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SPU and Shaffer Disagree On Value of Fallout Shelters
A KU faculty member took a position slightly different from that of three student SPU members during a panel discussion on fallout shelters last night.
Larry Laudan, Lawrence senior and acting chairman of the SPU; Ruth E. Hartzell, Lawrence senior; and Michael McCabe, Topeka sophomore, strongly attacked the theory of civil defense.
"There is no possibility of protecting ourselves in any way what-soever from a full-scale atomic war. If a nuclear war comes, I think that it would take thousands of years to get back to where we are today. We have really no idea of what the world would be like afterward."
But Harry Shaffer, assistant professor of economics, said an extensive fallout shelter system might be of some value.
However, fallout shelters could be valuable in the case of a limited or accidental war that did not snowball into a full-scale nuclear war. Prof. Shaffer said. "People might come to their senses and say, 'Well gosh, we'd better stop this.' Survival would be feasible if the war were stopped in time.
"I AM NOT SO SURE that I'm opposed to fallout shelters." Prof. Shafar said, "I think that it is something to think about, keeping in mind though that our first thought should always be to prevent war.
PROF, SHAFFER SAID THAT if a shelter program were instituted in the United States, the program should be public. He said a private program would be "immoral" because everyone cannot afford to build his own shelter.
"From the economic point of view, we can afford it (a public fallout shelter program)," Prof. Shaffer said. U.S. national production could be boosted to capacity to absorb the added expense, and the unemployed could do the work.
"By building fallout shelters we'll move our emphasis away from peace," he said. The U.S. government realizes shelters would be useless but still tries to convince the people there is hope for survival in nuclear war.
Laudan doubted the advisability of any type of shelter program.
"The only danger from attack that the U.S. government is willing to talk about is fallout," said Laudan, "the main dangers are the blast and the fire storm that occurs after the blast." Fallout shelters would provide protection from fallout only. They would be useless against the fire storms.
Laudan said four 100 megaton
bombs dropped along the East Coast would incinerate everything. The holocaust would consume so much oxygen that shelters without self-contained air supplies would become tombs for their suffocated inhabitants.
LAUDAN SAID THE U.S. government should make the people aware of these other aspects of nuclear war, the aspects that render fallout shelters useless.
Miss Harzell was even more strongly opposed to civil defense shelters. She said the government is no longer thinking of protection but just wants to give credibility to the idea that survival is possible.
She disagreed with Prof. Shaffer's suggestion that a limited nuclear war's feasible. "I don't think there is
really a possibility of limited war." Miss Harzell said.
She said the American people do not want fallout shelters. She cited the absence of widespread building of private shelters as proof.
McCABE SAID BUILDING shelters in the United States might incite Russia to start a nuclear war.
"The government (U.S.) has been educating the people of the United States that we can withstand nuclear war," he said. This attitude makes nuclear war almost acceptable.
Thursday, May 10, 1962 University Daily Kansan
"If nuclear war is becoming acceptable to us, that can easily mean to them (the Russians) that we are willing to start a nuclear war." He said the Russians might start the war first if they think the United States is also capable of starting first.
Will Correct Seating Changes, Dickson Says
By Bill Sheldon
Jerry Dickson, Newton junior and student body president, said last night that any wrong which has been committed in relation to the revisions in the reserved seating plan for next Fall will be changed.
"I don't condone any illegal action and will change anything which is wrong." he stated.
The question arose yesterday about the legality of the changes in the All Student Council seating bill which have been incorporated into the plans for next Fall.
DICKSON MADE the changes without the necessary consent of the ASC.
The changes are:
- The maximum size of a bloc is 25 seats. The seating bill passed last year does not specify the size of a bloc.
- The first-come first-served system specified in the seating bill is not to be used. The selection is to be made by a random drawing.
Although Dickson admits that he did not have the official backing of the ASC, he mentioned last night that he felt it the consensus of the athletic seating committee that the changes would be an improvement.
He informally presented his ideas before the council meeting last week and received no negative response.
"The changes were made in an effort to give every student an equal chance at the best seats," he said. The council is striving for equal opportunity for every student and this is one way of achieving it."
He added that he felt most people
Dickson preferred not to enlarge upon his comments last night saying he would clear up the matter at the ASC meeting Tuesday.
agree with him that the changes which have been made were an improvement over the initial plan of last year.
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