Thursday, December 1, 1966
Page 2
The Daily Nebraskan
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A 'Free University'
An informal structure that could in
volve University students in thinking,
teaching themselves and searching for
the answers to problems could be a tre
mendous contribution to education in this
city.
A group of some of the University's
most capable students are presently fin
ishing plans for such an organization that
would provide seminars, lectures and dis
cussions on a variety of different subjects
in addition to students' regular studies.
The term these students are using to
describe this informal organization is a
"free university."
To some people this may sound radi
cal and quite unorthodox, but in reality it
is anything but radical and quite approp
riate to a university society.
A "free university" at Nebraska
would be similar to a simple gathering
of people discussing important topics ex
cept that it would be well organized and
function in such a way that a variety of
topics for study and discussion could be
organized according to student wishes.
The idea of people organizing groups
to pursue their own lines of inquiry is
hardly original, but the Daily Nebraskan
congratulates this group for forming a
plan whereby the idea can be used at
Nebraska.
There are many important problems,
ideas, concepts, philosophies and kinds of
knowledge that a well-educated person
should be familiar with and understand.
Unfortunately universities such as Ne
braska often cannot afford for one reason
or another to have classes on each one
of these concepts. Schools also do not
have space or the staff to conduct many
classes where students can discuss idea
or exchange viewpoints.
Many students and faculty members
complain about these modern educational
problems, but few are willing to make a
sincere effort at helping the schools cor
rect this unsatisfactory situation.
'.. Efforts to organize a "free university"
in Nebraska's educational society is one
of these sincere efforts to help improve
"the students' education.
" In the 1966 summer issue of the
-United States National Student Associa
tion's "The American Student," Paul
Danish, a former editor of the Colorado
Daily, wrote an article explaining the con
.dept of a "free university." The follow
ing quotes are taken from his article.
; "First, they ("free universities" are
raising questions which clearly are not
.being asked In the nation's traditional
-schools, and those questions just happen
3o be the ones which are most pressing
"to a great many college students.
"The elders might not like to admit
lit, but the cold war is a fact of life to
the young, and the usual anti-bolshivist
-shibboleths offered in justification of it are
no longer credible to many of them. How
many 'good' universities offer a course
in Life in Mainland China? And how many
'good' universities are ev willing to
recognize the existence of let alone
discuss it in the classroon
"Getting the right answers is not
nearly as important as asking the right
questions, and it is the failure of Ameri
can higher education to do the latter
that has made so much of the college
experience so frustrating for so many.
"Second, the free universities are giv
ing the student a chance to take part
In bis own education. The importance of
this cannot be overemphasized. The mont
urgent shortcomings in modern education
are not so much in content (which often
has a way of becoming relevant in spite
of itself even in the dullest course) as in
approach.
"The overhwelming fact confronting
the modem colkge student is that he will
spend most of his time being lectured at.
The size of the class is of little impor
tance; the technique of teaching by lec
ture is found in all disciplines and at all
levels and the modern student finds it
equally sterile in massive freshman cours
es and in p-aduate senvnars.
"In a lecture situation, the student
need only let his mind function as a tape
recorder. If he remembers what is said,
he does well on the exams. He has no
sense of participating in a search for
knowledge.
"It is in working out techniques for
involving the student body as a work
force that the free university could make
a tremendous contribution. So far, it has
done little more than serve notice that
there is a desire on the part of students
to assume such a role.
"That in itself might be enough to
speed reform in the educational establish
ment, but even more can be done. Free
universities do not have to be limited to
reclaiming valuable educational
techniques of the past; they can intro
duce truly original ones as well. At pre
sent, it is probably fair to say that most
free university courses are taught by
methods thousands of years old that is,
the seminar and the lecture.
"Both techniques are valuable (there
is nothing inherently wrong with a lec
ture if a professor is indeed "professing"
something new, interesting or otherwise
valuable) and to be practiced well they
do not require elaborate or expensive
audio-visual aids, but other techniques
could be tried as well. For instance:
"Community theatre, in which a
troupe of actors presents a play, inter
rupts it in the middle, and invites the
audience to discuss what is happening,
its meaning and its potential outcome.
The technique has been used successfully
in psychotherapy, and as a way of stim
ulating interest in social and political
causes. Why couldn't it be used to teach
philosophy, political science, or sociology?
