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CAMPUS I
OPINION I
i
Jo Stohlman, editor
Mike Kirkman, business manager
Page 2
Friday, March 4, 1966
2.0 for Initiation?
The statistics speak for themselves.
After a little research, the Daily Ne-
braskan discovered the following: In 1965,
80 of the sorority pledges made the 5.0
average and were initiated. This year,
86.95 made the 2.0 average to be
initiated.
Fraternities same story. Last
year, 61.87 of the fraternity pledges
made their average, and this year,
78.56 did. With more calculation we
reach the total that 6.95 more soror
ity pledges were initiated this year, as
compared with 16.59 more fraternity
, pledges making a grand total of 23.64
more Greeks Initiated this year under
the 2.0 initiation average.
- To some, this increase (almost a fourth
as many) in the number of pledges being
activated would seem a good thing. But
we. question the advisability of keeping
the initiation average a 2.0.
We question the 2.0 initiation average
on two grounds first, that it does not
benefit the Greek houses, and second, that
it is the same average as scholastic pro
bation. Most Greek houses stress scholar
ship and pride themselves on having
a house average above the all-University,
all-male, er all-women's average.
If Greek houses really desire excel
lence in scholarship among their
members, we doubt if the 2.0 will
maintain the excellence they strive for.
It seems a bit too obvious that a 2.25
or higher for initiation would improve
the scholastic standing of Greek
houses.
The second reason we criticize the 2.0
is because it is the same average as
scholastic probation. In other words, if a
student is in good standing, he is good
enough, scholasticallly, to be initiated.
We do not feel that the answer lies in
lowering the average for scholastic pro
bation. On the nine-point system, the
scholastic probation average was 4.0, and
it is presently a 2.0. It certainly should
not be lowered as the initiation average
was (from a 5.0 to a 2.0).
We would hope that IFC and Pan
hellenic will seriously reconsider the
merits of a 2.0 Initiation average. It is
not benefitting houses who desire
scholastic excellence. A bare minimum
("good standing") Is not good enough.
0eit Case
By FRANK PARTSCH
Admini and me, we get
along well. I walk the line
and they hold the line, both
of us all the while suffer
ing from grandiose delu
sions of adequacy.
I have been suspicious
about these delusions for
some time now, but my ap
prehensions were never
.wordified until I accident
ally stumbled upon a sweet
"little book entitled "Up the
Down Stair Case," by Bel
Kaufman.
This book, although it was
written about the introduc
tion of an idealistic young
teachers college graduate
to the blackboard jungles of
New York City, could have
been written about the ideal
istic old administrators at
-the University of Nebraska.
I don't want to be so pre
sumptious as to link Miss
Kaufman's characters to
specific administrators
there, as I would like to
-have everyone in the world
read the book to draw his
own parallels. I merely
want to use her mood to
dwell upon the mood at this
enlightened institution.
"Please disregard the fol
lowing," begins a message
to all faculty members from
JJ McH, administrative as
sistant to the principal of
Coolidge High School. That
line kills me, and it
shouldn't, because we hear
similar goodies every day
emanating from the Teach-,
ers College annex.
"Please send to my office
all students who are absent
today without a verified ex
cuse." Oh, JJ, you aren't
even funny.
Miss Kaufman's plot, dia
logue and characterization
are developed in a series of
inter-school memos, reports,
and minutes of faculty
meetings. The University of
Nebraska wouldn't be half
as big as it is without a
million such statements, pa
pers and reports.
For instance: rumors
' By WAYNE KREUSCHER
News Editor
Often the best story is never written the story about
Uiow the reporter feels and thinks himself.
This last week's headlines provide many examples of
..stories that mean more than just inches of copy and fin
ished assignments to the reporter.
v The Daily Nebraskan this year has devoted hundreds
of inches to the ASUN's faculty evaluation questionnaire
"project. Every reporter has attended a meeting, quoted
-an official or described an event in the book's progress.
It is a little hard for a reporter who has written about
'the book for a year to suddenly learn students aren't
interested.
The reporter can't help but wonder if his stories were
ever read. He can't understand why the thousands of stu
dents who couldn't give the project just a few minutes
didn't say something sooner.
The reporter wonders if it was his fault. If he was too
objective, if his enthusiasm for the book wasn't apparent
In his stories or if the lead wasn't clever enough to en
courage his readers to read on through the story.
The reporter knows he isn't responsible for the book,
that it wasn't his project, but yet writing about it so often
the book can't help but become a part of the reporter
and the reporter a part of the book.
