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I CAMPUS '
I OPINION I
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Jo Stohlman, editor
Mike Kirkman, business manager
Page 2
Wednesday, April 6, 1966
18-Year-Old Voting?
A member of the United States House
of Representatives from Georgia, Charles
; Longstreet Weltner, has introduced a con
stitutional amendment which would set
." eighteen as the legal voting age in all of
the fifty states. The proposed amendment
' 'is now before the Judiciary Committee.
t , In his remarks to the House when he
introduced the resolution, Representative
Weltner explained his reasoning:
"Young people, ages 18 to 20, have
proven themselves worthy of the awesome
- tasks we place upon them. They are a
generation of dedication and ability.
"They can do many things, but
..fhere is one area where they are ex
cluded. For except in Georgia and three
other states, they cannot vote.
"They can fight and die . . . but they
cannot vote.
, "They can represent this great nation
in some remote outpost of civilization . . .
but they cannot vote.
"They can sacrifice their time and
energy in ministering to others ... but
they cannot vote.
. . "A Congress so firmly dedicated to the
principle of voting rights should move now
to extend the franchise to these young
Americans. We have placed upon "these
Americans the duties of citizenship. Let us
now extend to them the basic right of citi
zenship." What Representative Weltner savs
about 18-year-old voting does make
sense at least to the legislatures
of four states.
We agree that generally eighteen-year-olds
should be allowed to vote. We feel
that the maturity of today's eighteen-year-old
and his knowledge of government and
current affairs and possibly even his in
terest in government surpasses that of the
eighteen-year-old of a generation or two
ago.
But we feel that extending the fran
chise to those eighteen and above should
be left to the states' discretion. In the 178
years that the Constitution has been in ef
fect, only 25 amendments have been added.
And eight of these amendments were added
as a Bill of Rights.
Therefore, we believe that a con
stitutional amendment must be made
. only in the case of an extreme need,
and it mast be made only after there
is sufficient evidence that an evil will
be corrected and a great amount of
good will be derived from it.
We believe the majority of eighteen-year-olds
to be capable of knowledgable
and intelligent voting. But it is not for us
to say, nor for the Congress, that this is
true of the majority of youth in every state.
Thus, we would encourage our own
state to evaluate its voting age re
quirements, along with other states,
and then have each state to franchise
their eighteen-year-olds as they see fit.
The issue does not necessitate "a consti
tutional amendment.
Apply X's avk Os to Apjwcpriddc areas
diusmcj appropriately bonnj features.
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Editor's Note: We would
like to see the University
adopt a program similar to
the one outlined in the fol
lowing article. It's a sensi
ble system.
Rochester, N.Y. (LP.)
Undergraduate students
in the University of Ro
chester's College of Arts
and Sciences may elect to
receive a grade of "satis
factory" or. "fail!' in one
course each semester, start
ing with the spring semes
ter. The new system, which
has been authorized bv the
faculty of the College, is de
signed to reduce the pres-
sure for grades and to en
' able students to become
more "venturesome" in
their choice of courses, ac
cording to Dean Kenneth
. E. Clark.
! It is being initiated as the
result of studies made by
;two faculty groups of the
J college and a student com
, mittee.
I Associate Professor Rob-
A Progressive System j SOYTJ AoOUt That!
ert G. Sutton, chairman of
the Committee on Academ
ic Policy, said the new
grading system was "an ef
fort on the part of the facul
ty to lessen the stress on
grades as a means to an
end." He said it is designed
"to encourage students to
elect courses in which they
are interested but which
they believe might be diffi
cult for them."
(University of Rochester
undergraduates customari
ly take four courses each
semester; of these, only one
can be graded under the
new system and the rest
will be graded according to
the traditional marking
system A.B.C, etc.)
Professor Vincent Now lis,
chairman of the Committee
on Improving Instruction,
said the reduced emphasis
on grades "hopefully will
motivate the student to ex
plore areas which he might
avoid if he were essentially
interested in maintaining
bis grade point average.
"It allows him to become
involved in independent re
search or honors courses
which he might otherwise
shun. It permits him to
have the experience of
learning the essential core
of a course without the cor
ruption of 'grubbing' for a
grade," he added.
Professor X o w 1 i s noted
that it has been found that
students work as hard in
courses under systems like
the new Rochester plan as
they do under traditional
grading systems.
Under the University of
Rochester plan, an instruc
tor will submit a letter
grade (A,B, etc.) for stu
dents who elect a course on
the Satisfactory-Fail basis
as well as for other stu
dents. These grades will be kept
on file and only the S or
F grade, as appropriate,
will be reported to the stu
dent and recorded on his
transcript. This procedure
will enable a student to ob
tain his specific letter
grade at a later date if he
so desires.
