The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, May 22, 1961, Page Page 2, Image 2
Page 2 The Nebraskan Monday, May 22, 1961 Calhoun Just A Thought By Dave Calhoun Back in the dark ages, just after women got the right to vote, somebody got a bright idea to help the coeds on this campus. They started an association called AWS. The first thing they did was to devise a point system, estab lished "to aid girls by guiding their choice of extra-curricular activities." Before going any farther, let me say that there are many good points about the Nebraska Associated Women Stu dents. This doesn't mean the AWS Is per fectdon't think It Is, because it isn't. Back to the subject for today. The AWS point system. According to the AWS handbook, there are three functions of the point system. The first is to increase the efficiency of campus organizations by providing them with officers who have sufficient time to devote to the proper execution of their duties. The second is to benefit the individual student, pro tecting her health and assuring her time to fulfill satis factorily her scholastic requirements by guiding her (selection of the number of extra-curricular activities In which she can participate. Finally the handbook says the point system functions . by benefiting the campus as a whole by distributing activity offices among the many students capable of assuming responsibility. In the back of the same handbook is a list of the points allotted for the various activities. The current maximum is seven points. This may seem a large number, but when you realize that a high position in two organizations can account for the maximum, it doesn't seem like much. I agree with the theory behind the first point In the AWS handbook. The point system would theoretically Increase the efficiency of campus organizations by dis tributing the responsibilities. However, who is in the best position to judge an individual's capabilities the AWS board or the individual? If a woman who is nine teen years or older can't judge her capabilities by now, no AWS board, point system or anything else will ever be able to do it. The students attend this University to gain not just on education. One of the biggest by-products of this University is the lessons in living which we learn con tinually. Beside taking 11 o'clocks on Monday, Wednes day and Fridays, we learn how to live with others and how to take responsibilities. One other argument with point one .... if this point system is going to increase the efficiency of cam pus organizations, why hasn't the efficiency increased? The second function is equally fallacious. By using the emotional angle "protecting her health" the au thors of the handbook have again missed the point completely. Sure, girls aren't as rugged as their count erparts, but how rugged and physically fit do you have to be to be president of a sorority? No one will ever deny that our first responsibility is to the University and that one of the best ways to ful fill this responsibility is by receiving top grades. But, once again, this is a personal matter. If the student, himself, doesn't want to earn good grades and or does not want to put in that little bit of extra effort, nobody, but nobody will ever change his mind. The final function smells of politics. And to think that AWS will ever be able to equally "distribute activity offices among the many students" on this campus is about as remote as the Liberals running the state of Nebraska. In plain English, AWS should stop trying to be a wet nurse to the females on this campus. Most of the coeds on this campus are capable of judging their capacities for themselves why not give them the chance? Nebraskan Letterip The Dan? Nebraska will publish only those Irttrra which are lfiH4. TtMf may be inbmltted with pen' num or Initials. However, letter will be printed under a pea nmme or Initials only at the editor' dis cretion. Letter should not exceed 200 word. When letter exceed thl Umlt the Nebraska reserve the rl(ht to condense them, retaining the writers view. Pros and Cons Given by Students For Senator's Cold War GI Bill The Bite's Worse More Views Given On FM Radio Issue To the editor, It hit me like a thunder bolt when I absent minded ly turned on the FM radio this morning and found there was nothing on the air. I had heard the an nouncements all week long about how they were .going to have to curtail their broadcasting time, but it just didn't shock me until this morning. I understand you had an editorial in your paper last week in support of KFMQ and I thought you might like to know how a housewife feels about this station. First of all I'm sure I speak for a lot of us house wives who enjoy something more satisfying than popula music while we do many of the humdrum tasks around the house. Washing dishes, making beds, ironing clothes all seem to go so much faster and easier with the music KFMQ provides. ' Second is the value it brings to our children to hear a Beethoven sym phony or some folk songs instead of the never ceasing rock and roll or sentimental ditties heard on almost all the AM stations. These children are the future lead ers of A m e r i c a, and how can they learn to appreciate the best in life if they are not given an opportunity to hear it when they are young. We came here from a metropolis on the east coast where we had purchased an FM radio. One of the things we hoped for in our new home