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THE NEBRASKAN
Wednesday, March 10, 1954
EDITORIAL PAGE
espofisijffy Afof Censorship
LITTLE MAN on CAMPUS
Tha Tulane University student newspaper,
Hullabaloo," has received a letter of "repri
mand and admonition" from the student
council there for printing "opinionated ma
terial" not approved by the paper's faculty
advisers. v
This Item turned up in the Kansas State
Collegian, a student newspaper on the ex
change lists of The Nebraskan, some weeks
ago. '
' The announcement of the letter of "repri
mand and admonition" did not include just
what the consequences of such a statement
would be. A check of the exchange columns
has not revealed what the consequences for
the "Hullabaloo" editorial staff , are to be.
Whether or not the letter will seriously af
fect the "Hullabaloo" is a matter of conjec
ture, but the fact remains that a student
council reprimand did carry a real signifi
cance for the newspaper.
If the council complaint is based only on.
We Won't Listen
Last . Saturday night Cosmopolitan Club
held an annual Carnival in the Union.
Quite by accident this Nebraskan staff
member happened to attend the Carnival, or
at least the show which foreign students put
on for. the people attending. She was not
little surprised to find herself enjoying it
Immensely.
For one thing-. It struck home the fact
that there Is another University organization
which is not fully appreciated. For another
thing, there was a spirit of internationalism
that made one feel there is no reason why
world peace cannot somehow be obtained.
Here was a group of University students
from overseas who have tpken some pleas
ure In learning about and absorbing some of
the customs of the United States. And at the
banquet they exchanged the customs of their
countries with one another.
Somehow people in the United States fail
to realize that they too could gain from such
an exchange. .They are inclined to believe
that since they have the shag or jitterbug,
they have nothing to gain from seeing a
Lithuanian folk dance.
Foreign students have so much to tell
Americans that the Americans won't listen
to. They were probably trying to do this Sat
urday, night, by sharing- in part their coun
tries with the native born Americans.
The carnival was a success to this out
eider, and probably to the hundred or so
students who attended.
The Cosmopolitan Club will not suffer if
the other students did not attend. The en
thusiasm shown at the carnival will last
until next year. But the student who did
not attend missed another opportunity that
a heterogeneous University has to offer.
K. N.
achine-Made Man?
Last semester the present editor of The
Nebraskan wrote an editorial entitled "Why
Have People," inspired by the latest time-and-effort-saving
device invented by atomic
age scientists.
The invention, "Speedwalk," was a mov
ing sidewalk which would eliminate the
bothersome necessity of walking. In an are
where modern, machines have made nearly
every human activity automatic, man has
become more and more simply a button
pusher.
The editor predicted that if science would
only develop mechanical brains, we could
eliminate thinking as well as walking in
fact, if there was just a machine to oil the
machine, people could pass peacefully out
of the picture altogether.
A frightening prediction yet apparently
well-grounded. For science has taken the
next step in the process of transferring
power from man to machine. A "thinking
machine' has been invented.
And this time the monster Is not just
another computing machine which can cope
, only with mathematical problems. This
"thinker," according to Its inventor, can
. solve almost any problem in a book on fun-
elemental symbolic logic.
Starting with a certain basic set of prem
ises, the machine will reach a quick and ac
curate answer by following the formal prin
ciples of reasoning. It can test the validity
f ths basic laws of logic, explore the field
for new principles 'and test whatever spe
cific arguments are given it for examination.
Since the machine is not subject to prej
vSiees, environmental influences, propaganda
distortion and all the fallacies which impede
banian reasoning, the machine should be
bio to do a more reliable and accurate job
of finding: the solution to' problems than
humans can.
la fact, It begins to look as if the think
ing machine may be an effective substitute
for the old-fashioned human brain.
