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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1955)
THE NEBRASKAN Wednesday, March 30, 1955 Nebraska.". Editorials' Activities On Trial Today in Student Council a proposal will be debated which is designed to revise the cam pus activity structure. The new plan would limit individual participation in activities to no more than one presidency or board posts in two activities. Last week when the plan was officially pre sented for approval, Council members ap peared equally divided, although about 10 mem bers voiced no opinion Opposition to the plan of limitation has grown sinrfe it was first sug gested, and today the fur should fly as the issue is finally settled. A group of senior men has drawn up a set of reasons why the plan would be defeated and they intend to present their argument to the Council. The Nebraskan, too, opposes the Council proposal ... the decision of participation in activities should be left to the individual. At first, limitation sounds like a good idea. Spread the honors around. Give more students a chance. Take the burden of all the respon sibility from the shoulders of the same few. But actually, these reasons just won't stand up. And here's why ... One of the fallacies of the plan stems from the fact that limiting activities will not neces sarily encourage more students to take part in activities. Interest is not developed through legislation, and restricting a few will hardly result in an eager rush to enter activities. A blanket proposal such as this fails to take into consideration the varying abilities of each student. Some students are capable of handling several activities at once; others are not. The ones who are not capable are weeded out be fore they, ever near a board post. In effect, limitation simply would discriminate against those students with above average ability. The 24 activity groups are also treated alike, although the amount of time and work re quired in each is vastly different. Some ac tivities operate only in the fall; some, only in the spring. Some demand lots of time; some can be completed with a minimum of effort. A system of appeals would be necessary to adjust the differences in organizations and individual capacities. , The new plan would set a 5 average limit for board posts and a 5.7 average for officers. However, most activities already have scholar ship standards for their leaders, and grades Overemphasis1. The recent furor in Student Council over lim iting activities brings up a curious situation of which most students in University activities are unaware. Were the Innocents and Mortar Boards and all the prospective candidates for those positions and all students involved in activities aware of the fact that the great majority of students on this campus care little or none at all about activities, perhaps their agitation would die down. Perhaps they would be wise to investigate the attitudes of many of their fellow students concerning the major disputes in activities on this campus. They would, we believe, find most of these students had ' no knowledge of what was going on in the activity world, and, what's more, didn't care. This is not the result of laxity on the parts of these students but rather a feeling that ac tivities are not vital parts of their University lives. Most students would probably say that activities, campus politics, and membership in a host of organizations is useless. Many col lege students have come here primarily to study, or to play around, or are working part time,, but relatively few of them are devoting themselves to "activities." As a campus newspaper, the Nebraskan has a responsibility to cover student activities and interpret campus events. It would be impossible for us to refrain from expressing support of criticism of anything occuring in campus ac tivities. Yet what Is done In activities is ballyhooed and debated loudly and vociferously because it is the nature of activity people to build up themselves anct their organizations, and also to emphasize the importance of their activities in order to justify themselves. It is curious, then, that activity leaders should make an at tempt to limit activities. Thinking themselves in a position to do a great service to the University, the advocates of this proposal are actually doing something which is of little or no importance to the majority of University students. And by creating such a hubub, it would seem that they are, indeed, building up and emphasizing activities rather than de emphasizing them. Whatever they are doing, the majority of people really don't care. R.H. are an important factor in making appoint ments. In effect, the Council proposal intimates that the most important activities on campus are not capable of setting up adequate stand ards of their own. The plan, obviously, is either an insult or a duplication