in Lincoln was an FM station. We were really surprised to find not one in this college town. When Her bert Burton started the sta tion, we were thrilled at the prospects of being able to hear some truly good mu sic on our radio again. It seems' incredible that he cannot get the financial support to operate the only FM station in this area, surely business men realize there are many of us who refuse to listen to the radio at all unless it provides something more valuable than popular music. I sincerely hope your cru sade will result in KFMQ's returning to a full broadcast day and never again having to be curtailed. Mrs. Sydney Allen Daily Nebraskan Member Associated Collegiate Press, International Press Representative: National Advertising Service, Incorporated Published at: Room 51, Student Union, Lincoln, Nebraska. 14th Sc K Telephone HE 2-7681, ext. 4225, 4226, 4227 SEVENTY-ONE TEARS OLD The Dally Ncbratkaa Is published Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fri day diirlnf the school year, except during yacatlnn and exam periods, by student of lb University of Nebraska under authorisation of the Committee a Student Affairs a an expression of student opinion. Publicatloa under the Jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Student Publications shall be free from editorial censorship on the part of the Subcommittee or en the part of any person outside the tJnlyentty. The members of the Dally Nebraskan staff are perseaally responsible for what they ay. or do, or cause to be printed. February 8. 1956. Subscription rate are JS per semester or 5 for the academic year. Entered a second class matter at the post office la Lincoln. Nebraska. BBder the aet f Amust 4, 1918. CDrrOBIAL STAFF editor . Dave Calhoun Manaclnc Editor Oretcben Shellberr; At New Edite 41m Forrest New Editor '. Harm Beatty 8 port Editor Hal Brown Copy Editor . Pat Denn, foulse Hnlbert Jerry ramherHnn Staff Writer . Ann Mover, Dirk gtuckry, Nanry tVhltfnrd Junior Staff Write ........... .Dave Wohltarth, Jan Sark. loyd (lark Eleanor Rlllinn Mint News Editor pt Deaa The Daily Nebraskan believes this ques tion deserves the thought of every student and faculty member at the University. It is therefore presenting an article with the combined arguments of the pro and con. The Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1961 was introduced into the United States Senate on January 11, 1961. Hear ings were held during January. The final hearings are scheduled to be held during the next week or two in the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs of the Senate Commit tee on Labor and Public Welfare. This bill, (S. 349) was introduced by Sen ator Ralph Yarborough, (D. Tex.) and was co-sponsored by 30 senators. If made law, this bill would provide readjustment assistance for veterans who served in the Armed Forces from January 31, 1955, to July 1, 1963, the termination date of the compulsory draft law. Educational and vocational training as sistance would be offered to veterans who served more than 180 days at a rate of Vi days education and training for every day served. A minimum of 36 months benefits are allowed under the provisions of this blU. The monthly allowance for full-time col lege training is $110 per month for the vet eran without dependents, $135 per month for one dependent, and $165 per month for more than one dependent. No allowances are paid for any period of education prior to September 31, 1961. Vocational rehabilitation training for dis abled veterans and loan assistant is also provided for in this bill. Against the Bill For the (Richard Basoco, graduate of the Uni versity in 1960, is currently a member of of the United States Navy and is stationed ' at Washington, D. C. Basoco plans to con tinue his education, following his tour of duty. Editor) By Dick Basoco Whatever peacock plummage is spread to camouflage and justify the Veterans' Readjustment Act, let us recognize the fact that Senator Yarborough's S.349 is merely designed to serve a group of "vest ed interests": namely, those individuals who have served more than six months (honorably, of course) in the armed serv ices. Some time ago the Wall Street Journal editorialized against the bill saying that we should not, in effect, have to bribe our young men in order to get them to be will ing to defend the country. While this may be true, ideally, I do not feel that one need resort to such "flag-waving" to determine that the basic reasoning behind the meas ure is not applicable to the existing situa tion. I must say that it is high time some of us tried to see a little beyond and act a bit above vested interests, but perhaps I would not object to the bill so much were it not for the fact that almost all of the arguments supporting S.349 are based on a false premise. According to both Senator Yarborough's office and the Assistant Secretary on the sub-committee studying S.349 at present, the bill is "almost exactly" the same as S.1138, which passed the Senate but died in committee in the House during the last session of Congress. The fundamental rea son given for the need for a Post-Korean War GI Bill now, as then, is that, just as in the Korean War and World War II, young men are having to interrupt their school ing to take up arms, despite the fact that we are not "at war." Although I happen to believe that we are, in fact, engaged in a war at present, that may well be beside the