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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, February 13, 1968
New objectives needed
War, 1968 style, is a new phenomenon.
Gone are the days when unconditional sur- renders and military victories were a reality. Also gone are the days when the major powers were beyond the military reach of small, weak nations.
For the secret of the atom has been a leveler of great nations—even without a single nuclear bomb being used.
Never in history have the great nations been both so powerful or so impotent as they are today. Although the major powers possess the knowledge to annihilate the community, the state and even the human race, they have employed nuclear restraint.
Vietnam illustrates very well—as did Korea this new type of warfare. Hanoi cannot impose its will on Saigon and Washington by force. Likewise, Saigon cannot force a Viet Cong surrender—even with the aid of 500,000 American troops.
The U.S. and the Soviets both have the power to win in Vietnam by using their war technology to full extent. However, the disadvantages of this outweigh the advantages. Neither the U.S. nor Russia would tolerate a major nuclear offensive and total war would erupt—with dire consequences.
Even China could intervene both in Korea and Vietnam to threaten our hold in both places.
But, China knows this might precipitate a nuclear attack on Peking—so she holds back.
So the major powers are forced to play the war games according to the rules set by small nations. The U.S. must continue to suffer the indignity of continuously being kicked in the shins by pesky nations—yet, powerless to make the antagonists toe the line by force.
Although the old guard military leaders relish the memories of conventional warfare where the strongest prevails, the nuclear threat is forcing us to accept new ideas of war.
Stalemate, compromise, cease-fire and truce are the names of modern warfare.
If either side escalates the war, it will be met by a similar and equal offensive—creating an even bigger, yet unwinnable war.
Yet, Washington is still trying to win a military victory in Vietnam. Since existing power structures prevent an absolute win, our objectives should change.
If we would concentrate as much on a workable compromise with the Viet Cong as we do in trying to secure a military victory, we would be a long way toward a workable peace.
Rather than a goal of total victory in Vietnam, the U.S. should work for some type of workable compromise, acceptable to the enemy and the South Vietnamese people.
— Diane Wengler Editorial Editor
Not bad, KU, not bad
The possibility of cutting down on the number of Saturday classes is a refreshing note to come from Strong Hall.
In the same way, the increased pre-enrolling eliminated much of long lines and general confusion of enrollment.
Too much of the time, the impersonal red tape of running a large university leaves a vague impression in the student's mind that some body over there forgot that we're people.
Something like a reduction of enrollment lines and Saturday classes has a more personal and common sense tone to it than the IBMism of much of what we hear from Strong Hall.
Not wanting to take virtues for granted and make note of only the faults, a commendable
mention is well in order for somebody, someplace Over There where the daily life of the average student is concerned.
Granted, the chief reason for these changes may have just been greater efficiency, and the primary consideration wasn't added convenience for the student. But the end result in both cases is directly beneficial to the student on a personal level to the point that it would appear that making life a little easier on students was no small factor in these changes.
This general impression, that a trend for greater personalizing of the administration's attitude toward student matters may be underway, is certainly refreshing and welcome.
Assistant Editorial Editor
— John Hill
"Hey, You—Pull Over To The Curb!"
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Letters to the Editor:
Sculpture exhibit stirs controversy
Editor's note: The above work, created by David Smith-Greenwood, was featured in the exhibit. It is entitled, "Portrait of Tom Silver—Wondering Whether It's Worth It."
To the Editor:
Today, tired of being confronted with rude drivers of automobiles, callous waitresses, the incredibly inhuman ritual of enrollment, and the generally bleak environment of the KU campus in winter, I took refuge in the browsing room of the Kansas Union. Expecting the usually restful atmosphere of quiet music and comfortable lounges, I was outraged to find myself visually molested by a myriad of trash comparable to that of a cheap carnival midway.
What has become of the classic beauty of Michelangelo, the perfection of the anatomy in his "David"? Does no one appreciate the pastoral calm of Constable and the artists of the Rococo period? Where is the realism of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth which we once embraced.
When one approaches sculpture, he should be comforted, not attacked. He expects to find a decorative element to brighten his surroundings, not to have his sensitivities unbalanced and his reason challenged. The art audience should demand subject matter traditional in American art: love, beauty, aestheticism, motherhood, life. My only reply to these two artists is: "Ask not for whom the bell tools, it tells for thee."
I do not understand how the present administration can allow its central "living quarters" to be used as a display area for such products of obviously degenerate minds.
I hope that those of you in the KU family who share with me the values of truth and beauty will blend your voice with mine and demand the closure of this atrocity.
Thomas C. Silver
Asst. instructor in sculpture
To the Editor:
This is a letter to express public appreciation for the full page article which was published in last Thursday's UDK on the sculpture exhibit which David
Although my name is not Lawrence and the phrase, "absurd fantasy," means absolutely nothing to me, I owe the author of the article and the people who have visited our exhibit a tremendous debt of gratitude. For it has been through them that I have conceived of an exciting new series of sculptures.
Smith-Greenwood and I presently have in the Kansas Union.
The group, which I will call the Kansas Series, that is, Kansas No. 1, Kansas No. 2, etc., will consist of a series of forms which double as trash receptacles.
Can you imagine the beauty of a browsing room filled with these multicolored monuments to human waste?
Who says that Kansas is the most banal, the most emotionally impoverished, the most esthetically unstimulating state in the world, because it is only through such a unique combination of people and environment that such an idea could emerge which is so contemporary, so appropriate, and so utterly Kansan.
Larry Clark
Assistant instructor in design