THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
AM
Editorials
Commentary
THURSDAY APRIL 13, 1967
Peg 2
The New Leaders
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Right now it's late Wednesday after
noon and no one knows for sure who will
win.
The rumors say that the election
might be close but then who knows.
Serious Candidates
The Daily Nebraskan stated Monday
that it thought Ron Pfeifer and Dick
Schulze were the only two serious candi
dates for president.
The Nebraskan endorsed Pfeifer as
the best candidate In its opinion, but any
one who read the editorial would realize
that we complimented both Pfeifer and
Schulze on being outstanding students
with a great deal of potential.
Whoever is elected the Nebraskan
urges students to support the new presi
dent and ASUN. ASUN has come a long
way since the old Student Council three
years ago and there is no question, but
that it is the most Important, "supreme"
as Kent Neumeister said, organization on
campus.
New President
Regardless of who is elected, the Ne
braskan strongly feels that the new pre
sident and other ASUN leaders will con
tinue to make student government more
meaningful and representative of the
students.
1
Interest and excitement in this cam
paign have reached a high pitch. The
voting turnout should break all records.
The usual student apathy about elections
seems to have greatly decreased.
Unfortunately a large amount of this
interest on all sides has been caused by
rumors, personality attacks and all time
mud-slinging. Hopefully after the election
is over this same amount of intense in
terest can be channeled so as to make
next year's ASUN the best possible.
The Daily Nebraskan congratulates
whoever the winners in this year's ASUN
elections might be.
A Silly Situation
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following edi
torial was printed in the Dally Nebraskan
Monday, March 20. The Nebraskan feels
that today after the election this editor
ial is still relevant.)
This campus may soon be famous for
something other than the "Big Red" foot
ball team. It's notoriety may in fact any
day make national news.
Pentagon Halls
Certainly the halls of the Pentagon or
the offices in the White House could nev
er have approached the activity or con
fusion which has recently engulfed stu
dent politics on this campus.
No doubt the national political par
ties will soon be flying observers to this
campus in order to study the conflicts,
the mud-slinging and the issues now bom
barding the University.
The ASUN elections several weeks
ago looked to the Daily Nebraskan like
they might be relatively quiet and well
mannered. Important issues would be dis- .
cussed, but for the most part it prom
ised to be a quiet campaign.
Recent Split
However, with the recent split in the
Party for Student Action and the diver
gence of opinion between the experienced
student government leaders we feel that
anything could happen.
The Nebraskan feels that the split in
this party is extremely unfortunate since
it promised to provide the campus with
much responsible and progressive lead
ership. We feel that everybody in the or
iginal party plus the campus itself was
badly hurt when the party divided.
The student political atmosphere has
now changed from a constructive move
ment toward bettering student govern
ment to a confused, emotional conflict
between all the candidates.
Very Unfortunate
The Nebraskan is not sure who is re
sponsible for this situation nor do we ex
pect that most people will ever under
stand exactly what has happened or what
will happen during the ASUN election
but we feel all of this confusion is very
unfortunate.
Some how we strongly feel that mis
understandings and ignorance have forced
all parties in this year's ASUN elections
to take ridiculous stands and do things
that they otherwise would not do.
The Nebraskan really feels that this
campus should be notorious for creating
one of the most unreasonable, silly situ
ations that ever existed.
Not As A Stranger
Detached observation of the games
people play is sometimes much more in
teresting (what a meaningful epithet!)
than active participation in them. Such
an interest gains additional overtones
when the participants are natives on one
tide and foreigners on the other.
Game Starts
When a foreigner is introduced to the
host society, he is duly given the extra
ordinary response be anxiously expects.
Thus the game starts and goes on. The
extraordinary response and the anxious
expectations are of great variety and
stem from complex motivations: a claim
to open-mindedness, a high-brow intellec
tual facade, mutual suspense, and the list
can be carried on to undesirable frank
ness and length.
Both of the parties involved admit
that there exists a problem of relation
ship and communications between natives
and foreigners. Each party leans on their
side of the dividing line and thinks of a
way out of what they call an unnatural
situation. As long as they lean on that
dividing line, their thinking will not lead
anywhere.
This article, written from a position
of detached observation, claims that the
disturbing situation is quite natural, and
that the dividing line is dangerous be
cause it exists only in the minds of the
participating parties. This is not an at
tempt to destroy the line, but to dem
onstrate that it does not exist at all.
Inhuman Term
The only justified usage of "foreign
er" is that much limits it to the admini
strative sphere, that is, to the purpose
of regulating the relationship of the non
native to the host State. This usage is
necessary and profitable for both. But if
transferred to the area of relationship
between non-natives and natives as indi
viduals, the term would become inhuman.
When the host State uses the desig
nation "foreign," its primary concern is
with the non-native as a physical entity,
a product of some "other country." This
concern is useful as a basis for the regu
latory relationship of the non-native to
the host State: but it cannot possibly be
a basis for the relationship between in
dividuals. It is practical and useful for a host
State to classify an Indian and a French
in the same category. But applying the
same rule of classification to individual
relationships would result in ignoring both
the individual personality of the non-native
and whatever characteristics he
might have in common with his compat
riots. Rich Experience
The encounter of people who belong
to different cultures Is a potentially rich
experience. The potential richness is due
solely to the possibility of unfolding un
familiar cultural elements involved in the
making of a human personality. This un
folding is stipulated: it cannot take places
if we insist on following the sacred rules
of the social game. Conventional rules re
quire the non-native to expect on extra
ordinary response and the native to be
extraordinarily civil.