But dont despairthe human brain will
. never be completely antiquated. That is,
. until a machine invents a machine which
can invent machines. M. H.
the fact the news was embarassinc or un
kind, and forces a significant change in the
"Hullabaloo," Tulane is a school without a
real newspaper. They have instead an an
nouncement sheet whose editors walk softly
with empty, upturned hands.
The happening at Tulane indicates an
unhealthy situation. The student council let
ter was based on the fact that the paper
printed "opinionated material" that was not
approved by the paper's faculty advisors.
How the faculty advisers give their approval
to news to appear in the "Hullabaloo" is not
important
The fact they do have control of the news
appearing in the paper limits that public
tion to the facial level, Indicating the editor
or editorial staff of the paper are not con
sidered competent to judge what should or
should not appear in the paper and how it
shall be presented.
The Nebraskan is quick to agree that
vulgar, dishonest and libelous statements
should be kept out of newspapers, but con
trolling the press is not the way to do it
The persons who are members of the news
paper staff should be held responsible for
what they print or cause to be printed. If
a college newspaper is guilty of statements
that would merit admonition and reprimand
from an organization, those responsible for
the offensive statements should be called for
an accounting of their actions.
But at Tulane, the student newspaper is
forced to carry news stories that will give
no displeasure to a rroup of advisers.
As for printing "opinionated material,"
this is no sin unless the editors attempt to
present opinion under the guise of fact. If
the editors are guilty of this, they should
be dealt with personally, there should not be
a board or group that passes on what is or
is not to be printed.
In short, student newspaper staff mem
bers should be allowed to print what they
believe is the truth in a form they consider
tasteful and correct. If their judgment is in
error and is not acceptable to the reading
public for whom they write, they should not
be allowed to print or cause what they wish
to be printed. They should not be censored
by another agency, before what they print
is judged by those who will read it.
However trivial it may seem that a stu
dent newspaper "way down at Tulane" gets
slapped by the student council, it is impor
tant that advisers approve news that goes
into any paper whether it be a university
or other community. The situation at Tu
lane smacks strongly of authoritarianism.
Control of the press has been one of the first
objectives of dictators, Red or otherwise.
Peron, Mussolini, Hitler, Lenin, etc., had
control of the press in order to make their
regimes successful. This is not to say the
advisers at Tulane are plotting to govern
students, to force them into a "dictator
ship," but it does show the importance of a
free, responsible press.
The Nebraskan believes that any power
of any group to reprimand and perhaps con
trol the student newspaper to be wrong, if
that control is applied for other reasons than
for lack of accuracy, honesty and rood taste.
The very fact the student council at Tulane
could reprimand the newspaper there Indi
cates an unhealthy condition.
Student newspaper control (along other
than the lines mentioned) is not In the best
interests of the students who make up that
newspaper's reading public. To allow any
group other than the editors to control what
news shall or shall not be printed takes
away the chance for the paper to perform
a real service to the student readers.
The Nebraskan feels the conditions set
up for its publication to be adequate so far
as control of the newspaper is concerned.
The controls are stated in the masthead of
the paper on the editorial page. They read,
"The Nebraskan is published by the students
of the University of Nebraska as an expres
sion of students news and opinions only.
"It is the declared policy of the Board
of Publications that publications under its
jurisdiction shall be free from editorial cen
sorship on the part of the University, but
members of the staff of The Nebraskan are
personally responsible for what they say
or do or cause to be printed." T. W.
Margin Notes
Stuily Communism?
Forewarned is forearmed.
Apparently Major General William Dean,
who spent 38 months as a prisoner of the
Communists in Korea, is a staunch sup
porter of this old maxim.
He stated that he hopes American chil
dren will be allowed to study Communism.
"That's the only way they can be armed
against Communism," he said.
And certainly no one can accuse Gen.
Dean of confusing indoctrination with study.