of standards, or both. One of the stated purposes of the limita tion program is to give harried activity people more opportunity to study, because they haven't enough sense to budget their own time wisely. But it does not automatically follow that more free time means more studying. There is a good possibility, instead, that some of this time might be used for relaxation at the "D B and G" or the Crib or for bridge games and Friday afternoon clubs. Not only the 24 activities involved, but the whole campus would be 1 affected to a certain extent by limitation. Each of these activities serves the whole University; food leadership is imperative for good results. Organizations should be free to choose their own leaders, without outside regulation and restrictions. Stu dents with leadership qualities should be al lowed to serve in as many groups as their capabilities allow. Those groups which elect early in the year would be given a decided advantage over those who elect later. Activities for women are already regulated by the AWS point system. The proposal would override AWS. Does this mean the Council in tends to take over functions of other organ izations as well? Certainly this is not healthy. For the men, activity limitation is some thing new and something entirely unnecessary. It must be painfully obvious that there is a real male shortage in activities now. The Council, if it does not want to hurt many ac tivities, should seek a plan to encourage more men to enter, not discourage the few already participating. House pressure and personal ambition for Mortar Board or Innocents will not be relieved by activity limitation. Rather, the tendency to resort to politics and sly maneuvering would' be increased, for if one election race is lost the individual knows he has only one more chance. The limitation plan assumes that there is more duplication of activity officers than there really is. It is very rarely that one person is president of more than one activity at the same time if so, he must be an outstanding person or neither group would have selected him. And an outstanding person would need no limitation. The last objection to the plan, perhaps, is most important. The idea is galling to stu dents that they should be robbed of their individual right to make decisions. The number of activities participated in should be each person's choice to make, just as he chooses which courses to take and even which college to attend. Individual freedom is a blessing of democracy jealously guarded. Students are generally glad to accept University regulations because these rules affect their relationship with each other. But participation in activities is a per sonal matter; it affects no one but the student himself. If a student is not mature enough to keep a reasonable balance of his own be tween studies and extracurricular activities, he is not mature enough to be in college. The Council should proceed cautiously before invading a field of individual right. It is a student body selected to govern for the benefit of all the students. Regarding the new pro-, posal, then, the . Council should remember the following cneck points in considering whether the plan is good for the University. Is it necessary? No . . . women are already regulated by AWS, and there are not enough men in activities now anyway. How will it affect basic liberties? It imposes unnecessary restraint upon the individual's free dom of choice. Is it in the best interest of all? No . . . It will discriminate against organizations by re ducing their choice of officers and board mem bers. By hurting activities, it will hurt all students served by these groups. Does it place too much power in the hands of one group? Yes . . . The Council rules duplicate organization standards in the fields of scholarship and women's activities, There is no need for Council intervention. Does it recognize the importance of the in dividual? Definitely not. The plan fails to con sider the" difference in abilities of various stu dents and the difference in work required for various activities. With so many objections, The Nebraskan can not see how the Council can fail to reject the proposal to limit activities. When the Council adjourns today, there must be no limitation of campus activities. M.H. lie mtm mi mm Easter and Lent are accepted by most stu dents as signs of approaching spring vacation. But the lesson of Easter is not to be passed by so lightly and disregarded. In today's crowded world, there is a story and a moral for persons of all faiths, Christian, Jew, hu manist or atheist, in the meaning of Easter. The story is one of forgiveness and humility and the moral is concerned with peaceful am bition and gentle leadership. The call of today is for higher, not lower, moral standards and the need of the world is peace, not war and ultimate destruction. The story of Easter relates the