A good social game is, to be sure,
enjoyable; but the only place it can be
played on is the dividing line. The real
significance and delight of a genuine re
lationship between a native and a for
eigner lies in realizing the nature of the
fanciful dividing line and the conventions
which lead to its establishment.
Both parties should be aware of their
difference; but the difference is just a
springboard for fulfilling the promise, not
a rigid line which stifles the potential.
It is a pity to see people go astray on
both sides of a dividing line of artificial
categorization which exists only in their
fancy.
This is just one side of the coin; on
the other is written "native." Examin
ing this word and ita significance would
be more complicated than examining
any apprehension: I do not intend to dou
ble the length of this editorial. All I
want to do is to ask you, in all serious
ness, "What is it that makes a person
a native of this or that country"
Isiam Safady
Collegiate Press Service
($.ET OUT TkB. JqTl (?)
Our Man Hoppe-
An Evening To Remember
ti J
Arthur Hoppe
All through Russia you
see them going up in the big
cities rows and rows and
rows of new apartment
buildings, each bleak, un
adorned, impersonal with
that dreary sameness of
public housing projects the
world over.
Housing Shortage
Soviet officials talk
proudly of how quickly they
are solving the nation's
housing shortage. They
speak of so many square
meters per person, so many
units per acre, as though
they were building storage
shelves for some uniform
commodity.
And as you drive past
them day after day, you
can't help but be depressed
thinking of the hive-like ex
istence, the 1984 grimness,
of those human beings who
live inside.
Then, after a week in
Russia, I was invited inside
one through a friend, to
take part in a family cele
bration. This building, which
looked like all the rest, was
three years old. A broken
door led up a dingy stair
well. The paint was peel
ing, the stairs creaked, the
. . . NUtes
construction was incredibly
shoddy. By our standards,
this new building was al
ready a slum. As I climbed
to the fourth floor in the
gloom, I was sad and un
easy. The door of the apartment
opened. There vas a nar
row hall. On the right, a
warped door led to a closet
sized bathroom. It con
tained a cracked toilet with
an overhead tank and
chain. No sink. Beyond was
by an oval table and
the tiny living room, filled
a bed. How crowded,
how cramped, how drab.
Yet how warmly I was
welcomed. And, what some
what surprised me most,
how different each person
present was
There were the three
elderly aunts sitting on the
bed one outgoing and lov
ing, one quiet and smiling,
one timid and deferential.
There was the uncle of 70,
broad-shouldered, poised
and contantly breaking into,
song. There were the two
sisters in their thirties, one
dark and exuberant, one
eager and competent.
There was the shy little boy
of six and there was Vlad
imir, a husky young man of
By Karen Jo Bennet
"Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the free . . ."
You may not recognize them, but these are the
words that go to the groovy-graduate-June-tune to which
seniors stroll down the aisle of academia to receive cer
tificates of completion (or endurance).
'Senior Keys'
These are the real "senior keys" guaranteed, in
most cases, to open some sort of door vocational, edu
cational, recreational. Some recipients have paid more
than others in blood, sweat and teardrops; but then,
perhaps, they are also repaid better.
The music department seniors, for example, really
grind their noses their last year. If their aim is for a
teaching certificate, most majors student teach both
semesters.
Teaching or not, every music major is responsible
to give a personal appearance public performance test
proof of the practice known as "Senior Recital". Each
individual performance lasts only about 15-20 minutes,
but in- the presence of the entire music department
teachers and allies it must seem longer to some of the .
stars.
Achievement
Under those crucial conditions, some do their best,
a few not; but most present admirable, even inspiration
al, culminations from their four year collection of growth
and achievement.'
The seniors themselves select a special six from
their fold to give yet another recital. This is an honored
performance with accompaniment supplied by the entire
University Orchestra. These performers, traditionally the
best in their class, are known appropriately as "Senior
Soloists" and Sunday is their night.
30, hard and, I thought,
vaguely hostile.
Grew Dark
We sat around the table
for three hours, eating
stuffed salmon and herring
and salad and cake, the
men drinking a little vodka,
the women coffee. The talk
flowed in Russian, Ukran
ian, Yiddish, German and a
few words of English. We
laughed and we sang sad
Ukranian songs. The t w o
sisters danced. The little
boy recited. Outside it grew
dark.
When it came time to go,
I found I truly loved each
person there except, may
be Vladimir. Yet it was he
who insisted on walking me
to a main street, finding a
taxi, getting me back to my
hotel and paying the cab
fare.
So we went inside and
drank more vodka and
laughed and talked (though
he knew no English and I
no Russian.) And when we
parted at midnight, we
threw our arms around
each other and swore
eternal friendship.
