i
Poas I
The Daily Nebroskan
Friday. April 17, 1959
Editorial Comment:
Democratic Council?
Not By a Long Shot
This Is one editorial we really hate to
write.
We dislike it for two reasons:
1. ) Because we hat to admit that such
warped thinking as is revealed herein can
penetrate so deeply into student govern
ment. 2. ) Our relations with Student Council
this year have been very cordial until
now the Council seemed to show a great
deal of good sense in the matters it has
had to consider.
But three recent events have caused us
to drastically alter our opinion ef the Coun
cil. The first of these was the way the Coun
cil nominating committee went about se
lecting candidates for the Student Tri
bunal. The committee adopted the attitude, ac
cording to one committee member,' that
any person advocating any change in the
Tribunal charter or in the procedure of the
student court(was automatically unfit for
membership on that court.
This is an obvious denial of the very
basis of democratic government. The ad
vantage of democratic government is that
It is supposed to give the electorate a
chance to express its opinions, through its
elected representatives. ,
But when these elected representatives
deny that the electorate has a right to
change its institutions for the better once
it has established them, they are crossing
the line once crossed in Germany, Italy
and Russia.
Expulsion
The second event which has caused us
much consternation is the expulsion of a
Daily Nebraskan reporter from the
Wednesday Council meeting. The Coun
cil voted to go into executive session to
accomplish this feat.
Now we are willing to overlook the fact
that the Student Council constitution (or at
least the one we have if there is a later
one the Council has not yet supplied us
with it) makes no mention of their right to
go into executive session.
We are willing to overlook this because
we realize that the Council might occasion
ally wish to discuss matters which they do
not, at the time, feel that it would be in
good taste to make generally known.
But Wednesday's expulsion was a
rather remarkable about face. In the
past the Daily Nebraskan reporter
has been allowed to remain in the meet
ings with the understanding that he is not
to print what goes on. This has been a
very satisfactory arrangement which has
resulted in better reporting when the story
finally does break.
This time, however, the reporter was
told that the next order of business was
the interviewing of candidates for Tribunal
judges.
The reporter was told to go because the
Council feared that the candidates might
make promises about the Tribunal which
the Daily Nebraskan might attempt to hold
the candidates to after they were elected!
Now, everyone knows about "campaign
promises" in national politics. But we
weren't aware that the political scene on
the University campus had sunk that low.
We presumed that any promises candi
dates for the Tribunal made were sincere
and not conceived with the mere object of
getting elected.
If that is the state of affairs presently,
the Council ought to be thoroughly
revamped.
Irresponsibility
The third event which has elicited this
editorial is the obvious irresponsibility of
the Council where filings for the upcoming
elections are concerned.
Filings were supposed to close last Sat
urday noon. But the slate wasn't filled by
then so the chairman of the council elec
tions committee decided to extend the fil
ing deadline to Thursday noon. No public
notification of this extension was an
nounced either to the Daily Nebraskan or
to KN'US, the recognized news organs on
the campus.
As a result, those "in the know" went
ahead and filed. Students who lacked this
information were excluded from filing,
obviously.
If the Council made an honqst mistake
here, the only fair thing to do is extend
the filings again until next Wednesday
noon. t
And if ever there were grounds for a
student filing to run on a reform ticket,
there are this year. We hope a full slate
of reform candidates are available.
Beware Gardners
Spring is the time for gardening, the
Readers Digest reports, so the Digest
comes up with some helpful hints to would
be gardeners.
If the urge to garden really smacks you
hard, remember it is strictly transient it
usually doesn't survive the first hot sum
mer day. So, if you must, spade and plant
in the spring, pick a very shady, well
graveled area where nothing will grow.
That way, there is nothing to hoe in the
summer.
Also, be sure to outfit yourself with
spade, trowel, hoe, comfortable, loose fit
ting clothing and a cooling drink. Move the
hammock near the garden area and then
give the neighbor's kids a quarter apiece
to take your orders while you relax.
And break out the liniment 'ma!
Casual Observer
Diana
Remember the teddy bear in Winnie the
Pooh who was being dragged down the
stairs by one leg? On the way down, Win
nie's head went "bump, bump, bump." It
seemed, the story went, that he thought
there might be a better
way of coming down the
stairs, but he never had
enough time to stop bump
ing long enough to figure
any way out.
Well, now, despite a
Council member's protest
that if recent Rag criti
cism is valid, the Council
can't be bumping down
the stairs since it has no
where to go but up, I see
a distinct resemblance here.
