Summer Session Kansan
Lawrence, Kansas
Friday, July 17, 1964
52nd Year, No. 12
Minutemen Defend Stand Rap KU Man
By Dan Austin
Robert DePugh, the leader of a right wing militant group called the Minutemen, believes his cause, that of combating Communists is a righteous and successful one.
Wilcox was quoted as saying in the Post-Dispatch article that he was not surprised by DePugh's statements but "I feel that it is only a matter of time before it becomes apparent to their (DePugh's) mislead supporters that they are not truly patriotic..."
"THE BOYS KEEP ME advised on Laird's actions from time to time," he said.
In a telephone interview, this reporter asked DePugh about his accusation in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article that Laird Wilcox, 1963-1964 chairman of the KU Minority Opinions Forum, was a "professional . . leftist agitator."
DePugh said he had seen Wilcox before but that most of his information came from student Minutemen on the KU campus.
"WE HAVE MEMBERS in Washburn University in Topeka, in Kansas State at Manhattan and in some of the teachers' colleges. We are . . strongest in Lawrence." DePugh said.
The Minutemen, organized by private citizens in 1959 to combat any Communist take-over of the U.S. with force, is, according to DePugh, growing stronger — especially on Kansas college campuses.
This summer about 100 college students are being trained by Minutemen in "Americanism and tactics of the ultra-liberals." Last year, only 15 collegians attended the training camp.
DePugh, who is a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in Norborne, Mo., says he is not a member of the John Birch Society.
"We often find that where the Birch Society is strong, we are weak, and vice versa. Actually we only would want about five per cent of the so-called conservative element in our organization."
ACCORDING TO DEPUGH, the Minutemen do not accept "just anybody." Students in training this summer have had at least one year of college and maintain a "B" average. Often they are the sons and daughters of regular Minutemen.
Minutemen have placed the number of members as more than 25,000. However, in 1962 federal officials, who keep tabs on such groups, reported that the Minutemen probably number around 2,000.
When asked why the Minutemen keep such a cloak of secrecy around their organization, DePugh answered. "We are 'underground' just like the Communist Party because you have to fight fire with fire. In the Communist Party, though, the only way you can get out is 'dead.' Our organization is a very independent one based on the individual."
DePugh also said the Minutemen are very weak in Wichita, the center of Birch activities.
"The object of this program is to acquaint the students with the way Communist sympathizers spread their doctrine . . . it is part of the softening-up process used on unaware students by the Communists," he said.
Students Tour Cuba
AS TO THE RECENT interest De-Pugh feels students have in the Minuteumen, he stated, "Liberalism is old hat . . . it is the philosophy of old people. Students now tend to rebel and be more conservative . . . they are politically aware."
HAVANA —(UPI)— A group of American students who defied State Department orders and came to this country at Fidel Castro's invitation toured Camaguey Province this week.
Triumphant Goldwater Chooses Rep. Miller as '64 Running Mate
"PUT ON A HAPPY FACE"—Running through a scene during rehearsals for their production of "Bye Bye Birdie," students in the Drama Division of the Midwestern Music and Art Camp are shown above.
'Bye Bye Birdie' Last Play In Summer Side Door '64
The musical "Bye Bye Birdie" will be presented by the Drama division of the Midwestern Music and Art Camp July 20-24, to conclude the summer season Side Door '64 series.
ACTING COACHES are Dennis Dalen, Lawrence graduate student, and Stouffer graduate student Vincent Angotti. S. Helene Scheff, a local dance instructor, is choreographer for the production.
A cast of approximately 50 campers will stage "Birdie" in the round in the Experimental Theatre in Murphy Hall, presenting a matinee at 3 p.m. every day as well as the evening performances at 8:15.
Directing the two-act comedy is Jed Davis of the theatre department, assisted by Hoite Caston. Independence graduate student who is stage manager and assistant director.
Davis selected the play for presentation by the students because he sees it as "an ideal vehicle for teenage talent." Critics of the New York show agreed that its impact did not demand polished professional treatment.
The Michael Stewart-Charles Strouse-Lee Adams musical comedy, which played 607 smash performances on Broadway in 1960 and 1961, also was acclaimed "the best film musical of the year" in 1963.
