University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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urrent Events The current issues, events and people in the spotlight influence each individual's perspective. The Arab-Israeli war proved to be a grim reminder that while campus bull sessions abstractly discuss the philosophical aspects of gradual communist aggression and modern atomic warfare, people still die over basic disagreements in old-fashioned wars by old-fashioned rifles and tanks. The sudden Israeli victory also caused many tongue- in-cheek commentaries, such as the one about the new CBS documentary on the war in the Middle East which will be shown from nine to nine-fifteen, eastern standard time. While a majority of Americans favored the Israeli forces, KU students could not help but sympathize with the Arab students who clustered before McCollum Hall television sets eagerly following the war news and the UN debates. But the threat of personal contact with war receded somewhat at KU because of the newest change in the ever-fluctuating draft laws, which insured students that are now in college may remain, conditional upon number of hours, grades, war escalation, communication with your draft board and the sign of the zodiac under which you were born. ' Nationally, violent racial riots broke out in a number of major U.S. cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey, causing loss of life, property and sympathy for the Negro in many other cities. The small college town of Glassboro, New Jersey, made international news when a summit meeting between Presi- dent Johnson and Soviet Premier Kosygin was held there. The only other occurrence during the summer of 1967 that was of particular interest to the KU student body was the Hippie Movement, which is the 1960,s answer to the beatnik of the 5055, the jitterbugger of the 3075 and the flapper of the 20,s. The '6Hippie Movementi' actually began before this summer, but the label-makers finally decided upon the term and that this phenomenon was worthy of public attention this summer and part of this fall. At this writing, in mid-November, either the hippie movement, which is characterized by long hair, psyche- delic emphasis, and peace orientation, or its press exploita- tion is on the way out. Theyire just not very good copy anymore, and most of the famed Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco has been vacated by hippies. One interesting feature story in the newspaper mentioned that the remaining hippies are now out-numbered by the press who want interviews concerning the hippie exodus, and must now make appointments for these interviews in advance, much to the amusement of conformists and non-conformists alike. About 35,000 demonstrators, mostly college students, gathered in Washington to protest the war in Vietnam. Latest figures are that about 468,000 U.S. troops are now in Southeast Asia, and a war department estimate stated that about 525,000 American troops will be there by spring of 1968. Over a hundred thousand American men have died thus far in the Vietnam war. We have understandable hesitations in attempting to bring this war into any sort of true perspective as this is too recent and too powerful an issue for most of us to deal with in an objective viewpoint. As this goes to press, Britain suddenly announced that the British pound will be devalued from 352.80 to 32.11-0, and met with the expected' reactions and repercussions. Music tastes seemed to prefer 44Ode to Billy Joev by Bobbie Gentry as the most popular single release during this time. People everywhere were asking what he threw over the bridge-a ring, a baby, a flaming draft-card? Sergeant Pepperis Lonely Hearts' Club Band by the Beatles was one of the more popular albums during this time. On the KU campus, the VOX political party officially folded and our elections this fall only featured the Uni- versity Party, who, surprisingly enough, won. Old Robinson Gymnasium on Jayhawk Boulevard was torn down, which caused mixed emotions in KU stu- dents. Many were sad to see a traditional building being torn down yet we eagerly stood around, practically drool- ing, watching the huge iron weight swing against the crumbling stone walls. Haworth, beside Robinson, will be the next to go. ln their place will be built a huge 25-story Humani- ties building which will be the tallest building in Kansas. Most of us are still having trouble imagining a 25-story skyscraper on Jayhawk Boulevard. These are among the issues and events of the last few months that may be influential in the perspective of the KU student in 1968.

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,V gig V New Student perspectnve