Profs criticize tactics
(This is the last of three articles examining the New Left course at KU.)
By KEN PETERSON
Kansan Staff Writer
The New Left course at KU, while meeting the approval of numerous administration officials and students, also has come under fire.
Criticism of the course comes from various faculty members who wish to remain anonymous. Although these faculty members do not necessarily disagree with the New Left ideas, they
strongly disapprove of the New Left tactics of "terror and intimidation." Most of these faculty members said they themselves are liberals.
"What has bothered me are the words coming from the New Left," one professor said. "They are clear-cut emotions. Many in the New Left groups cannot carry on a dialogue without using four-letter words."
The basic criticism of the New Left course hinges on the belief that the courses are "breeding grouds" for new leaders of this "terrorism."
Another faculty member said, "Members of the New Left will openly admit they want to destroy, but when asked what they are going to build in its place, they have no answer."
"I have found evidence of intimidation in conversations with New Left people," one faculty member said. He also said this intimidation could spread to the classroom.
The use of undergraduates as discussion leaders also brought criticism from the faculty members. In the course, a professor oversees the discussion
groups, but one professor said,
"Sometimes one is told an undergraduate does not teach the course, but how can one man of professorial stature cover seven sections of the course?"
Without the guidance of a professor, the discussion groups could be used for teaching New Left tactics, the faculty members said. "An undergraduate is simply not ready to teach a course, especially in the New Left," was the usual comment.
them: all the idealism and generosity of its young people, all the wisdom and intelligence of its oldsters, all the expertise and competence of those who are in their middle years.
"I believe that I now have a clear mandate from this university community to see that: (1) our lines of communication between all segments of the community are kept as open as possible, with all legitimate means of communicating dissent assured, expanded and protected; (2) civility and rationality are maintained as the most reasonable means of dissent within the academic community, and (3) violation of other's rights or construction of the life of the university are outlawed in this kind of open society."
Faculty calls for testifiers on KU ROTC
A Faculty Senate ROTC committee, preparing a thorough report of KU's ROTC program, today issued an invitation to groups or individuals concerned with ROTC to testify before the committee.
The position of the New Left course at KU can be summarized in a letter by the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame. He said:
The committee's statement said;
"The Senate Committee on ROTC will hear testimony from representatives of groups or from interested individuals relative to the desirability of (1) having ROTC on campus, (2) giving credit for ROTC courses, and (3) bringing about any changes or improvements in the ROTC programs as presently constituted. Depending on the number of persons who offer to give such testimony, the committee may request that part or all of such testimony be submitted in writing. Interested persons should contact G. Baley Price, committee chairman of the department of mathematics."
The committee has been studying the ROTC program since December, Price said.
Formation of the committee was promulgated by a student petition last spring, said Ambrose Sarickes, assistant dean of the graduate school and chairman of the Senate Executive Committee. Saricks appointed the five faculty committee members, and Clif Conrad, Bismark, S.D., senior and student body president, appointed the two student members.
Saricks said a Senate subcommittee last summer drew up the ground rules for the investigation. Selection of committee members without bias took several months, he said.
Official Bulletin
Today
Venezuelan Students. A representative of the Creole Petroleum Corporation, Caracas, will be a campus interview next week. If you are interested in applying for scholarships, go up now to www.226.Strong.Hall.
Graduate Physies Colloquium.
4:30 p.m. Daml Jamil Daboul,
University of California at San Diego,
Introduction to Vector
Messors) 228 Malott.
School and Parole Officers
Probation and Parole Officers
School. All Day, Kansas Union.
Poetry Hour. 4 p.m. Edward Dowd reads in book work. Forum Room.
Carillon Recital. 7 p.m. Albert Gerken.
"The Mikado." 8:30 p.m. Strong Hall Auditorium.
Classical Film. 7 & 9 p.m.
"Cartouche." Dyche Auditorium.
iature. 7:30 p.m. Bishop James Pike, Kansas University Ballroom. Faculty Recital. 8 p.m. Howard Boyajian, violinist. Swarthout Recital Boyajian, violinist.
SUA Lecture: 7:30 p.m. Bishop
town, Pike, Kansas, Ballroom.
University Women's Club. All Day. "A Day on the Town."
Mar. 5 KANSAN 1969
"The university cannot 'cure all our ill's today, but it can make a valiant beginning by bringing all its intellectual and moral powers to bear upon
The committee will probably report to the Senate Executive Committee later this spring, Saricks said. He emphasized that the committee will issue a factual and comprehensive report. The report will contain testimony from students and faculty members, a history of ROTC at KU and an evaluation of the course work in the ROTC program.
Committee members are:
Lawrence Blades, dean of the School of Law; Clifford Griffin, professor of history; Col. Philip Riedel, professor of military science; Wiley S. Mitchell, professor of business administration; G. Baley Price, professor of mathematics; Rusty Leffel, Prairie Village junior, and Walter Stromquist, Charleston, Ill. junior.
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