THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Commentary
Thursday, September 21, 1967
Editorials
Shop Around
It's time to shop around.
L. G. Balfour Co. traditionally the
last word in fraternity and sorority jew
elry was recently legally barred from
maintaining a monopoly in this market.
The legal decision won't mean a thing,
however, unless the groups who've bought
jewelry from Balfour and its subsidiary,
Burr, Patterson & Auld Co., start trad
ing with other firms.
The jewelry Balfour and Burr Patter
son sell is not, by any means, poor qual
ity, but anytime one company has a near
monopoly on a market the prices are
bound to get out of hand.
A number of University students
who've dealt with Balfour or Burr Pat
terson do have other tales to tell of the
handling of orders.
One Greek house ended up paying ex
tra for a shipment of party favors be
cause Burr Patterson sent the order by
airmail rather than railroad freight. Oth
er students are familiar with a recurr
ing "mistake" the two companies seemed
to make telling a group that unused par
ty favors could be shipped back and then
"forgetting" that provision was stated.
Balfour and Burr Patterson continued
to keep a hold on the country's fraternity
jewelry partly by claiming that the offi
cial crests and insignia of the groups they
sold to could be perfectly reproduced only
by them. Td this we say baloney.
Any jewelry store in Lincoln, there
are a number of good reputable firms,
and most other national jewelry firms can
reproduce the various crests and insignia
just as easily as Balfour and Burr Pat
terson. The Nebraskan feels that any group
or student who has been trading with
Balfour or Burr Patterson should look
around before placing another order.
The fact that a federal court has ruled
Balfour and its subsidiary have a definite
monopoly on the college jewelry market
which represents thousands of dollars
gross profit annually should be enough to
make one stop and think about the mat
ter. A situation where one company has
been able to build up and maintain a
strong monopoly in one market is not
healthy, by any sensible modern econom
ic standards.
There are representatives of at least
one other national jewelry company now
working on campus and the Lincoln jew
elry stores would undoubtedly be delight
ed to increase their trade with the cam
pus students.
The Nebraskan strongly urges stu
dents to make it their responsibility to
help break the Balfour-Burr Patterson
monopoly by shopping around.
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No Spoon-Feeding
The Nebraskan wishes t commend
the Economics Department and especial
ly Professors F. Charles Lamphear and
Campbell R. McConnell for their work on
an experimental no-lecture beginning eco
nomics course.
While the decision to try such a pro
gram may have been prompted by what
the Economics Department would term
the "wants-means dilemma" too many
students and too few faculty members
we feel it shows that professors really
are concerned about trying new systems
of learning.
Last year the department experiment
ed with various sizes of classes and in
struction from different sources televi
sion, professors and graduate assistants.
And now this semester the depart
ment will attempt to get away from the
old approach of spoon-feeding education
to University students by offering the
course with only readings, optional tutor
ial sessions and no lectures.
We can only congratulate the depart
ment in showing students that the de
partment thinks they will be responsible
enough to dig out their own information.
And the Nebraskan certainly urges
those 230 students enrolled in the non
lecture course to prove that the Econom
ics Department is right.
-A v Yic, ,w
'South Viet Elections A Tragi-Comedy'
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tran Van Dinh, a 44-year-old Viet
namese author, journalist and lecturer, fought against the
French during the Resistence War. He has served with
the South Vietnamese foreign service, his lasf post being
charge d' Affairs and acting ambassador of South Viet
nam to the United States. At present, he lives in Wash
ington, D.C., where he is a correspondent for the Saigon
Post.)
By TRAN VAN DINH
COLLEGE PRESS SERVICE
have
Politics in South Vietnam in the recent years
always had elements of a tragi-comedy.
The main theme of the play is "democracy," the in
terested audience, America, the actors have to wear a
mask to suit the purpose. The mask is "elections." Bal
loting would take place, over 80 percent of the people would
vote. Washington would call it a success until the stage
collapsed leaving dead bodies and broken furniture on
the scene.
For the seventh time (two Presidential elections in
1955 and 1961; four legislature elections in 1956, 1959,
1963, 1966) since Vietnam was divided temporarily by the
1954 Geneva Agreements, the tired people of South Viet
nam went to the polls.
