THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
80th Year, No.114
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Wednesday, April 15, 1970
UDK News Roundup
By United Press International
Direct election opposed
WASHINGTON—The Senate Judiciary Committee summoned presidential campaign chronicler Theodore H. White and Yale Law School Professor Alexander M. Bickel to testify today in opposition to direct popular election of the president.
The committee is under an April 24 deadline to vote on sending to the Senate floor a proposed constitutional amendment eliminating the Electoral Collage.
House subpoenas Medina
WASHINGTON—A House armed services investigating subcommittee has subpoenaed Capt. Ernest L. Medina and five other men to testify today on the alleged My Lai massacre.
The subcommittee, headed by Rep. F. Edward Hebert, D-La., reportedly issued the subpoenas over Army objections. It plans to question the three officers and three enlisted men about the alleged massacre of Vietnamese civilians in 1968. Five to seven days of hearings are scheduled.
U.S. cautious in talks
VIENNA—Diplomatic sources said today President Nixon has ordered a flexible but cautious line in the strategic arms limitation talks (SALT) with the Soviets opening Thursday.
Apollo path set
SPACE CENTER, Houston (UPI)—Apollo 13's indomitable astronauts successfully lined themselves up for a Friday splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Tuesday night, using a rocket engine that was never designed for the job.
"That was a good burn," ground control told the space fliers moments after they fired the rocket blast that set their crippled moonship on its pinpoint path home.
The estimated splashdown time for the pilots-James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise is 12:54 p.m. EST Friday
The landing area will be about 600 miles southeast of Pago Pago in the South Pacific.
Tension knotted the flight control room at Houston just before the burn. Flight Director Gene Kranz made the rounds of the crowded room, checking each control panel to determine whether all was "go" for the maneuver.
The 4 minute 24 second blast was triggered at 9:12 p.m., and during the tense moments, ground control continued to assure the crew: "You're looking good!"
The pilots used the descent engine of their Aquarius moon lander to maneuver themselves into position for their return to earth. Under normal circumstances, the Aquarius would have been jettisoned before they headed back to earth.
Had it not been for the Aquarius on this trip, however, the Astronauts would have died. They
used the little lunar lander as a sort of a lifeboat, utilizing it's oxygen and power, after a mysterious explosion knocked out the electrical current aboard their command ship, Odyssey, and spilled part of their life-giving oxygen.
Before firing the rocket blast to line themselves up for the Pacific Ocean splashdown, the space pilots whipped around the back side of the moon and were slung back toward earth by the pull of lunar gravity.
The pilots were their old, calm collected selves when they appeared from behind the moon no emotional statements, just more additional checkout of engineering figures.
In an effort to save every bit of electrical power, the astronauts—now firmly in the grip of lunar gravity—are flying their harrowing mission in almost total silence, communicating with the ground only when necessary.
But when they do come up on the radio network, their voices are steady and their statements matter-of-fact, reflecting none of the tenseness of the mission.
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No state violation in Bubb's letter
Richard Seaton, head of the Kansas Attorney General's Criminal Division, told the Kansan Tuesday that Henry Bubb's letter to a University of Kansas professor does not represent a conflict of interest.
Bubb's letter to Tom Weiss, assistant professor of economics, concerned Weiss' account at Capitol Federal Savings and Loan Association of which Bubb is president. The letter was written on Board of Regents stationery.
"It was a letter that should
not have been printed on Regents stationery, but it is not a violation of any state statute," Seaton said.
Seaton said Weiss brought the letter to his office shortly after it was written last fall.
"We discussed it," Seaton said, "and decided that there was no violation."
"The letter is a matter of judgement and policy." Seaton explained. He added that the State Attorney General's Office plans no investigation.
Experts debate fluoridation effects
By MARILYN McMULLEN Kansan Staff Writer
Two experts discussing the pros and cons of fluoridation of water supplies concurred Tuesday night that there was no resolution to the controversy which has prompted heated arguments for more than 40 years.
Simon Katz, assistant professor of preventative dentistry at Indiana University, and Frederick B. Exner, a radiologist from Seattle, Washington, debated the merits and harmful effects of fluoridation before nearly 100 persons in the Kansas Union Woodruff Auditorium. The debate was sponsored by Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity.
Neither speaker was able to prove the points he attempted to make to support his argument. Each speaker accused the other of citing cases in which results had been falsified.
Katz, a fluoridation proponent, said the National Research Council has conducted studies which show fluoride is necessary for proper development of bones and teeth. Proper brushing methods had never been proven as a means of preventing tooth decay, he added.
He gave three basic reasons why fluoridation should be introduced into American water supplies. Using statistical evidence from the early 1960's, he said only half the population has ever seen a dentist, that the dental health of the nation is generally poor. There will be a shortage of 25,000 dentists by 1975, he added.
Fluoridation, he said, will reduce the need for dental treatment, and will reduce the
amount of money the American public will have to spend on dental care. He then cited several cases in which the number of cavaties have been reduced in communities where fluoridation had been introduced.
Exner presented a case against fluoridation. There has not been sufficient study of the harmful effects of fluorine ingestion in the human body, he said. "Fluorine is more serious and difficult to control than any other becomes, by definition, he said, a drug. The air pollutant," he added.
Water used for the prevention of tooth decay effects of fluorine ingestion on the human body were governed by total consumption, and there was no place to put warnings against misuse on drinking water, as there was on other drugs, Exner said.
He showed slides of persons suffering from fluorosis, a disease in which the enamelproducing cells of the teeth are poisoned before the teeth are formed. Brown mottling of tooth surfaces results.
He asserted if fluoride could poison cells, it might poison other cells which would not be detected.
"Fluoride is a cumulative poison," he said. "It may take 40 years for damage to the body to show up."
The burden should rest with the proponents of fluoridation to prove that no harmful effects would result, he added. Fluorine is usually added to water supplies in a ratio of one part per million. Exner said while most people drink a liter or two of (Continued to pane 24)
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Photo by Bruce Bernstein
Frederick B. Exner
The Seattle, Wash. radiologist, Frederick B. Exner, debated Simon Katz, Indiana University assistant professor of dentistry on the merits and harmful effects of fluoridation Tuesday evening in the Kansas Union Woodruff Audiiorium.