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THE NEBRASKAN
Tuesday, December 6, 1 955
Nebraskan Editorials:
LITTLE Man on campus
by Dick Bibler
X
r i
:
Battle Of Atlanta
& Isn't often that a student newspaper can
eondone a riot.
rrew student riots have an excuse, much less
a justification. Last spring's demonstration at the
University chagrined and disturbed almost
tveryone. "
But Georgia Tech's uprising in Atlanta last
Friday is a different matter. Heatily as The
Nebraskan deplores riots, it admires the purpose
behind this one.
Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin had an
nounced that he would ask the Board of Regents
to bar state college teams from playing schools
having Negro players or participating where
spectators iare not segregated.
Tech has a contract to meet Pittsburgh in
the Sugar Bowl Jan. 2. Pitt's reserve back,
Bobby Grier, is a Negro and their block of seats
fa the New Oreleans bowl is not segregated.
Georgia Tech's students and administration re
acted immediately and violently. Two thousand
students paraded Into downtown Atlanta, then
to the state capitol and governor's mansion,
carrying signs and burning an effigy of Griffin.
In the all-night riot, doors to the capitol were
broken down, a guard was knocked down, patrol
cars and police cars were summoned from At
lanta and three adjoining counties.
That is quite a riot.
Griffin reportedly laughed, saying that it
"was just a bunch of college boys having a good
time and I never get excited about that."
Griffin had better get excited. This was -apparently
a kind of riot bearing no relation to
aimless, and destructive," panty raids."
Georgia Tech students were standing up not
only for their school's right to play in the Sugar
Bowl but for their views on segregation.
Segregation is a political issue in the South,
obviously, and Griffin appeared to be making
the most of it in playing up to his 'White-supremacy"
voters without going against the Supreme
Court decisions eliminating segregation in trains,
buses, state,, parks and state recreational fa
cilities. Instructing the Board of Regents to keep col
lege teams from playing opponents having Negro
players may or may not be strictly legal. But
it directly opposes the developing liberalism on
the subject and provoked violence from the stu
dents affected.
Involved in the governor's edict is not only the
slow death of Jim Crow, but the continual issue
of academic freedom. In this case Georgia Tech
was following an atheltic policy of racial toler
ance. Most Southern schools have been play
ing mixed Northern teams without incident. For
a state official to interfere in a legal and prac
tical college policy is not in the best interests of
his state or of higher education.
Supporting a state university is a risky busi
ness for some taxpayers. In Georgia, the stu
dents are exhibiting an attitude completely op
posed to the narrow-minded apathy that elects
and keeps in office white-supremacy officials. A
younger generation opposed to segregation should
end the practice more effectively than any Su
preme Court decision.
The ugly remnants of segregation are but one
issue educators and demagogues tangle over.
Tech students' resistance to being told what to
think is laudable.
Their riot was against the state government,
not their own sympathetic administration. A re
volt against the intolerable is not "college boys
having a good time." It is citizens resorting to
extremes.
No one urges violence as a remedy against
even so crass an action as Griffin's but one
wishes the extreme of riot had not been pro
voked. The Nebraskan is proud of the motivation, if
not the result, of the Second Battle of Atlanta.
M. S.
xfHi? rr"' ff r
"NOW, LESSEE WHOSE TURN TO OnVE THE NEXT SPEECH?
LA a lJ
n
Ll Or,
ROTC Utilizes
'Pressure Tactics'
Toward A Better University
The following editorial is the second in a series of seven in The Nebraskan's special series
dealing with questions voiced in a Nebraskan editorial published Nov. 16.
The purpose of this series is to raise thought among all parts of our campus community.
They aim to help students and faculty-administration understand the similarity of their prob
lems and the very real similarity of their interests the betterment of the University.
This editorial discusses the role of the University as a tax-supported institution, the pres
sures exerted by it and upon it and the specific difficulties arising from all of this.
A Dual Responsibility
As a tax-supported state institution dependent
' upon the legislature for funds, the University is
responsible to the will of the people of Nebraska.
