2
DAILY NEBRASKAN
Thursday, April 9, 1942
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tORTY-FIRST TEAR.
Subscription Rates are $1.00 Per Semester or $1.60 for
th College Year. J 2. 50 Mailed. Single copy, 6 Cents.
Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice in Lin
coln, Nebraska, under Act of Congress March 3, 1879.
and at special rate of postage provided for In Section 1103,
Act of October 3. 1917. Authorized September 30, 1922.
Published Dally during the school year except Mondays and
Saturday, vacation and examination period! by Student of
the University of Nebraska under the supervision of the Pub
lication Board.
Office Union Building
Day 2-7181. Night 8-7193. Journal 2-3330.
Editor Paul E. Svoboda
Business Manager Ben Novicoff
All sjnslcnrd editorials ore the opinion of the editor and
should not be construed to rrfleet the view of the ad
ministration or of the anlverslty.
Albert Writes
Another Letter
Bear Gussie:
They held a Student Council meeting yes
terday afternoon and chose the holdover mem
bers for next year. It was really an (exciting)
election. All the candidates were nominated in
clock-like precision. No one had anything to
say about any of them. The ballots were
counted and four men and four women were
chosen to form the nucleus of next year's
Student Council.
The president of the Council who this year
has been trying to run politics out of his little
group saw all his efforts go out the window
and land like an egg thrown from the top
story of the Empire State building. He was
disgusted and didn't mind saying so.
"FRANKLY," HE SAID, "I DON'T SEE
WHY SOME OUTSIDE GROUP SHOULD
DETERMINE WHO SHOULD BE MEMBERS
OF THE COUNCIL." Of course, he was aim
ing his verbal darts at the Union faction
which swept in with a clean slate.
There's been a lot of talk this year that
the factions were L ing out; that things were
going to be run in a non-partisan fashion. A
small group of students were favoring the idea
that "the best man should win." Well, I don't
know whether or not the best men won last
night next year will decide but I do know
that the faction composed of the fraternities
and sororities took everything there was to
get, because there wasn't a single barb chosen
as a holdover member of the Student Council.
The Union faction had the election all pre
arranged. What happened up there during the
meeting was a mere formality. Now, this looks
kind of underhanded, but is it? To start off
with the Union faction has a clear majority
on the Student Council. This majority was
given it by the students at the spring election
last year. Naturally, a group that has a ma
jority in legislative body wants to retain it.
There's nothing wrong with that when you get
right down to it. In the second place, the un
affiliated student faction didn't even nominate
any men to be candidates for holdover mem
bers. The only barb nominated was put up by
the Union faction and he didn't want to be
nominated because he said he wouldn't have
time for the job. IF THE INDEPENDENT
STUDENTS WON'T EVEN TAKE THE
TIME TO NOMINATE SOME INTERESTED
COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR HOLDOVERS
THEN I DON'T SEE HOW OR WHY THEY
HAVE ANY GRIPE COMING.
About this idea of some outside group run
ning the business of the Student Council. Well,
in theory it doesn't look so good. Every per
son should vote for whomever they wish.
There shouldn't be any coercion. However, in
actual practice things just don't work out that
way not only this campus, but even in Wash
ington. Up there in meeting yesterday, every
one voted for whomever they wanted either
directly or indirectly. By directly, I mean they
voted for certain persons because they wanted
them in. By indirectly, 1 mean they voted for
certain persons because those individuals
would help the faction, and by helping in that
way, they would help the persons by whom
they were elected. So I don't think there was
any coercion either.
Whatever happened up there yesterday
wag just plain politics and until everybody
quits playing the game of "you scratch my
back and I'll scratch yours" there isn't much
lhat can be done. Of course, the party that is
"out" wants to reform things so affairs will
go their way. The party that is in wants things
to stay the way they are. So the battle goes on
and when the party that is "out" gets in it
will do things just as bad or just as good as
the incumbent group.
Your brother,
ALBERT.
Dear Editor:
In his very erenerous and greatly appre
ciated letter concerning my criticism of the
purchase of Weber's "Landscape" Professor
Kirsch said: "I challenge you to prove that it
is a bad picture, which I doubt if you can do
by any just standards any more than I can
.prove it is a "great art" in either case only
time will tell." Permit me to accept his chal
lenge.
