University Daily Kansan Page
After Semester in Soviet Union Professor Sees Big Problems
His contacts with Soviet students were met with mixed eagerness and a studied reservation on their part. Prof. Ellison said. "They seemed most reserved about having a close personal relationship with westerners."
PROF. ELLISON returned to KU this semester after spending four and a half months in Leningrad working on a research project. During his stay in the Soviet Union, he lived in a dormitory, had a Russian roommate, and circulated throughout the city of Leningrad.
The reason for this reservation seemed to Prof. Ellison to lie in the increased propaganda that warned of the evils of association with Western students which was circulating among the Soviet students.
"I SAW LITTLE propaganda books showing pictures of American tourists coming into the Soviet Union with their coats full of contraband goods for sale in Russia. One joke well-known to Soviet students concerned a Western exchange student in Russia who had led a Russian girl 'down the garden path,' forced her to accept baptism and then jilted her."
"New ideas of college students, an inefficient economy, and increasing demands of the people for more freedoms are some of the most important of these problems," Prof. Herbert J. Ellison told a meeting of the Russian Club last night.
An associate professor of history who spent last semester in Russia says he "left Russia with a sense of sympathy for the enormous problems facing the government."
)
All of these pictures and stories seemed to discourage contacts between Soviet students and westerners.
Most of Prof. Ellison's contacts with Soviet students were made in eating places, as the dormitory provided no dining facilities, or in the dorm itself.
"When a Russian wished to pay me a visit, he usually came under the pretense of visiting someone else in the dorm," he said. Each Soviet citizen must carry a passport, which he turned in on entering the dormitory and picked up on leaving.
THROUGH CONTACT with young people, Prof. Ellison said that he became increasingly aware of the "new wave" of Soviet citizens. The young people of Russia are now trying to place values on better clothes, good manners, and cafe life, he said.
"They are trying to add some color to an otherwise generally drab society."
"Although I went to the Soviie Union with hope that my activity would reduce the sense of drabness, I was faced with drabness all around," he said.
Dress, shoddy buildings, poor street maintenance, and unrepaired war damage were evidence to an inefficient economy, he said.
THE SPORADIC APPEARANCE of certain foods, "concealed unemployment" and general inefficiency of labor management showed the lack of efficiency of the economy in this area.
"History has shown this area to be backwards, and the present government has made progress difficult. The government faces great challenges," Prof. Ellison said.
"The middle group of people seem to have a sense of defeatism. They will discuss their desire to travel, the government's progress in some
areas and failure in others, such as agriculture," he said.
100 Years of Fine Service
Count on us, as your neighbors do, for fine pharmaceutical service Here your prescriptions are precisely filled as your doctor prescribes.
The people's desire to travel was one of the strongest evidences of their increasing demands for freedoms, Prof Ellison said. They seem to show a definite interest in other places, and some tend to resent the fact that they are so restricted.
Round Corner Drug Store 801 Mass. VI3-0200
IMPRESSIONS of foreign students in the university at Leningrad were mixed. Those who came from "humble" backgrounds were the most highly impressed by life in the Soviet Union. This group included students from Cuba, Africa and Asia.
The students who came from the former British or French colonies and had attended European universities were not nearly so impressed, Prof. Ellison said.
NEW YORK — (UPI) — Mendy Rudolph, National Basketball Association referee, is the son of Harry Rudolph, president of the Eastern Professional League.
Basketball Family
GET IN THE MOOD FOR ROCK CHALK
WITH FUN AND RELAXATION AT THE GASLIGHT TAVERN
★ BOTTLED BEVERAGE 20c
3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Patronize Kansan Advertisers—They Are Loyal Supporters.
Engineering and Physical Science Seniors $ ^{*} $
GROW with a growing industry... the Bell Telephone System
The Bell Telephone System is continuing its expansion program to serve a growing nation. Growth in the telephone industry means new jobs, fresh opportunities for promotions, a rewarding career for you. The future is bright for young men who want to advance with a progressive industry.
Representatives of the following Bell System companies will be glad to talk with you. They will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin.
- Southwestern Bell Telephone Company builds, maintains and operates telephone and other communications systems throughout its five-state territory.
- Bell Laboratories research, development, engineering and design in electronics and communications.
- Western Electric manufacturing and supply unit.
- Sandia Corporation applied research, development and design for production of atomic weapons.
- Long Lines Department of A. T. & T. provides interstate Long Distance and overseas telephone service.
Bell System representatives will be on campus February 27 and 28. Sign up for an interview at the engineering office.