, Nebraska statutes provide that the government
"of educational institutions receiving tax support
shall be left to the faculties of the instiutions.
The Board of Regents is the only policy-making
body governing a state institution that is elective.
In this way the state statutes provide wide lati
tude of freedom and self-government for the
"University.
No matter how free an institution may be,
however, there are always problems. The ad
ministration of the Univeristy is no exception.
Indeed it would be strange if this were not
;so, because the Administration, acting as an
agent of the Board of Regents must try to equate
.Regent's policy with outstate public poinion and
expressed student wishes.
Theoretically the administration is to act
only at the direction of the Board of Regents
and then in a purely administrative capacity.
It is obvious, however, (hat even the most con
scientious Regent cannot keep as closely in
touch with the University problems as officers
of the administration.
Thus much of the brunt of the responsibility
falls to the Administration and to the Chancellor
in particular. To both the people of the state and
to the students, the Chancellor represents the
University.
It becomes, therefore the duty of the Cchan
eellor to weigh and este the pressures brought
upon him from several sides. There have been
occasions in the past where students have felt
that the Administration was yielding to outstate
pressures. Administration sources say, however,
that protest from outstate is at a minimum.
If active outstate pressure is not the determ
inent of policy, what is, students may ask.
Even fa the absence of active public opinion,
the administration must remain cognizant of
its dual responsibility to the citizens who sup
port it, and to the students which are the reason
for its existence.
It is obvious that the two are inseperable.
Without the tax-payers this University could not
continue; without the students it would have no
reason to.
The Chancellor is well-a-yare of his double
responsibility. His tours around the state, on
the one tide, and his Cornhusker Roundtable
with student representatives, on the other, are
samples of how the Chancellor seeks to meet
this responsibility. There are other examples. .
Certainly, however, this is not all that could
be done. The students need to be made more
aware of reasons for actions-not necessarily
through formal statements of policy on a specific
iasue, but through a general outlining of plans
and programs for the future. A State of the
University address is one suggestion which the
Chancellor is considering to deal with this prob
lem. It needs to be understood that while admin
istrative policy may not always agree with stu
dents wishes, it is formulated with regard for
the best interests of the students.
The people of Nebraska would not support this
University, the Chancellor would have no rea
son to serve, and the Board of Regents no pur
pose if it were not the educational and social
welfare of the students.
That is why seeming pressures from outstate
must -more often be regarded as a healthy in
terest in the administration of the University.
Thaf is why, when it seems that the Chancellor
and the Administration are yielding to outside
pressures, it would be wise to consider that most
of the pressures brought to bear on the Univer
sity, while occasionally mis-guided, are almost
without acception, well-intentioned.
It is certainly fair to say that students should
have some say in so vital a concern to them as
the University. They do.
Not only does the Chancellor provide several
opportunities for students to express their opin
ions directly out there are such student avenues
of opinion as the Student Council and The Ne
braskan. Needless to say, the students who make the
most complaints about administrative policy are
those who make the least effort to express their
own opinions.
In the future, the administration might work
at methods of more effectively solicitating stu
dent opinion and taking cognizance of it in light
of all the other valid factors. The students, for
their part, must more effectively express opin
ion by working through the Administration rather
than by simply criticizing every move made by
the Administration without proper regard for
the many factors involved. L. S.
Correction Coming
The Faculty Senate will vote next Tuesday,
December 13, on what to do about classes after
the Christmas vacation.
The present calendar calls for classes to be
held on Monday, Jan. 2. Monday will be a legal
holiday, since Jan. 1, New Year's Day, will fall
on a Sunday. Thus, the University should not
start classes until Tuesday, Jan. 3, 1956.
The only reason classes are presently slated
to start on Jan. 2 instead of Jan. 3 is because
the Faculty Calendar Committee overlooked the
presence of a legal holiday Jan. 2 when they
drew up the calendar last year.
The Calendar Committee and the faculty as a
whole are aware of this error. It was an under
standable mistake, and one that will be easily
corrected.