Right now no matter how many excuses, future prom
ises and planned rationalizations the leading ASUN exec
utives give, they look foolish to the administration and
faculty.
The book these people caused so much trouble about,
the book which was to symbolize ASUN's success, the
book which was to show that Nebraska students also
"think" and represent a liberal, reforming generation
isn't even wanted by the students.
A reporter who feels this after endless stories on the
subject can make himself feel better only by knowing that
his paper isn't going to let the book become a dead issue
for long.
One can almost see the editor's note a reporter would
have liked above this week's story on the reformed Hell
Weeks.
"To all those fraternity presidents or members who
laugh at this story laugh hard 11 you really think it's
,'tbat funny."
It's too bad a reporter couldn't contrast many of the
'statements in the paper describing the co-called Help
; Weeks with what he knows Is the real situation.
(Not that all the comments were false because they
1 weren't, but there is another side of the story.)
If a reporter had been able to interview the pledges
in Uie respective houses, he might have seen a realistic
picture of "Help" Week.
(mostly inadequate) circu
late about every year at this
time as to the complexities
involved in the selections of
next year's Innocents. And
justly so, because a great
deal of something goes into
this process.
But the selection process
for new student assistants
in the dorms is twice as in
volved. A candidate must
fill out an application, write
- an essay, submit three ref
erences, take a personality
test, be evaluated by a stu
dent assistant, a panel of
student assistants, five peo
ple in his living unit select
ed at random and a resi
dence director. (If I've left
anything out, Al, I'm sor
ry.) Up the Down Stair Case.
The University's annual
fiscal fiasco is another ex
ample of what I'm trying
to point out. That didn't ig
nite a riot or even (if I re
member correctly) a letter
to the editor. And yet it is
probably one of the more
atrocious examples of bum
bling that I have yet been
subjected to.
Just read through the
Daily Nebraskan reports of
discussions on the evaluation
book, the Cather-P o u n d
snack bar or the senior key
system. Miss Kaufman is
selling the same kind of
stuff for bunches of money.
Walk through the 1 u n c h
line at Cather Hall (Al
though God is dead, the
daily bread still comes
through loud and clear, if
your room and board is
paid up.) Your choice: ham
burger and potato chips or
tuna salad sandwiches and
tomato soup.
"Can I have tuna salad
sandwiches and potato
chips?"
"No, we're not allowed to
do that."
Up the down stair case.
Now I'm sorry, I'm not
trying to breath out my
last years as a student as
a perennial critic, and pos
sibly I wouldn't be any bet
ter as an administrator.
I'm possibly even being un
just, but I can't figure out
the reasoning behind the
ever-increasing bureaucracy
over there.
I would be interested in
hearing some unpressified,
undiluted verbiage come
out of that place some time.
Let me here parenthet
ically add that I see the
student assistant's (that's
dorm counselor for those of
you who don't recognize the
new Jargon) role as nothing
more than humanizing the
mechanical processes com
ing down upon his students
from above.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
"I thought this was sup
posed to be a veal cutlet,
but I can't even cut It"
Of. NlTlATION AVRAG S A Z.O . . .
If Caci. Sam Vozsn't Gtr Vav... tJe Do J
Sorry About That!
Being a compendium of farce, absurdity and
comment, selected arbitrarily by the Editor.
Historical Note of the Day: In 1786,
Mulch, Finland, invention of synthetic tar
tans, causes a revolution in the plastic industry.
I called one of our fraternity houses
yesterday. And who should answer but one
of the "driveling, sniveling, putridest, pun
iest pledges." I asked for one of the actives,
and the pledge kindly informed me that
"the Honorable Sir Mr. " was not in.
I vote to change the misnomer "frater
nity men" to the "driveling, sniveling"
idiots they are.
"In the recent run-off election in France,
45 voted for a Communist; the other 55
got one." (American Opinion.)
Guess you can't tell the players without
a scorecard.
The University of Southern California
has developed a new lab technique nude
models. The volunteers, recruited from the
art class contingent, are trained to simulate
various diseases for the would-be doctors to
diagnose. Sometimes, they are so convincing
that they fool the professionals.
Who admittedly may be temporarily
blinded. (Moderator magazine.)
President Johnson said a week or two
back: "I think the country overwhelmingly
supports the position we have taken (in Viet
Nam). I believe the members of the House
and Senate do likewise."
Wonder if he's had coffee with Senators
Morse or Fulbright lately?
Recent Comments: "The century would
have been good if man had not been tracked
down by his relentless, immemorial enemy,
by the carnivorous species that had set out
to slay him, by that hairless, sly beast, man
himself."