So school boards, university governing
bodies, and any interested parties kindly
take note.
fTFTT-TniED TEAS
Member: Associated Collegiate Press
Advertising representatives National Advertising Servtoa, fne,
420 Madison Ave, New York 17, New York
Wara8M I pnhHrtwd by th etndwrta of th EDITORIAL STAFF
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tsw'uf tit Jil roar, oxiuspt oaeatMia and oxaralnattoa Fraiuleen, WUllamett Itosea, Barbara Kick, Marcia
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by Dtdc tibia Student Forum
VJhere Are We?
"It's designed for maximum protection."
The Challenge
Afo Curtains For Us
By CHARLES W. COLMAN
(Dr. Colnwa norlTcd his Ph. D. at Cor
Mil UalTtntl? la l38. A aawdito In
flrurtor In the Romance Iwunn depart-
rm. Dr. Colmaa cam to tat Uatvonitr
1947.)
"In the very period that saw
Russia emerge as a threat to
world peace, American educators,
with the tacit consent of the
American people, began lowering
here a Language Curtain that has
inhibited our knowing the minds
and hearts of either our enemies
or our friends.
"Only when men can talk to
gether can they get together, and
Americans acknowledge the es
sential truth of this whenever they
speak, thinking only about other
Americans, of 'talking the other
fellow's language.' But after a
long period of pretty much ignor
ing all other fellows beyond our
borders, we now say: 'Look, I've
decided to be a neighbor, and a
generous one too;, so please say
'thank you' in English and let's
get to know each other better, in
English.
"The irony of this approach cuts
deep when translated into any
language. No question about it, a
great ...any foreigners speak Eng
lish; but what they cannot under
stand is our monolingual discour
tesy, our cultural arrogance, our
evident ignorance of the fact that
ethnic symbols and sympathies
end aspirations defy translation
and must be directly appre
hended by sufficient knowledge
of a foreign tongue.'
I submit that the preceding quo
tation from a commencement ad
dress delivered last summer at
Middlebury College by Dr. Wil
liam R. Parker, Professor of Eng
lish at New York University and
Executive Secretary of the Mod
ern Language Association of
America, poses one of the fore
most challenges of our time are
we to remain a nation of lingu
istic illiterates?
Certainly It is a stranre para
dox that, at the very time we were
assuming world leadership, we
should have 'lowered the lan
ruage curtain" and thereby have
created for ourselves a formid
able and completely unnecessary
handicap. While we talked of
working for International under
standing and world peace, we de
prived ourselves of the most ef
fective tool for achieving those
goals.
If we would test the truth of
Professor Parker's charges, let us
consider for a moment the fluc
tuations of American prestige
abroad. It is a sobering experi
ence to travel in a foreign land
and to see ourselves through the
other fellow's eyes.
Soon after the first World War
we enjoyed, by and large, the
friendship and good wishes of the
civilized world. We were looked
upon as an idealistic, generous
young nation. Our cockiness and
our naivete were forgiven with
an amused tolerance.
Now the situation has changed
drastically.
We have become the dominant
military power in the world and
consequently the political leader.
Our friends expect us to put aside
our adolescent foibles and to be
have like adults. In recent years
we have been shocked and hurt
to discover that we are no longer
universally loved. Our monolin
gual, materialistic-minded sol
diers and tourists have brought
our prestige to a low ebb. Most
peoples would probably still like
to believe in us but, if we are to
turn the tide, we must start be
having like responsible, literate
grown-ups and must demonstrate
conclusively to other nations that
we have an understanding of their
history, institutions and culture.
Such understanding can come
only as the result of a high degree
of familiarity with their lan
guage. Only within the last two or three
years has any serious attention
been given to possible remedies
for the situation. Recent studies
have convinced educators and
psychologists alike that there is a
bilingual age, a period when a
child can learn a second language
with the same facility and nat
uralness -with which he learns
his own.
It seems to extend roughly
through the eighth grade. These
studies, coupled with an urgent
plea from former United States
Commissioner of Education Earl
J. McGrath for more and better
language teaching to young chil
dren, have helped launch a widely
supported movement to introduce
foreign languages into the ele
mentary school curriculum.
