Wednesday, March 3, 1954
Page 2
THE NEBRASKAN
EDITORIAL PAGE
by Dick Bibier Student Forum
LITTll MAN ON CAMPUS
Much Mo Hh
out Sofieffiffif?
(This is the second In a series of editori
als concerning "the Class Council question.)
The much maligned, nearly beaten Class
Council will come up for discussion in the
Student Council today. If the forces within
the Student Council are the same type as
In the past, the Class Counci will pass
quietly from the scene, taking with it the
hard work and hopes of a determined group
of University students the class officers.
The Class Councils have been assailed
from several points on many issues; however,
the major complaint is that the proposed
Council would attempt to achieve an un
necessary goal class unity.
The objection seems to be a valid one
until it is pointed out that class unity as
defined by the Class Councils is a means to
a goal not an end in itself.
Class unity is considered important by
the Class Councils as a method of creating
a more interested, effective alumni organi
sation than is now in existence at Nebraska.
This alumni group would be built by
graduates who T'ave a broader Interest in the
University than the present sorority, frater
nity, derm or boarding house attachments.
The theory behind achieving class unity is
to achieve greater interest in the University
as a whole and hence greater alumni inter
estthrough elass unity.
Critics of the Class Council point out that
it is impossible to achieve class unity in an
institution the size of the University with so
many, widely separate fields of interest and
study.
This objection may be true, but has no
On A Tradition
Before each session of the British Parlia
ment the basement is searched for gunpow
der. The custom began as a necessary pre
caution after an attempt to blow up the
Parliament building long ago. It became
traditional and the basement is searched to
this day.
At each performance of Coed Follies a
policeman is stationed at the door. This
custom also began as a necessary precau
tion after boys broke into the all-girl show
for years in a row. The policeman has al
ready become a tradition attached to Coed
Follies. Future generations of students will
be told the story, "Why the Policeman
Guards Coed Follies."
Congress of the United States today add
ed 30 guards to the Capitol and went back
to work after four Puerto Rican nationalists
wounded five members of the House. The
guards are a necessary precaution against
another incident If the enlarged squad of
guards becomes traditional in House gal
leries the three-fold parallelism win be com
plete. S. H.
Capacity Crowds
Stop for just a moment
Exactly where are we this day of Wednes
day, March 3?
Monday and Tuesday many of us were
enjoying the antics, of a group of Univer
sity coeds. As usual, capacity crowds turned
out to see the TNC and Cornhusker Beauty
Queens announced .
Kosmet Klub Spring Show rehearsals will
be starting soon and perhaps another ca
pacity crowd will see the show.
Spring initiations are just around the
corner and sorority and fraternity pledges
are beginning to get their taste of "Help
Week."
Law students are preparing for Moot
Court Fanner's Fair is coming up. Spring
elections, Ivy Day, Graduation all these are
beginning to take up the minds of college
students.
And in the midst of it all, some are still
trying to keep up their grades.
So here we are on this third day of
March, and in the whirl of activities, studies
and social events, students have become for
getful cf another aspect of living.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning
of the Lenten season. The student religious
houses on campus have planned a series of
special services for the period of six weeks
and four days leading up to Easter Sunday.
But where win these services fit into
the lives of the student? The capacity
crowds at Coed Follies, the students study
ing, the seniors graduating what percent
age f these win be a part of these services?
' There are those who feel that the remain
ing weeks of school before Easter lead up to
(Something more important than a mere ten
days' vacation. Yet even some of these get
lost somehow In the daily shuffle.
The services are perhaps not important
In themselves. But the fact is important that
students have not found time to take out a
few minutes for the great meaning of Lent
nd Easter.
This is unfair to some those who nave
taken the time.
But where are the capacity crowds?
K. N.
factual basis. There has beenno organized,
concerted effort to achieve class unity at the
University for some years, yet the project
is noted "impossible." The Class Councils
have outlined a program whereby class unity
could be attempted. The present officers do
not calmly say, "We have worked out a way
in which class unity will be insured." They
have drawn up a series of plans for creat
ing class unity something that hasn't been
attempted recently.