(From the play "The Condemned of Al
tona" by Jean-Paul Sarte.)
Foiled again! After writing about how
pleased I was with the recent diversification
of the Crib menu (the addition of the Reuben
sandwich), I must now relate that the sand
wich has been summarily dismissed.
The reason? Not enough being sold, a
Union attendant said. Wonder if that would
be the same excuse if hamburgers were
exiled from the Union.
We have to applaud IFC fer the origin
ality of the issues they consider. Wednesday
night the members discussed a particularly
new problem for Greek houses at the U
drinking. Naturally, IFC voted the motion
down, which Is probably one ef the most
worthwhile things they've done this year.
And ASUN well, now ASUN can ap
prove constitutions of organizations on the
basis of content, as well as form and clarity.
The senators, too, should be applauded.
They are so powerful that they can give
themselves more power with only three dis
senting votes. Shades of the expansion of the
"due process" clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment . . .
If you are not in the habit of reading
letters to the editor, we direct your attention
to the first one in Campus Opinion today.
It's one of the best.
After my blanket indictment of fratern
ity men above, I may not have a date this
weekend. I'm Sorry About That!
2IIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIII1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH
I Another Viewpoint
I University's Parenthood
Editorial Page Criticized
Dear Editor,
Congratulations on getting so many letters of con
gratulations. Your paper has been much better than ever
before with one exception: Your page two is the bleakest,
the blahest-positively the crappiest excuse for an editorial
page that has appeared in the rag since I became a student.
When you are not really trite, as you persist in being
when writing Sorry About That and your mealy-mouthed
backboneless editorials, you are running the work of very
immature columnists and as most often happens lifting
trite material from other trite papers.
This could be excused, if your editorials were up to
the par of a Hoegemeyer, or a Smithberger. Again, con
gratulations for the good work. For page two, sorry about
that.
EmilPeepka
Mittens, Booties and Keys
Dear Editor,
Your front page, being a collection of farce and absurd
ity, selected arbitrarily to pacify us or to draw occasional
comment, has prompted me to express some views hang
ing in the air currently.
The kids of the fairest sex, that have lasted three
years and are willing to try their fourth, will get to check
out keys when they go out at night and check them in (to
somebody taking her turn at "key duty") when they re
turn. Somebody will probably be there to help take off
their mittens and booties, too. Boy aren't we liberal. This
will prepare them for the big step into the cold, cruel
world the following year.
They will have attended orientations on how to unlock
the door, and will have read brochures on their respon
sibilities to the nurture and protection of the keys. After
all, isn't the biggest issue facing college girls nowadays
how to avoid the marriage trap while wading through red
tape in their Batman T-shirts? Wouldn't the administra
tion welcome the increased profit of a faster turnover of
females?
After a year at the finest party school in the Mid
west, a girl should have had her eyes opened as to the
location of the world, and her place to mess around in it,
etc., etc.
George Prentice
AWS Representation
Dear Editor,
We would like to congratulate the AWS Board on the
HUGE step it made in approving a senior key system.
It is interesting to note how the feelings of 350 out of
501 who favored keys for women 21 and seniors were con
sidered. As a representative body, the Board is certainly
doing a fine job.
We realize there are hundreds of women who turn 21
every day here at the University and we would not like to
have the members of the board overburdened. Taking care
of all the applications for keys which would come in each
day would certainly be a monumental task.
A highly qualified junior mentioned the "psychological
change" which takes place between one's junior and senior
years. Has she passed through this experience pre
maturely, or is she merely anticipating?
We are expected to believe that women who reach
senior status early are more responsible. We think that
everyone knows women who took extra hours or went to
summer school because they wanted to graduate early
and get married, or because they changed their major
and had to make up hours. Are these women more re
sponsible than women who don't go to summer school
and live under AWS regulations but instead live by them
selves, successfully, in apartments?
We would like to sympathize with the AWS Board
when they express concern over the "administrative prob
lems." However, most of the women on campus have
never been told what these problems are.
The red tape that women will have to go through to
get keys may just cut down on these problems.
We Know Better
On 'Construction' "Week
Dear Editor,
Who are we to judge who has the most worthy pei
sonality, whose character is most outstanding, or whose
moral code is just?
Construction week should have in parentheses CON
STRUCTIVE CONSTRUCTION. It's one thing to tear a
freshman down mentally, in fact some freshman have to
be shown that they are no longer in high school and they
aren't the big wheels they were in high school.