point. The point is that, by fallacious reasoning, S.349 would attempt to enable "bona fide" stu dents to continue their interrupted educa tions. This, of course, is a fine idea and one which served a useful purpose after WW II and Korea,, but the difference is that at that time educations were indeed being interrupted. In large measure, this is not the case today. Men are not being ' drafted at present until between the ages of 23 and 26, by which time certainly most serious, "bona fide" students have at least received their baccalaureate de gree. In addition, only 1,500 men across the entire nation were drafted in April, and, according to the offices of the Selec tive Service, about the same number were scheduled to be called this month. When only 30 men per state, on the average, are being drafted, I find it a bit difficult to be lieve that many higher educations are be ing "interrupted" to any degree certain ly not enough to warrant the $15 billion expenditure expected to be necessary to set up the program. It must be said that there are those who, like myself, have in a sense had their edu- a cation "interrupted" by serving longer " than six months before going on to gradu ate school. However, we or, at least, I made a judgment in college to avail our selves of the benefits (as well as the po tential hazards) accruing to an officer in the armed services. If we had not wished to do so, we could have ignored the ad vanced ROTC programs and gone directly to graduate school. S.349 would suggest that we should not only have our cake but eat it too. Clearly, the government should not feel compelled to subsidize the educa tions of either those who were not inter ested in continuing their educations be fore they joined the service (as is true with most of those enlisting directly out of high school, having "nothing else to do") . or those who intend to do so (continue their education) anyway upon release from military life. Even those who, for various reasons, fall into the catory of "they would if they could but they can't" go on to school after their tour of duty do not really require a measure such as S.349. Testimony given during the hearings on S.1138 indicates that veterans are generally better stu dents than non-veterans; this being the case, surely many will be able to obtain scholarships to ease possible financial burdens. In any case, a "loan guarantee program open to all students," favored by the then Senator John Kennedy, would be a better, more realistic approach to the question than- S.349. Those who say that S.349 will "pay for itself" in the long run cite the veterans who availed themselves of the WW II GI Bill: "they have raised their income level to the point where they are now paying an extra billion dollars a year in income taxes to Uncle Sam." This, presumably, is because, having finished their school ing under that Bill, their earning power was considerably greater than when they were called into the service. Again, the fact remains that educations interrupted then are not being interrupted now; there ics no reason to suppose that income to the government in increased taxable rev enues will be much different than it would be without S.349. Proponents of S.349 also plead that those who serve for longer than six months un dergo an unusual hardship because "only a minority of the draft age group actu- (Don Benett is a sophomore in the col lege of Arts and Sciences. Before entering the University, Don served a tour with the Navy. Bennett is currently news director for University radio station KNUS. Editor) By Don Bennett An educated nation is a strong nation! Senator Yarborough, when introducing his Cold War GI Bill to the Senate, main tained that the United States must make its educational system and the products of that system preeminent in the world, and emphasized the value of established programs, specifically the previous G.I. Bills. The Korean War and World War II G.I. Bills have gave the nation 450,000 engi neers, 180,000 doctors, 150,000 chemists, physicists and other scientists and about 230,000 teachers. The Soviet Union is now educating more than twice as many engi neers, scientists, and doctors as the Unit ed States. Eductaion is one of the major keys to a successful future for this nation, one of the main methods of maintaining a strong, unified notion. This bill is a small part of an overall program to place education in the hands of those who might eventually benefit the nation. Why The GI Bill? Because this bill will aid those persons who have, as a group, one of the most severe financial difficulties in obtaining a college education. The foremost opponent of previous attempts to make similar bills law has been the military, which main tains that present military conditions do hot justify such a bill. The military has emphasized that condi tions are not the same as during the Korean War. True, insofar as war is con cerned, but the purpose of this bill is to provide an economic transition for the veteran who desires an education. The economic problems of the Korean veterans were no more serious than those of the present day veteran. The purpose of this bill is not to give a cash reward to the ex-serviceman. It would give him education. The Korean bill did not provide a psychological re adjustment for the Korean veteran, it pro vided him with an education which it was felt that this man was worthy of. The economic