The Doily Nebroskon
Wednesday, December 11, 1957
B :. . i. i .a v " A m i
anBaaasBBnanBsaaal &. .wiTi
Editorial Comment
Toward Solving Financial Woes
Plaguing Higher Education Now
Whether the gravest problem of higher edu
cation today, the strain on the pocketbook is
considered by as all one of the big boys.
Just how that problem will be solved is a
point of huge speculation. And public institutes
of advanced learning are the hardest pressed
to find the solution.
Private colleges and universities have relied
on grants, tuition and some indirect govern
mental help in the past. They will probably
have to relp on the same sources in the future
and find some loophole In the proposed allot
ment by the federal government of $287 million
, a year in order to obtain a portion of that
money.
But the public schools really have to face the
problem squarely and soon.
One of the easiest ways out for the higher
educational institutions is to charge a greater
tuition, thereby eliminating many of the stu
dents who would crowd the doors and also
securing greater income. But this solution is
totally impractical in Ais day and age when
the race to keep up with the Soviet Union is
so mammoth.
These schools will, of course, get their share
of the federal money if the proposal reported
from Washington Tuesday gets Congressional
approval.
That will mean that about twelve million
dollars will go toward expanding the program
of university graduate study already supported
by some government agencies such as the
Atomic Energy Commission and the National
Science Foundation. The government would
grant more fellowships to students and help
the schools themselves with grants for equip
ment and salary raises.
Under the proposed plan five million dollars
would support foreign language instruction
centers at universities and provide language
fellowships.
Other answers to the financial burdens of the
colleges lie in such programs as:
Split years for teachers so that during, for
example six months, a professor could teach
and during the remainder of the year he could
be employed by private industry or independent
research. Thus financial setbacks now suffered
by teachers would be partially erased and
industry would be able to take advantage of
the brainpower it needs.
This step is important, too, in view of the
staggering statistics presented in the annual
report of the National Education Association
that over 25 per cent of the Ph.D.s last year
left the teaching profession for better jobs in
industry.
(2) Special assessments on some luxuries
which would be allocated entirely to educational
institutions. Such taxes would not be too great
a burden since they would be levied entirely
on luxuries.
3) More frugal construction by universities
and colleges of new facilities. It has been
deomnstrated, for example, that a large num
ber of small buildings can be maintained more
economically than large hollow halls of learn
ing. Of course, Indiana limestone will always
be more beautiful and expensive than good
old fashioned brick.
4) More economical use of classroom space.
It has been demonstrated on one campus that
90 per cent of the classrooms are not used
at a particular hour of the day 8 a.m.)
These are just examples of how money can
be saved in running some colleges and uni
versities. Whether they will be used is another
question. But let it be remembered that the
financial problems of education are not unsur
moun table.
The Suffering Prof
This editorial, reprinted from the Wall
Street Journal, is another in a aeries of the
thoughts of our times published fnr the con
sideration of the students of the University.
Ever since the Sputniks were hurled into
erbit, the U.S. has been searching for answers
why the Russians were first, and much of the
discussion has centered on the shortcomings
in the U.S. system of education. That debate
certainly is justified. But amid the serious issues
and facts being brought forward are some which
at least confuse the picture.
For example it has often been asserted that
the Russian professor is better off than the
professor in the U.S. McGraw-Hill, for one, has
come up with statistics that the average full
professor in this country earns $7,100 a year
or about one and one half times the factory
worker's pay. In contrast, it says, the Russian
gets $7,200, or about eight times what the Red
worker gets.
The comparison is a highly relative one. Cer
tainly the American professor at $7,100 is better
off in what he can do with his money than
the Russian professor at $7,200. Statistical yard
sticks aside, there are other things to consider,
ones that are especially dear to the American
academician. For instance, personal freedom to
pursue what he wishes. Few would seriously
suggest that the Russian is better off there.
The thing that emerges from the discussion
of the treatment of professors in this country
as compared with Russia is the fact that
Russia operates on very much more of a caste
system than the United States. There the pro
fessor is exalted over the proletarian who is
supposed to be in his paradise.