"Not attempted for some years, well what
about the Class Councils for the last three
years?" This has been the comment from
more than a few interested University stu
dents. This argument seems reasonable to
a certain extent, but there have been no
well-organized efforts for class unity in the
past three years.
Why? The Class Council has been noth
ing more than a stop-gap group granted
"temporary" recognition by the Student
Council. The members have never been cer
tain their organization would be in exist
ence after the period of grace given by the
Student Council.
For effective operation the Class Coun
cils must have the assurance of existence
something It hasn't had before.
Objections by the Student Council are
more definite and perhaps more logical than
the others. Members of the judiciary com
mittee have noted the proposed constitution
is too vague, with little mention of what the
Council will do. They have also criticized
the membership plans in the document
But the Class Council constitution is nec
esarily vague except for statements of pur
pose and internal organization. The Class
Council cannot hope to state in specific order
what they will or will not do. Their aim is
definite, building a better alumni group
through class unity, but the means are not
known and cannot be stated. If the means
were known, the alumni office should han
dle the situation handily.
Also, if the Class Councils were to find a
project unsatisfactory for. Its purposes, but
stated it as part of its constitution it would
be forced Into an Impossible situation. To
do something at its own expense r violate
the principles It Included in its constitution.
Objections to the membership set-up are
valid, but these can be resolved without kill
ing the entire Class Council idea.
The last and most damaging criticism of
the Class Council is that it simply isnt im
portant enough to become a recognized cam
pus organization. The organization cannot
and will not become important until it can
do something and it can't do anything really
lasting and important without Student Coun
cil recognition.
The Class Council is a group with an idea
of how to assist the creating of an effective
alumni group, a worthwhile project to any
thinking University student
Their solution is based on the assumption
that this effective, active alumni group can
be created while the alumni-to-be are re
ceiving their college education.
They believe class loyalty and Interest to
be one f the primary factors In building
the alumni group, and they are right They
should be given the chance a real chance
to put their plans Into action T. W.
Margin Motes
Wise Words
Yesterday was the first day of March.
Aside from merely beginning a new month,
Monday should have had special significance
to all Lincoln motorists.
Speeding tickets given from now on will
require court appearance and the payment
of fines. Radar speed checks will go into
full effect with the friendly warning tickets
of the last two months a thing of the past
Need we say more? A word to the wise
is sufficient
Good Business
In Cheyenne, Wyo, an ordinance was
proposed which would limit pawnshop oper
ations to the hours between 6 ajn. and 8 pjn.
One city councilman, however, was a
pretty accurate judge of human nature. He
recommended that the closing hour be ex
tended to midnight on the days the soldiers
at nearby Fort Warren get paid.
Not good psychology, just good business.
Luxurious Medicine
A home swimming pool or elevator Is not
deductible from your income as a medical
expense, the Internal Revenue Service has
ruled.
Pools and elevators are not medical ex
penses, but permanent improvements to your
home, it ruled.
Poor little rich people always getting
out-foxed.
FTTTY-TKXSUD TEAS
Member: Associated Collegiate Press
Advertising representative: National Advertising Service, in.
M Madison Ave. Kew York 17. New York ,
SDCTOXUf. STaJT
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9
"I'd better so In now. Worthal I see the housemother rot
back."
The Challenge
Athens, Carthage Give
Vital Historical Message
By S. T. VANDERSALL
(Pr. Vaaamall, aa bntractnr la Clasrin,
rarrlvf kta rhl la 14; at Ohio Suit. Ht
caaw ta lac I'alBTCnltT la 14S aaa mm
BBrac4 coaraes ta ao(a Gfack aai Latta.l
The late President Lowell of
Harvard, who was renowned in
his day as an after-dinner
speaker and particularly as one
who could deliver a brilliant im
promptu speech, had as a favor
ite topic the contrast between
two great cultures of the ancient
world, the Athenian and the Car
thagian. The second of these he por
trayed, and with little exaggera
tion, as a far-flung empire of
traders, of commercial interests
rooted only in a philosophy of
money-grubbing and in a religion
that was little more than bar
baric, a people with slight in
terest in the arts, with no con
cept of the individual, and with
no demonstrable appreciation of
freedom of thought or of inquiry.
