The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, June 27, 1961, Image 1

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    UNIVERSITY OF
UBRARY
i
(van
i v ''ill
d
ATLAS MISSILE
Summer Enrollment
Increases l4 Per Cent
Enrollment for the Summer
Sessions at the University has
jumped 14 per -cent this year
with 3,718 students, or an in
crease of 459 over a year ago,
according to Registrar Floyd
Hoover.
Dr. Hoover also anticipated
an additional 150 would enroll
for the post-session work-j
j shops. Which would bring the
SP
ccial Children
Educators Meet
The Nebraska Federation of
Councils for Exceptional Chil
dren will hold their annual
convention in the Student Un
io tomorrow.
The convention will deal
with four problems of Nebras
ka's exceptional children in
cluding the retarded, gifted,
acoustically and visually han
dicapped, according to Mar
shal Hiskey, federation presi
dent and professor of educa
tional psychology and meas
urement at the University.
Chapters from Beatrice, Lin
coin, Omaha, Lexington,
Scottsbluff and the Platte val
ley wil lbe represented at the
conference. Over 200 physi
cians, teachers, research
workers and parents are ex
pected to attend.
Ag Research Extensionists Discover
Three Zones of Root Activity in Growth
By Jim Forrest
After more than five years
of basic research in plant
growth, a scientific team of
University of Nebraska re
search extensionists has found
three zones of root activity
during the growing season.
Working in the field with al
falfa plants, the researchers
found that there is a surface
soil zone where root activity
is high in the spring but de
creases during the dry wea
ther of the summer and. fall.
A second zone of less activity
exists at a depth of two to
four feet and a third zone of
moderate activity lies in the
moist soil just above under
ground water sources, the re
search team discovered.
The investigation, according
to Dr. R. L. Fox, research
extensionist in agronomy, was
made with the help of radio
active phosphorus in what is
known as a tracer technique.
This process allows radio
active substances to be taken
in by the root system from
Jim Forrest is a junior
from Omaha majoring in
news - editorial journalism.
He has been an active staff
member of the Daily Ne
braskan, campus newspaper
during the regular school
year. Jim has served as a
staff writer and ag news edi
tor of the Daily Nebraskan
and next yecr will return as
a copy Editor.
the soil and measured with a
Geieger counter as it travels
up through the plant.
Measurements
Dr. Fox, who headed the re
search team, said the inves
tigations involved measure
ments to a relatively shallow
depth and were conducted in
areas where surface soil moi
sture is the main source of
water for plant growth.
"Since this method cannot
be used in studying plants
which utilize subsoil moisture
WetMers: Nebraska's A Part' of World
ARCHIVES
Editor's note: This article
and the two stories on mis-
tie bases-and the Strategy
ic Air Command. which ftp
pear on pages two and
three, are the second part
of a series on the Midwest
or, more specifically, Ne
braska: its opportunities, its
disadvantages, its prob
lems. These stories describe
the shift in role from the
. Midwestern solid line of iso
lation to America's first line
of defense.
By Gretcben Shellberg
'Nebraska is 'a "part' of the
rest of the orld."
These were the words Of
Dr. Everett T. Welmers, di
Tector of Satellite Systems
for the Aerospace Corpora
tion, who spoke at the Vnl
Versify last week.
Dr. Welmers, one of the ha-
tion's leading space research
executives, was referring to
Nebraska's defense position
being relative to the rest of
the world, but he choseUhe
same phrasing to describe the
state's military situation as
dra Dr. Frank E. Sorenson
and Dean Adam Breckenridge
to describe the state's edu
cational position.
Dr. Sorenson and Dean
Breckenridge stressed the fact
that Nebraska is not '"apart"
but "a part" of the nation
final total to 8,868 over 500
more students than last year.
Director of Summer Ses
sions Dr. Frank E. Sorenson
estimated nearly 6,000 stu
dents are engaged in summer
studies under the University's
direction.
This figure includes regular
university students and more
than 1,500 high school students
on the L i n c o 1 n campuses.
There are 561 students en
rolled n University High
School, 319 in the All-State
Fine Arts Course, 300 Girls'
Staters and 355 Boys' Staters.
In addition, Dr. Sorenson
said there are 214 elementary
pupils at Bancroft "School and
200 at Pershing Grade School,
both operated this summer by
the University.
Scholarships Office
Changes Personnel
"Two personnel changes in
the Office of Scholarships and
Financial Aids have been an
nounced by Dr. Aubrey For
rest, director.