conditions have changed little since the Korean War. The military has stated that this bill would seriously affect reenlistments. The Cordiner Pay Raise, passed in 1958 for service personnel, was enacetd at an an nual cost of $500 million dollars to induce personnel not to return to civilian life. This bill, if enacted, would provide about $300 million yearly to educate those per sonnel who do return. It has been shown that the reenlistment rate rose steadily during the period the Korean bill was in effect. Altogether, the United States is now spending about $48 billion a year on the cold war, and the amount spent on a proven sound investment toward educa tion is relatively small. Why the G.I. Bill? Because the bill is a sound investment. Basically, it is a self-liquidating invest ment. The Bureau of the Census reports show that veterans who received benefits from previous G.I. bills are paying the government a billion dollars a year in taxes more than if they had not received this training. These bills will have entirely paid for themselves by 1969. Unemployment is becoming a critical problem in many areas of the United States. The numbers of servicemen pour ing into civilian life create keener com petition in an already critical area. Those jobs which are available require education and training and the veteran generally does not have this training or this educa tion. Nebraska is one of the most inexpensive areas in the nation where a college educa tion may be obtained. In the East, the cost of an education almost prohibits the vet eran from receiving educational bene fits unless he has other financial sources. ally serves an extended tour of duty." To me, this is even more reason why we should not cater to this group. It is the few, not the many, who would be affected by S.349; and it would be the even fewer who would merit its provisions. If these individuals are, indeed, serious students merely wishing to . continue their school ing, all that need be done is enable them to do so by scholarship (some of which go unclaimed every year at Nebraska) or by loan; ''paying" for that education should be neither expected nor required of the government. If I disagree with many other state ments, I subscribe fully to the view that: "Without these services from the best of our young men, those who are strong in body, alert in. mind, and guided by inner moral courage and a belief in democratic principles" our nation 'could not survive. But it seems to me that the "best of our young men," "guided by inner moral courage and a belief in democratic prin ciples," will not feel unrewarded for serv ing their country if S.349 is defeated. It has been all too evident in the past that we have taken a "what's in it for me?" attitude in local, domestic, and interna tional affairs, and I firmly believe the time is long since overdue for a change in that policy. It was with a near pang of nostalgia (just a n e a r pang, however) that I tripped ever-so-lightly to my local campus bookstore this past weekend and picked up my graduation announce ments. It gave me a really exciting feeling to see that everything w a s in order, that at least someone felt confidently that I was going to graduate (with my name and college spelled cor rectly yet), and that, best of all, the faculty was an nouncing my graduation. I guess if the announcement comes from this close to the top there's no point in giv ing way to any qualms about the coming com , mencement. For those of my dear, de voted readers who have so faithfully followed my col umn during the past semes ter and have hung relent lessly upon every dripping word, I thank you. For those of you who have never read a word I have written, may I say that you are probably among the smarter of the group congregated in this soon-to-become-only-a-misty-memory cluster of ivy-covered halloweds. And so, another semester of blood, sweat, and tears is about to end. This will be my last effort for the dear old Nebraska Rag; my thanks go to his editorship for putting up with this bit ot mockery and mishmosh every week. And now a few destined goodbyes before I depart: Goodbye to campus queens beauty queens, engineering queens, dairy queens, rodeo queens, fra ternity queens, Greek Week queens, May queens, 16th Street queens, Sadie II a w kins queens, Pi Xi and Phi Beta Kappa queens, Phal- By Barbara Barker ' anx queens, Homecoming queens, Palladian Literary Society queens, and any others who might notably bear such ethereal titles. Goodbye to Mortar Board, may your tribe increase. Goodbye to the red-hoodies, may your T's decrease. Goodbye to the School of Journalism, which has never ceased making college a continuous four-year c h a 1 lenge (or should I say threat?). Goodbye to professors like the insane Dr. Elliott, who are able to combine factual instruction and intriguing facts-of-life data into one in conceivably educa tional course. Goodbye to late-evening-early-morning intellectual meetings-of-the-minds, In which all world problems are solved ingeniously through the joint efforts of collegiate masterminds. Goodbye to the fun-while-it-lasted party at the infa mous, recently-razed Park-O-Tel. Goodbye to tricycle races, chariot races, egg rolls, Student Council elec tions, punched-full-o-holes e.d.'s, rabbit races, Miss University contests, Olym pian frisbee matches on S Street, spirit trophy races, cow-milking races, and good grief what will be