In the U.S. on the other hand, the tendency
is to reduce class and caste distinctions. The
statistics which show the Russian professor
eight times better off than the U.S. professor
though they earn about the same pay really
show that the U.S. factory worker is about
eight times better off than the Russian worker.
Professors in the U.S. like everyone else
think they ought to have higher pay. Like every
one else, they are entitled to seek it. Our guess
would be they are getting in a pretty good
position not only to seek k but to prove they
deserve it. Deserving it, they will get it.
That is the way it should be. The way it
should not be is via any emulation of the
Russian caste system.
Clarification (?)
When a student comes to the University he
is told that there is no definite system of cuts
for classes. All work and excuses are handled
through the individual instructors, the plebe is
told.
However, the Daily Nebraskan at the begin
ning of the last semester announced that it
would be a good idea for the administration to
set up some consistent system of cuts or no
cuts which would be in operation on an all
University basis.
As usual, a deaf ear was turned to us.
But now complaints are rolling in that the
administration's failure to legislate in this
regard has caused misunderstanding and ill
will between students and faculty.
It is our suggestion that some form be estab
lished as soon as possible so that all the
mystery enshrouding the cut system be tossed
aside.
Legislation is, unfortunately, frowned upon by
many students and faculty members. It is often
looked on as a chain around free thought. But
when a lack of legislation hampers decisive
action, then it's time for such legislation.
Now is that time.
from the editor
First Things First.
Good frief!
Here it is almost Christmas and no bridge
burners or world-builders have yet waged a
campaign swearing fidelity to the intellectual
simplicity represented in "Peanuts."
While Cornhuskers go on their normal way
studying, attending classes, participating in
activities and supporting athletic events, other
colleges across the nation are forging ahead
la forming fan clubs for the downtrodden, mis
understood hero created by Charles M. Schulz.
While other campuses are waging a nation-wide
race backing the quiet-spoken Oiarlie, students
at NU are completely without moral support of
fan club membership.
This is not to say that I advocate so bold
a movement on the part of NU students or
faculty member s without first proceeding
through the required fan club channels. But
tuch noted institutions as West Point, Bucknell.
Cornell, Antioch and American University in
Washington are in the lead in membership
by Jack Pollock
rolls. The race has even reached fever pitch
outside the U.S. borderlines, with clubs already
established in Japan, Cuba, China, England and
Canada.
What do Charlie Brown clubs advocate? Well,
take the athletic side of this complex world.
Charlie's fans are boosters of leaf watching,
ice sliding, bubble blowing, mud-pie making,
snowflake swallowing, balloon squeaking, piano
playing and walking so your feet never touch
ground. And they also to establish bad baseball
teams.
At Syracuse University. I note the fans sent
a letter to creator Schulz stating they all agreed
to "hate Lucy's fussbudgeting" and would re
main loyal to their hero in all of Lucy's "many
unkind moments." The statement, evidently
without any type of committee clearance,
blandly stated that, both characters, blanket
starved uniformed little Linus and the personality-packed
rirg Snoopy, were to be admired
for the "independent spirit and individuality in
this troubled world."
Daily Nebraskan
FIFTY-SIX TEARS OLD
Member: Associated Collegiate Press
Intercollegiate Press
.teprcaventstive: National Advertising Service,
Incorporated
Fnbllsbed at: Room 20, Student Union
Lincoln, Nebraska
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CDITUKJ4X BTAFt
Mltar .Jack rotlook
r.dltc-hil Editor Dirk snazrue
ManaciiiK Editor Baa ttartmloaki
Newt Editor... Kara Jimes
Anuria Editor bub Hat-trl
Mrht News Editor ftary Rodfrrt
Copy Editors Bob Ireland chief .
Carole Frank. Gearr Mnrrt. frarr ftodrrm. Rrnle Hlnea
"rrt Writers ... Del tUaminsea. Ron f-habeea
ataff Writers Bobble BatterfleM, Pal
Plannlgan, Emma Umpa, Herb Pro bases. Vyttn Smlta
barrer, afaraarat Mertmaa.
Reporters .... Jo Aeee, Jan Anderson. Cerl Hatha
way, Karen Karrer, Roberta Knanp, Mamie hoop. iar
ry Laophefmer. Julienne Mehnnr. fnafme Relrhataat,
"oeleal Tbotnpsoa, Nad Teaman, Oon Wlllar, Le
Taylor.