Its army and maritime power
existed mainly for the extension
and protection of its commercial
interests; this military might
was formidable, and but for the
tendency and good fortune of the
Romans might have assumed a
dominant place in political his
tory, but Carthaginian military
expansion was not followed by a
spread of" cultural influence, as
there was little of that at home
to follow in the path of victorious
armies. It is hardly necessary to
add that the contribution of Car
thage to world civilization was
almost a negative quantity, that
its empire may be considered a
roadblock against the forward
march of man.
Athenian Idea
On the other hand President
Lowell saw in' the Athenian cul
ture the same things that many.,
another observer from our time
has seen. a city which, in its
period of greatest influence, that
the best type of government was
one in which the people had a
maximum of control but in which
the law was an overriding sover
eignty by which all were bound,
but before which all citizens were
equal, that the intellectual and
esthetic points of view were to be
prized, not scorned, that a high
degree of personal freedom was
not only compatible with the pub
lic safety, but essential to the
well-being of a democratic peo
ple, and that new ideas and new
forms of expression were to be
Judged rationally and freelf ac
cepted if found superior, for, as
the Athenians observed when they
viewed some of the neighboring
states, tradition and convention
retained for their own sakes are
most stultying to the commun
ity. Ferfcaps above sH these was
the conviction that the whole life
f the state and of the citizens
the political, the reUtious, fce
ethical, the esthetic, the Intellec
tual was aa essential nutty, not
unrelated fragments to be sought
r attained piecemeaL
For example, the Athenian
tragedies, which provided for the
whole citizenry food for the mind
and the spirit through spectacles
presented with moral purposes at
politico-religious festivals.
While we must grant that some
of these ideal were unevenly ap
plied e.g. the class of free citi
zens was supported by a large
slave population with few rights
and the sizable group of aliens
was without the franchise) and
that they permitted on occasion
excesses by which any civilized
people would be shamed (as
Athenians later were), still Ath
ens produced a climate most fa
vorable to the development of
thought and art and literature.
The intellectually stimulating
atmosphere induced by the free
exchange of ideas, by rational
tolerance of differences of opin
ica (even when they might be
construed as anti-Athenian or
anti-orthodox), and by a critical
evaluation of the old as well as
tike new resulted in a level of
civilized thought and art unique
in the ancient world.
But this piece is net Intended
as a mere advertisement for an
ancient city or simply as a eulogy
of its way of living and thinking.
What do the Athenian and the
Carthaginian ways of life have to
say to us in twentieth century
America who strive for education
in the full sense?
Each observer will express It
differently, but perhaps It could
be stated thus: the essence of the
aim of this er any ether univer
sity Is to iarSa ta each student
a bit of the AtnenUa point of
view.
Through the development of his
tolerance of fae novel, his ra
tional criticism cf men, ideas, and
institutions, his sense of respon
sibility to God and himself, to
the state and society, and his de
sire to live richly rather than
merely make a living, it is hoped
he will help to insure an Athenian
climate in America.
If such a climate prevails, it
will serve as a strong bulwark
against the forces of the brutal
totalitarians and the blind anti
intellectuals who menace the
physical and spiritual bases of
our western society, and there
fore its whole structure. If it does
not, that society stands in peril
of being extinguished as com
pletely as that of ancient Carth
age. Just as it is true that the ac
complishments of Athens can
never fade, short of Big Brother's
rewriting of history, so it is clear
that there is a sense in which
Carthage had to be destroyed.