Daniel W. Pop is the new
assistant director, replacing
Mrs. Jane Wendorff who rec
ently resigned; and Richard
D. Mace is assistant director
in charge of student emplay
ment. Mnif'w.i,', . . - rum
and foods from great depths,"
explained Dr. Fox, "we se
lected a test plot which had
subsoil moisture, or a water
table, at a depth of only about
-
eight feet."
The research team placed
radioactive phosphorus at var
ious depths by two methods
in order to compare the
amount of phosphorus that the
alfalfa plant roots removed
from the soil. The first meth
od involved drilling 36 one
inch holes to desired soil
depths around the test plants.
"Six depths were drilled so
that the phosphorus could be
placed in the holes allowing
us to determine, by measure
ment, where the roots were
taking up the most chemi
cal," said Dr. Fox. "The holes
were drilled to one-half, one,
two, four, six and eight foot
levels."
In a similar manner a sec
ond test plot was used where
the researchers drilled only
nine three-inch holes around
the plants. The holes were
drilled to the same depths,
according to Dr. Fox.
Phosphorus
In both test plots the phos
and the world. Both men, in
the first article of this series
Urn the Midwest, agreed that
Nebraska is not provincial,
separate or independent.
Dean Breckenridge said he
would be Alarmed if Nebras
kans didnt leavfc the state be
cause "I'd think they weren't
qualified to compete in the na
tion's market.1'
Concerning the nation's de
fense, Dr. Welmers, in a spe
cial interview with the Sum
mer Nebraskan, said, "Ne
braska is tied with the rest of
the world. The center of cur
whole defense system is Just
40 miles way (Strategic Air
Command, Headquarters at
Lincoln, Nebrasko
Scala
By Gretchen Shellberg
The "front line fight" in the
world today is based on ec
onomic nd social goals, not
military policy, Dr. Robert A.
Scalapino, professor of politi
cal science at the University
of California, Berkley, told a
University convocation yester
day.
Scalapino, an authority on
the far east, spoke on "Our
China Problem." He was the
second lecturer to appear on
campus within the past week
sponsored by the Summer
! Sessions World Affairs Pre
views series.
"As long as we can't close
the gap between the haves
and have nots in nations," be
said, "we will have profound
unrest."
Scalapino said he believes
he issue of peace and war
will be decided on issues like
Berlin but, rather, by whether
or not we can bring Commu
nist China into the world
peacably.
China's Problems
The political scientist out
lined several factors in the
problem of Communist China
today:
First, Tie -said, Communist
China is here to stay and will
become one of the major
powers of the late 20th Cen
tury. "The chances are over
whelming that this regime is
with us to stay, he said.
Scalapino said that this was
in part due to the population
of China. There are 670 mil
lion Chinese today with an in
phorus, which is a vital chem
ical to alfalfa growth, was
placed in the holes which
were then filled with dirt
again. The plants were then
allowed to continue their
growth.
As the growing season be
gan in the spring, plant
samples from both test plots
were hr?vested by the re
search team at two-week in
tervals. The harvesting con
tinued at this regular inter
val throughout the growing
season.
"After the sample plants
were harvested at each per
iod, they were p 1 a c e d in a
mixture of acids which al
lowed us to measure the
amount of radioactive phso
phorus contained in the
plant," explained Dr. Fox.
Both methods gave proof of
root activity at various depths
an idea which is new to
many farmers, he said.
Soil Moisture
Significantly, the scientists
found that the alfalfa plant
root's uptake of the radioac
tive phosphorus is influenced
by the amount of moisture in
the soil but that it is not
I 1
it' j
Offut Air Base near Omahal."
When asked if Nebraska
was chosen as a location for
SAC because It was more re
mote and inland, Dr. Welmers
said, "Nebraska is as Close to
Russia as any other part of
the United States may be be
cause now we can fly directly
over the pole,'"
He added, however, that he
would prefer to see SAC lo
cated near Omaha rather
than near Los Angeles be
cause in the event of an alert
or an attack, military staff
would not be prevented from
reaching the base due to traf
fic problems or freeway
clogs.
pmOo-
crease of fc.fc per cent, or J5
million people, per year.
Crash control is needed be
fore the population reaches
one billion by 1980, be said.
The second factor in Com
munist China's problem is ec
onomic progress. Since 1949,
Scalapino said, progress has
been spectacular but uneven.
"A society in a forced march
program toward development
has some unbalance and chaos
in its 'great leap forward,' "
he said.