It was, then, an evening,
to remember. What I will
remember, I think, is that
even in the grimmest, shod
diest public housing pro
jects, live human beings,
who still somehow laugh
and dance and sing and
marry and die.
Nothing, in a long time,
has so deeply replenished
my faith in the human
spirit.
Daily Nebraskan
Vol. 90 No. 84 April 6. 19S7
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1 Campus Opinion j
Think Green!
Dcur Editor:
Rights which allow everyone to run off in his own
direction and do whatever he wants are Jeffersonian
Eighteenth Century ideals which no longer exist (sigh).
Turn and look to the Future: we must get ready for
1984. Tomorrow's world is going to be one of government
controls to stop everyone from running off in his own di
rection and doing whatever he wants.
Think Green!
John Ilughei
Too Much Of Light
Dear Editor:
To human eyes too much of light
Is blinding as the blackest night.
In total Ignorance it's blind,
But more truth than it can absorb
Will overwhelm the mental orb.
So, lest our vision burn to ashes,
Fate shows us truth in bits and flashes,
White revelations that the brain
Can comprehend and yet stay sane.
And we, in folly, demand truth's noon
Who scarce can bear its crescent moon.
J. Paul Ronln
Letter To Logicus
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Logicus:
You propose (in the Daily Nebraskan, April 5) "a
return to regular blood sacrifices" in order to "cure us"
of squeamishness over American atrocities in Vietnam
You wonder deviously whether my solicitude oven tens
of thousands of deaths and disfigurements shows a mis
sionary attitude on my part. In order to relieve your
fears that I am a missionary or a pacifist, I confess
to the wish that, should you succeed in instituting regu
lar blood sacrifices in this country, the first persons
whose blood should be spilled should be those, like your
self, who show no 'squeamishness" at the sight of blood
Surely this isn't the attitude of a missionary.
In fact there is no need to begin blood sacrifices
here, since we have long ago done so in Vietnam. And
one result, indeed, has been the one you long for: less
and less squeamishness on the part of Americans. More
and more we become able to "stand the sight of blood,"
even on our own hands. Some, as you sucecst. have enno
so far as to question whether "anything is wrong," but
not, of course, those, to whom my argument Is directed,
who think the war is wrong but also think it their duty
to fight there. It is to such people, and not those un
moved by the sight of blood, that my column is directed.
I leave you to deal with ethical skeptics.
Moral Appeal
"On Vietnam" is, to be honest, intended to carry a
moral appeal, and I think it unlikely that a person can
be convinced of the truth of a moral position unless his
emotions are aroused. This is not, as I hope to show,
to say that facts and reason cannot be used in the seri
vice of moral argument.
You object to my claim that "the end justifies the
means" represents a shabby defense of LBJ's policies in
Vietnam. Let me try to substantiate that claim. I direct
my argument to those who can understand that t h e
means by which the end is to be achieved - the destruc
tion of a country and many of its peonle - is an evil
mnHai!S,nd tha.tJsuch mea"s can be justified only if their
I av0ldance ?f a sU greater evil. Presumably
this is the way one justifies one's country's part in a
war; I want simply to ask whether my country's part
in this war can be similarly justified.
What End
In order to ask this question we need to have some
idea of the end which the US is striving to gain fn ViTt
nam. Officially, we are fighting tTprwrT (?) the
IT mdJ2) thC freTedom of the PPle oTIou h V et
rip 1 EVBn yoU-' If,gicus' should be ble to appre
ciate the unreason in the claim that the main purpose
of having half a million fighting men in a country 's to
bring peace. At best, peace is a secondary gZ I (2) As
for freedom such talk is State Department hyScrisy on
a par w,th talk that our reason for being T V eTnam
t0 Dlem' whom we
For it's clear that LBJ wouldn't think of leaving
Vietnam simply because the Vietnamese didn't was US
troops there. That many Americans would stand behind
their President on this point shows the extent to which
this war has subverted traditional democratic ideals in
this country.
rn.mntrfit.WSUld clear,y be embflrassing for LBJ to
claim to defend a commitment to a people who doesn't
want Urn to defend it, he hasn't risked taking poU
of the Vietnamese to decide this question. In fact how
ever, such a poll has been taken, and I end Sis lettlr
to Logicus with an account of its results.
What the South Vietnamese Really Want
"New York W-A survey of public opinion in South Viet
nam from a population sampling the pollsters admit had
o be sharp y restricted, reported yesterday that 81 of
hose questioned want peace above all else Only 4
listed victory over communism, 2 reunification of north
rqVckTe'ace"' 4' mdePendenc as preferaWet
The poll was organized by the Opinion Research Cor
poration of Princeton and conducted by the Center for
Vietnamese Studies in Saigon, for the Columbia Broad
casting System which televised them last night. CBS
said it was the first independent opinion survey ever tak
en in South Vietnam . . . Organizers of the survey said
it was held only among persons living in secured areas
controlled by the allies . . . Interviewers, the organizers
said, also took into account reluctance of those questioned
to get themselves in trouble with the authorities."
-York, Pa. "Gazette & Daily," March 22, as quoted
in "I. F. Stone's Weekly," April 3, 1967.
Stephen H. Voss
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