Nebraska Newspapers

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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editorial!
Commentary
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1967
Page 2
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Now A Student Vote
The Bill of Rights is now ready for a
student vote.
In the Daily Nebraskan's opinion,
this bill does not represent all the feel
ings or strong principles that it should.
We feel that the Preamble, Article V and
other parts of the bill have been watered
down and changed because of confusion,
politics and reactionary tendencies.
Right Direction
But, nevertheless, the bill is a step
in the right direction for the students. It
does represent the rights of students and
it should be beneficial to future student
governments.
The Daily Nebraskan strongly en
courages all students to support the bill,
but even more important we feel that
students must insist that ASUN executive
candidates clearly explain their feelings
toward the bill before the April 12 elec
tion. Students must ask that candidates
explain what they would do with the bill;
if they see it as a statement of general
principle; if they see it as a mandate
for future student action; or if they see
it as a mandate for immediate action.
Housing Amendment
Furthermore it is important that
candidates explain exactly which housing
amendment (Article V) they support and
what they feel the two choices mean.
If candidates see the two choices un
der Amendment V as contradictory, then
the candidates must explain the contra
dictions and what they represent. Candi
dates must clarify what will be done if
they are elected after the Bill of Rights ,
is approved.
As we said above, the Bill of Rights
as it stands is a step toward making
student government more meaningful
and clarifying student rights, however,
the Nebraskan would like to compliment
those students who did stand for higher
principles in the bill than now exist.
Deserve Praise
Those students who studied the b i 1 1
carefully since September and disregard
ed politics and status quo circumstances
in deciding their final vote deserve much
praise. These are the sort of student
leaders which a meaningful student gov
ernment needs.
The Nebraskan would like to espe
cially commend those students who real
ized there is a difference between an
ideal statement of principles and imme
diate, irrational action. There was a dif
ference among the students who stood
for as strong a bill' of rights as possible.
Some wanted a strong bill of rights so
that the students could demand immedi
ate change and action. Others wanted as
meaningful a bill as posjible in order to
make it a statement of principle much
like the United States Bill of Rights.
Great Turnout
However, disregarding the differ
ences in opinion regarding the bill's d i f
ferent articles, it is now important that
every student leader work to encourage
as great a student turnout in favor of the
bill as possible.
Too many students have worked too
long on the bill to neglect it now. Every
body must encourage students to vote
for the bill and to show strong student
support.
Innocents At Home
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following ed
itorial was written by Howard Moffett,
who is a Collegiate Press Service corre
spondent in Vietnam. A series of stories
from Vietnam by Moffett have been
printed in the Daily Nebraskan since last
semester. This is the first editorial he
has written on the subject.)
The Vietnam war has hit our gener
ation like a knife cutting through butter.
It is complex and we want fast, easy
answers. It is years old and we are
young. It is many little confusing con
crete things, and we like to speak in
sweeping generalities. It will go on for
years one way or another and we are
already tired of thinking about it.
Other Problems
The war landed on top of the other
problems our fathers hadn't solved (we
may be more sensitive than any previous
generation to the faults of our forebears).
Our hero, John Kennedy, had been tak.
en from us, and an anti-hero, Lyndon
Johnson, left in his place. We never did
assimilate the fact that Kennedy did
more to shape U.S. policy in Vietnam in
his three years than Johnson has in the
years since.
The war came in the wake of the
greatest student activism since the '30's
the civil rights movement. It came as
the Cold War was being exposed as a
myth perpetuated by vulgar politicians
with a vested interest in ignorance. The
world was being remade, and we had
discovered it almost before anyone else.
These things turned Vietnam into the
most explosive campus issue in a gener
ation. The question neatly divided in
formed, active students into two camps:
belligerent supporters and bitter oppon
ents of U.S. policy. If there was any mid
dle ground, it was held not by moderated
but by those who weren't interested. It
was, after all, a dirty little war in a
country nobody knew where, and why
should I care?
Innocence Of Concerned
Those who have better things to do
than worry about Vietnam's don't need
to justify themselves. More disturbing is
the Innocence of the Concerned.