However, to tear one down physically is another story
altogether. Something should definitely be done about
fraternity construction week, because those poor souls
U 1 J 1 .1 I . . . .
anuumu i ue expeciea w go mrougn constructive hell.
Newly Activated
'Apathetic' Tag Resented
(Editor's Note: The fol
lowing Viewpoint was writ
ten by Mike Miller and Jim
Glrard for the Dally Kan
san. What they have to say
about 4'ln loco parentis" ap
plies just as much to the
University of Nebraska as
it docs to the University of
Kansas.)
A recent court case in
Iowa may shed some light
on the notorious politico
legal question of in loco
parentis. When his mother
died in a car crash several
years ago, Mark Painter
was taken in by his mater
nal grandparents. Mark's
father, Harold, a newsman
(Christian Science Monitor,
Oakland Tribune), who re
cently remarried and set
tled in California as a Job
Corps photographer, wants
Mark back. When the
grandparents refused,
Painter sued.
Two weeks ago, the Iowa
Supreme Court unanimous
ly ruled that Mark must
stay put. Their reasons
were enlightening. It seems
that Painter is "either an
agnostic or atheist. . ., has
read a lot of Zen Budd
hism," and is a "political
liberal." . . .
Also (and we're not mak
ing this up), the Court ac
cused Painter of offering
the child "more freedom of
conduct and thought" and
"more intellectual stimula
tion." On the other hand,
the grandparents could pro
vide a "stable, dependable,
middle-class, Middle West
background."
This is all interesting in
itself, of course, but it
seems to us that there is
a broader application to be
made, regarding university
policies. According to the
doctrine of in loco parentis,
the university assumes the
position of foster parent to
the student. As most stu
dents are aware, many leg
al questions have lately
been raised regarding the
functioning of this doc
trine. Most questions that have
been raised thus far In re
gard to in loco parentis
have been concerned with
whether the doctrine con
flicts With the Individual
rights of the students and
their former parents, and
whether the university can
insure a necessary degree
of freedom. Obviously, now,
this Is not the question.
Rather, we must ask, is
the university providing its
foster children a stable, de
pendable, middle-class, Mid
dle West background? Rath
er, is there not too great a
degree of personal freedom,
too much intellectual stim
ulation? And as for political
leanings, what about all
thtfse Democrats in the po
litical science and econo
mics departments?
The question, then, is,
does the University suffici
ently restrict personal and
intellectual freedom? In or
der to meet the requirement
of parenthood, the universi
ty must enact even more
stringent policies, forbid en
rollment in classes that
might present non-Middle-Western
ideas, require
Bible readings and chapel
attendance, and make sure
that there is no one more
liberal than a Goldwater
Republican on the universi
, ty staff.
In the light of the Iowa
decision, It plainly may be
seen that the university Is
sadly abusing the privileges
of In loco parentis.
Dear Editor,
I resent being tagged "apathetic" simply because I
didn't rally in support of the ASUN gunners and their
Cause.
I don't want a Faculty Evaluation Booklet.
If the project-peddling Activity Men of the Senate who
were so eager to evaluate the faculty had bothered to
make a quick evaluation of student sentiment, they would
have known a month ago that I'm not alone.
And, while this might not have stopped the Crusade
(after all, it's a long walk from ground floor to Innocents
on foot), it would at least have afforded sufficient time
to find a more suitable scapegoat than Apathy.
(I thought Apathy was reserved for the use of high
school editors in scathing editorials about cafeteria litter
and meager pep rally attendance.)
Does the Senate work for me or am I supposed to
work for the Senate? If it serves me, it had better find
out what I want (if, indeed, I want anything).
If not, fine. Let the gunners gun if they like, but don't
call me names when their projects fail to spark my in
terest and support.
Leonard
9&K
(Just Slightly Korrect)
Would you believe that the
administration is discrimin
ating against the last of a
vanishing breed the serious
'booker'. He's the one with
the scared look on his face
trying to get into Love Li
brary after 4:50 on a weekend
night . . .
Daily Nebraskan
Member Anociated Oil eg late
P r e i, National Advertising
Service, Incorporated. Published
at Room SI, Nebraska Union,
Lincoln Nebraska.
TELEPHONE: 4177-8711. Et
teniloai 2S88. 2588 and 2590.
EDITORIAL STAFF
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tfllor. lUVNt KKM W Hf fci p-irtf
. JIM I'KABHEl BltM nwi
liter, JON KEKkHoFlM enlor Hall
V!!.'. "KIN. BBUCK (ill.KM,
JIIUE MOKKfH; Junior Muff writer,
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