Bl SINKS ST A Ft
Buslnesa Manager Jerry eiimtbi
Aeelatant Buetnest M sua f era. . .Tom tint. Stan Kalmna
Rob timtdt
Clrrnlatloa Mauaaii , , , mm Manrat
A Nebraskan Series
AECs Admiral Rickover Blasts U.S. Education
In Address Given at New Naval Atomic School
This is the first In a series of
three articles featuring excerpts
from the speech delivered! by
Admiral H. G. Rockover at the
dedication of the Naval Nuclear
Power Training School in New
London, Conn. Adm. Riekouel
is chief of the Naval Reactors
Branch of the Division of Re
actor Development under the
l".S. Atomic Energy Commission.
'The past weeks have been a
period of rude awakening for us.
Our eyes and ears have been as
saulted by the most distressing
sort of news about Russia's giant
trides in technology, based on the
extraordinary success she has had
in transforming her educational
system all but in ruins twenty
years ago into the most efficient
machine for producing highly com
petent scientists and engineers
many more than we can hope to
train through our own educational
system which we have so long re
garded with pride and affection.
"We are slowly thinking our
way through a thicket of bitter dis
appointment and humiliating truth
to the realization that a 13th cen
ury educational philosophy is as
hopelessly outdated today as the
horse and buggy. Nothing short of
a complete reorganization of Amer
ican education, preceded by a re
volutionary reversal of educational
aims, can equip us for winning
the educational race with the Rus
sians. "Ours is a democracy. We can
not move forward faster than the
majority of the people will permit
us to go. Today the people are
aroused because they sense that
something is fundamentally wrong
with American education when a
country three-fourths illiterate a
generation ago can in 20 years
catch up with us in so important
a field of knowledge as science
and engineering. The mass of well
reasoned criticism which is cur
rently filling the air and the news
columns is, however, so large as
to be almost indigestible.
Things Getting Better
"1 think we have come to the
pass we are in today because our
mass media wrap us in a cocoon of
soothing 'Coue-ism' along the lines
of 'everyday, in every way, things
are going to be better and better'.
Few of us read serious books. We
are therefore singularly defense
less against the continuous flood
of optimistic predictions of a fu
ture with delightful superabun
dance; just around the corner
which American Science will pro
vide. We are equally defenseless
against the cliches of our folklore
which assure us that America is
and always will be the most tech
nically advanced nation. Or that
ours is the most marvelous sys
tem of education in the world since
more teen-agers are in school in
the United States than anywhere
else.
"This silky cocoon has kept us
in isolation from the educational
practices of even our closest allies
in Europe. A few hours check of
their curricula, teaching standards,
and of the end results of their
educational system would disabuse
us speedily of our illusions.
"It seems to me that the first
step in tackling the American ed
ucational problem is to collect all
the pertinent data concerning edu
cation in other Western nations
and to present it to our people
clearly and with dispatch. I am
thinking of the sort of thing done
by the Department of Health, Ed
ucation and Welfare when it pub
lished its recent useful 'Report on
Education in the USSR.' We need
all the information and we need
it now. At little cost much help
for planning educational reforms
could be made available.
"Some may say that one cannot
make valid comparisons between
the educational systems of differ
ent countries since to paraphrase
a famous saying of Lord Haldane
it is in its education that the
soul of a people mirrors itself.
Even so there are other ways to
measure education besides the
soul.
Nobel prizes
"Through 1955 the Nobel Prize
Committee in awarding prizes for
original work in physics and chem
istry granted, in proportion to pop
ulation, three times as many to
England; one and one-half times
as many to France. Most astonish
ing perhaps, Holland with a popu
lation one-sixteenth of ours re
ceived four to our 22 prizes; Switz
erland with one fiftieth received
five prizes; Austria with one-twenty-fifth
got three. Or take the field
of nuclear fission alone. Twelve
basic discoveries in physics, chem
istry and mathematics brought
atomic power into being. Of these,
three each were made by German,
English and French; one each by
Danish and Italian scientists; and
only one by an American. Yet
the population of France, Ger
many, England, Denmark and
Italy combined is only one-third
greater than that of the United
States; their total national wealth
is far less than ours. But in this
particular field of trained brain
power they were 11 times as rich
as we.