But Communist C hina' s
greatest problem is in agricul
ture, he said. How to increase
production to feed a growing
population, yet allow for ex
portation and growth becomes
difficult.
Agricultural Failure
Scalapino said be does not
think the Chinese Communists
have succeeded in agricul
ture "partly due to the prob
lem of trying to mobilize the
peasants."
There is, on the other hand,
spectacular success in indus
trial production, he said. They
have diversified industry d
moved it into the interi
"Communist China is go g
to "be a society Where Tapidly
rising state power and indus
trial activity, coupled with
mass poverty, makes an ex
plosive condition," Scalapino
warned.
A third characteristic of the
Communist China situation
which Scalapino listed was the
triumph of Communism in a
situation where it used na
tionalism.
equal to the amount of water
taken in by the root.
During the first half of the
growing season when surface
moisture was available, there
was very little phosphorus
taken in from the soil at low
er depths. However, during
the last half of the growing
season, the plant's roots con
tinued to remove a great deal
of phosphorus from the top
soil even after It had become
dry.
"It is possible," concluded
the research scientist," f o r
plants to use water without
proportional or equal amounts
of phosphorus uptake and to
use phosphorus without ap
precial water absorption."
It was also found through
tests made at the research
site on the soil that the newly
discovered middle zone of less
activity contained such a great
amount of salt that conditions
became u n f a v o r b 1 e to
growth.
Salts Meet
This middle zone of salt
concentration, which causes
alkaline soils, is caused, ex
plained the scientist, by sur
face salts and salts from the
lower depths being drawn to
gether by the action of water.
Ram water forces it down and
the dry soil draws up the
water from below which car
ries salt minerals with it.
Such knowledge of the ac
tivity of roots and the soil en
vironment of plants has long
been needed since previous
studies at the University
placed emphasis upon only
soil environment and not the
plant's root, according to Dr.
Fox.
He said these previous in
vestigations indicated the ne
cessity to -consider both the
root and its soil in order to
understand the plant's growth.
Although each Investigation
presented evidence of root ac
tivity at these three depths,
more detailed study was need
ed, he said.
When discussing missile
base sites, Dr. Welmers ssid,
"Location is a matter of va
cant space.'"'' This Nebraska
has, he added.
"'Yon dont land missiles on
populated territory," Dr. Wel
mers continued, dicussing the
placement of missile testing
grounds in remote areas of
New Mexico, Utah and Flori
da. ""What the United States
really needs is an island on
the equator, be said
This would also facilitate
sending lap satallites contain -
i n g television transmitting
equipment and other objects
for research he said. If these
satellites were sent straight
Summer Nebroskon
.Recognize
' s
fv
DR. ROBERT SCALAPINO
""There is a liomogenized
Nation alism-Communism.
Their so-called "Proletarian
Internationalism' is based on
a nationalism of the people,"
Scalapino said.
Nation-State
Communist China presents
a typical case study of the
emergence of a nation-state
with characteristics similar to
America's when she was in
that stage, "Scalapino said.
T3e listed three characteris
tics a nation-state desires:
to define and defend
boudaries.
to create a buffer state
zone.
to seek homogenity or a
homogenous character with
leadership, not partnership.
"The basic issue confront
ing us with respect to Asia is
how can we create more Fin
lands and fewer Hungaries,
not how we can create more
SEATO's," Scalapino said.
"This is what gives Laos and
Cuba some identity."
A fourth condition contrib
uting to our problem of Com
munist China, according to
"Scalapino, is that the Soviet
Union has been important, to
date, in the development of
China.
But, "the Soviet Union will
not solve our Communist Chi
na problem for us," he said.
Military Sheidl
He cited the 10,000 techni
cians Russia has provided to
growing China as one reason
for their strong ties. He added
that "The Soviet Union stands
as a military shield to China.
China has a backward army
Index
up, they would continue to
pass over that same spot on
the equator even though the
earth revolves, he said.
There Is no logic to the lo
cation of space and research
firms such as the Aerospace
Corporation of which Dr.
Wbclmers is an executive, the
director of satellite systems
said. :
"Universities near Boston
and Los Angeles may be one
cause, he suggested. MIT,
Stanford and California Insti-
,tute of Technology can c-
commodate researchers, but
any "university has these po
tentialities," Dr. W 1 m r $
said.
herself and is totally depend
ent on the Sino-Soviet Alli
ance for defense."