forgiveness by Christ of his persecutors and, by contrast, his bumble appearance after his resurrection. He did not appear in the midst of trumpets and pure white banners, but walked the roadside end built small fires on the beach. Yet, this man and his religion has caused the path of history to point towards insignificant Jerusalem. The moral of Easter is found in Christ's desire to rule the world by love and under standing. Ghandi and St. Francis of AssLsi have had a more lasting effect on men and nations than Hitler and Atilla. The Russians are attempting a breakdown of all moral standards in. their satellite coun tries and are promoting a policy of promiscuity and free love. What the Communists do not fully realize Is that the family and religion have survived all idealogies and conflicts and that the in dividual without belief in either himself or God, is without significance and purpose. Morality and faith will triumph over vice and doubt. Men of faith whether it be faith in man or faith in God will ultimately realize their purpose. The ideals of man and Easter are ideals that cannot be destroyed by govern ment decree or attempts to destroy man's in herent dignity. Easter, its story and moral, will remain. Faithless governments of men will crumble. S.J. Tho Wabraskan rmr-sECOND year 3Setert 'Associated CoSegiata Press IftiercoSefciata Press Bemei.?aiti National Advertising Service, Incorporated j 5. - -Vnn i pabltstird by tiifl?nts of the Unl .fy r mHlta nmter the utiihunrftlton of the Com r "' en Sttidi-nt Affair ma an exnrwwlnn of student v : : . l"uiieHHnn4 an'ffr the JiirlMJiftlon of the Suh r..v Rn 8fud?nt ub!lpHo hll ho free from - :.-v-?M rrn-nruhin on the part of th Subcommittee, or on to part of any wr-,no nntaide the University. The mrnibera of tbe Kebrskau italt are personally responsible for what they say. or do. or cause to be printed. 8sbKTirtioa rates are Sl.'a semester, SZ.50 anOai or 3 for the colleae rear, ft nailed. Slngf eeey Sc. Pab lishcd three timet a week durina (fee school rear except vacations and examination periods. Oae tnrae to avhUsbed during Aagast by the University or Nebraska ander the supervision af the Committee oa Sradeni Pabitradoas. Watered as second class Blatter a) the Poet Office la Mncola. Nebraska, eader no at Canereas. March S !?. and at reeclal rate of eoetace arenead for as Aecttoa II OS, Act of t'oncreat as October a. aafbonxeo September la. I22. BUSINESS STAFF aamnmmmemea.eamaagjj "Somebody has ruined my painting! -The Self-Governed- Persecution Compfex Plagues Fraternities By LOUIS I have concluded that fraterni ties at this University are suffer ing from a persecution complex. If they are not, then their leaders have been working overtime in a demagogic effort to convince stud ents, faculty and public that fra ternities here are being persecuted unjustly. For example: After I had barked at the now defunct Faction in this space sev eral weeks ago, two representa tives of that legal nonentity con tacted me to discuss the opinions I had expressed (and, I suspected, to try to change them). I had maintained that the Faction was not morally entitled to extra-legal status because, for one thing, there was no evident threat of persecu tion or prosecution of the Faction if it should have become legal. In the course of our discussion, the two enthusiastic Greeks maintain ed the Faction had attempted on previous occasions to gain legal recognition from the University and that such recognition was unofficially at least denied. They were claiming, in essence, that the Faction was after all forced into extra-legal status. I learned, however, in a later discussion with a responsible Uni versity official, that neither the Faction nor any of its members ever had sought University recog nition. This official assured me he would have known if the Faction had ever made such an attempt. A touch of the complex was evi dent in Bill Devries' statement on the new IFC election committee, week. Ke speculated that "because the fraternity membership repre sents a minority of the total Uni vesity enrollment, potential lead ers who could contribute a great deal to the University might not be recognized without this assist ance from the committee)." Highly conceivable. Praticularly since a few fraternity members are prominent in activities and likely to be known to the student electorate. Also since a small per centage of the usually-voting elec torate is composed of fraternity members. SCHOEN The complex was screaming for recognition in Devries statement on the new IFC -publicity commit tee. Implying that a national sur vey finding that 80 per cent of all publicity about fraternities is bad applies locally, Devries said: "Newspapers were capitalizing on sensationalism; many of the good things done by fraternities such as community projects, par ties for underprivileged children and individual participation