next? Goodbye to the Crib, all of its constantly-mirthful employees and its thick-as-mid, black-as-night second cups. Goodbye to . . . well, goodbye at last to all the other provocative factors entering into the w e 1 1 rounded but sharp-edged life of the ever-mindful college intellect, and goodbye, last of all but certainly not least, to dear old Nebraska U. Someone once said there's no place like it. Barnstorming his his the With only four more days of class left to the semester and the 1960-61 school year and only one more news edi tion of the Nebraskan left, it becomes time for the Barnstormer to cover typewriter, clean out desk and exodus from Ag campus beat. Before leaving for the last time, barring any unfore seen decision on the part of tne subcom mittee o n Student Pub Iica 1 1 o n s next week e n d as to who is going to be where on the 1961 fall semester Rag staff, B arnstorm ing wants to make an announcement Believe it or not something is going to be done about the Ag Student Union. Coming as a climax several months, even vears of often desperate cam paigning for improvements in Ag Union facilities by Forrest to By Jim Forrest nearly everyone on Ag cam pus, the Union Board of Managers met last week and decided to renovate the Del, which is Ag Union'i counterpart to tha city'i Crib ... in a general sen&y Although the exact amoe of money to be invested in the renovation and the e$ tent has not been complete ly decided upon, reports art that the Board's exeoutrv council has been authorized to pass a proposed plan for renovation on the basis of recommendations from the Ag Union staff. More infor mation is expected to be re leased later on this week. The changes in the Del's crumbling facilities are ex pected to begin in June and be completed before the be ginning of the 1961-62 fall semester. The only sour note to this announcement is the apparent postpone ment of any plans to build a new Ag Union until a fu ture time when finances are more . adequate. However, Barnstorming does want to congratulate the Board for its long needed action. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT U.S. COMPANIES SEEK GRADUATES FOR FOREIGN TRADE CAREERS U.S. foreign trade is boom ing and so far the demand for college graduates trained in that field, according to inter national trade specialists at The American Institute for Foreign Trade, world-famed post-gradimte school in Phoe nix, Arizona, for the training of young college graduates genuinely Interested in a ca reer overseas with U.S. busi ness or government. R. S. Roberts, vice president of The American Institute and widely-known foreign trade authority, who last year com pleted 11 years in Brazil as a Sears of Brazil executive, as the originator of the first su permarket chain in Brazil, and finally as a consultant to U.S., foreign, and Brazilian firms, said that U.S. international businesses had invested $32 billion overseas as of last year, representing a 17.2 average increase per year. He placed the earnings from thpsp for eign investments at $3 hfllinn j700 million. U.S. foreign sales totaled $64 billion, with de ports at $21 billion and sales by U.S. foreign subsidiaries at $43 billion of the total. Roberts, a 1948 graduate of the Institute, applauded the major role played by the 3,000 gtaduates of this 15-year-old school in the meteoric rise of U.S. foreign trade. Senator Barry Goldwater, Arizona, member of the Insti tute board of directors, in a recent speech on the U.S. Sen ate floor, called American In stitute alumni "Amwlfa'c best-trained and most highly resuected corns of ennrfuHli ambassadors." He described the Institute as private indus try's training ground for its corps of junior executives in 78 foreign natiohs. Graduates in liberal arts, business administration, and science are sought annually at The American Institute for Foreign Trade by more than 500 U.S. international business and banking firms. Fifty per cent of the 1960-61 graduates had college majors in liberal arts or sciences. Forty-five percent had majored in busi ness administration. Cited by U.S. and foreign industrialists, educators, and high government officials as America's most effectual Insti tution for the pracUcal train ing of college graduates in for eign trade, The American In stitute offers a 3-part curricu lum designed to train its po tential junior executives in day-to-day foreign trade tech niques, the living culture of the peoples of world market areas, and a foreign language. Recruiters from U.S. interna tional firms have made it clear that they equate general cul- tural knowleriponhilitv - erly-adjusted attitude toward an overseas career, and apti- iuae wnen they select Insti tute graduates. About 250 carefully-screened young men are graduated yearly. The post-graduate course of study lasts two se mesters and starts from the beginning both in September and in January. Industry and government officials say there is no insti tution of comparable stature where, determined college graduates may so effectively groom themselves for a lucra tive career abroad. Senator Ooldwater predicts that most Americans in trade centers around the world in the next few years will have besn trained "specifically at The Institute for Foreign Trade." (For more detailed informa tion, please communicate with ine Rpfricrnr tu- a r-t: . . 1,lc American Institute for Foreign Trc'r fon?- tB,191' Phoenix Al l zona, telephone 938-0001.)