""Via China, world Commu
nism has gotten a tremendous
boost," he said. "There is an
emergence of trouble within
the Sino-Soviet block, howev
er.' Scalapino said this was due
to the fact that these are two
dynamic states with separate
interests and senses of lead
ership. It is also due to the
fact that these two nations
are in different stages of -development.
"Russia is becoming a stat
us quo nation. She is satis
fied and is beginning to
urge peaceful coexistence on
her own terms," he said "The
Chinese Communists are not
a status quo power satisfied
with their territories, buffer
state system and world pres
tige. It is less certain that
they can act peacefully.'"
Militant Left
"'China is the militant left
in the Communist block,"
Scalapino said.
In regard to American for
eign policy concerning Com
munist Chi n a, Scalapino
called for a change in our old
"containment through isola
tion," saying this is no longer
practical.
'"We used to think we
should isolate Communist Chi
na from the world and pre
vent at all costs her emer
gence into the United Na
tions,"' be said.
This rested on the principle
that Communist China was
not a peace loving society and
her entrance might destroy
the U.N. The United Nations
is not, however, "a league of
the pure, despite its charter,"
Scalapino said.
He added that non-communication
and miscalculation of
ten leads to war and the ab
sence of direct bilateral com
munication can complicate
foreign policy as in the case
of Korea.
International Outlaw
Another reason for allowing
Communist China to enter the
United Nations is that isola
tion aids totalitarianism, he
said. "Dont allow select dip
lomacy and don't let China
play the role of the interna
tional outlaw.
"By forcing a nation to take
a stand on all world affairs,
you make its foreign policy
to Inside Pages
POSTE PLANT Flowers and plants bloom year-round is
the Botany Greenhouse but these greeneries are not for
picking. To find out their purpose and who cares for them,
see.
Page 4
ALL-STATE CONCERTS This is the final week of the
All-State fine arts program for high school students. For
listing of the eight concerts and plays open to the public,
see.
Page 4
SPECIAL READING The 1-ove Library staff has prepared
a special reading list on space, missiles and defense in
conjunction with this week's articles on missile bases in the
Midwest. For names of books of both general and technical
Interest, see. ... "
Page 3
HUB OF DEFENSE WHEEL-Strategic Air
Command Headquarters, the core of the 'na
tion's defense, lies literally burled, but by
no means dead, just 40 miles from Lincoln.
To learn about SAC's "power on the
plains", see.
Page 3
RING AROUND A series of missile bases
are converting the isolation-minded Midwest
into the first line of the nation's defense
system. This story, part of the second por
tion of a series on the Midwest, explains
the function of this ring of bases circling
SAC. To gain a picture of the defense
minded Midwest, see. , ,
Page 2
What
Is the
Midwest?
Its Missiles,
SAC Base...
Pages 2, 3
Tuesday, June 27, J 96!
Chin
more complex Scalapin
said, "'and involvement is a
better -determent to totalitar
ianism than is isolation,'
Dr. Scalapino said be "be
lieves America is being moved
into an inflexible position,
"China is getting what sha
wants. She sees m need t
compromise,' be said. "Th
American policy ?s unrealist
ic." He suggested two alertna
trves to the present American
foreign policy toward Commu
nist China:
Negotiation and xplora
tion: ""Involve China in a
sense of responsibility and
committment," be said. ""We
have started with bilateral
agreements and must move
on to multilateral negotiations
This is a right step."
Fiction
""We cannot maintain the
fiction that the Nationalist
Chinese government is repre
sentative of China and Ti
wan's government represents
Tiwan.
Scalapino said we need to
adopt a "one China one Ti
wan" policy. This would
have the support of the tfroe
world, he said.
""No policy the United
States creates (isolation) can
survive unless we have the
support of nations that sur
round China," he emphasized.
"We must create a pattern
of our willingness to -discuss
and negotiate. This is an age
when our super patriots -are
unpatriotic," be said.
The only other alternative
to American foreign policy in
China, as Scalapino sees it, is
immediate recognition of
China by the United States
and immediate admittance in
to the U.N. This, he says, is
Impractical. It must le a
gradual movement.
Dr. Scalapino concluded "by
which he i e e 1 s mark our
world "today:
End of an ra of dom
inance of the world by the
western nations.
End of an era of clas
sical nationalism at a time
when some nations have not
reached it (China).
Dangers with resepct to
lack of law (space and in
ternational law have prac
tically no restrictions).
We have come to realize
the Importance of the com
mon man.
"1