We can feel proud that Lincoln
has taken its position in the fore
front of this movement. It is one
of approximately 200 communities
throughout the United States to
have initiated a foreign language
program at the elementary school
level. Spanish is currently being
taught in grades 3-5 to some 155
pupils at Huntington School.
The success of these classes, to
gether with that of similar classes
for children in French, German
and Spanish at the University of
Nebraska, Nebraska Wesleyan
University and Union College,
leads up toahope French and Ger
man will soon be added to the
Lincoln elementary school cur
riculum. If that is accomplished,
wemay feel that we have tsen
the first step toward answering
the challenge. ,
Charles W. Colman
Associate Professor of
Romance Languages
Exchange Editorial
College Days Reviewed
In Much-Used Editorial
(We ran across this article in
an issue of the Purdue Expon
ent. Evidently other college
newspapers have thought it as
appropriate as The Nebraskan.
It originally appeared in the
Miami Hurricane and was re
printed by the Mississippi State
Reflector. We feel that while not
world-shaking in its import, it
could be food for thought.)
"I MET A MAN ONCE WHO
SAID:
"I missed out on my college
days. You see, I didn't ente into
it quite all the way. I never
really got acquainted with a
professor. Or even a textbook.
Not seriously. I never learned
the thrill of digging fossils on a
mountainside.
I told myself that people who
did that sort of thing are queer.
And I said that professors were
dull and I complained about the
classes. I could learn more out of
school, I said. I slid through
some way without even letting
my mind grow curious. And, it's
funny, but do you know I feel
kind of regretful now when I
talk to a scholar. Or go to the
library. Or wander through-a
museum. I missed out on all of
that. And I find myself wishing
I could go back to college and
live those days over again.
"I MET A MAN ONCE WHO
SAID:
"I missed out on my college
days. You see, I didn't enter into
it quite all the way. Working my
way through school took all my
time, or I told myself it did. The
fellows used to go bumming
around at night and sometimes
they'd ask me to go along, but
I had to study.
I even missed the football
games. Froth, I called it. Wasted
time; I was in school to study.
And, it's funny, but you know
I turn away now every time I
see a group of college men gath
ered in a drug store on a corner
of the campus. And every time
I see two old college chums slap
each other on the back and say,
'Remember the time that we . . .!
I gulp a little because I missed
out on all that and I find my
self wishing I could go back to
college and live those days over
again.
"I MET A MAN ONCE WHO
SAID:
"I missed out on my college
days. You see, I didn't enter into
it quite all the way. I was afraid,
I guess. I wanted to try for a
part in the school play once, but
I didn't- I intended to. I went
up to the room the night they
were reading the parts, but I
didn't go in. There were so many
there who were better than I,
and I turned away and went
down the hall. I wanted to try
out for the football team, too,
but I told myself I was light and
turned away from the practice
field.
And .it's funny, but do you
know that I can't go to see a
football game now, because I
see myself out on the field or on
the stage as I might have been if
I hadn't been afraid. And I find
myself wishing I could go back
to college and live those days
over again."
By BERT BISHOP
For all those students who de
light in the romance and tickling
bluster of a condoned conspiracy,
the magazine "The Reporter,"
March 2, 1954, issue, has real
' news. In an article entitled "The
Undergraduate Underground" by
Douglas Cater, is a description
of a nationwide student group,
the Students for America, dedi
cated to "winning our battle
against Communism."
What is amazing about the
SFA is its insistence upon con
spiracy and secrecy. There is a
"hard core" of loyal big shots at
the base of each chapter which
controls its operations and in
sures that the college's adminis
tration does not become aware
of the chapter's existence.
There is an "Intelligence Sec
tion" with members known only
to the "hard core" whose Job it
Is to join suspected socialist or
Communist student groups and
gather evidence, to be submitted
to the "National Security Divi
sion" for evaluation and report
ing to government agencies.
