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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1943)
' DAILY NEBRASKAN Friday, April 16, 1943 J Jul (Daihp ThJbha&JicuL rOHTX -SECOND YEAR Subscription Rata are 1.W Per Semester or I1.B0 for the. College Tear. $2.50 Mailed. Single copy, 6 Cents. Kntered as second-class matter at th postoffice in Lincoln. Nebraska, under Act of Congress March S, 1879, and at bptciu ra vi postage proviuea lor in section H03. Act I OctoDer S. 1917. Authorized September 30. 1921 Published daily during the school year except Mondavs and Snturdavs vacations and examinations periods by Studonts of the University, of Nebraska wiiuer wie suy;t vision ui iuc cuuiicuiioiis nuarti, f Offices Union Building. Day 2-7181. Night 2-7193. Journal 2-3330. Editor Alan Jacobs Business Manager Betty Dixon Assistant Business Managers Charlotte Hill, Morton Zuber EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT. Managing Editors.. George Abbott, Marforle May News Editors John Bauermeister. Pat Chamberlin. June Jamieaon, Marylouise Goodwin, Mary Helen Thorns. Sports Editor Norm Anderson. Circulation Manager Don Papez. Gaining Prestige Plus Robert W. Devoe, member of the UN Board of Regents, told a Lincoln luncheon club yesterday afternoon that the greatest problem of the university is its loss in prestige. "In 1908," he said, the university ranked eighth in the list of the Association of American Universities. Today it has slipped to 32nd or 33rd position." Regent Devoe is right; the university has lost prestige. But we don't think he is right in declaring that regaining the lost prestige is the greatest problem. "Webster's dictionary defines prestige: "an illusion, a de ception, power to charm, dazzle or command admiration." Rebuilding the university following the war cannot be done in terms of prestige. Students do not want their univer sity to dazzle, deceive or illude educational associations and the public. They want a university rejuventated on a cold, hard fact basis. A Lincoln newspaper quotes Mr. Devoe as pointing out two means by which the lost prestige can be regained: "Either we must get more funds to maintain our present program, or we must curtail our extensive activities." There may be two means by which prestige can be re tained. There is only one by which a real educational institu tion can be maintained: "WE MUST GET MORE FUNDS.", Now is not the time to battle for increased appropriations for the university. True, the university must not be permitted to degenerate during the war; money must be expended. But after the war, when the time comes to build the university, there must be money. The decline of the university has not been one caused by the war. Long before the war, many of the fine members of the faculty resigned for positions at other schools because of in creased salaries. Nebraska's physical plant has been in an un satisfactory condition since long before the war. The univer sity just has not received a large enough appropriation. Changes will have to be made after the war. Students now in school, whether they return to school or not will, for the most part, return to Nebraska, and they will also return at a Toting age. They are going to be demanding things and one of the things which they must demand is more money for the state university. The extensive activities of the university should continue ; the present program should be enlarged, the faculty improved, the physical plant increased. When UN gets the appropriations it deserves, it will go on a sound educational footing. Prestige will be gained. But it won't be prestige in the sense of deception. It will be prestige in terms of men and ideas, books and buildings, education and progress. Iv7, . - Mail Clippings Pat Chamberlin, Censor $2 for Stone? It is part of the tradition of the university, you know, for a class to pool its resources and buy a stone bench or an iron fence or some permanent memorial in its name. The plan is part of maintaining the theory, "Once a Corn huskcr, Always a Cornhusker." As a matter of fact, the idea that the class of '43 should purchase such an edifice likely originated in the alumni office. Perhaps not! Regardless of its origination, the idea seems to be a poor one right now. Traditions cannot be permitted to die because of the war, it is true, and the tradition need not die. It can be continued tho perhaps not in stone. The letter writer suggests the Red Cross, War Bonds, many worth causes connected with war relief to which the money for such a memo rial could be donated. Such a donation, it itself, would represent the greatest memorial any class could give to the university. The class of '43 should collect $2 from every senior as pro posed. But that $2 should be spent wisely. The wisest course of action seems obvious to the letter-writer and also to this paper. Following is a letter about Lt. JOHN II, RAT11BOXE, Delta Upsilon written to reas sure his father by a friend of his, Lt E. G. Sayers : "This is just a line to let you know you have no need to worry about your son, Jack. True, you won't hear from him for a while but I can assure you that he is not wounded and is definitely still walking around on his two good feet altho no doubt slightly ham pered by restrictions and the like. "The details are obscured, censorship neces sarily clouds the issue, but it is my belief that once H Duce is knocked out of the war, Jack will he with us again. In the meantime he has many friends with him in a similar predica ment which, though lamentable, could be far worse in many respects. "I'm writing this because I felt you might like to hear a personal version on why Jack's letters have abruptly fallen off. Jack and I were shipmates together coming down here, and we were also roommates for a happy month on an African airport. It is my inten tion of dropping in on Jack in Lincoln after the war so that we can gaze in rerospect on our African adventures and enjoy a good, hearty laugh! ..." Keep 'Em living, Ed Sayers. LELAND