Japan.)
"Where does your father claim residence?"
"Where is your father stationed now?"
I thought so too!
"He doesn't."
"Where was your father stationed prior to Okinawa?"
"It has a military registration from Okinawa, therefore it is not registered in any state. The car was bought in Kansas and registered in Kansas prior to our departure to Okinawa. I still have my Kansas driver's license, and so do my parents."
"Fort Leavenworth, Kansas."
How long were you there "Three and a half years."
"Where is your father's car registered "
"Do you have any other ties in Kansas? i.e. clubs, relatives, ownership of a home, etc. . . . "
"We bank in Kansas. My father is still a member of clubs, ie, The Knights of Columbus. We do not own any home in Kansas, or any other state for that matter, and I have no relatives in Kansas."
"You've just been written out of the script, Rounie baby...!"
COMPRONIZE CANDIDATE REAGAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan
Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mail subscription rates: $6 a semester, $10 a year. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 60404. Goods services and employment advertised offered to all students without regard to color, creed or national origin. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents.
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                    Rich Lovett, Monte Mace, John Marshall
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"Do you have any immediate relatives, other than those living with your parents, in the United States?"
Member Associated Collegiate Press
"No, my brother is in Vietnam." (As you know, that's a long way from the good ole U.S.A.)
"What state was your father born in?"
"Massachusetts."
"Where did your father enter the military?"
"Then you are a resident of Massachusetts."
"My father hasn't lived in Massachusetts since before World War II (WWI). I have lived in Massachusetts one year while my father was overseas. Other than occasional visits, that's the extent of my Massachusetts residence."
"Naturally from his home at the time, Massachusetts. However, that was almost 30 years ago."
After a discussion, the men decided I was not eligible for Kansas residency and that I was a resident of Massachusetts.
As I stated, I cannot remember the exact words of the interview, but the above was the general trend of the conversation.
As a matter of rebuttal I would like to say that although it was decided that I was a resident of Massachusetts, I have not lived there since 1957 and my father has not lived there since before the outbreak of WWII.
On the other hand, this is my fifth year in Kansas (the longest I have ever been in one place). I have attended school in Kansas for five years (the longest I have attended school in one state). I still bank in Kansas. I still have a Kansas driver's license. I live in Kansas for nine months of the year. I plan to finish my education in Kansas. I feel as if Kansas is my 'home'; and I'm a resident of Massachusetts?
Several states, Missouri for example, consider military dependents residents of their state, if they have not otherwise claimed a state. Why couldn't Kansas do the same?
Prentice, you are not the only one to find $399.00 hard to part with every semester (and it looks as if it will rise). I feel our arguments are valid and should be heard. But I guess some of us win, some lose, and some get rained out. It looks as if we're in the middle of a flood! I think something ought to be done in the way of finding dry land!
Some people may say, "If you are not satisfied, then find another place to go to school." This isn't the case at hand. Besides, I like KU and with luck, and a lot of studying, I plan to stay here. I like the state of Kansas, as hard as it is for some Kansans to believe that.
—Pat O'Brien
Ft. George G. Meade.
Md. (this year) Sophomore
..quotes..
Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. (I am large; I contain multitudes.)"
—Walt Whitman
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"The Republicans have their split right after election and Democrats have theirs just before an election."
Will Rogers