NUMBERS OFF
On September 3, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., 83 percent
of 5.853.251 voters proceeded to 8.824 polling places to cast
their votes to elect a president, a vice president and 60
senators. The number of registered voters had jumped
from 5,553.251 in one month to the present 5,853.251.
"We are prolific in Vietnam, but not that prolific,"
said Tran Van Huong, a civilian candidate who finished
fourth.
Replied Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, the head of stste
and military candidate, with a touching candor: "Some
soldiers have been given two voting cards."
The voter was given first eleven ballots, one for each
presidential ticket (two names, president and vice presi
dent, one symbol ) then 48 other ballots, one for each sen
atorial slate (10 names on each).
m NAMES
He had gone over 502 names (22 presidential, 480 sen
atorial) scrutinized 59 symbols (eleven for presidential,
48 for senatorial). He hardly could be that fast a reader,
but be did not care. He looked at the familiar police
man who will be around in his locality long after the
election day.
Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the chief of police, often
call The Saigon Himmler, had declared on August 22:
"National policemen would be stationed inside and out
lide booths till over the country. As the national police
Daily Nebraskan
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are the people in closest contact with the lowest echelon,
there will be police telling them where to vote, how to
vote, and when to vote." (Saigon Post, Aug. 23. 1967)
The Vietnamese voter is a captive voter: the police
stamped his registration card and anyone subsequently
searched (a routine in South Vietnam) and found without
the election day stamp on his card will be in danger of
automatic classification as a Viet Cong and subjected to
prison or death.
PAPERS SHUTDOWN
Even with these precautions, the military junta was
not sure. Dictators everywhere and at all times are
afraid of their own people or even of their shadow.
On the eve of the election day, two dailies in Saigon,
the Tnan Chung (Sacred Bell) and Sang (Light) were
closed. Three weeks earlier, another daily, the Dan
Chung (People) was shut down. All these despite the
fact that officially censorship was abolished and the Con
stitution guarantees freedom of the press.
Several officers, among them Brig. Gen. Phan Trong
Chinh (commander of the 25th division near Saigon) and
Col. Pham Van Lieu, former chief of police, were put
under house arrest.
Several students (mostly Buddhists) disappeared from
their homes, some imprisoned, some liquidated.
Declared Gen. Thieu when asked about the closure
of the newspapers: "Even in a democracy, one has the
right to suppress newspapers that aid one's enemies."
Echoed Chief of Police Loan: "Democracy is fine for
the politicians, but me. 1 favor national discipline." (Wash
ington Post, Sept. 3. 1967)
STRONG-ARM TACTICS
Gen. Ky much earlier had been sicific on democ
racy and bad stated that he "might respond militarily"
if a civilian whose policies he disagreed with won the
election. "In any democratic country, you have the right
to disagree with the views of others." (New York Times,
May 14, 1967). And on July 27, 1967. Gen. Ky repeated:
"If any opposition ticket in South Vietnam's presidential
elections should win by trickery, we will overthrow it."
Who else in South Vietnam could use tricks but the
junta itself? General Ky's threat came at the time when,
at his instigation, a "military committee" was formed
to serve as a kitchen cabinet lor the new military govern
ment if the Thieu-Ky ticket won. In the most unlikely
case of its ticket losing, the committee would serve to
overthrow the civilian elected President.
All these unnecessary precautions and threats were
taken and made even when possible competitors were
excluded in advance from the race:
General Duong Van Minn (Big Minh). former chief of
state, and Dr. Au Truong Thanh, former Minister of Econ
omy and Finance, who planned to run on a peace plat
form, were banned from running.
STAGE SET
So the stage was all set for the Sept. 3 show. Wash
ington put the final touch by sending a 22-man Presi
dential mission guided by former Ambassador Henry Ca
bot Lodge, who had openly favored military regimes in
South Vietnam. The mission members, feted by Saigon
government and the U.S. Embassy, escorted by govern
ment agents, communicating with people by government
interpreters, toured half a dozen polling stations (there
were 8,824 in all) has passed its verdict: good show.
"Good, orderly, wholesome." Lodge declared.
The results of the elections: 83 percent of people vot
ed (exactly as predicted by the U.S. Embassy in Saigon).
The Thieu-Ky military ticket won by 35 percent of the
votes. Already seven out of ten civilian candidates have
lodged protest of fraud with the Constituent Assembly
which will have until Oct. 2 to certify the validity of the
lections.