"Interdisciplinary study, whereby
students and teachers with some training
in various specialized fields select a con
temporary problem and work together to
wards its solution. For example, suppose
a- group of fifteen or twenty scholars
drawn from the Humanities, Sciences,
and Social Sciences were to study the
problem of how to feed the people of India.
"There are no doubt many other tech
niques that free universities could explore
and their peculiar nature suits them
uniquely to do so. If the above proposals
were suggested to an orthodox institution
of higher learning, their adoption would
be obstructed by such considerations as
grading procedures, degree requirements,'
campus social regulations, departmental
jurisdictions, academic year calendars,
political expediency and general bureau
cratic inertia.
"Further the very questions raised in
free universities are of such a nature that
they readily lend themselves to new ap
proaches to instruction. At the Experi
mental College of San Francisco State
College, for example, a course entitled
"New Forum: Non-Verbal Seminar," is
offered. The course is "an exploration in
the use of non-verbal media of expression
and communication. The phenomena of
colors, textures, sounds, odors, lines and
motions will be presented individually and
in a variety of relations. There will be
no class discussions; the instructor will
speak only at the opening and conclud
ing meetings."
"At the University of Texas, a free
university is offering a course in Scien
tology, a subject that involves, among
other things, a form of personality ana
lysis using a lie detector. While one hesi
tates to suggest that students in a semi
nar on revolution might profit by trying
to overthrow the local government, the
topics potential for studying within the
group such aspects of revolution as char
isma, agitation, dissatisfaction and alien
ation should be obvious.
"There is reason' enough for it. There
is a growing feeling that the present or
ganizational patterns of our society are
inadequate and irrelevant for our needs.
All over the world, social structures are
being challenged as perhaps never before
in history, and American higher educa
tion is hardly immune from the pattern.
It is safe to assume that as the process
of bureaucratic menopause continues, the
search for alternatives will become more
urgent."
More Than An Activity
"It's not an activity anything that
takes that much time cannot be an ac
tivity." That is one of the usual images of
the Daily Nebraskan, but several other
descriptions must also be added.
"It's not an activity anything that
teaches a member of the staff that much
"It's not an activity anything that
plays such an important role to the Uni
versity and every student . . ."
"It's not an activity anything that
caa be so personally rewarding . . ."
All of these are ways of describing
the Dally Nebraskan and the students who
work on the paper.
A member of the Nebraskan staff
will experience these feelings and find
himself involved everyday in all aspects
of the school.
Applications will be available Friday
in the paper's office, the School of Jour
nalism and the student activities office
for next semester's staff.
Any full-time student with at least a
2.0 average who wants to be involved In
University life and likes excitement and
hard work along with a great deal of per
sonal satisfaction is eligible to apply for
a position.
Tut x6
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I Bob Samuelson's
I SUt of he JConelu (People I
Recently I received a let
ter in the mail which was
the apparent result , of sev
eral columns dealing with
the subject of AWS and
women's rights and hours.
In fairness to the opinion
which is in some ways op
posed to my own, I thought
that in support of the tra
ditional democratic ideals,
I would present it for all
to consider.
"Dear Mr. Samuclson,"
(she went on,)
"There seems to me to be
a dangerous situation afoot
on the University campus
at the present time concern
ing the liberalization of
women's hours and other
rules. (I have a daughter
who is a c o e d, and I'm
WORRIED.)
"At the heart of the sit
uation lies the criminal and
mistaken assumption that
there should be equality be
tween sexes. This assump
tion is absurd, to say the
least, and I should know be
cause I am the mother of
two students now attending
the University of Nebraska.
They are twins, Elizabeth
and Edward, age twenty.
"There is no question in
my mind that Edward is
much the more mature of
the two, and I have evi
dence to support this fact.
I will give one instance of
his maturity.
"He is so conscientious
about his car. Not once has
he stayed out later than
1 p.m. because of car trou
ble. (I happen to know this
is unusual for a boy h i s
age because Elizabeth dates
bovs four and five years
OLDER than Edward, and
she gets home late regular
ly because of car trouble
not to mention running
out of gas!)
"Edward is also more
conscious of matters of.
well ... of, er, the sexual
processes ... (so to speak.)
He has been breeding pi
geons for seven years now.
Elizabeth, lam sure,
doesn't have any knowledge
of, well ... the birds and
the bees ... (so to speak.)