"Or again, take the successful
development of the atomic bomb.
We provided excellent direction,
extensive facilities, unlimited
funds; but the major contribution
Most College Students
Want Advanced Degrees
Initial tabulation of question
naires in Associated Collegiate
Press' National Poll of Student
Opinion shows that over half of
the persons interviewed in a cross
section survey of college men and
women plan to work for graduate
decrees, if nothing unforeseen pre
vents them.
Associated Collegiate Press gath
ered this information in answer to
the following question:
"There seems to be a growing
trend among students toward going
on to earn graduate degrees after
receiving a bachelor's degree. Bar
ring any unforeseen circumstances,
do you plan to continue on to
graduate school after you finish
college? Why?
Almost equal proportions of men
and women indicated they intend ?d
to do so, but a number of the
mn were still undecided. Cell"??
wemen interviewed, or the other
hand, seem to have made up their
minds one way or another already.
None of them answered that she
was undecided. Complete results
of replies to the question are as
follows:
Among those who do not intend
to continue on with graduate school,
the outstanding reason given fT
their decision seems to be lack of
enough money. A Bradley Univer
sity (Peoria, 111.) student described
his problem simply as a "mone
tary factor." A senior at the same
university said essentially the
same thing: "It would take too
much money."
Marriage also was given as a
reason for not intending to con
tinue studying, and it wa. not
only coeds who d?cided they would
not go on for that reason. But
amcng college men, the money
factor entsred into the marriage
picture again. Many of those in
terviewed felt they could not af
ford to be married and do graduate
work too.
A better preparation for their
chosen field was the reason most
often advanced by those w-ho in
tend to enter graduate school, and
the fact that an advanced degree
would offer greater chance of ad
vancement was also frequently
named as a reason. A sophomore
coed at the University of Vermont
'Burlingl.cn, Vt.) answered yes to
the question, and to the query
"why," replied: "To brcaden my
knowledge of my major and be
qualified for a better position." A
Wayne State University (Detroit,
Mich. I s:phcmcre gave a.c hir rea
son icr intending to continue that
"V:u can become more special
ised in your field."
Others were more general in ex
plaining why they wished to do
graduate work. "It is my personal
f;eling that four years of college
i no longer the end. but the be
ginning of a complete education,"
was the feeling of a Colorado State
College 'Greeley, Colo.) senior
coed and. from a purely practical
standpoint, a freshman at the
same university concluded he
wished to have a graduate degree
because "it would be easier to get
a job, and get a higher salary."
Those men who were undecided
generally felt they would not con
tinue on immediately but might
some time in the future. A senior
at the Missouri School of Mines
(Rolla, Mo.; said he was undecid
ed, but commented: "If I do, I
will wait several years," and an
Indiana Technical College 'Fort
Wayne, Ind.) sophomore summed
up his position by saying, "No,
for the immediate future; yes, pos
sibly, at a later time."
in brain power came from such
men as Italy's Fermi and Segre,
Denmark's Bohr, Hungary's Teller,'1
Von Neumann, Wigner and Szil
ard, Germany's Hahn, Strassmann,
Bethe and Einstein, England's
Chadwick and Cockcroftto men
tion but a few of the top men. In
fact, 'A was of no small concern to
the Joint Congressional Commit
tee on Atomic Energy that, as the
late Representative Hinshaw put
it, the very topmost of our scien
tists is 60-70 per cent foreign born
and educated. Even some of our
own foremost scientific contribu
tions received their university
training abroad.
"Of course, no educational sys
tem can guarantee that it will bring
forth genius at any given rate;
all it can do is to make it easy
for genius to be discovered early,
nurtured and encouraged, and al
lowed to flower according to its
own inner motivations. Can we
truly say that our education does
this"? I think not. Nor does it
even seek out, nurture and de
velop mere talent as contrasted
with genius. It fails to develop in
our most intelligent youngsters the
desire to make the best use of
their good minds. Hence we see
200,000 of the top quarter high
school graduates lost each year
to higher education while the na
tion suffers the most acute short
age of trained professionals in all
fields, and a disastrous shortage
of vitally needed scientists and
engineers.
