Jap Teacher's Laundry May Cause Strike

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., Sept. 16.--(UP)--Maintenance employes at Smith College refused today to wash the clothing of Dr. Schuchi Kusaka, a Japanese alien, and threatened a general strike in protest against his appointment to the Physics Department.

Hundreds of townspeople, some of whom lost their sons at Guadalcanal, supported the 200 maintenance workers in contesting Kusaka's appointment, which was recommended by Miss Wu Chien-shiung, a Chinese teacher of physics.

Capt. Herbert W. Underwood, in charge of Wave training at Smith College, appealed to the workers not to strike, warning that the Navy would be forced to take action if a strike occurred.

Herbert J. Davis, college president, and Prof. Oliver Larkin, head of the College Teachers' Union, refused to accede to the employes' protest. Davis said Kusaka had an excellent record during his six years of research work at Princeton University and the Federal Bureau of Investigation gave the Japanese a clear bill of health.

The 27-year-old physicist came to Vancouver, B.C., when he was 4 years old. After an early education there, he attended the University of British Columbia, the University of California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.