Consider the filing snafu as one small
example. In at least two colleges, not
enough candidates had filed by the official
Saturday deadline to constitute a slate.
Reportedly, only three Engineering stu
dents threw their 25-name petition into the
political arena. Six were needed to con
stitute a slate. The same is said to be true
of Business Administration. So . . . what
was the solution to this problem? Pretty
simple, Council leaders figured. Re-open
filings.
So far, so good. Now, if you'll recall, no
announcement appeared in the" Daily Ne
braskan about filings being opened. It's
not that we were so crammed for space
that we couldn't squeeze in such an an
nouncement The whole business was be
ing kept noticeably silent. However, se
ated individuals were notified of the can
didate deficit, so that subsequent filings
could be made.
So, now the Student Council has a full
slate. A check of filings showed that it was
impossible to determine which candidates
had filed after the legal deadline and which
had not.
The Council's apparent reason for keep
ing the lack of candidates secret was to
keep this manifestation of the Big A
(apathy) from becoming public. Now it's
public. And it looks pretty bad for every
body. It looks bad that the student body
is so disinterested in the only group we
have which can serve as its spokesman.
It looks pretty bad that the Council took
the "quiet" method it did to fill the slate.
After chatting with a couple of Council
members, it seems as though there might
be another group which emerges in a not-so-white
light. These Council members are
frankly and rather justifiably discouraged
in their attempts to represent the student
body to the administration. As one mem
ber said, every time the Council has ap
proached the administration with a pro
posal, the response has either been a re
fusal, or "Take a Poll." .
These representatives have a good point
in mentioning that the Council is already
supposed to be a representative body, and
thus when the Council must take a poll, it
is an admission that it does not know the
desires of the students.
Okay, so the powers of the Council are
weak. The student body is perhaps dis
couraged and not many students care to
enter the group when it appears that a
year of head batting against brick walls is
inevitable. Just acknowledging these
weaknesses is not enough.
If the Council is so weak that people
aren't interested in running for it, let's con
sider the organization of the Council itself,
and see if a more effective, dynamic
system could not be worked out.
Daily Nebraskan
fiECTT -EIGHT TEARS OLD
Member: Associated Collegiate Press
Intercollegiate Press
BaprsseataUre: National Advertising Service,
Incorporated
TabUaiisS at: S.o 20, Student Vuluu
LIB coin, Nebraska
14th it R
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nrtna thMM and mare fMrtnda, by atndanta of ha
tlraltj at KMiMta wider the authoriMttao ni tha
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aa taw part af any awmltar nf th faralty of tin llat-
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Uneola. Jiel.ra.ka. amiar th, art "f aww , IBU.
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Randall Lamhrrt
V-""--- Pat Itean
.Carmn Kra, Sandra Kuliy
Rriltn
UMmsing Rdltor . .
Hanlnr Rtnff Writer
porta Kultor
Wlirht New, Editor .
Copy Editor
Cindy Ztrtmii.
Jr. Iflny Kriltora ...
Staff Writers
John Hmirm
Staff Photographer Mlnatt. r..t
. , BUSINESS STAFF TW',,'
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UTFIELI
D?
Daily Nebraskan Letterips
Individualism
To the Editor:
E?ch time 1 resist the
temptation to express seme
thoughts about your "Indi
vidualismWhere?" editor
ial in Wednesday's Ne
braskan some insistent core
of rebelliousness within me
demsnds expression. So
I've convinced myself I'm
obligated.
A good jumping-off place
is the sentiment, "the in
creasing paternalism of . . ,
college adminstrators leads
to . , . the average Amer
ican's lack of confidence in
himself and his ability to
survive when cut off trom
the group." But you should
reread the entire editorial,
since this is only the point
of departure.
There are a few assump
tions which deserve exam
ination :
1. ) College administrat
ors are paternalistic (This
would be very difficult to
demonstrate; for my mon
ey, I'll bet on the exact
opposite.)
2. ) There is something
of a cause-and-effect na
ture operating here. (Any
body who believes anything
causes anything else has
the burden of proof to
show that no other con
tributing conditions are op
erating concurrently.)
3. ) Counselors, etc.,
(are seen) on the average
of once a week." (Not in
my book my appointment
book I mean.)
4. ) Counselors discourage
individualism, (the kind of
counseling I know about not
only encourages individual
ism it demands it if coun
seling of the sort we do is
mear'ngful.)
5. ) unselors are inter
ested solving students'
problems for them. (The
aim of the counselor is to
understand various types of
situations and to increase
the likelihood that students
can understand themselves.