Those of us who" are emotionally com
mitted to one side or the other are prob
ably more anguished by this war than
we have been over any other public is
suebecause there seems to be nothing
we can do about It. By choice or cir
cumstance, we are spectators, and poorly
Informed ones at that. Because we look
at the war from far away, and because
we understand very little of the compli
cated reactions of the Vietnamese them
selves, our anguish is closer to that of
the teenager seeking to justify his mor
al Indignation than to the adult forced to
deal with suffering.
To many of us, it is more important
that our position be vindicated than that
the suffering should stop.
Civil Rights
Part of this innocence is the heri
tage of the civil rights movement. Many
of us stood up and were counted on be
half of human rights at Albany or Selma.
We marchd and fought against clear-cut
evil, and some of us even went to jails
to demonstrate our convictions. We won
some significant victories, or helped oth
ers to. They were victories of courage,
justice and morality but they were in
nocent victories.
You don't lose your innocence by fight
ing evil. The end of innocence comes
when you realize that you are caught
If only by association in a struggle that
Is not black and white; in which there
la morality on both sides as well as pow
er; and in which decent people with
names, caught between the two sides,
must bear the brunt of the suffering while
you are free to return to your books and
a cold beer.
Those who are not spectators in this
year Vietnamese soldiers, Viet Cong,
guerillas, peasants, refugees, mothers
and children, young teachers, American
GI's, and North Vietnamese regulars are
tougher than we are, like Secretary Mc
Namara. To To War
War is all many of them have ever
known. When Americans go to war, they
go where their wives and children will
not be disturbed by it to Europe, Cuba,
Korea, Vietnam. When the Vietnamese go
to war, they turn their cities and farms
into battlefields, and their wives and
daughters are often the first victims.
"Les petits, ils n'ont jamais connus la
paix," my landlord's uncle said the other
day.
Many on both sides have been shot
at far more than twenty years; they may
be forgiven for living their lives with the
same resignation that an American fra
ternity boy drinks beer on Sunday after
noon. They never knew innocence, that
peculiar combination of moral indignation
and non-participation.
One of the reasons that American
wars have always been so glorious is that
traditionally they have come at thirty
year intervals and have lasted just long
enough to provide each generation with a
set of heroes. Except for the Civil War,
our social fabric was never seriously
threatened by them. In between wars life
went on. Developments in the arts and
sciences, agriculture, industry and leis
ure rounded out a history for which war
provided primarily the color.
One Long War
By contrast, Vietnamese history is
one long war. Vietnam has never been
free from the threat of foreign invasion
by the Chinese, the Mongols, the Jap
anese, the Chams, the Khmers, the Por
tuguese, the French, the Americans But
even in those brief periods when foreign
enemies have not threatened, the Vietna
mese have fallen to fighting among them
selves. As a result, Vietnamese history is
largely a record of what has been de
stroyed or saved rather than what has
been built. One of the country's biggest
problems today is that much of its top
young talent has never had the opportun
ity to experiment with constructive pro
grams in any field.
In this Confucian society which rec
ognizes four ranks among the populace:
scholars, farmers, artisans and mer
chantssoldiers have traditionally been
disdained. Yet they have written the bulk
of their country's history, and they are
continuing to do so despite lack of in
spiration in the script and lack of en
thusiasm among the audience.
To Stop Killing
From most on-scene accounts, apathy
and war-weariness have been a p r o b 1 e m
to the Viet Cong as much as to the
ARVN. The fact that both ARVN and
Viet Cong are still unwilling to stop kill
ingand the fact that many Vietnamese
are not really sympathetic to either side
(i realize this contrrdicts several popu
lar stereotypes, but it is Increasingly
clear to anyone who has spent some time
in Vietnam and talked with several class
es of people) and should give us pause
who insist that this is a simple war,
black and white, and that solving it calls
mostly for moral indignation.
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Our Man Hoppe
Legalize The Banana
fly
Arthur Hoppe
Following is another un
written chapter in that un
published reference book,
"A History of the World,
1950 to 1999." The title of
this one is 'The Great Ba
nana Split."
Legal Banana
The news from Berkeley,
California, in March of 1967
that hippies had discovered
psychedelic properties in
the common banana caused
grave concern. The gravest
concern, of course, was
that the banana was per
fectly legal.
At first, hippies would
scrape the inside of, the
banana skin, dry the scrap
ings and smoke them a
painstaking process known
as "taking a trip on a ba
nana peel."
But with further research
a simple receipe was de
veloped for a banana split,
best summed up by the
slogan: "First you take a
banana, then you split."
