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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1966)
The Daily Nebraskan Monday, November 14, 1966 'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilliilliiliiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiliiliiiiiii i I'liiiniiiiiiii miiiiimiiij Page 2 f : 1 The First Right The University is not the only school in Nebraska where some students are be ginning to take education seriously enough that they want to do something about it something to improve it. This is shown by the recent "State ment Of Position" passed by delegates to the 1965 fall convention of the Nebras ka Student Government Association. In this statement the NSGA listed 16 fundamental student rights which the statement described as "indispensable to the full achievement of the objectives of higher education in a free democratic society." One of the first rights the NSGA listed was the right of students "to a clear and concise statement of their con tractual rights and obligations, and of their responsibilities to that institution" upon entering the school. The Daily Nebraskan feels that all the rights listed by the NSGA are im portant and necessary in an educational institution, but first the above right should be considered. Many of the other rights which the NSGA document lists, students already have in Nebraska schools but unfortunately these rights are not written down, speci fic or presented in any form so that students can be sure of them. It often seems that schools in Ne braskaespecially the University do everything possible to keep the policies vague and unclear so that even if the students do have certain "educational" privileges, the students are not en couraged to use them. In the next couple months the Ne braskan hopes that the University will be joined by the rest of the NSGA member schools in drafting similar state ments of positions or bills of rights that will make these rights reality on paper in every Nebraska college and university. The rights are essential to a demo cratic educational institution. They are essential because they cause students to accept responsibility, to think and to act fjan 3tkin Writes . . . like adults in an adult world. The rights are essential on paper so that students will have the courage and take the effort to use the rights and to act like they are In an educational in stutution of ideas and thinking. The Daily Nebraskan feels it is im portant for each University studei.: to be able to look at a list of rights which describes exactly what his role Is out side of class. We feel that rights such as the fol lowing should be specific and gathered in one organized document so that stu dents will know they exist and hopefully use them: The right of students to maintain democratic student government. The right of every student to exer cise his full rights and responsibilities as a citizen in forming and participating in campus, local and national organizations for intellectual, religious, social, political, economic or cultural purposes and to publish and or disseminate his views and those of hit organization on or off cam pus. The right of every student and student organization to conduct research freely and to publish, discuss and ex change either publicly or privately, any findings or recommendations. The right of every student to choose his living environment in accord with his rights and responsibilities as a citizen of a free democratic society. The right of students to petition proper channels for changes in curricu lum and or faculty. The right of students and recog nized student organizations to invite and hear speakers of their choice on subjects of their choice. The right of students to establish and issue publications free of any censor ship or other pressure aimed at control ling editorial policy, with the free selec tion and removal of editorial staffs re served solely to the organizations spon soring those publications. UP (Oceanic) That's What t Says Who Would HaveThunk It? A university is a strange being per haps even stranger than a mythical beast like the Jabberwocky or Flubbadub. It is a place where people are taught to be able "to live with themselves" as one scholar described education and w here hopefully students learn to take their place in society. Taking a look around the University, however, who would have thunk it? Women, regardless of age, if they are single and an undergraduate are forced to live in "University approved housing" (which consists of dorms or so rority houses unless "extenuating cir cumstances" exist). Women must also comply with re-, strictions on the number of nights they leave the sacred confines of this ap proved housing and go through assorted rigamorole of having a 25-year-old or older hostess, etc., etc. And one most not forget the penalties for not returning by the designated hour. Least someone mistakeably think that AWS is the villain of this tale, take a look at an area effecting men and wom en students alike under the in loco pa rentis system. A carload of freshmen are driving to a party and have a bottle of bourbon (an unopened bottle of bourbon at that) in the car. They are stopped by the police for making an illegal turn and the policeman checks the car and finds the bottle. Our Man Hoppe ZAP. Down to the police station they go where after two hours of questioning they are released and only the driver is charged. (He later appears In court and pays a $100 fine.) Now nothing has happened to the other five people. After all they were not charged with anything. They have been guilty of no crime. Two weeks later though all six stu dents find themselves