Now obviously Herr Professor Kirsch und
ich are not arguing, but only defining words
If the words "bad", "just", "prove", and
"time" are to be defined by me, then assur
edly I need have no fear as to the outcome of
this contest. But let us compare our deiim
tions.
He defines the goodness of any picture
purchased by the Hall Fund partly in terms
of how well that picture fills a "definite his
torical gap in the University Collection." ll'if
major interest is in making the gallery an
educational asset by gathering together a col
lection which will fully represent America's
art history.
By my definition, any picture purchased
by the Hall Fund is "bad" if: (1) it is not,
contemporary American as the bequest stipu
lates; (I have this on excellent authority, but
it seems we were wrong) ; (2) it is merely imi
tative of another s style and choice of subject
matter; (3) it cannot draw Nebraskans to it,
impress them and enable them to perceive it's
artistic elements in their everyday lives. My
major interest is in making the gallery a com
munity asset, thru its capacity to enrich Ne
braskans' lives by making them more aware of
problems and pleasures of their environment
By this definition, eWber's "Landscape"
is a "bad" picture because: (1) it is not con
temporary American as the bequest stipulates
(this is the only reason for my mentioning the
fact that Weber and his technique were "for
eign", for I love French Art), but rather "it
shows the development of certain phases of
French Modernism that are an outgrowth of
Lezanne s experiments;" (2) whether or not
Weber has added something of his. own" to
Cezanne is a moot point, also a matter of def
inition, on which there seems to be disagree
ment; (3) the fact that one Nebraskan
founded Arbor Day does not at all indicate
that a picture of a vague old wood will be
attractive to Nebraskans.
Certainly, if any Nebraskan outside the art
department is attracted to such a tree picture,
I have not found him, and I 've asked many.
What one person calls "poetic somberness"
may be just "dull" to another simply because
these words are only noises conditioned to the
visceral responses certain people have when
they are stimulated by vague and undefined
"self-expressions". Persons not so conditioned
don't make those noises nor feel "poetic".
They feel bored.
However, obviously Professor Kir. eh
doesn't think my standards are "just" a
word he unhappily leaves undefined. So
there's no argument. We just define words
differently. We have different standards and
motives and attitudes. I think an art gallery,
at least one on public grounds, has obliga
tions to the whole society, regardless of who
pays for it. Besides, I don't like art for art's
sake at any price.
I'm aware that Benton, Wood and Curry,
to mention only a few, studied in Paris, but
they are great because they transcended that
influence and painted what they knew best.
-Nor is "strarnlining" more a product of Cor
busier and Mendelsohn than it is of Sullivan
and Wright.
And as for the remark that "time will
tell" I can only point out that time of itself
is powerless to effect any changes in people's
responses. Unless Professor Kirseh refers to
whether or not the paint will crack off
"time" will "tell" nothing about the artistic
merits of this picture which cannot be dis
cerned here and now, unless 'it is being bought
to satisfy some future as yet unverbalized
tastes in art, some unborn criteria of artistic
good People's responses to the picture may
be changed so that more people learn to like
it, (is majority approval Prof. Kirsch 's stand
ard of art-merit?), or criteria of art may
change, social consciousness may appear the
"poetic somberness" of the paint may become
Jess dull, just as through constant familiarity
some people will love an ugly old vase, col
lectors may have a run on Weber's paintings
and even I may become apathetic and toler
ant, forgetting the beauty of the paintings
which I preferred, but the fact that we might
have had five exciting pictures for the price
of this innocuous one will never change.
Herbert Meyer
Eleanor'n Me
By Alan Jacobs
Rumors are bad especially in newspapers and especially
during wartime but this is one of those days when we feel
like being bad. So here we repeat some rumors not gossip;
some of them may be wrong ; some of them may be right AH
rumors being true are purely coincidental. Or are they?
From usually reliable sources close to the administration
building, we heard that Dean T. J. Thompson will leave for
army duty immediately after the close of school if not before.
Sources close to the sophomore cabinet say that members
have been abducted and are in hiding since the sophomore hop
which the group sponsored recently. Our informant says that
the disappearance has nothing to .do with embezzlement of
funds from the dance mainly because there were no funds.
