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Page 8 University Daily Kansan Friday. April 20.1962
'Silent Generation Obsolete to SPU
The Student Peace Union is trying to make the term "silent generation" obsolete as a description of today's college students.
The SPU believes modern college students are aware of the spectre of nuclear holocaust and have the potential to be a highly effective voice for peace. The voice of these students can be used as a catalyst for a reawakening in our society.
The organization is young on the national level also. Only the glimmer of an idea in the minds of a few University of Chicago students three years ago, the SPU now has members on 200 campuses and affiliated groups on 75 others.
The SPU is one of the newest organizations at KU. It was organized March 27 with a nucleus of 17 members.
The supporters of the SPU cover a broad range, from Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, to Jules Feiffer, cartoonist for Playboy magazine, to Linus Pauling, Nobel prize winning chemist, to Norman Thomas, head of the Socialist party in the United States.
As stated in the SPU constitution,
"The Student Peace Union is an organization of young people who believe that war can no longer be successfully used to settle international disputes and that neither human freedom nor the human race itself can endure in a world committed to militarism."
The constitution says the purpose of the SPU is to draw together young people to study alternatives to war and engage "in education and action to end the present arms race. The SPU works toward a society which will insure both peace and freedom and which will suffer no individual or group to be exploited by another..."
Anyone agreeing with the purposes of the SPU may become a member simply by notifying the national office that he wishes to join Faculty members and other non-student members are listed as advisory members. Advisory members cannot serve on the organization's governing councils but have all other privileges and responsibilities of regular members.
The SPU is based on autonomous local groups. To qualify for membership in the SPU, a chapter must have at least five members, adhere to the principles and purposes of the SPU and be fully democratic internally.
Affiliated organizations are not composed entirely of SPU members. However, these groups must also adhere to the principles and purposes of the SPU. The local groups are recognized by the national council of the SPU through its steering committee.
When several groups are established in one area, an SPU regional council is set up to co-ordinate local activity. The regional council initiates, directs and co-ordinates speaking tours, publications and other activities at the regional level. The regional councils are composed of representatives from each chapter and affiliate in the region. All regional council members must be SPU members.
Each year the SPU holds a national convention open to all members. This convention is the highest body in the organization. It reviews the organization's actions and policies for the preceding year and suggests those for the next year. The national convention also elects members to the national council.
The national council meets at least twice a year in open sessions. All members must be 26 years old or younger and full-time students.
The principal function of the national council is to determine the general direction of the organization. It makes general policy statements in the name of the organization. The national council also elects a steering committee to direct the national organization when the council is not in session.
The steering committee handles the day-to-day work of the national organization, but the national council can reverse any decision of the steering committee.
KU Relays Preferred To Bigger Grid Crowd
KU students replied with varied answers last night when they were asked to express their feelings on the proposal to enlarge Memorial Stadium.
It was announced Tuesday that plans have been made for 7,200 additional seats to be built in the area that the track now occupies.
Although the plans are still in the tentative stages, a final decision is expected next month by the Board of Regents.
COST OF THE STADIUM expansion and construction of a new track facility is estimated at $335,000. Included in these plans are major repairs to "dress up" the press box.
- What are your feelings on the proposed enlargement of the stadium that will allow 7,200 additional fans to be seated?
Students were asked the following two questions:
- Do you feel that the enlargement is justified since it will prevent the Kansas Relays from being held in the stadium?
JIM THARP, Wichita sophomore—"I hate to see the track go. Possibly there is a need for more seats for football crowds, but I hardly think it justifies taking out the track."
Carol Drever, Waterville senior—"I feel that there is a need to enlarge the stadium. However, I do not feel that the Relays should be moved out of the stadium because of the need for more seats for football fans."
Nita Cushman, Grand Forks, N. D., senior and younger sister of Cliff Cushman, former KU and Olympic track star—"This would mean the elimination of the Kansas Relays. I don't think it is justifiable just to get a few more seats for football fans."
ARNOLD GRUNDEMAN, Lawrence junior—"This would be the end of Relays. I think that it would be justifiable only if a decent stadium could be big enough for the Relays."
John Hadl, Lawrence senior—"I think with the improved football program that KU is going to have in the next couple of years, there is going to be a need for extra seating capacity for the spectators."