The Nebraskan and the student body are
confident that the Faculty Senate will act wisely
next week and vote to start classes Tuesday,
Jan. 3, instead of Monday, as the calendar now
reads.
It is simply a matter of procedure. Besides,
who wants to be in class while the bowl games
are on. F. T. D.
The Nebraskan
' FIFTY-FIVE TEARS OLD Knra ee emt rlaeo matter it tha pott flfflea la
. . . . Lincoln, Nebraska, tinder the act ef Annul 4. 1911.
Hsffiberj Associated Collegiate Press . EDITORIAL STAFF
Intereoiletiate press raiu dm Feiinwn
EdmMsfaitot National Advertising Service, an, .Ituf. f. .m
Incorporated r.mtn trm )aiy
Published at: Boom 20, Student Union T :W fc b.' rnX
14th Jb R , Mnr Sbelledi, Lertraee Swltrer
university of Nebraska ft. :::::::::::-:::fr'T!r,
Lincoln. Nebraska T"" v V1"".. nn. a news nrtk. nam Am.
ander, Carolyn Butlrr, Goardo Mayer. Wn Plttnrk.
ft KlrMbM 1 pMlhl Tntwdajr, Wedmaday and Bill Olnen, Bob Irland, Bill flit; Jark' Carlln, Julie
f f.nnrt t Hnn rear, except during vacation Unwell, Mary Peterunn, Marianne Thyveann, Mary
(Hid tirrtnde. and osi ) la pnhhuhed during Hartrrmn, Hyivfa King, Oermalne Wright, Mary ;.
Anctm. by (indents the UnWerMty of Nrhraeba under rLph Jfanry Long. Aylee Krltchman, Pat Tarrne,
t; utbnrtxatioa of the Committee on Mtident affair J "J" 'I'lrisdy. "'orglnna Hfober, Ana Hale, Oynfhla
w en itrrutaa of etudent optl Ion. mbMeatlmi nnder 'J hr,,""'T ' 1. J"' "", r-
tm JurtM.rttoaj of the r.nbcommtt on Student Public Jttw hJmIZ ..,.. w
ttmm bo freo from edltortsl censorehlp en the Mltorlal Secretary. Maarln Newboue
of ); Bubromm)tee, or on the part ol any member BUSINESS STAFF
.f the family of the I.nlTerlty, or on the part of any Hntnei Manager nenrge Madaen
j...n otit-irf the lnlvertty. The member of the tu'l Budnen Manager ...Bill Bedwell, Barbara fclrke.
Sv'nmA&ri efaff are pentonwlly renfonlhle for what they Connie Htirat, Mick Neff
jrf. or ).) w csbM to b printed. February o. 1X56. Circulation Managw Dm Beck
Understand the Military Fall
v.&s considered somewhat if a
success. It should have bee 1 suc
cessful, considering the ROTC's
pressure tactics used to insure
good attendance.
The ROTC departments have
always been remote in aims and
teaching methods from the rest of
the academic world. But, last week,
the Army used coercive techniques
that are completely incongruous
My Bootless Cries
with ideal student-faculty relations
and that just "don't go" with a lot
of students here.
The Military Ball, a responsibili
ty of the ROTC departments, has
always been reputed to be a little
too formal and too expensive for
the. general run of college students.
Failure to sign up big-name bands
has hurt it in recent years. Yet
it has a semi-hallowed place on
campus, and can never be said
to be a colorless affair.
Eehind the Military Ball, how
ever, have been some disturbing
pressures. ROTC students are
asked to underwrite the thing, and
often the requests to underwrite
have been in the form of ultimat
ums. Even then, the instructors in
the department were either be
coming indifferent to the whole
thing, or were moderately subtle
in their partisanship.
Last week, it appears that the
Army ROTC wasn't even subtle.
I am told from several directions
that junior advanced cadets, at
least, were called aside at Lab,
vhf-n it appeared that the Military
Ball ticket sales were not going
over too well.
They were, I understand, told
that failure to attend the Ball was
a personal insult to the Colonel, and
a slap in the face to the whole
department. They were warned
that "you just don't do that sort
of thing in the Army."