A little fellow hiding in the corner of the Barb office for
the past two weeks wrote a note in secret code the other day
which we just deciphered. He says the Barbs are going to offer
a strong slate and plenty of opposition in the spring election.
All thev'rf lnokinc for now is a Student Council validatinf
stamp. KtJ
A source in a local pub informed us xLuL Hie TIME'S will
vote solidly democratic in the next election. Reason? He re
minded us the Republican party's trend toward prohibition.
According to Shirley Russel's pocketbook need we go
further all Mortar Boards, 10 of 'em (a couple less than this
year), to be masked on Ivy day, have been chosen long ago.
Judging from the battered condition of the pocketbook, we
concluded that there may have been some dissention on the
matter of numbers.
Also reported on the grapevine in the attempts of the Pan
hellenic Council to press ever harder the thumb over publicity
concerning UN sororities. Reason for the action, the story goes,
is recent difficulties involving one sorority's recent sin: that
is, posing for one of the lesser known picture magazines.
And then, have you heard about
But that's gossip, and we promised to stick to rumors.
Anyone know the difference?
More Royally ...
W Club Elects Queen Too
But This'Il Be Different
. . . In borne Respects
Another new name will be add
ed to Nebraska royalty when the
"Queen of Queens" is named at
the N-club dance, May 16, but
the UN lettermen are going to be
different in some respects:
They don't know how the queen
will be selected; they are not
planning the most novel presenta
tion in years; they say that any
UN coed, although she may not I
know it until the moment of in
troduction, might be the "Queen
of Queens."
Fred Meir, president of the N
club, denied that Joe Byler and
Howard Martig hav inside tracks
for the title, declaring yesterday
that there is not telling who will
be the queen.
Meanwhile, members of UN
royalty await the dance anxiously.
Former UN Student
ZolleyLemer Gets Hollywood
Directorship in Unusual Climb
Accomplishing what probably no
other figure in Hollywood has ever
done is Zolley Lcrner, UN grad
uate, who has recently been
boosted to the rank of director
after a whirlwind climb.
Lerner, a member of Sigma Al
pha Mu here, was born in War
saw, Poland, became director of
the Kansas City Resident theater
upon graduation and was brought
to Hollywood by Daryll Zanuck,
another Nebraskan.
He was kept on the lot for over
a year while he roamed thru the
studio at will studying motion
picture technique from all angles.
Now he has his big break, and
Hollywood columnists are already
predicting that he will be a success.
All-University
Amateur Show
Billed Friday
Concentratine on all universltv
talent, an amateur Phow will b
presented at the Nebraska Theatre
tomorrow night, April 10. Students
interested should contact the man
ager of the theatre as soon as
possible. Prizes of $5. S3 and 2
will be awarded.
Disgust
(Continued from Page 1.)
vacant.
Dafoe a own red most intprstd
in the constitutions committee's
refusal to anDrove th mnntitu.
tion for the "Nebraska Independ
ent &iuaenu' association." The
committee will meet with barb
leaders this week to remove the
"vagaries" in the constitution.
They Were Hungry.
Until Chris Petersen, vice nrcnl-
dent of the Council said, "Let's
stop this arguing and go home
for dinner," it looked like the
group was erolne to srxnrf th roat
of the night seeking a solution to
at UN.
The discussion revealed that
everybody on the Council but
Theil and a few ethers thought
their classes were hard enough
without urging the university to
stiffen the courses. All finally
agreed that maybe something
could be done to raise the stand
ards, but no one knew what
Dick Harnsberger, chairman of
the elections committee, an
nounced that interpretation of the
spring election rules will be run
in the Daily Nebraskan Friday,
and that all publicity would have
to be approved by either him or
Dale Theobald, chairman of the
Judiciary committee.
1
Ik V
strera
"BICBFT TO
AGENT U
JAPAN"
riot
"NOETH TO
THE
KI.ONIUKK" 1
TOMORROW
At S:M
ON Ol B STAGE
UNIVERSITY
TALENT
SHOW!
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the fan!
Plrk the Wlnnrrs
ft vi QGonaatia
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me iow educational standards"