W1LI1ELM, vice-president of Tn-ter-Co-op Council last year, has graduated from OCS at Fort Sill, Okl., and has received his commission as second lieutenant Lt Wilhelm is back on the campus enjoying his 10-day graduation leave before he goes back to Fort Sill on duty at the replacero -nt training center there. Lee reports that Capt. BOB BUTLER, ATO a year ago, is with the BOC, Battery Officers' Course there. EDWIN W. NEU1IARTH, who attended Ag College until '42 when he enlisted, is taking training as a bombardier cadet at the Army Air Forces Bombardier School at Big Spring, Texas. Auxiliary BETTY J. SWENIIOLT, Chi Omega of last year, is in basic training at the First WAAC Training center, Fort Des Moines, la. Her father and twin brother are in the army, too, in the engineering corps, her father, a Colonel in England, and her brother Richard is stationed at Medford, Oregon, o Recently graduated from the Roswell Flying School, Roswell, New Mexico, with commissions as second lieutenants and their pilot's wings are RAYMOND E. CRAWFORD and JOHN IRVING KERL. Both Ray and John attended UN until last year when they enlisted. Ray is a member of Alpha Gamma Rho, and John is a Phi Gamma Delta. They will soon be assigned to another post for duty. Lt. ROBERT A. GEL WICK, Sig Ep of last year, writes that he has been transferred from Camp Claiborne, La., to Camp Swift, Texas. V-Mail prints excerpts from his letter: "I like to read the Daily regularly because it takes me back to the school days when everyone was wondering what new thing Walt Rundin had done, or what nefarious plot John Mason was cooking up. But most of all 1 like your V-Mail column, lt is the only way I have of keeping track of the old gang that I once knew. "For your files and information I am now a company commander here at Camp Swift in an Air Base Security Battalion having been yanked out by the 3rd Army from my nice comlortable job at Camp Claiborne. I am work ing with Negro troops and find it quite dif ferent from the men I have had to date. These Air Base Security men are air force troops of UN Post-War Plan For a period of too many years the unlvciv sity has had a program too extensive for the amount of money that has been available for its support. Through some parts of this ex. tensive program are today, rather fortuitously, at a relatively high level of performance, too many parts, because of insufficient resources, have been unable to keep abreast of rising standards of performance in institutions of our type and size. The standing of the university as a whole, relatively, in comparison with other institu tions of its type and size, is lower today than it was thirty years ago. This does not mean that the university is not actually as good an institution as it was thirty years ago, because it is now better than it was then ; but it does mean that the number of institutions generally recognized as ranking higher than the univer sity was smaller then than now. This has come about because, though it has been possible to maintain some parts of our program at a fairly high level of performance in spite of grave handicaps, it has not beerr possible for other parts to keep pace with other institutions in the improvement of quality of performance. Just as a whole is judged by the quality of all the activities it sponsors and its general standing is lowered by the deficiencies of any of its parts. The development of transportation during the last three decades has progressed from the horse and buggy to the automobile and the aeroplane. The automobile costs more than the horse and buggy; the aeroplane costs more than the automobile, but the performance of each is so superior to its predecessor that it is regarded as worth the different in cost Just as the performance of changing methods of transportation has been improved, but at in creased cost, so has university performance been greatly improved, but at a rate of in crease in costs less than in transportation. Some universities today are in what may be called the aeroplane class, others are in the Cadillac class, some in the Buick class, some in the Plymouth class while some, due primarily to poverty, are in the Model T class. In the last two decades the university has made a valiant effort, with some degree of success. to maintain good standing. With adequate sup port it could, in a decade, be brought back to its erstwhile position of unchallenged member ship in the group of first-class institutions. The two accrediting associations that mean most to the institutional life of the University are the Association of American Universities and the North Central Association of Colleges and becondary Schools. It was a remarkable achievement for the University of Nebraska to have been given membership in the select com pany of the Association of American Univer sities as early as 1909. In comparison with the leading universities of the country Nebraska could then justly hold her head hich with pride. Today Nebraska's position in this Associa tion is not high enough to warrant complac ency or contentment. In the North Central As sociation that our educational expenditure per student in recent years has been below the level that periodic surveys have shown to be necessary for the attainment of median per formance among institutions of our type and size. In the numerous firarx-ijitinria tf rrftfRs5nniil schools and colleges of which the University is an institutional member of virtu of ha vine in each instance such a perofessional college or school, our standing runs from high, through median, to low or very low. ficered by Infantry officers and others from Cavalry, Field Artillery, etc. These arc stream lined battalions, specialized troops whose mis sion to defend air fields against enemy para troopers, air borne troops and infiltrating ground troops. "Any prospective company commanders at Nebraska had best study up on supply for one thing and learn to get along without any sleep. At times I wish I were back in charge of a platoon instead of my present company , . .