THE STORY of a Presley-like image, characterized in Conrad Birdie—who is constantly hounded by the female teen-age population of Ameri-
ica who are after his "One Last Kiss"—is complicated by the nominal plot which involves Birdie's campaign manager and his secretary. Their romance is further complicated by the manager's mother who dramatizes miserably at crucial moments.
Its setting is the little Ohio town of Sweet Apple, where one particular teen-ager is particularly jubilent — despite her boyfriend — and where her father, who turns out to be very self-asserting, is both obstinate and desperate.
NONE OF THIS satirical tale, which is intended to spoof the contemporary scene in a good-natured, somewhat detached, way, is omitted in this interpretation, although some of the longer solos from the original musical score have been deleted.
The off-again, on-again plot culminates in a satisfactory situation where both boys keep both girls, Birdie departs after an Ed Sullivan-style farewell, and there is an opportunity for everyone to relax for the first time.
Tickets are on sale in the Murphy Hall box office at $1.50 each. There will be no reserved seats, and the capacity for each production is only approximately 300. KU students may present certificates of registration for free tickets, and students enrolled in the Midwestern Music and Art Camp may obtain tickets upon presentation of ID cards.
Arizonan Vows Vigorous Fight As Party Ends Convention
SAN FRANCISCO—(UPI)—Barry Goldwater pointed the Republican Party along a conservative road and promised a strong campaign against the Democrats with Rep. William E. Miller of New York as his vice-presidential running mate.
Goldwater, 55-year-old senator from Arizona, captured the GOP presidential nomination in a first-ballot victory at the party's national convention after routing his disorganized inept opposition at every turn.
Miller, a tough campaigner who has been serving as Republican national chairman, responded to Gold-water's bid by saying he would be delighted to accept the No. 2 spot on the 1964 ticket.
THAT MILLER was Goldwater's choice was learned unofficially Wednesday. Goldwater ed Edward K. Nellor made it official yesterday.
The Republican delegates ratified their new leader's selection of his campaign partner in vice-presidential balloting at the Cow Palace last night.
Goldwater meanwhile pledged himself to wage "a vigorous campaign" against President Johnson before the November election. He promised to conduct his fight for the White House on issues, not personalities, and said he expected Johnson to do the same.
Gov. William W. Scranton of Pennsylvania, Goldwater's only active competitor, was waiting outside the Cow Palace for the inevitable. He took his defeat graciously, went inside to give the delegates a unity speech and pledged his support of the ticket.
THE CONVENTION ended with acceptance speeches from the presidential and vice-presidential nominees.
Their speeches in effect kicked off the 1964 Republican political campaign and set the tone for a true conservative vs. liberal battle in the months ahead.
Miller, 50-year-old congressman from upstate New York and retiring GOP national chairman, is cut from the same conservative cloth as Gold-water. He is known as a "gut fighter" and is expected by fellow Republicans to perform in that role during the campaign.
GOLDWATER'S VICTORY statement came shortly before midnight and less than an hour after he had been acclaimed winner of the nomination for which he fought doggedly since last Jan. 3 when he said the GOP should offer the voters "a choice, not an echo" in the contest against President Johnson this year.
His nomination was a foregone conclusion, but his real and token opponents went through the motions of letting their names be placed before the convention during a session that lasted almost nine hours.
Besides Goldwater, seven candidates were placed in nomination, but only Scranton was trying. Before the customary switching at the end of the first ballot, the vote stood:
SCRANTON 214.
Scattered votes went to six other candidates.
SCRANTON, WAITING outside, then entered the Cow Palace and made his way to the front of the rostrum to offer a motion to make the nomination unanimous. He offered it as part of a unity speech.
"The Republican Party . . . must now emphasize its unity, not its differences," he said. "We must now be about the business of defeating the Democrats. As I have always
pledged to do, I shall work for and fully support the ticket chosen by this convention."
Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York, who fought a lonely campaign against Goldwater in the presidential primaries before giving up, also promised to support the ticket and went to Goldwater's headquarters to congratulate the nominee. Scranton arrived later to add his congratulations.
OTHERS PLACED in nomination were Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, Gov. George Romney of Michigan, Sen. Hiram L. Fong of Hawaii, and former Rep. Walter Judd of Minnesota.
Mrs. Smith was the first woman ever placed in nomination for the presidency at a major party convention, and Fong the first of Asiatic descent.
Sen. Barry Goldwater
Rep. William E. Miller