Student members are encour
aged to take notes whenever a
professor seems to be approach
ing "the Communist line" and to
watch in texts and outside read
ing for signs of pink, all this in
formation to be sent dutifully,
with names, to the SFA's secur
ity division.
What all this game of cops and
robbers (there are. 2,500 mem
bers on 120 campuses, mostly
freshmen and sophomores, ac
cording to National Director
Robert Munger) means Is de
batable. Senator Karl Mundt of
South Dakota said, "So far as I
am advised. Students for Amer.
lea is the only nationwide anti.
Communist and ant l-socialisi
student movement in this coun
try." a
However, the University of
Virginia newspaper, The Cava
lier Daily, had this to say when
the local chapter came to light:
"These first-year men take it
upon themselves to determine
who is and who is not un-American
through their own junior
grade imitation of McCarthyism,
We feel that this sort of kinder
garten Ku Klux Klan is out of
place at this University."
a a a
The SFA is a direct reflection
of national hysteria. Suspicion
and underhandedness seek to be
come justified through fear. Men
go off half-cocked with only an
inkling of what they are doing
and not caring how they work to
get the next little job done. De
struction of the opposition be
comes an obsession at the ex
pense of the thing defended.
Those who attempt to justify
foul methods say they are neces
sary because the other side does
not play fair. That attempt is
merely a statement that evil
will win out, because it is
stronger, but the fact that it is
"our" evil and not "their" evil
is a small consolation, indeed,
for the loss of dignity and self
respect which accompanies ths
victory.
etlerip
'Knowledge Must Precede Criticism;'
'More 4-H Representation Needed'
Dear Editor:
I was rather interested in F.
Jay Pepper's letterip of last Fri
day, primarily because I think
it indirectly points up the reli
gious problem at this University.
I must at the outset agree with
him there is a lack of interest
on the part of many students in
religious problems, though I
doubt that very many students
would have had the courage to
express their disinterest in words
as forceful as Mr. Pepper's.
But I do not believe, as he
does, that this disinterest is due to
a lack of validity in religion as to
student ignorance of just what re
ligion really is. If I had never
taken a course in physics and
were I to criticize physics by
calling it (as Mr. Pepper calls
religion) "a truly fantastic idea"
which ."has dominated men's
thoughts for centuries," I would
doubtlessly be accused of not
knowing what I was talking about.
Yet, where one demands knowl
edge as a basis for valid critic
ism in all other fields, everyone
seems to be an authority on the
subject of religion.
What this has led to is obvious,
at least to me. Most students
come to college with a Sunday
School knowledge of what religion
is. They tend to think that what
they know about this subject is
all there is to know. Thus by equ
ating their Ignorance with religion
they succeed in building a straw
man of religion which is quickly
destroyed in the University at
mosphere which demands some
study as a basis for belief in
any field. t
Yet, if religion is merely for
the ignorant and superstitious and
is unable to withstand intelligent
intellectual examination, then
we would be justified in main
taining as Mr. Pepper does, that
it is merely an "upside-down"
sort of thing which we should out
grow. But, in order to criticize some
thing, we must know enough
about it to speak intelligently.
People call themselves Christians
or Jews: do they have the faint
est idea, except for the few things
they learned up to the time they
were confirmed, of what Christ
ianity or Judaism is? They are
in the University, but their re
ligious knowledge stopped at the
fourth grade level.
Though we may ignore what we
have conceived religion to be,
we cannot actually ignore the
questions which religion asks and
seeks to answer. For everyone,
at one time or another, seeks to
find some meaning in his exist
ence. These final questions of
existence are religious questions.
They arise and demand an
swers once we gain the courage
to face them.
The questions have always been
there, but as long as we could
comfort ourselves with flattering
illusions and easy solutions, we
could avoid seeing them. This is
no longer possible today, as the
ultimate questions have become
the immediate ones.,
Thus I suppose that even Mr.