in the office of student affairs being questioned about their "illegal activities". Who would have thunk it? Granted all six were on their way to consume the contents of the bottle, but since they hadn't as yet committed a crime in the eys of the law why were they interrogated by the office of student affairs? The villain is a short Latin phrase that unfortunately is not understood by some of the men who have the power it connotes. The phrase is in loco parentis and the Regents have the power to act in place of one's parents by state statute and they have impowered other agencies (obviously) to use this power as some of them aren't sure what it means. The students know, however, and should object if they believe the Univer sity should prepare them to live In a society where tbey must make their own decisions. The University prepares one to live in society? Who would have thunk It? The College Press Service EDITOR'S NOTE: The following editorial appeared in the Oct. 28 Chicago "Ma roon." Civil Rights as a campus issue is in the process of being redefined by those most involved in it and shortly will have to be re examined by almost every interested student. New men have been of fering new explanations for the condition of America's Negroes, and they have their own ideas for change. Because they depart signif icantly from more tradi tional analyses, these Ideas force new kinds of roles on those that adhere to them. The question of black power is of enormous n nificance for student cause it involves such f. . 3 definition of role for white students in the civil rights movement. Stokely Carmichael has succeeded in arousing con siderable ill will on the part of many who had consid ered themselves friends of the movement, because he has insisted that a Negro protest movement should be run by Negroes. The story is told of Cecil Moore, the renegade head of the Philadelphia NAACP, who remarked at the NAACP convention In Los Angeles that Kivie Kaplan, a grandfatherly Jewish man from Boston, should not be the organization's president. Moore observed that, "the day there's a Ne gro president of the B'nal B'rith then it will be all right to have Kaplan pres ident of the NAACP. What Moore was saying and what Carmichael has been saying is that there is nothing so debilitating for Negro self-esteem or the growth of "black consciou ness" as having whites di recting what essentially must be a Negro battle. White liberals on college campuses are faced with a difficult and very impor tant responsibility. That responsibility is the respon sibility of recognizing that Negroes need perhaps more than anything else the opportunity to make their own mistakes and win their own wars. Negroes, nnlike any other group in the history of the American melting pot, have tried to gain acceptance in the mainstream of Ameri can live by entering so ciety's pre-existing institu tions. Black power advo cates are saying that Ne groes can only enter the American mainstream by building their own Institu tions, just as every other group did. In the South, the superior a b i 1 i t y of white students from the North made it very easy for rural Negroes to rely on the student for leadership. This relationship, while very pleasant, was of little substantive benefit to t h e poor Negro who stayed behind in Meridian, Miss., while his summer compa triot returned to Scarsdale, New York. There w a s no more indigenous leadership in the community than there had been before. College students are faced with a painful but necessary duty. They have a duty to take orders from Negroes and to contribute money to civil rights groups without saying a word about how that money is spent. The activist has an even more difficult task. He must suddenly go to woik among a different group of people among the bigots whom he has spent h I s summers fighting. Instead of marching for open housing in Cicero, white college students have to go into Cicero and Mar quette Park and Chicago Lawn and try to convince the residents through any means they can that there is nothing to fear from a Negro next door. The new student role is a role for which we are uniquely qualified. Certain ly no Negro could try rea soning with a Mississippi redneck and there are few middleaged white sympa thizers who would want to try. The new role for the white student isn't as ex citing as picketing, as dan gerous as organizing, or as much fun as leadership. But it may prove more valuable than anything else. iiiiiNMiwniiiiiiimiiiiiimiiiiiiiiininiiiiiim Scrape The Loser Off J i a ptl Itmrtmtatta GUNNER'! Arthur Hoppe It was the morning after the election and a goodly crowd of new members was on hand for the traditional Morning-After Meeting of th2t huge but little-known service organization Los ers Anonymous. Standing on the rostrum beneath the club's banner "The People Have Spok en, the Bums" was the organization's experienced director, Mr. Stassen E. Ml haus. Rapping his gavel to qui et the hubbub of groans and moans, Mr. Milhaus cleared his throat and launched into his annual in spirational talk entitled, "The Evils of Politics." "Good morning, fellow losers. Welcome to the club. You have all, I'm sure, waged vigorous, hard hitting campaigns. And you all, of course, have lost. Re member, as you sit there with your heads in your hands, that we are here to help you. "Yes, friends, with our help, with your own strength of character and with Divine Guidance, yon will be able to" here, Mr. Milhaus paused for dramat ic effect "swear off po lities forever!" As usual at this point, there were cries of "Swear off!," "No more speeches?" and other expressions of horror. "There is no alternative," Mr. Milhaus said firmly. "Let us take a cold, hard look at the statistics: for every man who struggles through the primaries and the November elections to at last win political office there are, on a national av erage, 12.3 losers. Think of it, 12.3 to 1! Does it make sense to buck odds like that? Year after year? "True, there are a fortu nate few who can take po litics or leave them alone. But the first thing e most admit to ourselves is that we can't. For ns, the only answer Is total abstinence. "Oh, it won't be easy. Temptation will beckon at every cocktail party when Issues are raised. 