A mother KNOWS things
like this about her children.
"When I sent my twins
down to Lincoln two years
ago it was only with the
knowledge that my little
Elizabeth would be pro
tected. When her sorority
sent my a questionnaire
about whether or not to ac
cept senior keys, well, I
can tell you I was
SHOCKED.
"To think that in just a
few months my Elizabeth
would be able to stay out
until ALL HOURS just
makes me shudder I tell
you!
"There is one encourag
ing thing at any rate. I
have heard the Associated
Women's Students has de
cided to have a constitu
tional convention. I am cer
tainly glad about this. We
NEED to get"' back to the
original ideals of our con
stitution, and it's about
time someone realized it.
Yours in H.M.S.,
Mrs. Victoria Gladstone,"
m mm
Samuel Johnson report
edly said that one is more
influenced by the chance
books one reads than by
those which are part of
systematic education.
Why this is so I'll not
consider, but as a matter
of experience (i.e. my
own), the truth hears old
Sam out.
One of the books which I
remember most clearly
from undergrad days is an
aphoristic little volume by
Ezra Pound, "The ABC of
Reading." I don't remem
ber how I came across the
book, certainly not through
accepted channels (I did
ask an English prof, about
it once and his remark was
disparaging).
Anyway, EP was against
the system and ever since
it's him I've heard, not
Rexroth, Goodman, Mailer
or the usual rebel heroes.
Certain sentences just
stick in your mind like,
"Any general statement Is
like a cheque drawn on a
bank. It's value depends on
what there is to meet It."
The Insight Is not so origi
nal, but that's the first time
it had come to me and as
Pope said: "True wit is na
ture to advantage dressed,
what oft was thought, but
ne'er so well expressed."
In some ways Ezra
seems decidedly anti-intellectual.
"For every reader
on books of art, 1,000 peo
ple go to look at the paint
ings. Thank J leaven I" But
three pages lateri
"Greece and Rome civil
ized by language ...The
man of understanding can
no more sit quiet and re
signed while his country
lets it literature decay and
lets good writing meet with
contempt, than a good doc
tor could sit quiet and con
tented while some ignorant
child was infecting itself
with tuberculosis under the
impression that it was
merely eating jam tarts."
What Ezra was against
was not intcllectuallsm but
a phony ratiocination. "The
greatest barrier," he said,
is probably set up by teach
ers who know little more
than the public, who want
to exploit their fractional
knowledge, and who are
thoroughly opposed to
making the least effort to
learn anything more."
Ezra was unorthodox,
impatient and unstable. He
did not fit accepted aca
demic patterns and was
coughed up out of Ameri
ca like common phlegm.
Later he was tried for trea
son for pro-fascist broad
casts he'd made during the
war. Should we turn our
back on him because of
these factors?
Most people can't make a
distinction between a
man's personality and his
work. They refuse to grant
Allen Ginsberg any poetic
merit because they object
to his sexual propensities.
They refuse to see any mer
it in Nietzche's philosophy
because the man died in
an institution. We so often
categorize the w h o 1 e in
terms of the part.
When you shut others out
you shut yourself in. When
you shut yourself in you
begin to dry up. American
education suffers because
there is nothing else except
the existing system.
Daily Nebraskan
Vol. 90. No. 42
Dec. 1, 1966
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Reutxei
Campus
Opinion 1
School Means More Than Grades
Dear Editor: ,
Your featured story on page one of the Nebraskan
for Dec 30 (on the lack of many departments approving
the pass-fail system) and your editorial of the same
day (on the non-intellectual atmosphere at NU) go hand
Asf long as there are teachers, and especially chair
man of departments, who think the only reason why I
am here at the University is to get a "good grade" then
there will be no intellectual atmosphere at this school.
I thought the pass-fail system was one step ahead
in the sophistication of the University until the 1966-67
second semester class schedule reflected its disappoint
ing nature.
I raise only one question: how can I convince the
administration that what I determine a successful course
is not the grade I receive, but what I can adapt to my
personal goals?
Larry Eckholt
Would You Believe?
Dear Editor, .
Would you believe that during vacation I met a coed
who came in at 2:30 a.m. on a 2 o'clock night and nothing
happened to her?
Where could such a thing happen? Not at the Uni
versity of Nebraska, that's for sure.