For the sterile soil of its civiliza
tion germinated only the seeds
of its own destruction. It had
little to offer the rest of the world
and therefore perished, while Ath
ens was the school of Greece and
the model for the civilization of
our contemporary free world.
If we are to take to heart the
lessons of the past, our choice
seems clear: are we, as educated
men and women to become Athen
ians and thus establish a firm
foundation for the continuation of
ur desirable way of life; or are
we to deny our education and turn
into narrow Carthaginians, there
by foreshadowing the doom of a
society which will have lost its
spiritual and philosophical reason
for existence beyond our generation?
Dob's Dillies
By ART DOBSOX '
Professor "You in the back of
the room, what was the date of
the signing of the Magna
Charta?"
"I dunno."
"You don't eh? Well, let's try
something else. Who was bonny
Prince Charley?"
"I dunno."
"Well, then, can you tell me
what the Tennis Court oath
was?"
"I dunno."
"You don't! I assigned this
stuff last Friday. What were you
doing last night?"
"I was out drinking beer with
some friends."
"You were! What audacity to
stand there and tell me a thing
like that! How do you ever ex
pect to pass this course?"
"WaL I don't mister. Ya see,
I just come in -to fix the radi
ator." Prof. "Give three collective
nouns.
Stude "Flypaper, wastebasket
and vacuum cleaner.
a
Beggar "Have you got a nickel
for a cup of coffee?"
Student "Oh. 111 manage
somehow, thank you."
First Student "Great Scott!
I've forgotten who wrote 'Ivan
hoe.' Second Student "I'M tell you
if you'll tell me who the dickens
wrote the "Tale of Two Cities.' "
a
AbsentmiBded Professor leav
ing church) "Who's the sbseat
m laden one now? You left your
umbrella bark there and I not
only remembered mine but I
breurnt yours, too.
Wife (gating blankly at him)
"But neither of us brought one to
church.
" Professor of Greek "Miss De
Mure, what is meant by the
LXX?"
Miss De Mure "Love and
kisses."
Qukrer "What was the differ
ence between Noah's Ark and
Joan of Arc?"
Sizzer "Noah's Ark was made
of wood and Joan of Arc was
maid of Orleans. Now tell me the
difference between Joan of Arc
and Queen Elizabeth?"
Quizzer 'Joan of Arc was a
wonder, and Queen Elizabeth was
a Tudor."
An old maid, shocked st the
language of some ditchdiggei
working near her home, com
plained to their foreman. The
foreman promised to inquire into
the matter and called one of the
men over.
"What's all this about profane
talk?" he demanded.
"Why, boss," replied Joe. the
ditcbdigger, "it's nothing at all
Me and Butch was working there,
side by side, ?nd I accidentally
let my pick slip and hit bim in
the head.
By BERT BISHOP
There seems to be a great fu
ror around the campus about
school spirit, and class spirit,
and lovalty and devotion, and
more. The current debate about
including freshmen and sopho
more members in the class Coun
cil is pivoting around the point
that including them would im
prove class spirit and school spir
it as well.
a a
During the past few years
there has been a great lament
ing about the throwing aside of
traditions at the University.
There has also been shouting
about constructing new ones. For
instance, people have been grasp
ing the Mueller tower as a great,
new tradition, which we all
should adore and revere on the
grounds that it is a tradition
(some have said that is the only
possible reason for its being
there.) Ellen Smith Hall is be
ing defended for the same reason
it is symbolic of tradition.
The point is that tradition or
loyalty or spirit are things which
either are or are not presert
They cannot be brought into be
ing by sayinc they exist or by
legislation, or through any other
coercive act. To try to stimulate
these things by artificial meth
ods is as immoral as to stimu
late any other kind of love by
artificial methods.
Everyone knows that faith in
God cannot be obtained through
a law that all must attend church
every Sunday or read a chapter
of the Bible every day. Nor can
one be assured of an increase in
brotherhood by a city ordinance
requiring each person to shake
hands with the first man he
meets each day.