in Uni versity and civic affairs never reach publication." Yes, indeed. Apparently, then, the many inches of news which has been in type and pictures which have been engraved for both the local newspapers and The Nebras kan about fraternity and sorori ty help weeks; about fra ternity and sorority members who are active in student and civic affairs were scrapped between the copies of these papers which I received and those which all other subscribers received. I find it difficult to question the motives of these enthusiastic fra ternity leaders. Therefore I must insist that their statements repre sent merely a persecution com plex forced upon them, perhaps, by sensational surveys and maga zine stories, or by discussions with seriously misinformed individuals. I must insist that their motives are of the highest moral quality, that there is a complete absence of demagoguery. I keep telling my self. This week's applause: To Murt Pickett and her student Council committee on activity participa tion, for a well-considered, highly objective plan for returning stu dent attention to scholastic efforts and extending to a large number of students greater opportunity for activity participation and leader ship practice. If approved, the plan very well might be expected to increase student interest in activi ties. It very probably would put into activities a little greater than that of "making points" with the fraternity or sorority, with the Alumni Association with Innocents and Morar Board. Bastaess Manager aVsi't Basiaess Managers Cbcalattoa Matneer Caet Chisel Ben Belmont, Barbara Klcfce, George Madsen, Andr Hot Lea Miagef AT (TliLLER'S eaance . a Jl-AiaLn makes Acetate and Nylon in the image of ribbon-knit! Stunning for town or travel, for Spring and Summer. Wonderfully practical acetate-nylon weave, with two pretty glitter ornaments pin ned to the shoulder. Sizes 12 to 20 in Navy, Pinkt and Blue; in sizes 12 to 20 Navy only. 17 95 Daytime Dresses . . . Third Floor X Hoitence 'n Gertrude Get With It Kit Solves Life's Little Problems By MARY SHELLEDY and JANET GORDON "Are you frustrated, bewildered, dejected, breaking under the strain of life?" We read that Billy Graham ask ed that of a Scotch audience. Now, that's a good question. But we've got a better answer. If you fit the description above, what you need is an Hortence and Gertrude Get With It Kit. Send in a boxtop any old boxtop. When your free Get With it Kit arrives, don't open it immedi ately. It needs aging. When you do open the kit, you'll find one slightly haggard Scotch dorse our kit, we're sorry to say. No wave lotion in it. We would Include a candle ready for burning at both ends, but you cau chew both ends of the copy pencil if you prefer. One needs to chew something, and rugs are a holdover from the Corn Belt. . Also, since we have run out of Girl Scout Handbooks, we will in clude a Cynics Handbook. To get a Cynic merit badge, you must col lect points. Five points for leering at a pinning ceremony, three for hiccuping in class. You can be an Eagle Cynic if man. wearing singed plaids. The ; you claim to be 40 per cent girl. . . a . T 1 I I Afi 1. better kits contain grubby char acters form the Clyde docks, to quote the dispatch from Scotland. In the kit you will find a copy of the Yalta papers the "Yalta Times" and the "Yalta Press" and a well-chewed copy pencil, to use as a prop. Tucked in one corner of the Get With It Kit, we include a crusading evangelist just returned from Scot land. Held in his polished hand will be a graded theme from a Knoll English class. Also' Included will be a stuffed panther caught while stalking sin, a la Graham. For your dejection, there's a chrome finger-snapper, to be used while drawling comments on the administration. Scribbled on the carton is a maxim for Joseph Welch; "I had the blessing of being poor and un aware of it." College students, you see, are well off, and unaware of it, according to the "Time" survey. "Time" says that an average college student spends $3644 a year, mostly on consumer and luxury goods. That includes Scotch, we presume. The survey says the average coed owns ten skirts. But what good are 'they without the ten girdles, etc., to go with them? Even the University needs a firm founda tion. So we feature these items in our kit, too and an old "Time" clipping the obituary column. Count your blessings instead of sur veys. A handsome, wavy-haired evan gelist like Graham would not en- Explorer Cynics are 40 per cent angry. There is a Tenderfoot Class for freshmen who read the Rag, and still applaud the educational system. If you don't have a long sad story to pin your cynic badge on we include one with the Get With It Kit. Our long sad story can be condensed for the pocket ver sion, or expanded for lugubrious parties. If you can't find a boxtop to send in for your H and G Get With It Kit, wait for a Billy Graham