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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1967)
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Editorials Commentary Friday, October 13, 1967 Page 2 Family Drinking The federal government has finally learned what many parents have known for a long time problem drinking can be prevented by promoting drinking in a fam ily setting. The finding is included in a $1 mil lion study made by a 21-member Co operative Commission on the Study of Al coholism and financed by the National In stitute of Mental Health. The report also recommends that the legal age for buying and drinking alco holic beverages be lowered to 18 through out the country. Psychologists have been telling us that most standards are learned during the adolescent years. Yet the law makes it a crime for a parent to teach his child how to drink alcoholic beverages. Instead it is left to the child to learn about drinking when he finally becomes of age when he no longer is under the influence of his parents. The story telling of the recommenda tions does not state how a parent could legally serve his child an alcoholic bever age, but we assume that this would be included in a liberalization of the present laws. Morevoer the recommendation that the drinking age be lowered to 18 rec ognizes realistically that the 18-year-old of today is as mature and independent, or more so, than the 21-year-old of 20 or 30 years ago. The report is given added signifi cance in that its recommendations arc strongly endorsed by the National Council of Churches. That such a body should recognize a problem and seek Its solutions realistically is indeed an encouraging thought. The Legislature and those groups con cerned with the problem of increasing al coholism problems should consider this re port and take equally realistic action. Outside World? No man is an island. Nor should any , university become an island. ; But it has happened. The University is ; an island. It is an island surrounded by ' huge walls and an uncrossable moat : built by its students and professors. I University students have completely ' divorced themselves from the outside ' world. Ask most students and one would i believe that there really is no outside I world. Instead they are bound up in a world of quizzes and tests, facts and figures, dates and parties. And few of them per- tain to the present. Professors have lectured students . about how they must know and under stand the past to know and understand the present. Does it not follow that in order to know the future one must know the present? And in 20 years, most University stu dents will know ry little about the past that which is the present in 1967. These students the adult public of 1987 will have little on which to base their opinions in 1987. We would venture to say there are many students, not just at the University of Nebraska, who do not open a news paper beyond the front page after their first day of freshman classes. Students may be to blame for this. But professors should also shoulder part of the blame. They should need to understand that their duty is not only to make student understand the present, but it is also to prepare them to understand the future. The Daily Nebraskan is not the proper vehicle for this understanding of the pres ent world situation. We would not pretend to do such. Pull out of your shell and try reading a good newspaper, national newspaper or news magazine. 2Z2 , .. r Acs Y&U.r Jjjj- p (W- m to ) JuPr CD I gu ? f I LCGr-,Vfc oVfi OCR's cx of TufkTi 3or- 'L ( ZvLoBeXiA Campus Opinion: Who George Kaufman? Is Dear Editor: Some freshmen asked the other day who George Kaufman was. And I guess they have a right to know having to live on the same campus with him. When I first met George Kaufman he was sitting in the south area of the Crib doing research for his care fully thought-out article on SDS (Nebraskan Grand Sprix Oct. 121. "Hi." I said. ' Let's dis cuss that." he replied. "I like to discuss things cause I'm' a liberal and liberals always discuss things right up tiil they get run over. "I think everyone should stand up for what they be lieve in as long as they don't bother -anyone. For instance, I think Negroes are just as good as whites and besides you can't judge by appearances. Oh. look, there goes one of those funny-looking SDS people. You know they all dress funny and don't bathe, and say, there's a Creek. I can always spot a conformist Greek. As I .was saying I'm against stereotypes . and . . ." "Well, that's all very . nice." I broke in, "but what do you do?" "Nothing, I'm a liberal." Kaufman said. "How do you differ from a conservative? They don't w a n t to do anything ei ther." "But I don't do the same things they don't do." "Good luck." I said, edg ing away, "With your fear less column against SDS and the Greeks, that will, in all probability ruin you on campus." "I always fight evil wherever I find it as long as it's helpless," Kaufman said. Afterthought I really don't know anything about George Kaufman but I somehow left that out just as he left out that he doesn't know anything about SDS. Richard Littrell Faculty View Dear Editor: 1 realize that you have had various articles on the Free University, however, I felt you might want some thoughts from the science world. The Free University is a co-operative voluntary aca demic adventure between students and faculty where in ideas of relevance are discussed. No tuition is charged, no records kept, and grades and exams are unnecessary. The student as well plays a role in developing the content of the curriculum. Certain aspects of the free University are readily un derstandable except for the "why." Why have a F r e e University within a Univer sity? Does "free" only have