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University Daily Kansan Thursday, March 28, 1963
Good Points Overlooked
Humanities lecturer Ira Wade pointed out an aspect of Gen. Charles de Gaulle's career that often is overlooked in the rush to tell what a cantankerous old man the general is.
De Gaulle's determination to build an independent nuclear striking force and his adamant position on Britain's entry into the European Common Market have made him a target for the barbs of cartoonists and editorial writers across the United States.
THIS CRITICISM certainly is deserved, particularly where the ECM is concerned, but it tends to make people forget what De Gaulle has done for France in the past four years. For one thing, certainly not to be scoffed at, he has managed to stay in power since he took over in 1958. Although this does not seem like such a long time in terms of the politics of the rest of Western Europe and the United States, it is indeed a remarkable achievement in post World War II France.
The French National Assembly was about as effective as a herd of wild horses, each pulling in a different direction and each determined that his way was the only direction. Even though the French economy gradually was getting back on its feet and was shaking off the effects of a devastating war, the French government was shattered seemingly beyond repair.
Before De Gaulle took the reins, becoming the president of France was about as exclusive as becoming dogcatcher. Not that the French presidents were incompetent, they simply could not keep enough political parties happy long enough to provide the strong leadership France so desperately needed.
THE CURRENT difficulties in France, such
as the coal miners' strike, are mild when compared with the chaos of pre-De Gaulle France, when the terms of presidents were measured in days instead of years. De Gaulle's government may not seem very stable when compared with those of the United States and Britain, but its stability is remarkable in comparison with earlier French governments.
This has been De Gaulle's great contribution, stability of government for a period long enough to allow the French economy to gather momentum despite drains like the futile Algerian war.
Before De Gaulle came to power, the confidence that is essential to a sound economy was noticeably lacking. De Gaulle gave the French people a point of reference. He gave them the strong personality and leadership they needed to channel at least part of the nation's efforts in one direction. He gave them a place to focus their national pride.
IRONICALLY, this is the same national pride that is playing an important role in the French position on Britain and the ECM. As Wade said, "It's a case of national selfishness..." France has become a bit overwhelmed with its new power—power that might never have come to France without a De Gaulle to lead the way.
De Gaulle has given the French people the sense of solidarity essential to taking such an independent and unpopular stand. This particular manifestation of solidarity may be detrimental to Britain and the ECM, but solidarity is nonetheless an essential characteristic of a strong ally.
The benefits of the solidarity that De Gaulle has brought to France eventually will overshadow the unfortunate actions of an old nation flexing re-discovered muscles.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
— Dennis Branstiter
Campus Politics
The early part of the twentieth century witnessed a group of dedicated men who called themselves the "trust-busters," strike out against the overly organized large business interests in a rapidly expanding United States. It is a shame that similar characteristics have not been noted here on the Kansas University campus with the Student-Council elections only a few days away. This group would appropriately be called the "blockbusters." They would campaign against the overly "organized" and hopelessly ineffective political factions known as Vox Populi and University party. In the face of continued bland campaigns (with little or no effective party platforming), the blockbusters would certainly appeal to those people who are dissatisfied with pro-rated voting instructions, the "pass-round-the-living-groups" technique of selecting candidates, and routine gatherings.
LAST YEAR, the Action party was founded upon the hope of campaigning in the true style of political history. How complacent can people be when they delegate the entire strength of their party on the basis of organized living group support (i.e., this group belongs to one party and votes only for that party and that group belongs to another party and votes only for the other party)? Surely this does not speak favorably for the fervent pleas heard from the 18-year-old crowd for the right to vote on the city, state, and national levels.
Where are those students who are willing to campaign to the entire voting student body and not just within those groups who are aligned with their party? There are high schools in the state of Kansas who are more committed to the principles of sound campaigning and who ably present vigorous rivalries among a "free-to-make-their-own-decision" voting populace.
Herman Mast III
Lawrence senior
Charles Fordyce
Topeka freshman
... Letters ...
In the Friday, March 22, Dany Kansan an article on abortion and prohibition refers to the "liberal abortion bill." I agree that this would be liberal legislation. But then the article refers to prohibition as "at the other end of the spectrum." Many people would agree that prohibition is "conservative" legislation, but I object. Liberalism refers to a movement which seeks to give greater freedom to the individual. Prohibition seeks to give greater freedom to the individual, by breaking that bond, which binds tighter than any chains forged by human hands, the bond of habitual drinking. I submit, that prohibition seeks to break this bond, which enslaves nearly six million of our fellow Americans. Prohibition was a part of the great reform movements, along with Women's Suffrage (to which it was closely tied), the abolition of slavery, and other laws restricting social injustice. Prohibition, was and is, a liberal movement.