As desirable as school spirit
tradition, religion, or brother.'
hood might be, unless they are
genuinely inspired, they are
false, hollow and hypocritical
Real apathy cannot be overcome
through bylaws in the constitu
tion any more than insanity can
be cured with a straight-jacket-for
both do only no more than
create another situation where
the difficulty can be seen more
readily.
Basically, the lack of spirit and
interest in tradition on the cam
pus can be traced not to a lack
of opportunity for it to be shown,
but to a complete lack of con
cern about it. There is a certain -identification
of person with
group associated with athletics,
but this is not love, only the
basic desire to be on the strong,
est side. It is found on play,
grounds at every grade school a
moment after sides are chosen
for softball or a tug of war.
A university without a unity of
purposs cannot be an institution
to be loved merely because its
various buildings have been lo
cated, for practical reasons, in
the same general location. A uni
versity which hopes to train al
most any particular person for
nearly any particular job has
no entity beyond an administra
tive one.
No one can become greatly en.
amored with an efficient system
for budgeting money and keep.
Ing records.
LeUerip
Police Discrimination, Faults And
Merits Of 'Nebraskan' Discussed
Dear Editor:
I am of the rapidly growing
group of University students who
believe that The Nebraskan is
doing an excellent job of influ
encing, informing and entertain
ing its readers.
I noticed in your Letterip col
umn yesterday that there are sev
eral (three, to be exact) students
who believe your publication to
inadequate and a W.P.A. for
"idle" journalists. Hogwash!
a
Can these complainers explain
the fact that such a large num
ber of students were up-in-arms
when Pub Board cut the number
of weekly issues from five-to-four-to-three?
No doubt their answer
would be that there are less pa
pers to protect its readers from
the effects of Jupiter Pluvius.
Who's all wet? .
The Nebraskan's editors have
always printed Letterips, provid
ing the authors' sim their names.
They have (the editors) NEVER
edited letters-to-Uie-editor. They
have read too much about the
Omaha newspaper.
The accusers ask whether bad
journalism is better than no Jour
nalism? What did they have to
back up such irrational state
ments? Who's "twisted?"
a a
As for the critic who challenges
the intelligence of some of The
Nebraskan columnists, let me re
mind him that there are many
readers who despise funny pa
pers and Republicans. Does this
mean they should not read the
New York Times or St Louis
Post-Dispatch? In other words, if
you don't like these columnists,
don't read them.
To The Nebraskan Staff: You're
aware that you can't please all
,the people all the time. Don't
worry about the few. Anyway,
people in glass bouses shouldn't
MARSHALL KUSHNER
Shortcomings
Dear Editor:
Concerning your editorial,
"Private" Opinion. Perhaps the
Nebraskan is no longer the true
voice of this "great Midwestern
University," but I think that it
does its best However, even
those of us who have faith in
you, who are the only voice that
we have, find shortcomings in
your work.
1. If people refuse to take the
time to sit down and write let
ters to the editors, then, obvi
ously, the editors must re to the
people. If the only place that
you can find the student's opin
ion of The Nebraskan is In the
Crib er at Dirty Earl's, then go
there, and find out. A criticism
does not have to be In writing
to be good, honest or valid. A
critical speech is as valid as a
critical letter.
Apparently you have some re
porters who are observant enough
to notice that the students are not
contented with the newspaper in
its present state; this is campus
news: report it as you do other
campus news. If one of your re
porters hears a student con
demning a recent editorial, all he
would have to do is note the cri
ticism and say to the speaker,
"Do you mind if I quote you on
that in The Nebraskan?" If the
speaker objects, you are not go
ing to get the gripe in the Let
terip either.
a a
2. Concerning the issue be
tween the Board of Regent and
the Lincoln Journal: certainly
we have elected the Board to do'
the work of a Board of Regents
on our (the public) behalf. Like
wise do we elect representatives
to the national government We
presume that both groups of men
are capable of fulfilling their re
spective jobs.