reference to economics? In dications are that free re fers to freedom of thought, freedom to explore, free dom to create, freedom of expression and freedom to correlate. But aren't these free doms encompassed in t h e very purpose of a universi ty? A. N. Whitehead once said that "the justification for a university if that it preserves the connection between knowledge and the zest for life . . . imparting information . . . imagina tively." Does the Free University represent that "knowledge cafeteria with prepackaged education sold by the unit?". In one form or another students have long com plained of their educational environment. Albert Ein stein, as a student, said, "that it is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction (memorize regurgi tate) have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stim ulation stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail." Freedom is the mark of our changing society. Songs by the Monkeys. Mamas and Papas. Streisand and others reflect freedom. The upsurges at Berkeley are a manifestation of the de-humanized multiversity In the university as elsewhere, freedom is the consensus of what to suppress! Why sup press in a university least of all learning? Learning today in the multiversity is de-personalizeda side reaction of in stitutionalization. The Free University on the other hand is an expression of personalized learning. It is a family unit or tribal learning with secure identi ty of the members faculty and students. The Free University with in the multiversity is not IN THE MULTIVERSITY a release from inhibtions but is a function of t h e m. Somehow institutionalized learning has inhibited both faculty and students from exploring freely the un charted waters of ideas. That the Free University should continue to exist within the University is germane to the educational process for the learner can teach the teacher. Both systems can learn from each other for as Thomas Paine said "where all think alike there is no thinking." Douglas 0. deShazer Ass't Professor College of Dentistry German View Dear Editor: A girl at a German teachers college offers these comments concern ing the University dicta for off -campus students: "These monastery rules for eunucks were no doubt determined by a House wives Association for Ster ile Education in accordance with the motto 'Live Better With Nuroses.' ... do you still have your moustache or is this also against the University rules?" The Housewives Associa tion here has a more im posing title but the same aim. Renter Daily Nebraskan: I. as president of a fra ternity and hopefully a ra tional human being, must take a definite stand re garding your letter. Now. I turn my attention to the dilemma of the fresh man. Here I will agree with you to a certain extent. It is true that some freshmen are unstable and do n e e d special attention. This is the place that fraternities do the MOST GOOD. The life blood of fraternities is their freshman pledges and that is why fraternities endeav or, through their leader ship, to assist each pledge to develop: Intellectual curios ity that assures the highest scholarship. Habits that lead to bet ter mental and physical health. Responsibility to fra ternity, college and com munity. Leadership that stems from the principles of dem ocratic government. Extracurricular activi ties. Ron Majors Our Man Hoppe- Dick and Pat A Melodrama Arthur Hoppe Kus i Dear Editor: In reply in "Correspond ent's" letter in the Oct. 4 IIi, there, friends in television land. Hi. It's time again to visit with that typical American couple, Dick and Pat, for an other chapter in One Man's Hang-up that perennial dramatic series which asks the question: "Can a three-time loser lick his over whelming ermr.uki"- r indulge and find happiness in private life?" As we join them today in their typical American cottage around the typical American comer, we find Dick, bleary eyed and shaven, pacing the floor as Pat hovers by. wringing her hands. All the window shades are tightly drawn. Dirk: 'with falp i''ialitv): Mv it's a lovely day. I think I'll step out for a breath of fresh air. Pat: Now, dear, i know what you're think ing. You're thinking of dropping in on pre cinct headquarters and having a little chat with the boys. Dick: defensively): Well, what's wrong with that? Pat: Oh, you know you can't stop. You'll promise to have one little off-the-record session and come right home afterward. -'li p- iff n a cross country speaking binge, talking and carry ing on till the wee hours in every village and town. Dick: But I'm way ahead in the polls. Pat (sterly): And you know as well as I do, dear, that's why you must have abso lute quiet, at least until after the conven tion. Dick: (persuiringl: But I feel this strong urge to speak out on Vietnam and the nesd to bomb the stuffings out of those uirty Commie rats who . . . Pat: Hush. now. dear. You know the polls show enpp are getting disillusioned about Vietnam. You certainly don't want to go out any further on the limb on that issue. Dick: Perhaps I could just outline my moderate position on race riots. Pat: And !'ie all the moderate delegates? Not to mention both your Negro sup porters? Dick: Well. I could announce my firm, un alterable stand on dog leash laws. Let's see. should I be pro or con? Pat: Either way, dear, you'd alienate the you promised to give it up. If you won't think of yourself, think of your little fam iiv .ne vy,p "! and . Dick: (shuddering!: I know. 1 know, (manfully pulling himself together and patting her head: Fear not. dearest. I have it licked. I can take speech-making or leave it alone. It doesn't tempt me any more. And now, if you'll excuse me. I think I'll go lie down with a cold compress on my forehead. It may help me over come these withdrawal