Lost Cool
Ey LIZ AITKEN
, To some people this col-
umn is going to seem as if
I it were nourished on t h a t
perennial fruit that grows
'.so abundantly cm the cam
pussour grapes. Eut may
I assure you that this is not
the case, or at least not
. . consciously.
; It has been my observa-
tion on this campus that
; certain interview pror-ed-
ures are dead wood. They
are' useless wastes of time
. and serve no real purposes.
Mind you, I said certain in
'.. terviews.
I can see the reasons for
interviews that make their
1 selections from masses of
workers or that bave as
their duty the selection of
queen candidates. There if
; no other way to choose
among people from such a
; wide scope and with whom
you've bad so limited con
tad. No, I'm talking about in
, terviews that take place be
' tween stepping-down top ex
ecutives of an organization
. and committee chairmen or
their equivalents. If t h e s e
executives have done any
sort of job at all, they know
each of the candidates and
their work.
They know which ones
have merely been filling a
position and which ones
I have been truly beneficial
. to the organization. These
executives know tor should
know) which applicants can
. fulfill the necessary require
, m e n t s of administrative
worii vii whicb imttt are
in accordance with the bas
ic goals and premises of the
group.
These executives know all
of this information long be
fore interview time rolls
around and they have a pret
ty good idea who will fit
which position. Well, t h e
time for the change-over
comes and what happens?
The officers of the organ
ization schedule interviews
for the prospective offic
seekers. The candidates file
in, one by one, and present
themselves before the inter
viewing board which con
siKts usually of tbe out-going
officers and the group's fac
ility advisor.
The interviewee then is
subjected to a questioning
period that lasts anywhere
from nine to twenty min
utes. Now I ask you, what
can that interviewee say in
such a short period of time
that can change the collec
tive mind of a group of peo
ple that has seen him do his
work, whether it be good or
bad, for one entire year?
lie can say absolutely
nothing to change a nega
tive opinion of him and if
the board is already in fa
vor of him, his words are
merely redundant.
Why then do the candi
dates themselves and the
members of the interview
ing board continue to play
a time-consuming charade?
(After all, tbe candidates
usually waste several hours
preparing for the interview
and the board has to chalk
off one entire day.)
1 wippoke tbe reason lies
in some sort of need to es
tablish an alibi of democrat
ic procedure for tbe selec
tion of the organization's
new executives. But a dem
ocratic selection is a lot of
bogwash, both realistically
and in theory
Both you and I know that
selection of officers is n o t
done on a democratic basis,
nor should it be. The qual
ities reeded to adequately
fill certain executive posi
tions in campus organiza
tion's workers.
What's more the candi
date's record of year-long
work is a far better basis
for picking and choosing
than a fifteen minute mono
logue of memorized facts
and "goals of our organiza
tion." No, it is not a matter of
condemning interviews or
what goes on in tbeir pro
cess. It is more Just a mat
ter of simply deploring tbe
waste of manpower that
goes into tbe institution of
interviews simply because
people don't want to be re
alistic and face tbe facts.
(Just Slightly Korrect)
Just out of curiosity . . .
why is the SS Joard taking
fingerprints with the draft
tests? To discriminate the
teKt-takers or to be prepared
to ship tbe demonstrators off
on a moment's notice (i.e.
Michigan University)?
Being a compendium of farce, humor and
comment, selected arbitrarily by the Edi
tor. . .
Historical Note of the Day: In 1899,
Kibitz, Hungary, a pack of starving wolves
attacks the Phi Alpha Pi Annual Hayride
and Rush Party. In 1958, University of Ne
braska, a pack of deranged students at
tack their professors just before vacation.
Thought for the Day: Only 15 hour ex
ams and five term papers before vacation.
Did you know: Students no longer
come to classes just to get good grades.
Tbeir grades are now sent to them.
I think it's idiocy to say that university
students get no experience - which suits
them for the business world. They get
abundant experience in cheating.
I have an instructor whose words are
immortaL They never seem to end.
Is the Greek system really deterio
rating? Of course not, as all Greeks
know who beard the speaker, (that is,
bothered to go bear tbe speaker) at
the Greek Week convocation Monday
night. Then there were tbe two or three
fraternities who attended.
Al Capp is just slightly fantastic. On
the Johnny Carson TV program Monday
night, he discussed his visit to the Uni
versity. He told Carson that he visited 27
fraternities here who told him that Carson
was one of their alums.
