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Page 24 text:
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THE JAYHAWKER By Keith Wilson A war memorial- Road to Remember to K. U. heroes A HAT an idea. Who ever heard of a road for a monument? This was the reaction V y of most students including myself when they first heard about the proposed memorial drive in memory of the men and women from K. U. that fought and died in World War II. Most people could painfully visualize a dusty road creeping around the top of the hill in back of all the buildings, where the most scenic view was the bleak rear end of Hoch Audi- torium. Most students were generally apathetic about the whole idea and a few even ventured their opinions as to the condition of the planners when they conceived this horrible idea. Determined to get to the roots of the thing, we stopped in to see Fred Ellsworth, head of the Alumni Bureau and editor of the Graduate Magazine, to get the full history of the University of Kansas Me- morial to World War II. It all began back in February, 1944. The tide of battle was slowly turning in Europe. The final outcome of the war was almost decided. It was only a question of how long. Here at K. U. talk had begun to arise about a fitting memorial to the many men and women that left the campus for the battlefield. On February 24 a definite decision was made. At a meeting of the faculty Chancellor Malott charged the Alumni Association with the responsibility of formulating plans toward the building of a proper memorial to the Jayhawkers who had sacrificed so much in their country ' s name. The wheels began to roll. A committee of 22 was immediately ap- pointed, headed by Justice Hugo Wedell of the Kansas Supreme Court, to begin work. From the very start debate as to the type of memorial was hot and widespread. Suggestions came in from all over the country. Ideas literally flew in from hundreds of Alumni. Everyone had their own opinion as to what constituted a fitting memorial. Scholarship funds, foreign student exchanges, swimming pools, statues, a new gymnasium, all these were merely a few of the endless stream of proposals that flowed into Lawrence from all over the country. Finally the committee decided to ask the veterans themselves what they wanted for a monument to their efforts. The veterans ' tastes were not hard to please. They wanted something that would be useful, yet something that would be known as a memorial. Above all, as one veteran of the South Pa- cific fighting stated, I want something that you can see and go to. After questioning as many veterans as possible the commit tee formulated a definite criterion to use in examining the many proposals. 1. It should have a memorial function and appeal. (The committee wished to avoid the mistake made after the last war. Both the Stadium and the Union Building are war memorials, but neither one is thought of in this sense. ) 2. It should be something that will not be provided by other means and for other reasons. 3. It should be beneficial to a majority of the students. 4. It should be something that will endure so far as it is possible to provide such a thing. 5. It should be something that will have elasticity in cost, that could be good without reach- ing a certain goal, or could be enlarged or improved. With these five points in mind the committee set out to consider the many proposals. After much work the field was narrowed down to four possibilities; a swimming pool, a scholarship fund, a carillon tower, and a memorial drive. The main proponents of each of these suggestions (Continued on Page 60)
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