The coed was my sister, a high school senior. She
got to CHOOSE the night she wanted to stay out until 2.
She didn't have to get a pink slip, sign out, ask for a
key, or have her date pay a penny for each minute she
stayed out after 1 a.m. When the weather unexpectedly
got bad, she didn't have to call her residence director
to explain that she would be late. Her residence direct
or TRUSTED her, a mere girl of 17.
When she came in a half hour late, she did not have
to sign in on a late minute sheet, expect a call to court
on Thursday afternoon or prepare herself for a weekend
campus.
How unfortunate for her that she will be coming here
to school next year! Granted, she won't have to sign out
or in (except for certain occasions) and she can look for
ward to having key privileges when she is a senior.
But, she will have her "late date" nights chosen for
her even though she may not be able to take advantage
of it that particular night. She will not be as fully trusted
as she was when she was at home. Her reason for a ten
minute lateness may be received with an "I really don't
believe you" attitude.
She will be unable to go home on certain "all-University
occasion weekends" (unless she gets a pink slip
and leaves before 7 p.m.) even though she may not even
have the least bit of interest in the event.
I hope that she and the rest of the freshmen women
next fall will have heard enough about the changes that
must be made in AWS structure and rules so that they
will want to take part in the constitutional convention.
If changes aren't made, I have a feeling that my sister
will wish she would have gone to a school where she could
have found the same trust in her that she now finds at
home.
If the University, through AWS rules, wishes to act
"in loco parentis", it should take its cues from the mod
ern day parents it's acting "in loco" of.
Polly Rhynalds
'Battle Of New Orleans'
Dear Editor:
We would like to submit this poem for publication in
your letters to the editor column. (Sung to the tune of
the "Battle of New Orleans."
In '67 we'll take a little trip
Along with Bob Devaney down the mighty Mississip
We'll take a little beef and we'll take a little beans
And we'll whip the Crimson Tide in the town of New
Orleans.
We'll fire our passes and the team will be a-runnin'
We'll score twice as many as we did a year ago.
Go Big Red and keep the Crimson runnin'
From the Sugar Bowl to the Gulf of Mexico.
Hup, run, pass, score
Hup, run, pass, score
Oh, Big Red Says we can take 'em by surprise
If we use their on-side kick and cut 'em down to size.
We'll hold their line and we'll see their faces swell
Then we'll throw a few more passes and really give
'em hell.
Chorus:
We'll fire our passes till we melt their defense down
Then we'll hand it off to Wilson and he'll run 'em in
the ground.
We'll see Meylan blitz and powder their behind
And when the game is over, the Bear will lose his
mind.
Kent Cockson
Ray Depa
John Kranda
Union Magazines Need Change
Dear Editor:
Judging from the magazine stand in the Union, one .
would think that students confined their extra-curricular
magazine reading to such topics as hot rodding, sports
and clothing fashions.
Indeed, It seems exceedingly odd that "Playboy" is
not sold there since it ("What kind of man reads "Play,
boy?") caters to all of these interests and more.
"Playboy," for those who want to buy it, is avail
able elsewhere in town. But where can the students who
want "Ramparts," "The Realist," "The Monthly Re
view, ' "Dissent," "The New Republic," to name a few,
go to buy a copy
You have hailed the virtues of expressing all shades
of opinion, so you might suggest to whomever is in
into! Unton WC 8iVC!l 8 bettCr selection 01 magazines
Dear Editor: Al Spangler
m.y.7Stam"0file" 8 fiIm We bf!ieVe larie S(JS-
ment of the students will want to view for a deeper un
da? 4 the drama Mng enacted In that country,
. fhW?r Vlu0n fl,m Pl"cerg have put together
a film depicting the courageous service of AID person
? ' . S m,n,8terlc of military chaplins, the prayers
of aboriginal mountain villagers and some answers to
ZZLFl "k0?8 th ,cene' 01 bustlln traffic and
bora of wai g lnterruite1 the dden shocking
If you are staunch enough to watch heart-rpndinr?
f.rffteHring,along with ttoiffi'rfS
Fridav ?,ntn,J0,IlUTt0vWatch "Viet Nam Profile"
Friday at 7 p m. in the Nebraska Union. Two showings
and a discussion will be held at that time
Joe Webb, Treasurer
later-Varsity Christian Fellowship
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