Drake University - Quax Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

Page 22 text:

Homecoming queen Ronnie Purcell's reign was brief but happy I8 The Tribune, supporting its case for the disputed Bricker amendment fa proposed constitutional correc- tion which would drastically limit the president's treaty- making powersj, claimed that Tollefson was regrettably vague as to what happened to 5,000 POWs in German uniform who lVIcCormick alleged to be Russian deserters to Hitler's cause. - After reviewingpthe editorial, Tollefson was then more 'amazed than angry. On July 29, 1953, he had written a letter to Republican Senator Alexander Wiley, an anti-Bricker VVisconsinite who was then busily en- Gleeful gridders' viciory dance presaged . . . Pl 1'll0'l'0UIIAI lfSI DES MOINES REHISTIGR AND TRIBUNE

Page 21 text:

. . . seeking a modicum of contrived sophistication, campus night clubbers quietly chatted, languidly sipped coltes, watched a floor show and left early to insure lingering good nights Mesh-sfoclcinged cigarette girls pro- vided club denizens with pleasant dis- 'traction 1 On IZ chill fllomlny afffrnoon las! .lIIllNI1I'j', Lau' Demi Nlartin Tollefson was Finishing up a bit of routine orlice work before going home for the evening, when he heard a brisk rapping on the door. Come in, the hearty dean bellowed. It was blond, crew-cut Bill NVay, Drljrhiz: reporter- photographer, on a far from routine assignment for the newspaper. Wa5f showed Dean Tollefson a copy of the Chicago Sunday Tribune for Qlmmai-y 10, which contained an edi- torial that had made the usually reserved Tollefson at lirst Hush with anger. The editorial, though written in the T1'ib1uzz .v phonetic, roundabout style, left no doubt as to its implied meaning. Presumably dictated by Col. Robert R. lVIeCormiclc, the al- mighty fit was strictly in line with his preachingsi, the editorial claimed that Tollefson took action pleasing to Russia. The dean, then an army colonel, had been chief of the war department's legal branch and director of pris- oner-of-war operations.

Page 23 text:

the usual Monday skip day clamor M .L-. emwamaw A W. V . . . climaxed by ceremonial dancing gaged in rounding up law deans to support his case against the Bricker amendment. Tollcfson told VViley that he was indeed against the measure, and cited his experiences in the war to bolster his point. Tollefson said in the letter, ln this capacity Cas director of POW operationsj I had dealings with rep- resentatives of the Russian government who claimed we had some 5,000 Russian subjects among our enemy pris- oners of war. At this time and ever since, I have been impressed with the thought that anyone who is to promote amicable relations with Russia on a large scale has to have the necessary power. Consequently, the dean wanted to preserve the presi- dent's present wide latitude in treaty-making, whereas the Bricker amendment was concerned with making the president a virtual errand-boy for the Congress. The purpose, then, of the editorial was clear: Tol- lefson was against the amendmentg lVIcCormick and the Tribune were for it. But, as is usual with the lVIcCor- mick press, they strayed far from their announced aim. As in ancient Europe all roads led to Rome, so in modern Chicago journalism most Ccireulation-wisej editorials lead to lVlcCormickism. After a brief round at Tollefson and VViley, the Tribune fired its main salvo: a blast at internationalism. The final sentence in the editorial is the crux of the Tribu11e's entire' policy and was nearly unbelievable to Tollefson: This CTollefson's attitudej may have been thought a means of promoting amicable relations with Russia, but it lacks general appeal these days, when American