Photo by Ron Bishop
Remnants of a Molotov cocktail
A Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of the administration building at Lawrence High School Monday evening. The fire bomb was thrown through the window while in a paper sack which is shown still on the window. The bomb caused only minor damage.
Union burns
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a conference of University Presidents and administrators, said in a telephone statement early this morning, it now may become an obvious necessity to appeal to strengthen campus security to prevent further incidents from occurring at KU.
Chalmers said he was first informed of the fire in the Kansas Union at his hotel in Washington. He said University Executive Secretary Ray Nichols called him about 1 a.m. (EST) and at that time little information was available concerning the fire.
"It certainly seems," Chalmers said, "that the three attempts at arson on the KU campus on April 8 and the three actual fires in the community the last three weeks seems to suggest that it is a pyromaniae at work. I do think, however, that it is the work of one person or perhaps two or three people."
Chalmers said he does not plan to return to Lawrence any earlier than scheduled unless he gets a report that there is something he can do.
An estimated 2,000 people viewed the blazing building while several more aided firemen
in any way they could. Many attempted to clear the building of furniture, help balance fire hoses, and provide coffee and doughnuts to the fire fighters.
"The fire could have been a lot worse without student help," said Fire Chief Sanders.
Director Burge said the building was adequately insured, but for all practical purposes the entire south half of the building is a total loss.
The Union, Burge said, will definitely be closed to all students until further notification from him.
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MOSCOW (UPI) — Communist party Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev announced plans today for strengthening the Soviet armed forces and initiating a long-range economic program to correct past "mistakes and failures."
Frank Burge-
(Continued from page 1) mitted for the purpose of assessing damage—performing necessary operations related to cleaning and drying the areas that are not ruined. Department heads will promptly begin with plans to perform the minimum essential operations related to student needs in areas or buildings elsewhere on the campus."
Burge said he hoped the new wing of the Union could be opened in 72 hours. "That's still under speculation," he said, "because of the intensive water damage. When it is opened, students will have to use the Baumgartner Drive entrance to get in."
12 KANSAN Apr. 21 1970
Two firebombs exploded at Lawrence High School about 9 p.m. Monday night.
The bombs exploded in two windows of the administration center, causing only minor damage. Two firetrucks were dispatched to the school, but the blaze was quickly extinguished with two fire extinguishers.
At the time of the bombing, the Lawrence Board of Education was meeting in the nearby LHS auditorium. No members of the board were injured.
The bombing followed a referendum Monday afternoon in which the student body overwhelmingly rejected demands of black students.
"After the initial demands were rejected," Andy Benton, student council president said, "the student Council passed a resolution that met all of the demands the blacks made."
Benton said the resolution allowed for the addition of two more white cheerleaders as well as two black cheerleaders.
The vote was solely on the issue of cheerleader representation. A demand on the queen selection is to be taken up "as soon as we can get another meeting," Benton said.
Bombs explode at LHS
Two other demands were made, one for more black faculty and staff members and another for an expanded black studies curriculum. These demands are expected to be discussed at the regular meeting of the district 497 school board tonight.
Earlier Monday morning a group of 25 black adults, many of them parents of students at Lawrence High School, presented William Medley, principal of the high school, with a letter demanding charges against several black KU students be dropped and black students the high school suspended last week, be immediately reinstated.
The letter supported the position of the black students concerning the demands made to Medley last week. The letter said, "Their proposed changes in the course structure and in the mechanisms for recognition and representation of the Black minority of Lawrence High are reasonable and long overdue."
The parents were temporarily denied entrance to the high
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school. Medley asked the parents what they wanted, and after several minutes of discussion, Medley allowed the parents to meet with him in the school auditorium.
The discussion centered on the suspensions of several black high school students. The students were suspended last week as a result of sporadic trouble at the high school.
One parent, whose son was suspended, said that she did not know why her son was suspended, because she received contradictory letters regarding the reason for his suspension.
Horace Bond, a black KU graduate student, said the black students were being punished because they were black.
"The blacks were treated as a group and punished as a group, he said.
"We are going to follow the legal process and conduct individual hearings." Medley answered. Medley said the hearings would be held for the school board.
He also said that the students would be suspended unless they brought new evidence to light during their hearings. According to Medley, no student would sit on the board hearing the students appeals.
One of the parents said their children did not have any voice at
the high school because of the lopsided ratio of whites to blacks. Medley said black students had the same chance at the school as white students.
Bond accused Medley of making the black students look like villains, stating that the black students were only reacting to the subtle abuses of the white. Bond called Medley the real villain.
Several members of the group asked Medley if any of the whites who had harassed black girls had been suspended. Medley said he did not know.
The parents asked Medley for a final comment on whether he would continue to press charges against the black university students. Medley said, "I have no intention of dropping the charges"
In the letter presented to Medley the parents called the charges against the KU students, "unnecessary and unjust."
The letter also called the presence of the KU students "a stabilizing influence." One of the parents said John Spearman, Lawrence sophomore and president of the BSU, only said "You have a leader. Follow him."
The impromptu conference ended with little or no agreement between the parents and Medley. The parents said Medley was faced with a crisis and he failed to act.
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