David Rademacher and Mickey Baker, both of Oregon, were passing through Lawrence on their journey around the country. They were driving a 1957 GMC school bus with brightly painted flowers and designs, and they claimed they were on a mission to spread their message of world peace. They had arrived in Lawrence with three dollars and half a tank of gas and were attempting to raise money downtown by selling their booklet on world peace as well as some of Ms. Baker’s organic salve and her beadwork. Their presence was sparking some adverse reactions, as some local merchants have asked them to move their bus away from their storefronts.

Two Kansas University professors were discussing the ramifications of the previous week’s diplomatic exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Roy Laird, professor of political science and Soviet and East European Studies, said flatly that the Soviet offer of a nuclear weapons testing moratorium was simply propaganda. Political science professor Clifford Ketzel opined that although both sides might have only been trying to out-maneuver each other, the exchange could lead to progress.