Nevertheless, we demand as
citizens to know what our repre
sentatives are vp to. Have you
ever thought what the public
sentiment would be, and for that
matter, the state of the nation,
if all prospective laws were kent
secret until they had been
passed?
Certainly we are able to ten
the Regents what kind of a man
we want as our chancellor, but
we should also have a right to
discover for ourselves the merits
and disadvantages of the men
who are under eonsidert3en . . .
before one of them Is elected.
No group of men Is Infallible;
normally, all representatives re-,
port back to their controlling
body on what is in progression,
and what is being done. Why do
the Regents insist upon keeping
this matter a scret? Americans
seem to have a healthy adversion
to secret dealings by their rep
resentatives; that is one rea
son why this has become an issue,
a
3. It seems unfortunate that
The Nebraskan must lower itself
to harboring a column such as
"Del-za-poppin." S p e c i f icaUy
the column in which Del turned
from his usual pastime of utter
nonsense, to the sport of movie
critic.
As I read the' column, I pic
tured the author sitting at his
typewriter, faced with twelve
inches of tj-pe to fill, and nothing
to fill them with. So, he pro
ceeded to fill them with nothing.
Even his charming philosophy o!
culture he negated by preceedin;
the paragraph with a slam ai
what was probably the only trul;
cultural highlight in the eve
ning's entertainment at thi
-Knights of the Round Table
. . . the symphonic prelude.
Again, if Harding calls bold,
clever, and enjoyable adulter;
(Captain's Paradise) "culture
what is our culture coming to?
I think that we would be much
better off if you hung on to Jerry
Sharpnack, who is at least enjoy
able. Intentional nonsense is
thoroughly enjoyable; illogical
stupidity in the guise of "a phil
osopher creating culture" is un
forgivable. aaa
4. Hate to see Jerry Sharp
nack go. That's the only thing
that keeps roe awake In Ed. SL.
aaa
5. Otherwise, I think that you
are doing a wonderful job . . .
a much better job than many
university newspapers (and I use
the term loosely) that I have
seen.
Sincerely vours,
MARGARET E. ELLIOTT
Police Discrimination
Dear Editor:
During my few years at the
University I have noticed what
I believe to be an increased
amount of discrimination against
University students by the Lin
coln Police Department. Tonight
(Thursday) I had that belief
aaa
changed to a conviction.
Leaving a movie, my friend
and I. with our dates were of
fered a ride by another student
up to the campus because of the
heavy rains. It was still raining
when we arrived at the campus
and the fellow giving us the
ride stopped in front of a worn
ens' residence on "O" Street next
to the entrance. We immediately
disembarked and could have
been there for only a few seo
onds, when an off duty police
man in his private car drove up
behind us and started bonking.
He then got out of his car and
proceeded to give the fellow who
had been considerate enough to
take us in out of the rain a ticket1
for double parking. Believe me.
the rain was then a welcome re
lief in helping me rid myself of
the bad taste In my mouth.
I am not writing this In advo
eatton of what occurred a few
years are mm this esmpus as a
result f this same type of sver
escroachment fey the city po
lice. But I aa writing with the
hope that a better policy can be
established by the administra
tion. It might even be something
censtructire. for once, for ur ewa
Student Council to tackle.
Hopefully yours,
BOB MeCUNE
University
Bulletin Board
WEDNESDAT
Ag Builders Mass Meeting. 7:15,
Food and Nutrition Building.
"Hasty Heart," I p.m.. Arena
Theatre.
Leva and Marriage Lecture.
T:M p..m. Love Library Auditor,
turn.
ASME Meeting, 7:13 PH
Boom 236, Richards Lab.
Teung Democrats Meeting, 7:33
p.m.. Parlor A, Union.
Kappa Alf ha Kb, 7;23 j.rn. B-
Burnett