Nebraska University students were a
little strange, according to Capp. "They
were the only kids who didn't bombard me
with questions about sex. Either they
aren't interested or they know all the answers."
The Colorado Dally bannered the
headline: "Spring Break Canceled."
The top story headline read: "Univer
sity Student Found Dead in Elevator"
and the lead read, "Well-known student
activist Argyle Plimpton was found
starved to death Thursday night inside
the UMC elevator."
Another headline proclaimed: 'CU
Students Seek Beer, Sex, Kicks."
The issue was CU's version of a
Pink Rag. (But they didn't quite have
the Nebraskan's class. It was printed
on tbe nsual white paper.)
A while back, we said that Chancellor
Hardin's house was the house which the
students' jack built Since then, we have
been duly corrected funds for the house
did not come from students.To the Chan
cellor, we're Sorry About That!
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Another Viewpoint
! Class Attendance I
Letter Correction
Editor's Note: Due to a mechanical error, a line was
lost in a letter in the Daily Nebraskan Monday entitled
"Senior Honoraries' Purpose." It was written by Shirley
Voss, president of Mortar Board and Skip Soiref, president
of Innocents.
The corrected paragraph is:
"Mortar Boards and Innocents are not campus organ!
xations but rather honor societies whose purpose is to
recognize individuals for outstanding scholarship, leader,
ship and service. It is not the intent of the societies to
exert political influence as a group in campus issues or or.
ganizations. Rather, the individual members of the socie
ties exert influence by virtue of the position they hold or
the knowledge they have gained through several years of
experience."
The Daily Nebraskan extends our apologies for this
error.
Disappointed With Letter
Dear Editor,
I was considerably disappointed with the clarification
of the esteemed Miss Voss and Mr. Soiref as to the pur
pose of the senior honorary societies. It is more than sad
that these two individuals see neither the insidiously de
structive nature of their organizations nor their failure to
stimulate achievement Within the University student body.
Both presidents state that their purpose is to "recog
nize individuals for outstanding scholarship, leadership, and
service." Would that were all! Certainly, I would be the
first to agree that within their ranks are some of the most
talented and capable individuals at the University. Certain
of their members have INDIVIDUALLY contributed much
to the University community: Buzz Madsen, Frank Partsch,
Kent Neumeister, and perhaps one or two Mortar Boards.
If, however, it is not the intent of the societies to exert
influence (political or otherwise) as a group in campus
issues, why do they? Surely they cannot deny that when
ever an idea is presented or a project is attempted that
their shadow always lurks behind the person instigating it
(especially if he is a junior). He always wonders which
Innocent is against this idea or which member of the
hooded herd he will impress.
Why does the Society almost consistently express the
negative aspects of any idea? Because of this vapid in
timidation, fewer good ideas are expressed and fewer posi
itive programs are instituted.
There is also a second reason why I have been disap
pointed in our senior honorary societies. The two presi
dents state, "the members of the societies feel that their
first and foremost obligation is to the University and to
the campus organizations in which they hold positions of
leadership."
If so, why didn't Skip Soiref accept the speaker pro
tempore of the student senate? It would seem that such a
recognized leader would be invaluable as a leader in a
new student government Surely a University cannot exist
without its students. If so, then the prime interest of the
faculty, administration, and organizations should be the wel
fare of the students individually and as a group.
Where were the Innocents (with the notable exception
of Larry Frolik) when important issues and elections came
before the IFC? In whose best interests was the Mortar
Board's stand on senior keys? As noted leaders of our
campus community, shouldn't they take a more active in
terest in problems vital to the student interests: the pro
posed tuition hike, a faculty-course evaluation book, a bet
ter faculty, a more perceptive and creative administra
tion? When was the last time the Society ever made a public
statement concerning the role of the student body within
the University community? What have they done to promote
the kind of climate every University must have if it is even
to approach the educational? When was the last time the
Innocents as an organization said anything about anything?
Why should individuals, many of whom" contributed
greatly during the three years before they joined the So
ciety, all of a sudden retire from the active University com
munity? Many a man occasionally gets tired of the con
stant grind of work and responsibility but for a year at a
time!
Could it be possible that all these men sought was
membership in the Society and that once they achieved
this they felt they could melt back into the faceless mob,
drop all responsibility, ignore any possible greater achieve
ment? Why is it that seniors outside the Society appear to ac
complish so much more than those within? Bob Samuel
son, Jim DeMars, and John Lydick (to name a few) ac
complished more during their senior years than all of the
Innocents combined. Surely there must be better criterion
for the existence of these two organizations other than mere
tradition.