Dr. Phan Khac Suu. the civilian candidate who fin
ished third and who is also the chairman of the Consti
tuent Assembly, complained that in many, many areas,
hie works had tiUmaitd ttw turnout at only Hi yue umL
There are lots of complaints to come but it Is not going
to change the situation anyway.
One surprise (to Washington): a Saigon lawyer, Tru
ong Dinh Dzu, who campaigned on the platform of peace
and anti-military junta in the clearest terms possible, fin
ished second with 17 percent of the votes.
Why were Washington and the U.S. mission in Saigon
surprised? If there is any indication at all of the mood
and desire of the Vietnamese people, it is their obvious
concern about war and about the corrupted dictatorship
of the military.
Of all the eleven candidates, only one advocated war.
Even Gpneral Thieu talked about peace and negotiations.
But the Vietnamese have no voice in this war. Lamented
columnist Joseph Kraft from Saigon: "But as long as
Saigon (read: the U.S. military establishment in Saigon)
thinks victory, it is very hard for Washington to move
toward settlement. And thus the present outlook, despite
the new setting created by the new elections, remains
barren."
Washington and Saigon do not think only victory but
they expect "representative, domcratic government" to
emerge even with the old cast. But the Sept, 3 elections
is only the first act of the show.
STRUGGLE
More to come. There will be in the coming weeks a
deadly struggle between General Thieu. No. 1. and Vice
Air Marshall Ky. the No. 2, who will try harder.
Ky is not going to be a figurehead as a vice presi
dent who should give up both the Premiership and the
Air Command with the profits and powers provided by
these two functions. But Thieu, cunning and less talkative,
may strike first.
There will be organized opposition which logically will
join the Buddhists who are preparing for their coming
struggle against the illegal, unjust Buddhist Charter im
posed on them by the junta on July 18.
In the final act of the show, there will be a lone
actor: The U.S. and its suffocating military might against
a background of dead bodies and burned villages of a de
serted Vietnam.
Dear Editor:. .
Or rather I should say,
"Dear Frank," because this
letter is written in reply to
Mr. Frank Lee's protest
concerning short skirts on
campus. Go soak your head,
head.
I'm sure I speak for a
vast majority of male stu
dents on campus when it
say that a little distraction
never hurt anybody. After
all, the beauties of nature
were meant to be admired.
And I think that one of .the
most attractive of nature's
beauties is the female knee.
If you, Mr. Lee has so
much trouble concentrating
in the presence of natural
beauty, I strongly recom
mend that you transfer to an
all men's school.
As a freshman, I was in
deed relieved to be getting
away from the prudish
clothing regulations handed
down by high school admin
istrators. I now arrive at
the great University only to
find that at least one stu
dent is striving to instate
the same rules here.
It strikes me that our
grandfathers had the same
trouble concentrating be
cause our grandmothers
pranced about with their
ankles showing over the
tops of their high-button
shoes. Is it possible that
your ancestors strove for
the same reforms your
letter calls for? I shudder
to think that if they had
succeeded, our modern
coeds might 'now be wear
ing floor-length dresses and
veils.
In closing I want to ex
press a new philosphy that
is fast becoming the battle
cry of the male animal
everywhere: "Up with
short skirts, and long may
they waive. . ."
Don Potter
Siokt i
n...
Sound
(By Gater Ghamblee
now playing at the Ne-
To begin with "Dr. Zhivago,'
braska Theatre, is a great movie.
The signs of its greatness are many. There are a
great number of name actors in it, it cost a great deal
of money and it is excessively long. Add these facts to
the twice-a-day showing, the long run and the $1.75 ticket
price and one has enough information to know that it is
a great movie. t
Not only that. It is an IMPORTANT movie making
SIGNIFICANT statements. Omar Sharif as Zhivago proves
this. Whenever great events are occurring (Cassocks rid
ing down helpless workers, Red Guards machine-gunning
children and so on) the movie's able director David Lean
gives us an endless shot of Sharif being sensitive.
The camera avoids the messy action and rests lov
ingly on Sharif's face, at which point the actor tenses his
cheek bones and allows tears to well up in the largest
pair of brown eyes in the western world. From this we
arrive at the movie's point: Slaughtering workers and
machine-gunning children is A BAD THING, a NO-NO, if
you will. This is known as a significant statement.