symptoms. (He retires to the bedroom and locks the door. Within minutes his muffled voice can be heard, "Fellow Americans, I say to you tonight we must unleash our might in Vietnam, unleash our National Guard in th hettos and either leash or unleash our dogs,.." Pat: (clapping the back of her hand to her forehead): Oh. I fear he has stink to the depths of degradation. He has be come a solitary speaker! What if the neighbors hear? Oh, dear heaven, what is to become of us all? Will Dick lick his speaking problem? If so, v.iD he win? If so. will he remem b 'n ictfi- 'i- ne in again, friends, and meanwhile remem ber our public service message: " Politics is a disease. It CAN' be cured All it takes is understand ing friends, a loving family and getting run over by a truck." Riht of Left by A. C.E, What are we doing here? This thought suddenly occurred to me as I. walked into my University approved living unit and glaaiSHTat the tube and to my utter joy saw the 107th special BSrbra Stresiand Show in progress. " And then I realized higher education must havVUHhe thing. If nothing else you can escape Barbra Streisand Show in progress. And then I realized higher education must have some thing. If nothing else you can escape Barbra Streisand Spe cials with the excuse of booking or some sort of ridicu lous activitiy meeting to attend. Of course some students might think that avoiding Streisand is not reason enough for going to college so for those doubters let me begin again. What are we doing here? If you're a senior you're packing and if you're smart you're packing. But everybody isn't a senior and -everybody isn't smart so an indepth report on What We're Doing Here is necessitated. For such a report I needed a subject so in my de mented state I chose the most convenient person I knew: myself. After all, I reasoned, I'm an average sophomore coed equipped with the standard manic-depressive personality which University life seems to produce so why not? What am I doing here? I'm trying to decide whether to become a hippie or a subversive everybody needs a role. While sitting in Tama, la., the other night building a protective fortress around an injured cricket I suddenly realized that I must be a hippie. What other type of character would sit in Tama, la., caring for an injured cricket on a cold Friday evening and besides I like flowers and I have a groovy string of corn that could suffice for a necklace. I was set. I had found my place in society. I looked at the world with opened eyes: all around was beauty. Beau tiful people abounded surrounded by beautiful bugs snd so with my new found attitutde I bounded into the car pro fessing feelings of love for the whole world until I re membered I was headed for a National Council meeting of SDS. My new found world crashed. SDS and love are not incompatible but to be a bonified hippie one should be passive and apolitical. After all, what self-respecting hippie would run out shouting to people that they were facist dogs, capitalist swine, and communist goats (preferably souting all three at once that way you can't miss his political, philosophical, and economic viewpoint). So I was obviously confronted with a decision. .Deci sions being quite messy I decided to put it off until after the National Council meeting so I could have a better per spective. But as I realize now I was doomed from the start Who could resist those beautiful Wobblie anthems accom panied by talk of revolution and free subversive buttons. As I headed back for Nebraska, a hardened subver sive, with thoughts of anarchy running through my train I decided to instigate a coup d'etat in ASUN but before I made the grand stand play for power I needed a test case, I gave conscientious objector material to Sudsy Welps in the hope that she would resign from ASUN (with only two good senators left it wouldn't be hard to take over). But you know Welps she used all my subversive lit erature for a term paper. With such disheartening results 1 -s-urally took the attitude of you can't win 'em all so why bother. So here I sit a disillusioned hippie and a powerless subversive completely without a role, and what is college for if not to play a role? What am I doing here? Packing. As my four regular readers know, last week filfHL-of Left took on the annual Rag task of slicing the Senior Honoraries. . . Unfortunately my usually infallible sources'mis informed me as to the activities of the Mortar Boards. So against my better judgement I am temporarily forsaking my loyalty to Y.J.S. (Yellow Journalism Society) nd have decided to publish some new evidence for (?) Mortar Boards. - First of all no more penny night splits with AWS and-or Innocents. It's true people now you have no use for those coins except to pay the sales tax. Secondly M.B.'s are sponsoring a seminar for under graduates who are planning to enter graduate school which appears to be a very good program. Enough of this tripe! You get the point, M.B.'s might not be as spooky as it has been rumored. Daily Nebraskan Vol. 91. No. It Sarond-tiaaa poctiaa paid at Lamm, ffah. M. 13. 1MT TELEPHONE! 472-2SH. 472-2581, 4712M0. buofccnptiup ftio art (4 eameaur ar tf hw Htm ima.i. auruu d , and nam period.. t urn atudanta 1 Urn UiuJSSi Tn.SSE Puhnc.ua. .hall w frw from Y th. S.nnMai 'Tl Member Aatwnaiwl Colteitate frrm, National adwrttm. -- t EDITOKIAJ. 01 APT fcdjMr Mark O-rdoa, Aaucum bporu Edtlor ClmrSTvit A-STm Hrrt & "W:u!rr, T-f (op Krfnor,, Lvm fiotuchalk. Buv Tenimn J?2? -d"or- Iwlnwier; Phuuwraw,,. M,f HamvCr mMlZ, Ud ""' Heyaoidal bl'kinem aiarr HuiaeK Martaaer Gtvnn Frtendti National A.. -. Pradi.rt.oo llnaer Char. BaxEJV wJrSrL jnj?u?. U""r "'"r Bov' ria-itl. 4IM. Braadl. oubr.pa,, kZZ Jail &.""!" U-"T'" ,Bd Hie Uaa.cn. Km Milter aaa Mama atortT " Lnak-