Banana split parlors
opened coast-to-coast; "Ba
nana Surprise" was served
at all jet set parties: and
Chiquita Banana was re
vived, now wearing ironed
hair and leotards, to sing
hourly over the radio,
"Don't Put Bananas in the
Refrigerator (Put them in
the humidor, instead)."
"Do you realize," thun
dered moralists, "that ba
nanas are being openly sold
in our once sacrosanct gro
cery stores?"
Powerless
But police were pow
erless. It had taken an Act
Slaying Of The Dragons
Being fervently swept up in the broad-minded and
progressive spirit of our state's centennial year, I have
recently discovered in ancient library records a docu
ment of some interest.
It's faded title was only after a close scrutiny dis
cerned as, "Slaying Of The Dragons, Or, The Progress
of Thirteenth Century Feudalism", and since its ancient
words could easily be set to music, I hereby submit it
as antiquity's contribution to the growing list of poten
tial state songs.
In feudal times, the age of chivalry,
There was a land of rich sterility,
A land which rose through trouble and distress
To reach Olympian heights of barrenness,
And once inhaling such a vacuous air
The People stood united, and would swear
That nought would ever force them down from there.
The land was called Nekrabas, so they say,
And governed was in a most mystic way,
"United must we be," became the cry
And "Let's be different," echoed to the sky
Two ruling councils seemed so plebeians
Nekrabas chose to harbor only one
A great and lofty group, non-partisan.
For many years, the pilgrims wand'ring from
This gloriously blank Elysium
Were not the old, for satisfied were they,
'Twas only just the young who fled away.
The hoary fathers, sitting round the land
Contentedly, cared not to understand
Why youth leapt to the Piper's beck'ning hand.
A century the land thus slumbered deep
When "Annus Mirabilis" broke its sleep.
The cry went up, "A monster's coming near!"
"It's DSTI", they cried, and shrank in fear.
"The crops won't grow!", rang out the cry abroad,
"Why aren't such evil denizens outlawed"
"This beast will surely kill the Time of God!"
But evil comes, they say, in torrent streams
For soon the air held still more frightened screams
"The devil is upon us!", rose the cry
"Two more such hideous monsters drawing night!"
"They've come to take our money," many vowed.
"God save the populace!", they screamed aloud
As Taxasion and NU Budget loomed before the crowd.
But happily the citizens, clutching at their coins,
Felt a surge of bravery and girded up their loins.
Deep from tha verdured country "Unity!" they yelled,
The same from Amaho and Lonclln rushing swelled,
Then was the monsters' blood soon running red and deep
Then from Texasion and NU Budget life did seep
While to God's Time Nekrabas nestled back to sleep.
Jonathan Quick
of Congress to outlaw LSD
and it would take another
to ban the banana. A b i 1 1
was introduced and emer
gency hearings were begun
before the Congressional
Committee on Moral
ity, whose chairman inter
rupted his annual around-the-world
trip to investigate
sin, vice and dancing girls
first hand, in order to be
present for news photog
raphers. The State Department
testified that a banana ban
would "seriously impair
our friendly relations with
our great sister republics to
the South" and the United
Fruit Company.
The President, however,
was firm. "I will go any
where at any time to talk
to anyone about morality,"
he said, "unless there are
reasons I don't think
I should."
This prompted the junior
Senator from New York
to make a bold speech say
ing he was for morality and
also for bananas and also
for young people, who were
reaching voting age in
ever-increasing numbers.
Banana Ban
At last, after only eight
months debate, Congress
voted. As always, it voted
overwhelmingly in favor of
morality. All the Congress
men then went off on jun
kets and the Great Banana
Ban went into effect.
Hundreds were arrested
for spllinf, possessing or
smoking bananas. Moral
ists relaxed. "The country
is saved," they said.
That's when a hippie in
Omaha City discovered
that Swiss chard and
marshmallow sauce turned
you on.
Outlaw Potatoes
The Swiss Chard Ban the
following year was hailed
by moralists and small
children. In succeeding
years, Congress, desper
ately trying to keep up with
research, outlawed po
tatoes, tomatoes and all
health foods, one by one.
But when a mixture of
mothers' milk and yogurt
was found psychedelic,
Congressmen threw up
their hands.
"You can't attack moth
ers' milk," said on.