But what is it? If there isn't Any, their perpetuation is
a sad commentary upon the organizations, their mem
bers, and our University student body as a whole.
Bill Minier
Iowa State Daily
Several weeks of classes
have crept by. Students
now have had time to dis
cernwhether their profes
sors take attendance and-or
care whether anyone shows
up for class.
Some instructors tell stu
dents to be there every
class period unless excused
by an affidavit from a sur
geon, with the threat of an
otherwise lowered grade.
Other professors wouldn't
mind lecturing to a vacu
um as long as the students
came to the final but this
breed of instructor is more
rare.
Should a professor take
attendance into account
when giving a grade? Con
sider his arguments. If a stu
dent is not in class, he can
not gain from the lecture or
discussion.
This is true, if tbe instruc
tor doesn't act as a mouth
piece for the textbook and
if be provokes worthwhile
discussion. Also, the fewer
students present, the fewer
people to contribute ideas to
make a divcussion a valid
point.
However, required at
tendance may be a matter
of the professor's pride, not
concern for a lack of
pongei to soak up the ma
terial or to contribute. Per
haps the professor knows
few people would show up if
given a choice. But a class
room of sleeping, but dutiful,
noletakers is a poor alter
native to a mass of empty
seats.
Admittedly, there are
s o me classes where ab
sences only handicap the
student a lab class where
the information gained is by
doing, for example conduct
ing an experiment, giving a
speech, drawing, or in physi
cal education class, where
practice is essential.
Some professors, wanting
their students to come to
class and yet wanting to
avoid any ultimatum, use
other tactics. At the begin
ning of tbe quarter, they
announce that pop quizzes
will be given, and advise
that these shouldn't be
missed.
Possibly they let the stu
dents know they will ran
domly call on class mem
bers, and that they take a
dim view of tbeir questions
passing unanswered.
Tbe results from the ap
proaches are tbe same. At
tendance becomes a bonus
for those who never miss,
fate for those who've
skipped.
Is it safe for the profes
sor to assume that the stu
dent who does skip class is
not interested and is not
getting the material simply
because he's absent, and
therefore should be penal
ized? This will be decided by
the tests. It is possible the
student has found a m o r e
profitable and less time
consuming way to absorb
the material, particularly if
the professor is so unbear
ably boring and repetitious
that he would be better off
chatting more informally
with students over coffee in
the Union, imparting the
same information.
Being courteous by com
ing to class to contribute,
using fear of pop quizzes
and the threat of lowered
grades, and appealing to
guilty consciences are
strong, but not sound moti
vations for a professor to
get students to class.
Requiring attend
ance, whether specifically
stated or not, by these
methods assures tbe profes
sor of an audience, and the
student of a possible grade
change. But it avoids tbe
question of whether a stu
dent could spend class lime
doing more worthwhile
things.
Red Expansion In Viet Nam
Dear Editor,
The Chinese Communist view of world peace is dem
onstrated by this excerpt from a letter sent to the Central
Committee of the Soviet Communist Party by the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on June 14,
1963:
"But how can war be abolished? This is how Lenin
viewed it: 'Our object is to achieve the socialist system of
society, which, by abolishing the division of mankind into
classes, by abolishing all exploitation of man by man, and
of one nation by other nations will inevitably abolish all
possibility of war.'
"However, certain persons now actually bold that it ii
possible to bring about 'a world without weapons,, without
armed forces and without wars' through 'general and com
plete disarmament while the system of imperialism and
of exploitation of man by man still exists. This is sheer
illusion.
"An elementary knowledge of Marxism-Leninism tells
us that armed forces are the principle part of tbe state
machine and that a so-called world without armed forces
can only be a world without states."
In view of the fact that we believe there is somewhat
more "exploitation" going on, in, say, Tibet than in tbe
U.S., that a "world without states" is a rather obnoxious
idea to those of us who favor the continued existence of
the Lnited States, and that there are grave doubts that
Communist world domination would, in fact, bring world
peace, these Communist conditions for world peace are un
acceptable. Yet world peace is essential hi a nuclear age. So it
stands to reason that something must be done to change
the minds of the Communists who make the conditions.
South Vaet Nam, as has been endlessly pointed out
provides almost perfect conditions for the current brand of
Communist expansion. If this expansion can be frustrated
there, perhaps the Communists will realize that it can be
frustrated anywhere. And then perhaps they will change
tneir conditions for peace to something more acceptable
than complete Communist victory.
, if Communist use of force is successful In South
Viet Nam we can hardly expert them to suddenly abandon
such a useful instrument for world domination.
Ray Wilson