"It is estimated that irvdostry and
the defense establishment urgently
need at least twice as many sci
entists and engineers as we are
currently graduating. Even mora
disastrous in the long run is the
severe shortage of properly quali
fied teachers of science and math
ematics in high schools and in
colleges. It will take many years
merely to bring the present corps
of 60.000 junior and senior high
school science teachers to the level
of competence required to give
our youngRte-rs sufficient educa
tion so that they can enter en
gineering colleges properly pre
pared. As it is, only one third of
our high school graduates are
really qualified; the remainder
mus' take remedial work which
puts a heavy burden on the col
leges' scant number of teachers.
'o wonder most engineering
schools lose 50 per cent of those
who enter.
In 19S5 we actually gained only
"In 1955 we actually gained only
out to one for every 225 of tha
country's high schools."
Continued Tomorrow
Oil Campus
with
(BythtA ulhor of "Ralli Round the Flat, Boy.' "and,
"Barefoot Boy vilk Ckttk.")
DECK THE HALLS
The. days grow short, the night prow long, the north wind
doth blow, and a light frost appears on the knees of coeds.
Christmas is icumen in, and once more our keen young
minds turn to the vexing problem of Christmas gifts.
Let us examine first the most vexing of all gift problems:
What do you buy for the person who has every thing? Well
wr, when you encounter this dilemma, the best thing to
do is seize it by the horns. Ask yourself this question: Does
he truly have everything? Does he, for example, have a
birthmark? A Maeh number? A lacrosse net? An I-beam?
An S-hook? A U-bolt? A T-square? A Primus stove?
(There is, incidentally, quite an interesting little gtory
about how Primus came to invent t he stove. Bef ore Primus's
invention, cooking was rather a hazardous occupation.
People just built fires any old place the floor, the closet,
the escritoire and often as not the whole house would go
up in flames along with the dinner. Primus, a gomti
plucker of Frankfurt-am-Main, kept thinking there must
be a more efficient way to cook. Finally, in a flash of in
wpiration, it came to him : Why not build a device to contain
the fire 8nd keep it from spreading?
M m&kwiifk'lJw it outaf ftper...
(Well sir, he built precisely such a device and named it
after his beloved wife Stove. Primus first Stove, it must
lie confessed, was less than a triumph; his mistake was in
building it out of paper. The next Stove, built of wood,
fared hardly better. Not until he made one out of metal
could the Stove really be called a tsuceess.
fBut even then the Stove was not entirely satisfactory.
The trouble wax that the Stove filled up with ashes and
became useless after a few weeks. It remained for Prirous'a
son Frederick to conquer that problem. He invented a
mechanism 1o remove ashes from the bottom of the Stove
and was thenceforth known to posterity as Frederick the
Grate.)
But I digress. We were discussing Christmas gifts. This
year, as every year, a popular gift is. the smoking jacket.
And what do the smoking jacket smoke? Why, Marlboro,
of course every man jacket of them. And why wouldn't
they smoke Marlboros? Why wouldn't anybody with a
taste bud in his head? You get such a lot to like in a Marl
boro filter . . . flavor . . , flip-top box.
Here is no filter to hollow the cheeks and bug the eye
balls; here is a filter that draws nice and easy. Here is no
flavor to pale and pall; here in a flavor ever fresh, ever
festful. Here is no flimsy pack to crumble and hred its
precious cargo; here Is a sturdy box that keeps each ciga
rette plump and pristine.
Speaking of smoking, the year's most unusual gift item
is a brand-new cigarette lighter that never needs refilling.
You are scoffing. You are Paying you have heard such claims
before. But it's true, I promise you. This new lighter
never, never needs refilling! The fuel supply lasts forever.
Of course, there are certain disadvantages. For one
thing, the lighter is rather bulky 170 feet long and threa
gtories high.
But look on the bright side: As the fuel runs out, you
can rent rooms in it. c M
(ktod to give, pood to recei're. at Chrintmaii or any other tim
in a carton of filter-tip Marlburox, v lutte tnnher tab- pleasure
in bringing you thit column throughout the mchoot year.
9
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