'This is my idea of a good newspaper.'
KANSAN COMMENT
Pressing the press
Cartoonist Bill Sanders has a particular reason to resent the pressure that Agnew has been applying to American newspapers.
The Milwaukee Journal recently suspended Sanders for two weeks without pay because he had drawn four cartoons for a local underground newspaper, the Kaleidoscope. The cartoons were political caricatures of four of Milwaukee's finer citizens, including the police chief.
Journal editor Richard Leonard said that Sanders was suspended because he hadn't asked for permission to sell materials to another publication. But Sanders said that he has been doing free lance work since 1968 for several Milwaukee publications without asking for permission. It was not until the Kaleidoscope venture that the Journal management became upset.
An incident like this would not be at all unusual except for the particular newspaper that was involved. The Milwaukee Journal has an oustanding record of fighting for liberal causes. During World War II the Journal alienated segments of the Milwaukee business community by taking a strong stand against the local pro-German political organizations and activities. A few years later, the Journal had the courage to fight Sen. Joseph McCarthy in his home state.
Perhaps Agnew's speeches have had more of an effect than anyone realized. Liberal newspapers have always faced the difficult task of saying what they believe without losing their advertisers. When the Vice-President shows so little respect for freedom of the press, it becomes much harder to convince local businessmen and advertisers that they have no right to determine editorial policy.
Another Wisconsin journalist, publisher William Schanen, is also catching hell for his association with Kaleidoscope. Because Schanen agreed to print Kaleidoscope, his own three weekly newspapers have been the targets of a damaging boycott.
Schanen's advertising revenue has dropped to about ten per cent of what it used to be. Two of his papers are now for sale and the third appears to be crumbling.
When local businessmen can break a newspaper so easily, very few publishers are going to hold out for their ideals as devotedly as Schanen. The one encouraging aspect of Schanen's struggle is that many of the boycotters have lost business because of the lack of advertising.
Local merchants depend heavily on the local newspaper. They have little to gain by killing it. Perhaps when they learn that a healthy paper can mean healthy business for them, they will begin to care about freedom of the press.
—Joe Naas
hearing voices—
To the editor:
The campus-wide referendum on April 7 provides us with an opportunity to express our opinions on a number of issues which directly affect the future of this University. Especially significant is the question of student financing for the construction of Wescoe Hall.
Two months ago your Student Senate voted by a narrow margin to fund a portion of the indebtedness on this construction through a $7.50 increase in student fees. I voted against that resolution and would like to indicate here why I think it should be rejected by you on April 7.
I believe that those Senators supporting the resolution were genuinely impressed by the urgent need for additional classrooms, and they felt that by granting the administration's request, students could obtain important concessions from the administration and the Board of Regents. These concessions were: (1) a promise that student fees would not be used in the future to construct academic facilities, (2) that students would be represented on committees planning Wescoe Hall, and (3) that students have some voice in the selection of architects for future campus construction.
I believe this "bargain" to be unsound, both as a matter of principle and as "real" political strategy. First, it is bad precedent. As long as Kansas University continues to grow, we will require new classrooms, or new offices, or new labs, ad infinitum. Since the raising of sufficient state revenues for education becomes more painful each year, it seems highly probable that when student fees have been used to finance academic buildings one time, it will be easier to do it a second time.
Secondly, the proposal allows the Board of Regents and the Kansas Legislature to avoid their legal responsibilities. According to the "system," the support of public education in this state is the responsibility of the Legislature and ultimately the taxpayers of Kansas. As students, we should not be asked to build Wescoe Hall, for if we do, we're letting our elected and appointed officials cop out. If we bail out the Regents and the Legislature now, they can avoid facing the voters of Kansas with the crucial choice: better public education and necessarily higher taxes, or a continuation of the status quo in public financing and necessarily lower standards of education.
Finally, we won't get any thing for our $7.50. At the Student Senate meeting in March, Chancellor Chalmers indicated that he had the authority to grant the first two student demands (with the implication that they would have been conceded without the question of student financing) and that the selection of architects was entirely the perogative of the State Architect and the Governor (ie., patronage). I personally doubt the weight of Student Senate demands in those offices.
In short, I am willing to endure the miseries of portable classrooms in order to achieve what I believe to be a "right" result. I urge you to make your opinions felt on April 7.
Frank Bangs
Wichita, third year law student
An All-American college newspaper
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mail subscription rates; $6 a semester, $10 a year. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Accommodations, goods, services and employment advertised offered to all students without regard to color, creed or national origin. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents.
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Managing Editor ... Ken Peterson
Campus Editor ... Ted Illiff
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