The "help" a student re
ceives is a by-product of
these sorts or understand
ing, not a goal sought di
rectly.) I like very much the last
two sentences of your edi
torial. Whatever else you
say, you save the punch
lines until the end. That's
fine.
C. d' A. Gerkcn
an has taken such a dy
namic part in this noble
task.
Svdncy L. Jackson
Understanding
The recent publicity of
foreign and American stu
dent relations has been a
very widely discussed sub
ject among many Univer
sity students and faculty
members.
Arising from this, many
groups associated with the
university have entered
upon a very positive pro
. gram. I feel quite certain
that all the foreign students
would join me in express
ing our deepest gratitude
and appreciation for the
unbiased co-operation the
editor and the staff have
given us. The freedom of
expression allowed, (even
in our conflicting prob
lems) has been a very im
pressive demonstration of
the democratic way.
The existent problems
can be obliterated and our
barriers removed only as
we possess a medium
through which we can know
and understand each oth
er's view points. A greater
understanding will dimin
ish conflict, increase har
mony and foster greater
toleration of our differ
ences. To promote these
ideals in our university and
community cannot but
have the positive effects of
friendship and brotherhood
in our society.
If we can be successful
in doing this here, there is
a greater possibility that
we can later project this
upon our chaotic world
scene. This could only bear
the fruits of peace and pro
mote the mutual respect
and dignity between Amer
cans and the many other
nations represented here.
We feel proud and grate
ful that the Daily Nebrask-
Subversive?
To the Editor:
Interpretation of the edi
torials and columns in the
Daily Nebraskan is some
times rather difficult. One
must read between the lines
and this often requires con
centrated effort in order that
one might extract the jew
els (paste or real) therein.
For example, consider
Bob Prokop's column in
Wednesday's Rag. He makes
the statements: "A cheater
cheats not only himself but
society. He does not cheat
the , instructor or the rest
of the class." Without con
sideration to the accuracy
of the above statement, let
us consider what he is say
ing. By his statements, he
is excluding instructors and
classes from society. This
clearly indicates that he is
in favor of a class-less so
ciety, which is obviously a
subversive idea.
We must constantly be on
our guard in order that we
be not led astray. Remem
ber friends, reading between
the lines costs nothing and
often prompts you to write
a letter to the editor. As
poor Richard so aptly put
it, "A stich in time saves
nine" and in this case, I be
lieve I have stalled Mr.
Prokop's drive to "liberate"
the campus and will earn the
undying gratitude of thou
sands of University stu
dents, present and future.
If asked for quotes, I, with
characteristic modesty, will
merely say, "Shucks, I just
did my duty."
Sigismundl
fF YOU
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. . . Buy Records
Here's News For You!
OPENING MONDAY, APRIL 20
Lincoln's First Record Discount House
With These Daily Low Prices
98c 45's for 87c
$3.98 albums for $3.17
$4.98 albums for $4.17
Open 12 Noon 9 FJIt. Kon. thru Sat.
141 No. 13
Next to Varsity Theatre
Tf
JL
AY 11
English: CAMPUS TOUCH GUY
Thinkiith translation This character belongs to the beat generation,
as any black-and-blue freshman can testify. When he cracks a book,
it ends up in two pieces. His favorite subject: fistory. Favorite sport:
throwing his weight around. Favorite cigarette? Luckies, what else?
Puffing on the honest taste of fine tobacco, he's pleased as Punch. If
you call this muscle bounder a schooligan, bully for you!
r English: UNHAPPY MARRIAGE
English
n8,itH:SCR.TCHtN3O03 ,
1.1
Thinklish: FLEAGLE
ROBR7 O IHIEH. WISCONSIN STATE COlX.
jnkith: SPATR
IHINITH C0LLE61
: Th
jngUsh: ILL TYRANT
1
Thinklish: SiCKTATOR
"UMNON..,aNLreNlMIfMu
fTaaappaaaaa
r-."n:rraMaM
I s . r . v 1
fc fc s i a Wt3 J
Cigarettes
Get the genuine article
Get the honest -f aste
oi a LtJCECY STRIKE
1 .os;
Take a word celebration, far example.
With it, you -can have a football rally
(yellebration), e goasdpy bridge party idle
bration), or a clambake (ahellebration).
That's Thinklish and it's that easy!
We're paying $25 for the Thinkliah word
judged bfirt .your check is itching to gol
Send your words to Lucky Strike, Bex
67A. Mt. Vernon, N. Y. Fuclose your
name, address, university and class.
C'-T-Oa,
mum