University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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12 roi? J The new student induction symbolizes the birth of a new crop of Jayhawkers. Pboto by Yarnell ITH bated breath and anxious eye-more and less-new frosh-kids pushed their way through university preludes and were off to 'rejuvenation as Jayhawlkers! Mobs of white sweaters screaming rally!' '... severe and spectacled book-laden learn- ers . . . a tall special-looking deputy . . . slick looking feminities, brilliant via sloppy sweaters and swingy skirts . . . a chucked-full stadium of spirited rooters . . . learned professors in higher C and den- serj education . . . a brawny Joe College . . .y a funny looking blue and red bird . . . these but a few of impressionable impressions. A Jayhawker, an institutionalized character! 'The best in univer- sity students. There was a week to become a Jayhawker-to fulfill the advertised purpose of the first week, that of adjusting and orientating new students to Kansas university. There were meetings, required andpop- tional. There were exams, physical and mental. There were lines, all long. There were tense mo- ments and thrilling ones as each new experience brought further realization of a jayhawkers respon- sibilities and opportunities. ' Questions dominated every scene: Will we have to jump over 7-foot walls all winter to be physically conditioned? Are closing, hours going to be 8:30 on Friday night and 4:30 on week-days as Jerimia Jones from Prairie Plains told us? What about the sailors? Are they going to be housed in the attic of Spooner-Thayer or in the stadium? Is it true that Christmas will be the 25th of December this year? Do freshman really need to study? Orientation week was underway. Required psychologicals shoved freshman week into high, and more thana few wondered how long it would be before they were booted back to the old home town. Typical exclamations were of such caliber as Home was never like this! . . . Did somebody say it took only a 555.00 bond to put this off indefinitely? . . . Where does one register for the foreign legion? . . . Do you suppose I got my high school diploma through suction?,' Soon, if 4

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OCTOBER 1942 bling down around them, especially when it is so hard to see why it was neces- sary that they should. But the thing too many of us have forgotten is that it was this country, this society that gave us the chance to dream in the first place. It is high time that we, as a student body, wake up. Maybe this war isnit being fought for democracy, but does that matter? What we're really lighting for is the right to decide for ourselves what the society of the future will be like. Instead of being bitter and instead of just whiling away the time until the inevitable has come, we should be thinking, thinking of how we can best pre- pare ourselves to serve our country in her fight for life. But we must not stop here, we should be thinking and planning for that time in the future when the battle is over, the victory is won. Are we going to try once more to organize the world along democratic lines, or did our last experience prove once and for all that that wouldn't work? What are we going to do with Germany, japan, and Italy? Shall we make them pay the whole cost of the war? Should we starve them, keep them so weak that they can never hope to rise again? Or shall we give them a chance, a real chance this time, to organize along the lines of our government? Or is our form of government the best after all? Is it true that democracy is weak and ineffectual? And then too is there such a thing as democracy? Does everyone in this country really have an equal chance in life? If not, do we want to give them thatchance or would it be better to go on as we are just letting things take care of themselves? Will a stronger na- tional government mean that the average man will really get the breaks he deserves, or will it mean that our country is actually little better than the dictatorships we have fought? Shall we go ahead trying to make an outmoded economic system work or will we try to devise something better, some system that is more suited to the new conditions? Problems like these are of momentous importance. And you're mistaken if you think they are not our problems, because when this war is over it will be our generation that is running the show. Unless our generation starts assuming its responsibilities and starts preparing itself for the job to come, there is no reason to even hope for a better world in the future. It takes plans to build anything, and it takes thought to make plans. It is challenge to all of us. If you just don't give a damn, then go ahead and waste your time. But if you want to hand your kids a better world than we were handed, youid better start thinking of how it's going to be done. A I1 John Conard hasn't changed a bit in uWillie Waits he de- scribes as only Conard could, that ghastly ordeal of registra- tion and enrollment. Take our Word for it, Willie has all the trials and mishaps that can be- fall the young and dumb. If you've had a hard day, and really need a little Hlifter up- pers' which you can't get be- cause Kansas is dry, we recom- mend as a very adequate sub- stitute that you read San Kreid- er's up to the minute account of the greatest of all legendary athletic events, the race between the Tortoise and the Hare. Take it from us, photogra- phers like John Yarnell 'don't happen often. And when they do, editors of school annuals fall down on their knees and thank the Lord for answering their prayers. Throughout theientire issue the extraordinary prowess of Yarnell and his camera is to be seen. We liked the picture on page 19, and exhausted active following a violent 'encounter with a rushee, and also the grand action shots of the foot- ball team under fire. But, wait a minute. Before we throw away all our bouquets let's frankly admit that the stu- dent vpersonality pictures by Jean Brock and the shots of the professors by Pierre Kimball are as good as any weive ever seen, anywhere, anytime. See what we mean? Okay now we'll make one last picture recommendation. If you think Col. Annie's Jr. Commandos aren't really training, have a gander at the good action shots taken by Bob Graham that ap- pear on page 45. Yes, weave heard Walt Disney wanted to hire our cartoonist Yogi Williams, and we don't blame him a bit. Cartoonists as good as Yogi happen about as often as the century plants bloom. If you can look at Yogi's cartoons without cracking a smile, you'd better see a doctor. Chances are you're dead. 9

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OCT . OBER 1942 13 W Tl ll by Charlene Johnson hours may be termed such under these conditions, it was over and not half as bad as typified. Complications really set in when bits of grotesque literature were shoved at each new student who soon was informed that from said literature a university course was to emerge. This was the required meet- ing by schools of new students involved in enroll- ment. Yes, they soon discovered that jayhawkers find plenty to do besides extra-curriculatef' They discovered too that grade points are something to be obtained, that distribution requirements aren't ever ignored, and that above all one should follow regu- lations regarding enrollment. Then of course the new ones had an afternoon devoted to treking through the library, the library having been defined as a maze of reference books, law books, hidden halls of books, reserved books Cnot reserved for freshmen! D, magazines, librarians, a vital part of frosh week. Do you have flat feet, headaches, colds? Do your nails break off just before parties? Do your eyes ache after staring at a book for 8 to 10 hours? These and other questions could be answered by becoming a jayhawker-although there may be other ways. Seriously the student was given an opportunity to see one of the finest student thos- pitals in the United States. A Jayhawker has access to the best in medical advice, care in case of illness, equipment within the hospital, and a specialized staff. The new student convocation presented group singing of jingle Jangleu to Harvest Moon va- riety. Various academic and non-academiciphases of university life were explained by the Chancellor and organization leaders. Respective presidents explained the importance of the Men's Student Council and Womenis Self-Government Association to students, all of whom are automatically members of these I C ontimzed on Page 692 index files, new books, old p,,,,,,, by y,,,,,e,, books, and just plain books g llllll C thrown in here and there. There were instructions? for using the library and no doubt instructions to use it. Students were shown how to read signs that say reserved books must be in at 8:45 a.m. if checked out over- night. They must know that 350.25 per hour, per book is the usual fine for a breach of etiquette like this. They also . might have been shown i upper - class specimens of why signs are to be read and not ignored. Physical exams were also No, not part of the physical conditioning program, just freshmen on the way ro the stadium.