'Well you'll think, 'a little social politicking won't huri.' Dent yield! For the next thing you know you'll be making speeches from the floor at your local P.T.A. meeting. And, oh, the hearti ness of the applause! "Carried away, you'll find yourself sneaking down to party headquarters to pore over old precinct lists. You'll be spending your nights with the boys In smoke-filled rooms. And you'H be grabbing the hands of total strangers on t h e streets "Then, inevitably, you'll succumb. Once again, you'll go off on a months long campaign binge forsak ing your family, squander ing your savings on bump er strips and whooping it up at rallies night after night. And once again, 12.3 to 1, you'U lose!" Mr. Milhaus paused to let this sink in. "Remember, friends," he said slowly, "politics is not a character weakness. It's a disease. You can be cured. When you feel that urge to shake a hand, to make a speech, call us night or day. "With total abstinence, you can be rehabilitated. You can be restored to your family and friends. Yes, fel low losers, by giving up po litics you can once again become a useful member of society." So eloquent was Mr. Mil haus' traditional appeal that, as usual, every man In the crowd w as convinced. As usual, each looked around at the others and said the same thing to him self. "He's absolutely right," each said, "about these oth er guys." One of the problems of student govern ment is that the campus politician moves about in his own head of steam, a fact which causes him to see even minor is sues with which he is concerned as being extremely relevant to the campus. Actually, student government can operate and thrive this way, with very little harm done to anyone (and it keeps the politicians out of some other, more worthwhile activities). But a thorny prob lem arises the farther back one stands from student government, the less im portant it becomes: its relevant issues become less and less meaningful, and its politicians seem more and more like a battalion of fresh, promotion-bent ROTC lieutenants sent out to fight a battle after the war has been lost. Its crime becomes more profound as issues that are really relevant are ignored or allowed to slip by because they will not justify themselves to the politician in terms of personal reward per unit time thought. But a welcome change is occurring in student government now. It has been largely brought about by a new breed of politician, one not previously Involved in government ("old" politicians have gener ally been prostituted by the game). Guided by some educational or philosop hical Idea, he Ignores the past non-record of student government and decides that student government can be worthwhile. But most important, this new politi cian sees student government as directly responsible for helping to provide students with a quality education a total edu cation that will provide the context for making life-decisions. And he works to put student government into a stance of active educational involvement. How did this new politician evolve? Though the roots go back several more years, for our purposes we can look back to the development of a single issue the Student Bill of Rights. Last year a group of liberal students outside of stu dent ogvernment saw the need for greater student involvement in the educational process and for greater student respon sibility in student concers. They saw the Student Bill of Rights as the means to prod for the passage of the BilL It was not necessary to get their own candidates elected they needed only to force open debate on the Bill, for the popular appeal of the Bill would force their opponents to take a stand at least moderately in favor of the Bill. Thus the Campus Freedom Demo cratic Party was born. Thus at the start of this year CFDP death-croaked into PACT, a political slate of the same tenor as Vox Populi, leav ing the Bill of Rights in the hands of the existing student government. The aew excitement in last year's e'ection how ever, has stirred some of the new people into student government so that when the issue of student rights came up, it fell naturally for the Student Conduct Com mittee to draft a Bill of Rights. He realized that the Bill of Rights gains meaning only in terms of larger goals, and thus his committee is now grappling with the concept of "total edu cation" in an attempt to find a context in which the Bill of Rights wiU bave meaning. The Bill of Rights precipitated a new interest in student government not as an activity through which political perverts may stumble into the Red Hood, but as an active, volatile force in the exciting, but difficult, process of education. The people in government must accept their responsibility as leaders and wholehearted ly take up the task of education the responsibility of educating each student to a greater understanding of what it means to be fully a student and fully a human in these times. Campus Opinion Greek Defends IDC Principle Dear Editor: As a member of the Greek System at the Univer. slty, I strongly object to Charlie Baxter's "Greek back lash" theory on the IDC Constitution. Although I am a Greek, I am also a student assis tant at Pound Hall. I encounter the problem of Inde. pendent-Greek relations quite frequently. The only rea son I have been able to discover for Independents being independent and Greeks being Greek is that they wanted it that way. There are all sorts of reasons for their choices, but it remains solely a matter of personal preference. Very few members of either group would change places if given the opportunity. The fraternity system should not have a corner on organization. The IDC Constitution opens new areas of opportunity for the 4,200 students living in residence halls. The Greek System includes only 10 per cent of the stu. dent body and this sort of "representation," cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered equal. The Independents need an organization to serve their Interests. The constitution has been defeated, but both opponents and supporters agree that the principle has not. Mr. Baxter's stand is ridiculous. His actions have set good Independent-Greek relations back at least 25 years. Meredith Ballard EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Nebraskan received many letters from Greeks who disagreed with Charlie Baxter and who wished the Independents success In organizing an interdorm council. Dear Editor: I have a friend that is going to Texas A&M who has written to me a crude but informing letter that I think should be partly published In the Daily Nebraskan. It tells of a situation which certainly should not develop here; this letter, in part, says: "I hope you are enjoying some amount of student freedom at NU, because Texas A&M students were blunt ly and rudely informed two weeks ago that they have little, if any. "The whole thing is an absurd farce. Our campus newspaper, "The Battalion," published an anonymous let ter critical of "The Former Students Association." Plan ned for the same issue of the paper was an article im plying that our holy administration was delaying the for mation of a certain "Political Forum." "This article was pulled at the last minute. The ad ministration then demoted the editor and eliminated the letters to the editor column. In other words, they assumed complete control of the paper. "I attended a student session at which our president tried to defend the administration's position. He failed, though, and was confronted by several angry senators and the demoted editor. "The editor and his staff were subsequently fired, and get this, a transfer student was made editor of the paper. The administration waived a university regulation which states that, the editor of the paper must have one year experience on the paper prior to his appointment. "To put it simply, all criticism of the university in the "student" newspaper has been systematically elimi nated. No letters critical to the university or the ad ministration are printed we have had no letters what soever in the paper for the past three weeks. "We are being rubbed under the thumb of a dic tator. And to take any overt action considered "bad" by the administration will result in suspension, as stated in the nniversity's regulations book. The school's motto has become: "Here no evil, speak no evil, see no evil," evil being criticism, and criticism being evil. "A situation which at Berkely or any other half-decent school would have caused . . . student riots caused hardly a ripple here, because students here cannot get organized; they cannot publicly demonstrate their opin ion for fear of being kicked out . . ." "I shall keep my friend's name anonymous (maybe for his own good). I pray that our University will not even approach such a horrible situation as has been just described. John W. Davidson An Independent View Dear Editor: My position at this university is primarily that of a student, next that of an independent. I am not ignorant of sorority life, but after a semester as a pledge, I found it not to my liking as an individual and therefore re signed. In the Wednesday (Nov. 10) edition of the Dally Ne braskan, a reader has challenged my concept of inde pendence. I feel that he Is reverting to an Immature Idea, of an eighth-grade rebellion against any kind of organization or discipline. I would like him to realize that without organization, leadership and understanding no student can successfully survive even as an individual on this campus. The fact that the University is greatly in need of an overall system of effectively governing the largest per. centage of its students the independent bru, must have failed to take effect upon him. His idea of the Ideals and goals set forth by the Greek system to govern an Individual group such as a fraternity or sorority are not, nor could not be, in general, those which coordinate the activities of those who are housed on this campus. I feel that his ignorance of the matter needs a great deal of enlightenment if he wishes to challenge the pride of two out of three students he passes on his way to classes who take an interest in their chosen situation at this university. Sandra Luttlcke Daily Nthraskan Nov. u. im TELEPHONE: 477-8711, Extensions 2588, 2589 and 25907 Member Associated Collegiate Press, National Ad fertlslng Service, Incorporated. Published at Room 5L Nebraska Union, Lincoln, Nebraska. ."r u. EDITORIAL STAFF Editor rv'artw Kreunher: Manaa-JM tliUx IxiU OutaDett New Editor Ju Itkiai N'irm New couv Bin lumen Sporta Editor Bub Fiaaiiirki Senior Weft H'rltefe, Jul M'imi. Raj-., Ire. ToX Victor, Neac rlrndrtrkewi Jimlor sun Writer. Cherrl Tr. Cheryl Dunlap. Joha Fryer. 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