tour to solve your iroblem of being and bored with evangelists of any frustrated, bewildered, dejected . species. lefferip Innocence Prevails Dear Editor: To contradict Mr. Pepper and perhaps console him, innocence yet prevails. For evidence of this, count the twenty-some gloriously innocent members of the Innocents' sister organization. And, for that matter, witness the innocence of the astonishingly countless num ber of University women for whom membership in this organization is the pot of Gold. MG Use Want Ads HI a r (Author of "Barefoot Boy With Ckssk," slo.) ITIiLLE R C PAiflE FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE The first thought that comes into our minds upon enterinsr college is, of course, marriage. But how many of us go about seeking mates, as I like to call them, in a truly scientific manner? Not many, you may be sure. Most of us simply marry the first person who comes along. This can lead to unpleasant conse quences, especially if the person we marry is already married. Let us today make a scientific survey of the three principle causes of marriage homogamy, personality need, "and propin quity. We will examine these one at a time. Homogamy means the attraction of like for like. In marriage it is rarely opposites which attract; the great majority of people choose mates who resemble themselves in taste, personality, outlook, and, perhaps most important of all, cultural level. Take, for example, the case of two students of a few years ago named Anselm Glottis and Florence Catapult. Anselm fell madly in love with Florence, but she rejected him because she was majoring in the Don Juanian Poets and he was in the lowly school of forestry. After graduation Anselm got a job as a forest ranger. Still determined to win Florence, he read every single Don Juanian Poet cover to cover while sitting in his lookout tower. His plan, alas, miscarried. Florence, sent on a world cruise as a graduation present, picked up the betel nut habit in the Indies. Today, a derelict, she keeps body and soul together by working as a sampan off Mozambique. And Anselm, engrossed in the Don Juanian Poets, failed to notice a forest fire which destroyed 29,000,000 acres of second growth blue spruce. Today, a derelict, he teaches Herrick and Lovelace at the Connecticut School of Mines. The second reason why people marry, personality need, means that you often choose a mate because he or she possesses certain qualities that complete and fulfill your own personality. Take, for instance, the case of Alanson Duck. As a freshman, Alanson made a fine scholastic record, played varsity lacrosse, and was very popular with his fellow students. Yet Alanson was not happy. There was something lacking in his life, something vague and indefinable that was needed to make his personality complete. Then one day Alanson discovered what it was. As he was walking out of his class in Flemish pottery, a fetching coed named Grace Ek offered him a handsome brown package and said, "Philip Morris?" "Yes!" he cried, for all at once he knew what he had been needing to round out his personality the gentle fulfillment of Philip Morris Cigarettes, the soul-repairing mildness of their Tintage tobaccos, the balm of their unparalleled taste, the ease and convenience of their bonny brown Snap-Open pack. Tes, I will take a Philip Morris!" cried Alanson. "And I will also take you to wife if you wilhave me!" "La!" she exclaimed, throwing her apron over, her face, but after a while she removed it and they were married. Today they live in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where Alanson is with an otter glazing firm and Grace is a bookie. Propinquity, the third cause of marriage, means closeness. Put j a boy and a girl in a confined space for a long period and they will almost surely get married. A perfect example is the case of Fafnir Sigaf 00s. While a freshman at Louisiana State, he was required to crawl through the Big Inch pipeline as part of his fraternity initiation. He entered the pipe at Baton Rouge. As he passed Lafayette, Ind., he was agreeably surprised to be joined by a comely girl named Mary Alice Isinglass, a Purdue freshman, who had to crawl through the Big Inch as part of her sorority initiation. When they emerged from the pipeline at Burlington, Vermont, they were engaged, and, after a good hot bath, they were married. Today they live in Klamath Falls, Ore., where Fafnir is in the weights and measures department und Mary Alice is in the roofing game. They have three children, all named Norman. CM ix Shulmsn. MM For your enjoyment the molten of Philip Morris have prepared m handsome, illustrated booklet called MAX SHVLMAN REVISITED, containing a selection of the best of these columns. Get your copy, absolutely free, with the purchase of a couple packs of Philip Morris 01 your favorite tobacco counter. Hurry! The supply is limited.