Prohibition
Robert Strevey Clayton junior
I recommend that your staff be a little more careful in publishing your paper. After Eugene Boomer unfortunately introduced one of the Greek Week Princesses Friday night as Edda "Bockbaker," you were then careless enough to spell her name incorrectly in the Monday edition of the UDK (as you also did in last Friday's edition). Please, gentlemen, the name of this very charming and very lovely young lady is Edda Buchberger — which, by the way, is not at all hard to pronounce.
***
I imagine, too, that the men of Sigma Chi were rather unhappy at being reported as receiving Honorable Mention in the large women's class of the Greek Week Sing.
Kansan Errors
Editor:
Accuracy should be the aim of every journalist—the first thing you learn in Reporting I. Remember? Get it right before you print it!
Janet Bowman Larned junior
Higher Education
It's reassuring to know that, despite all the education that youth receives today, there are still plenty of misguided, illogical "thinkers" who can muddy the waters of serious discussion with their half-truths and materialistic misconceptions. The last instance of this Carrie Nation mentality appeared in your Friday editorial. While on the one hand, you have been violently attacking capital punishment as "antiquated . . . and revengeful," you support abortion as "progressive." The rationale behind this double standard seems to be saying that murder is wrong only when the victim is old enough to protest. The criminal who has been convicted of rape can be put into prison but, according to your paper, should not be executed. However, the child of his crime, since it causes the mother anxiety, should be killed. This reasoning implies a guilt-by-association complex. Such an argument defies logical analysis.
FURTHER, your reason for supporting such a bill is equally sterile. It seems as if a girl wanting to put her unborn child to death should not be allowed to endanger her own life through a clandestine, unsanitary operation. Rather, she should have the most modern facilities at her disposal. The same reasoning might reasonably be extended to the ordinary, garden-variety type of murder. Murder Inc. could open up its own hospital and staff it with some Bela Lugosi type interns who would then dispatch unwanted mothers-in-law, wives, bill collectors and teachers (all of whom cause "anxiety"), with a minimum of pain and cost.
Gentlemen, murder is murder,
regardless of whether it's a small
child, deformed, or it's a proven
criminal, unreformed. Materialism relegates man to the level of animals and makes him just a little smarter than the others.
Within this frame of reference,
killing a fetus is no different from shooting a horse which has broken its leg. There's just one error in this theory—man is not an animal.
Patrick Miller
Patrick Miller
Kansas City graduate
student
"~ SO MUCH ~ FOR WHAT'S EXPECTED OF A "C"
STUDENT — NOW IF YOU WISH TO EARN A "B" ~~
BOOK REVIEWS
THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI, by Pierre Boulle (Bantam Pathfinder, 50 cents).
The novel appeared about three years before the movie, but the movie, with many persons at least, rapidly obscured the fame of the novel. It is a disturbing story, and one must concede that the movie-makers had a better sense of drama. Boulle, however, as he also demonstrated with "Face of a Hero," faces up to the facts of life better, and accepts the notion that everything does not end beautifully and patly. It is a stirring story that peters out at the end, as, perhaps, most things do.
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SWEET THURSDAY, by John Steinbeck (Bantam Classics, 50 cents).
Here is a reprint of an earlier Bantam classic. One has a right to ask what makes a classic, because this is no classic, even with the Nobel Prize seal of approval on the cover. It has its moments, but it is mainly a replay of "Cannery Row," of the sweet, worthless, whimsical bums of Monterey who so enchant Steinbeck.
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SEVEN SHORT NOVELS BY CHEKHOV, edited by Gleb Struve (Bantam Classics, 95 cents).
Barbara Makanowitzky did the translations for this excellent new paperback, which contains sharp yet sensitive commentaries on the society of Russia 100 years ago. The novels are "The Duel," "Ward No. 6," "A Woman's Kingdom," "Three Years," "My Life," "Peasants" and "In the Ravine."
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SOME PEOPLE. PLACES AND THINGS THAT WILL NOT APPEAR IN MY NEXT NOVEL, by John Cheever (Bantam, 50 cents).
Here we have some literary musings that are marked by introspection and the kind of weirdness that could have come out of a contemporary French New Wave movie. This consists of Cheever's observations on contemporary American society, and it's cast—more or less—in the form of a novel.
Dailyj Hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
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NEWS DEPARTMENT
Ben Marshall, Bill Sheldon, Mike Miller,
Art Miller, Margaret Cathcart Assistant Managing Editors
Scott Payne City Editor
Trudy Meserve and Jackie Stern Co-Society Editors
Steve Clark Sports Editor
Murrel Bland Photograph Editor
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Dennis Branstiter ... Editorial Editor
Terry Murphy ... Assistant Editorial Editor
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
Jack Cannon, Business Manager; Jim Stevens, Assist. Business Mgr.; Mike Carson, Advertising Mgr.; Joanne Zabornik, Circulation Mgr.; Brooks Harrison, Classified Mgr.; Bob Brooks, National Adv. Mgr.; Charles Hayward, Promotion Mgr.; Bill Finley, Merchandising Mgr.