University of Missouri at Kansas City - Kangaroo Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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.. ...fav-env 5 Kangaroost. Bill Daily gives that look. Gladys Fetting crosses her fingers while her escort winces at the price of cokes. THE KANGARCOST DPENS The new Kagaroost, located in the Student Union build- ing, had its debut in -October. One thousand students and faculty members were present ot the opening showing the enthusiasm of all for the Roost. Three hundred people can be accommodated in the Kangaroost, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The snack bar is open day and evening, serving coffee and sandwiches with the able assistance of George Evanger. Music and programs are piped from the radio studio in the Administration building to the Roost. A Recreational facilities include two coke machines, a cigarette machine, and a juke box. The crowded conditions existing inthe Roost have been eliminated by the provision of lounge furniture. The lodge-like atmosphere is given by the knotty pine wall paneling and the preserved game heads. At one end of the long room is a sailfish and a buck deer head. At the fountain end a moose, doe and buck hang over the entrance while on the adjacent woll is another large game fish. The Roost operates from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and from 7:30 a.m. until l2:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The Kangaroo The moose hangs high as Pres. Deck worries about the human element. Page 5 .ff f V , f ,, ...,... AJ .4-1.14 . VM,

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CHIEF OFFICE BOY He's a swell guy! l-le was, of course, accord- ing to campus legends, a boy wonder -chain man of the department of English at twenty-nine, president-one of the country's youngest-at thirty-three, listed among Who's Who and Phi Beta Kappa, author of scholarly articles and co-author of a novel, founder and editor of the University of Kansas City Review , founder of the Kansas City Chamber Music Society, builder, almost from the ground up, of one of the most exciting young universities in the country. Yet to undergraduates he remains a warm-hearted, enthusiastic human being- a swell guy! lt is true that President Decker, now at the ripe old age of forty-three lthe average age of university prexies is fifty-fivel , eats, sleeps, and dreams the University of Kansas City-more buildings and equipment, more money to build a great community institution, and ever-better faculty. l-le shies away, however, from the oft- repeated observation that the University is his baby, insisting that the real credit goes to faculty colleagues, trustees, community sup- porters, and the successive generations of stu- dents who contribute in their own way to the growth of their alma mater. l-le describes him- self as chief office boy for our big unhappy family. Yet all who know the University and its President know C also t h at Dr. Decker is t h e guiding spirit and the master builder. T h e P resi- dent's home on the c a m p u s i tells the story. lt is a comfort- able, hospitable h o u s e t h a t rambles over the hill. A large section of the l o n g f r o n t room is filled with books- philosophy, literature, history, economics-not ornamental sets with uncut pages, but books that have been read and lived with, used as tools. Page 4 TO 3000 STUDENT Some are autographed first editions from writer- friends. Above the bookcases are original, signed lithographs by distinguished artists. There are shelves of portfolios filled with letters, manu- scripts, and photographs of noted visitors. Ob- jects of art, gathered on trips about the world, add a cosmopolitan air. Above the huge fireplace that takes a yule log 3V2 feet long is an oil portrait of Mrs. Decker, the gracious hostess of a gracious house. Outside, beyond the broad brick terrace and rolling lawn, is the outdoor oven and, still further, the garden that Dr. Decker cultivates partly for use but more, one suspects, as an escape from administration This home, so often the gathering place for students as well as for visiting dignitaries, breathes the spirit of the University. President Decker's avocations are varied- music, hunting and fishing, tennis and chess. He has followed with interest boogie-woogie and other trends in popular music that might have permanent influence, but he thinks that singer sisters and crooners, along with soap commercials, should be ruthlessly exterminated. A student of the violin from the age of four, he continues to play duets-mostly Mozart-with Mrs. Decker, an accomplished pianist, especially late at night when insomnia haunts the house. The tennis years, when Dr. Decker regularly won the campus singles tournaments, are now over, but chess continues intermittently. When England, Puerto Rico, or Mexico are not possible, vacations usually find him in Canada for fish or deer, in South Dakota for pheasant, or about Missouri for quail. lt would not be true, or fair, to describe Presi- dent Decker as a fatherly gentleman presiding over the University in unruffled calm. l-le is too young in spirit even after these many years of presidential wear and tear , he still has the impatience with delays and deterrents, the quick mind, and the driving energy of ambitious youth. The warm reception the New York alumni gave him last spring at the first eastern reunion spoke the feeling of those who lived and worked with him. On many occasions the community has honored him for his achievements. The official biography will be written eventually and it will make a colorful, inspiring story. But for now we repeat as we began, in the words of the typical Joe College student, He's a swell guy! The Kangaroo

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Cal Lakin and Bob Curry 'discuss the lighter side of the Student Council's problems while Bill McGehee prepares a ioke. Bob Sniezek is stunned. Student Council Senior Class Pres. Bob Curry V. Pres. Cal Lakin Junior Class Pres. Morton Katz V. Pres. Bill McGeehee Sophomore Class Pres. Frost Theiss V. Pres. Frank Koger Freshman Class Pres. Paul Larson V. Pres. Eldon Smith Law School Council Pres. Bob Bates V. Pres. Bolo Sniezek Dental School Council Pres. Ted Klassen V. Pres. Bill Fountain Pharmacy Council Pres. John G. Chesney V. Pres. Tom G. Norris TUDENT GOVERNMENT Lights stayed on late in the new Student Coun- cil room last October when the Council met to swing their governmental machinery into motion, beginning a new year of student administration. The freshman elections were over, vacancies in membership were filled, a full council turned enthusiastically to the problems of finance, or- ganization, and election. Truly men of responsibility, Council members control the huge All Student Association budget of over 520,000.00 which was taken in exchange for more than lO0O green activity cards issued to students at the beginning of the semester. Since inflation has hit the campus, the Council points- with a relieved smile to last year's balanced books and the shift-over into the black column. Most of the pennies from activity tickets find their way to the publication committee of the Council, which channels them to the treasuries of the U-News, the University newspaper, and The Kangaroo, the yearbook. Page 6 The organization of these activities is a major operation in itself. Committees must be formed . . . bands must be contacted . . . prices com- pared . . . publicity must be put out . . . decora- tions must be planned and the big decision of how much to spend must be made. The council members are often hard put when they have to beg an apathetic art student for posters to advertise a coming dance or when they find the U-News has gone to press without the big story on coming elections. Life becomes un- bearable for them at times when they find that a favorite dance band must cancel its engage- ment with them because the band's first saxman has chicken pox. However, they do a fine job in spite of it all, when the date for a dance rolls around it usually is a bang up affair. With Hobo Day around the corner, the council began to plan. This fall they appointed a com- mittee to start work on ideas, a move which has never been done before at such an early time of the school year. The committe is to work up The Kangaroo