Finally, in reaction, a
bill was passed saying any
body could eat, drink, or
smoke anything he liked as
long as he didn't hurt any
body else.
Oddly enough, about the
same small percentage of
people who wanted to turn
on, went on turning on. And
the vast majority who '
didn't, didn't.
The only difference was
that, turning on wasn't
nearly as thrilling.
Campus Opinion
Higgledy-Piggledy
Dear Editor:
Higgedy-piggledy,
Knobby-kneed Koffeemann
Said to the Univer
sity of Neb.,
"Matriculationwise,
Students should pay more for
Knowledge in Sep than was
1 Charged during Feb."
Blifily-snifily,
Chincy Stiff Harmlessly
Said, "If tuition must
Rise, keep your cool,
"For some experts say that,
Financially-speaking,
An increase would keep some
Frosh out of school."
Jabbery-wockery,
Grand vizier Koffeeman
Said to Old Chincy Stiff,
"Don't be so grim."
t "Don't change the housing regs
Selleck-Pound-Cather-wise,
And we'll keep all the dorms
Filled to the brim.
To be read strictly in didactic double dactylic.
Allan T. Kestner
Question For Dean Ross
Dear Editor:
Recently, I was in attendance at the discussion on
University Housing policy held at the Union. I consider
the presentation profitable, though I wish that the many
questions of the audience could have been presented to
the panel.
Owing to the act that time could not permit my
question to be read, I submit it here for the general
public in hopes that someone can justify criterion I pre
sently doubt, and that the Ad Hoc Committee on Hous
ing and the Student Senate will consider it when making
future appraisals of "University Housing Policy".
Question: Why do students who decide mid-year to
discontinue University enrollment (by transferring, dropp
ing out or graduating) have the privilege of one penalty
payment for breaking their dormatory housing contract,
while those students who decide mid-year to discontinue
only dormatory living and move into other housing are
forced to pay an $80 penalty, though they signed identi
cal contracts?
I posed this same question to the Dean of Student
Affairs (Dean G. Robert Ross). I think that I would be
repesenting his views when I say that he answers the
question contending that the complier is a University
student and when he is no longer such, he is no longer
held to the agreement.
It is not my intention here to smear an adminis
trator, but rather my intention is to question the credi
bility of the reasoning of the many administrators sup
porting this particular aspect of housing policy. In my
mind Dean Ross' answer does not justify such a policy.
It would seem to me that, whether the administra
tion realizes it or not, this $80 penalty definitely discim
inates against those students who, after having lived in
the dormatories, decide they prefer another type of hous
ing and do not wish to wait a full year to make the
change. In a rephrasing of my previous question, then
I ask:
What right has the University to penalize students
who decide that they dislike the dormatories when the
University does not peanlize students who decide that
they dislike the University as a whole?
R. Court Olson
O.S.U. Liberalizes Housing
Dear Editor:
Recently there has been a series of editorials and
letters to the editor protesting the present ill-defined rules
of housing regulations for students at the University. Al
though I am not affected by housing regulations, I ad
vocate that the administration and the faculty and Stu
dent Senate should modernize the present conservative
housing policy.
Consider the situation at Oregon State University,
where recently President J. Jensen approved a recom
mendation for a liberalized plan for juniors with paren
tal permission to live where they wish beginning fall
term, 1967.
O.S.U.'s Dean of Students Robert Chick endorsed the
University's Student Housing Committee's proposal: "It
will provide student's opportunities for further growth and
maturation. This is a major aim and purpose here at
the university (O.S.U.). Students are given an opportun
ity to assume responsibility for their own decisions and
actions."
Chick also stated that O.S.U.'s experience with seni
ors and students over 21 living in housing of their choice
shows that these students accept their added responsibil
ities. He further stated that he expected no mass exodus
of juniors from residence halls, fraternities, sororities
or cooperative as a result of the new plan. (Reference
O.S.U. Scope 1, Feb., 1967)
Students if you wish to think for yourself and clar
accepting responsibilites, comparable to being able to
select a residence of your choice, I suggest that you in
vestigate the student housing situations at other state
universities. I find it difficult to believe that NU students
lack the ethical and moral competence to know what
may be the best for them by the time they are juniors
or over 21 years of age.
R. M. Lambrecht
Graduate Student
Daily Nebraskan
March M. 1MT
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