Fat Maloney, Hutchinson junior—"I don't think its worth it. The stadium isn't filled half the time anyway. If it is filled they have bleachers to accommodate the overflow crowd. Doing away with the track would definitely hurt the increasing popularity of the KU Relays."
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK — The football season should get off to a rugged start next fall with a lusty yell from the new cheerleaders. Front row, from left to right, they are Kathleen Riedel, WaKeeney junior; Mary Louise St. Clair, Independence freshman; Barbara Schmidt, Kansas City junior; Mary Lynn Cooper, Prairie Village sophomore. Back row, from left to right, they are Tim Hamill, Colby sophomore and head cheerleader; Jerry Wiens, Hutchinson junior; Ron Tucker, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore; and Vic Voth, Wichita freshman. Hamill will be the head cheerleader.
Alumni Association Keeps Contact With Ex-Students
By Ron Wilcox
The University of Kansas Alumni Association is more than an organization which keeps records on former students. It also promotes social understanding between the former students and the University and it keeps students and graduates in close contact with the University.
The Alumni Association has far-reaching contacts. Such areas as the Philippine Islands, Panama, New York, California, Wisconsin and Washington. D.C. have KU alumni clubs. There are 109 alumni clubs in all, of which 61 are in Kansas.
FRED ELLSWORTH, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY of the Alumni Association, said these clubs are set up so former students can hear about the University and get acquainted with fellow students.
KU has long been represented by such an organization, Mr. Ellsworth said. In 1883, 17 years after the University opened its doors, the alumni met and formed the KU Alumni Association.
They elected as their first president William Herbert Carruth, KU teacher and poet, and author of the poem, "Each in His Own Tongue."
DURING THE FIRST 19 years the members confined their activities to annual meetings, speeches, resolutions and banquets. Today, the Alumni Association still follows these standards but to a much larger degree, Mr. Ellsworth said.
In the late 1890s the Alumni Association began to pass resolutions favoring suitable living quarters for women students. By 1912 they had raised more than $7,000 for this cause. Later the association provided more than $1,000 of its own funds for housing for women who needed financial help.
In 1902, the leaders of the association started a monthly magazine named the Graduate Magazine. Today the magazine is known as the University of Kansas Alumni Magazine, and is recognized by many as one of the top publications of its kind.
ONE MEANS USED to keep the alumni unified has been the publication of alumni catalogs or directories. In the late 1930s, the association had addresses and occupations of 12,300 graduates. Today the association has files on 120,000 former students and graduates and addresses of 60,000.
The greatest revival in the University's history began after World War I, Mr. Ellsworth said. Committees of alumni had surveyed the University's situation and had started agitation for a building up of the institution both in faculty salaries and in new buildings and equipment.
The 1921 legislature voted $3,594,000 for the University, providing among other things a new library, the last section of Strong Hall, the power plant, electrical engineering laboratory, a temporary cafeteria, Corbin Hall, and a medical school plant at Kansas City.
MR. ELLSWORTH CITED FOUR devices the association uses to keep in touch with alumni. They are:
- Regular meetings of local alumni clubs.
- Class reunions.
- Personal contact with former students.
- Close relationship with graduating students.
"We do a tremendous amount of personal letter writing." Mr. Ellsworth said. "This is one way the association can find out where former students are and what kind of occupations they hold."
He said the association may send as many as 30 or 40 letters a day to members and prospective members.
THE ASSOCIATION RECENTLY sent a letter to the parents of a new baby, along with a small cotton stuffed Jayhawk, he said.
In a few days the association received a letter from the mother, saying she still had the stuffed Jayhawk the association sent her when she was born.
"From this type of personal contact." Mr. Ellsworth said, "we are able to keep our goodwill status at a high level."
Mr. Ellsworth said the KU Alumni Association has 15,000 members, the largest Alumni Association membership in the Big Eight and larger than in three Big Ten schools.
"IT ISN'T WHAT WE DO for the people, but what they do for the University, that makes the Alumni Association enjoy its tremendous success," he said.
Mr. Ellsworth said the Alumni Association's job is to get the people acquainted with the University. It is left up to them what kind of response they wish to make, he said.