Yet the greatness does not rest solely on Sharif s per
formance. Geraldine Chaplin suffers nobly through the
starving times, her pregnancy, her husband's desertion
and the bad manners of the lower classes, who fail some
how to admire the delicate nerves of the quality folk, in
a way that very nearly matches June Allyson at her
peak.
As well, Ralph Richardson as her father gives an ad
mirable take-off on a British country squire harumphing
away at the outrages of the revolution. What this good
Tory is doing in Russia is never explained.
Sadly, we must charge three of the movie's actors
with the serious aesthetic offense of violating the movie's
ensemble style.
Julie Christie remains lovely, Tom Courtney gives a
remarkable performance as a dedicated revolutionary and
Rod Steiger's animal intensity burns and burns. The in
trusion of three seemingly living people into this melange
of walk-ons is startling. It wakes one up, hardly the aim
of the movie.
It is difficult to find the. right word for David Lean's
direction.
When one thinks of the scene where Zhivago and Lara,
the two most hapless lovers since Condide and Cunegon
de. brush against each other unknowingly on the street
car and the camera cuts to the sparks flashing from
the overhead wires, what can one say? As well, the end
less shots of the endless landscape are impressive. When
a director spends that much time on the countryside, he
must be making a large statement. His ability to lose
characters is nice. too. Whatever did happen to Lara's
mother.
Yes one is impressed by "Dr. Zhivago" and Mr.
Lean. Any movie that can make Rita Tushingham unex
ceptional and the Russian Revolution dull has done much.
It is a great movie. And I suppose the moral is that
whenever a great movie comes to town, one should check
out the late show, "Chiller Theatre" can be a groove from
time to time.
Guest Editorial
Student Activism Limited To
Few
(From tbe Daily Illlni at
the University of Illinois.)
The University of Califor
nia at Berkeley, according to
a report released by the In
stitute for the Study of Hu
man Problems at Stanford,
is really only No. 2 in stu
dent activism on the cam
pus. The report, written by
Joseph Katz after he ques
tioned 500 Stanford seniors
and 600 Berkeley seniors
showed that Stanford has a
slight, but noticeable edge
in student activists.
As Student Power slowly
creeps into the conservative
Midwest, and as deans and
administrators brsc? them
selves for what they fear
may be the undoing ol their
long established sanctuaries
of "education." it is interest
ing to note that at both Stan
ford and Berkeley, only ap
proximately 15 percent of
the students were consid
ered student activists by
The s t u d e n t-activists
were those who were in
volved in civil rights, cam
pus and community politics
and service projects either
on the campus or in the
community.
Nevitt Sanford, director
of the institute, made an
important point when he
explained why Stanford, de
spite having a few more ac
tivists, did not have the out
cries which have marked
Berkeley for several years.
"After the Berkeley re
volt, the deans at Stanford
spent a great deal of time
listening to the students and
a few reforms in student
life and in the academic
realm have been instituted,"
he said. "Instead of tryim
to avoid controversial issu
es, a college ought to pro
mote analysis of the cam
pus, including such con
flict! of campus lilt as a
student - administration
struggle about rules or a
faculty - trustees struggle
about academic freedom."
University administrators
here should take the infor
mation and put it to use on
the campus. The conduct of
a University is a two-way
street, and for too many
yean, students have been
treated too much like chil
dren. Now administrat-
ors should meet students on
equal grounds, and should
do a little bending which
they have long refused to
do. Without worrying o
much about the outside im
age of the University, ad
ministrators should begin to
revitalize the University to
neet the growing demands
if students who are often
liscouraged and frustrated
about the prospects ol try
ing to gain an education,
and about the problems
which face atxiM. t b y
But if administrators ara
asked to do this, students
must be ready to meet the
changes, and to accept the
responsibilities given them.
If only 15 percent of the stu
dents are activists, the oth
er 85 percent still hold the
ruling hand, and those other
85 percent often don't care
about anything more signi
ficant than the Wednesday
night exchange or the Sat
urday night drink.
If students can't focus
their time or thoughts on
problems more noteworthy
than what kind of crepe
paper to use on a float, or
how much money to spend
on house decorations, then
the 15 percent who care are
going to be frustrated. And
with good reason.
Right now the problem
is not that the 15 percent
may become too active, but
that the 85 percent may
continue to be oblivious to
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