So, advanced cadets had to write
their names on their tickets as they
handed them in, and the ROTC in
structors said that the names of
those present would be carefully
noted. As for those not present . . .
well, they couldn't be given demer
its, but you could be sure that this
affront would be considered when
promotions were handed out.
This sort of thing is little more
than a veiled threat. It is another
case of letting extra-curricular ac
tivities directly affect a scholastic
grade. It is the type of petty PniS'
sianism that nauseates notoriously
rebellious and independent college
students. These SS tactics don't fit
in at a University which, as yet,
anyway, is not an army camp.
In short, the Army, such a stick
ler on decorum, should remember
that "you just don't do that sort
oi thing" in a University.
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headlines Jockey brand underwear news
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Davy Crockett
For Christmas
As I stood on the busy corner
of 13th and 0 the other day, a sud
den wave of nostalgia overcame
me. The beautiful street and shop
decorations reminded me of our
great Christmas heritage. I re
membered our stories of Christ's
Mass
"In the days of Aaderson, the
Governor of Nebraska:
"And it came to pass in those
days, that there went out a decree
from Mayor Jeary, that all the
town should be decorated.
"And all went to shop, every one
into his own store.
"And Joseph also went up, to
shop with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child. And so it
was that, while they were there,
the days were accomplished that
she should be delivered.
"And she brought forth her first
born son, and wrapped him in
diapers, and laid him in a parking
lot; because there was no room for
them at the Cornhusker.
"And there were in the same
town policemen abiding on their
corners, keeping watch over the
traffic by night. And lo, the angel
of Walt Disney came upon them,
and the glory of Walt Disney
shone round about them, and they
were sore afraid.
"And the angel said unto them;
Fear not, for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto you
is born this day in the City of Dis
ney a Saviour, which is the son of
Lady and the Tramp. And this
shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall
find the babe wrapped in diapers,
lying under a neon sign.
"And, suddenly, there was with
the angel a multitude of the mer-
mdd only by '
Quick
Quips
Men seldom make passes in
eight o'clock classes.
A policeman stopped by a pool
in the park. In front of the pool
was a huge sign which read:
"Swimming positively forbid
den." In the pool a man was
splashing about.
The officer walked to the edge
of the water. "I'm going to arrest
you," he said, "as soon as you
come out of there."
"Ha-ha-ha!" the man chortled,
"I'm not coming out, I'm commit
ting suicide."
cenary host praising Walt Disney
and saying,
"Glory to Walt Disney in Holly,
wood, and in Lincoln commerce,
good sales for businessmen.
"And when they had seen it,
they made known abroad the say
ing which was told them concern
ing these apparitions. And all
Given' 'em Ell
thoy that heard it wondered at
those things which were told them
by the policemen.
"And when there were only eight
shopping days left, the child's
name was called Davy Crockett,
which was sonamed of the Cham
ber of Commerce when he was
conceived in their brains.
"And when Davy was born in
Lincoln of Nebraska in the days
of Anderson the Governor, be
hold, there came farmers from the
west to Omaha, Saying, Where is
he that is born King of the Wild
Frontier? For we have seen his
neon signs, and we are come to
purchase him." ,
Merry Christmas.
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WiSik
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In December Reader's
Digest don't miss:
CONDENSATION FROM THE $4.50 BOOK, "THE
MIRACLE OF LOURDES." The cures at this
Catholic shrinecures of the hopelessly sick and
crippled have stirred controversy for years. Now
a Proteatiint. (who lived in this French, town, ques
tioned doctors, nurses and patients) verifies facts
about Lourdea and its miracles.
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MYSTERY OF EASTER ISLAND. On a remote Pacific
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30 tons. Who carved them? How did they get there?
Story of one of the world's most baffling mysteries.
REDISCOVERING AMERICA. Areal supermarket, Negro
major-league ball players, luxury motela "do-it-yourself
servantleaa homes Paul Gallico tells the
amazingrevolution that greets an American return
ing to his country after 15 years abroad.
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