Attorney General rules on Harambee
Paper not obscene
Kent Frizzell, Kansas Attorney General, ruled Wednesday that the content of the Black Student Union newspaper, Harambee, was not obscene.
In a letter to Max Bickford, executive officer of the Board of Regents, Frizzell said the employees at the University of Kansas Printing Service would not incur criminal liability for their participation in printing the newspaper.
Frizzell based his decision on the 1957 landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roth vs. United States, better known as the "Fanny Hill" case, which said it must be established that a) the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex; b) the material is patently offensive because it affronts contemporary community standards relating to the description
or representation of sexual matters; and c) the material is utterly without redeeming social value.
"Judged by these standards," Frizzell said, "I am unable to say that the material in question is legally 'obscene.' While it is patently offensive to contemporary community standards, by no stretch of the imagination does it appeal to a 'prurient interest in sex.' The effect is probably quite the opposite."
Commenting on his personal opinion of the Harambee, Frizzell said, "The poems on pages three and seven can fairly be characterized as indecent, vulgar and offensive. The language employed is customarily reserved for the graffiti found in public restrooms.
"The material on page one is highly inflammatory, and is obviously designed to generate racial unrest, violence and disruption. Both categories offend my personal sense of decency and good taste," he said.
Frizzell added that nowhere in the newspaper was there a masthead customarily found in legitimate publications indicating the persons responsible for the editorial content. Frizzell said he could well understand why the promulgators of that material might desire to preserve their anonymity.
Monte Beckwith, Chicago, Ill., freshman, is the managing editor of the Harambee.
Frizzell also said it was particularly regrettable that the publication is financed by public funds derived from all of the students at the University and is produced on state owned facilities.
However, he said, the issues raised by these circumstances were a matter of policy to be determined by the University administration under any applicable policies of the Board of Regents.
Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers Jr. said, "The ruling means that the printing service will be directed to print the publication."
Chalmers also said the newspaper was subject to the recent SenEx ruling that publications identify the responsible editor.
The opinion of the attorney general doesn't set a precedent, Chalmers said, and the state still holds a printer and publisher liable for any material printed.
Chalmers said it was still conceivable that future BSU newspapers, if considered libelous by the printing
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80th Year, No. 87
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas Thursday, Feb. 26, 1970
Alcohol policy questioned
Chancellor E. Laurence Chamers Jr. said he believed a major clarification and modification of state law is necessary on the issue of having beer served in the Kansas Union.
To have beer in the union, Chalmers said, much rests on a recommendation which the Legislature is awaiting from the Legislative council on whether or not 3.2 beer should continue to be considered a malt beverage, or whether it should be classified as an intoxicating liquor.
"The law was set many, many years ago and was obviously intended to have a totally different impact from what the one has today, particularly with reference to the issue of beer. The question of students drinking beer today isn't really a big issue."
Unlike the sale of cigarettes, which was within the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents, any change in laws concerning alcohol must be decided in the Legislature.
The Chancellor cited the drinking at football games as one example of the degree to which the law is ignored.
In comparing the situation in Kansas with that in other states, Chalmers cited Florida and Wisconsin as examples of states that have had great success with alcoholic consumption laws far more liberal than those in Kansas.
It was rumored by Florida students that a statute similar to Kansas' existed in Florida until
"Laws that are casually violated and not enforced cease to have much significance," he said.
law students made a careful check of legislation back to the beginning of statehood. They found no record of such a law, and the University of Florida subsequently equipped a room as a "Hofbrau" tavern serving beer and German food, offering an attractive atmosphere and live entertainment. It has become a financial success.
Chalmers said the University of Wisconsin had the oldest history of a liberal alcohol policy, having adopted it some 30 years ago. It has had a successful history, both in terms of breaking even financially and in terms of no special problems with student behavior. However, the Chancellor pointed out that situations such as those at Florida and Wisconsin
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Thomas stays with party
By JIM RYUN Kansan Staff Writer
Greg Thomas, Topeka sophomore and student body vice-presidential candidate of the Alliance, was photographed confiscating University Daily Kansans Monday with several members of the Black Student Union (BSU). Bill Ebert, Topeka junior and presidential candidate on the same ticket, said Wednesday that he had no intention of dropping Thomas as his running mate.
"I was not aware of the undercurrent about Greg's position," Ebert said. "People up to this point are continuing to support us."
"It is impossible to say who will be supporting us," he said. "That is up to them when they go to the polls, it is a matter of individual position."
Ebert said that he did not know what position the BSU would take in the campaign.
Ebert said he still wanted Thomas because he had a good deal of experience as a student senator and rapport with a large segment of the student body. He also thought that Thomas was independent as well as dependable.
"Greg had to do it because of his position in his black community." Ebert said. "He just felt that he had to do it as a person. Whether it was right or wrong I do not know.
"If you were black you would have been there too. It is an act of conscience that I cannot question." "I do not understand the BSU's tactics," Ebert said, "but they picked the wrong target."
He said he could not say what Thomas did was right or what he did for himself was right.
"I do think it will affect us in a positive or negative manner." Thomas said, "and if it is negative then it is because people don't understand."
Thomas said people who did not understand wound give him less support and because he was directly or indirectly involved with the BSU, he would probably receive more support from the BSU.
He said he was involved in confiscating Kansans for two reasons. He was Greg Thomas, an individual, and he was black and wanted to equate things at the University.
Thomas still thought he was right in agreeing with Darryl Bright, Maywood, Ill., senior and past BSU president, that they did not know of any University policy that limited the number of Kansans a student could take.
"I am personally involved by myself and to myself," Thomas said. "I do not want this act associated with Bill or the campaign."
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UDK News Roundup
By United Press International
Shriver resigns post
WASHINGTON — Sargent Shriver said Wednesday he had submitted his written resignation as U.S. ambassador to France to President Nixon.
Shriver told reporters his resignation had been on Nixon's desk "for several months or several weeks." But asked if he was leaving the Paris post, Shriver said "in all frankness, I don't know."
Elk found dead
JACKSON, Wyo.—Monique the wild elk was found dead in the National Elk Refuge Wednesday, probably from pneumonia. She was being used in an experiment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to trace the migratory habits of the elk.
AMA opposes fee limit
WASHINGTON—The Nixon administration has encountered opposition from the American Medical Association to its new plan to impose limits on the fees doctors and hospitals can collect for treating patients under Medicare.
Rejection of bail urged
CHICAGO—The government, echoing the charge by Judge Julius J. Hoffman that the "Chicago Seven" are dangerous men, has asked a federal appeals court to reject their request for bail.
Fifth civilization found
NEW YORK—A British-born archaeologist, Geoffrey Bibby, based in Denmark announced Wednesday the discovery of a fifth great ancient civilization in South Arabia which may prove to be the true cradle of civilization.
The work of Bibby and 80 other archaeologists, most of them Danish, has produced evidence that the legendary civilization of Dilmun, mentioned in only a few Assyrian cuneiform documents and lost for 3,000 years, ranks with Egypt. Babylon. Sumer and the Indus Valley civilizations.
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