Pepper has some sort of religion,
even if it is only a conventional
sort of athiesm. At one time or
another we are all faced with the
terror of existence so unforget
tably expressed by these words of
Pascal:
"When 1 consider the brief span
of my life,, swallowed up in etern
ity past and to come, the little
space that I occupy, lost in the
immensity of space of which I
know nothing and and which
knows nothing of me I am ter
rified." Religion Is something more
than a monument to Americanism
University
Bulletin Board
WEDNESDAY
Red Cross, KOLN-TV Program,
6:30 p.m.
Gamma Theta Upslloa Meeting,
7:30 p.m., Room 105, Geography
Building.
Scherer Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Bes
sy Hall Auditorium.
NU Med Meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Love Library Auditorium.
Union Seminar, 4 p.m., Faculty
Lounge.
Young Democrats, 7:30 p.m..
Room 313, Union.
before whose alter we place a
wreath every other Sunday. It is
something which is directly con
nected to our everyday lives,
whose relevance we may ignore
but never completely escape be
cause of our essentially human
nature. To place the guilt for our
own ignorance upon the Admin
istration, the Faculty, or State
Constitution would have only par
alytic results.
These cannot be the root of our
problem, because any study of
the past will show that men have ,
been able to continue religious
study even when threatened with
death for doing so. Surely our ad
ministration has not gone this far.
Rather, we must look inward and
accept the guilt as being our own.
This is the only creative response.
In my opinion, a Religious Em
phasis Week is not the answer by
itself. Our Religious Emphasis
Week was not discontinued be
cause of administrative pressure.
It was discontinued because it
was felt that the problem lay in
student ignorance of the relevance .
of religion.
If this analysis is correct then
it is no more possible for students
to learn anything of religion in a
week than it would be possible to
somehow absorb the principles of
physics in a week's time. This
is the reason a study-group pro
gram has been attempted. If in
terest in religion comes as a re
sult of knowledge of its signifi
cance, such learning must be a
continuous rather than an iso
lated process. Any Search Week
must have , something which
comes before and some
thing which follows or it be
comes a meaningless cloudburst
in an arid desert.
I do not pretend to know very
much more about religion than
Mr. Pepper. However, I am at
least aware of my own ignor
ance. And I am firmly convinced
that now, when students are de
termining what their future ,
course in life shall be, is the
most important time for coming
to grips with these questions. Let
us hope that our convictions will
be based on knowledge rather
than ignorance of the issues of
our existence.
MARVIN FRIEDMAN
Arguments Invalid
Dear Editor:
The following article is written
in opposition of Dale Reynolds'
views set forth in his bi-weekly
column (Aggie News, Views;
March 2). Reynolds stated that
allowing the 4-H Club two mem
bers on the Ag Exec Board would
defeat the purpose of the Ag
Exac Board member plan.
The Ag Exec Constitution states
in section II article I, "The pur-
pose of this organization shall b
to support the work of any func
tion or movement that will ad
vance the interests of the College
or Agriculure."
The 4-H Club's accomplishment ,
and promotion of activities on Ag
Campus is higher than that of
other organizations having equal
representation, and the total
membership and average attend
ance at meetings is high enough
to merit two members.
At the present time the Home
Ec Club is represented by two
members because more coeds are
needed to give women a moro
proportional representation on the
Board.
The 4-H Club is composed of ap
proximately an equal number of
men and women; therefore, it is
suggested that they be allowed
one man and one women on the
Board. Such -a representation
would help proportionalize the
number of male and female mem
bers. In summarizing we feel that
Reynolds' arguments are invalid
in respect that if two members
were obtained it would defeat
the Ag Board member plan. It .
is the opinion of the 4-H Club
that the addition of anott j- rv
resentative from the University
4-H Club would strengthen the
Board by supporting the work
of any function or movement that
will advance the interests of the
College of Agriculture.
DEL MERITT.
President, 4-H Club
"BUZZ" HARGLEROAt)
Past President, 4-H Clu'
