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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1967)
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Editorials Page 2 Fair Play Dow Chemical Company will' be at the University of Nebraska campus Monday and today undoubtedly intentionally -- the ASUN will discuss the appearance of military and business recruiters at the University. It was indicated by ASUN First Vice President Gene Pokorny that resolutions may be drafted as a result of this discussion. The Daily Nebraskan hopes that senators will be responsible enough not to cut their own throats by deny ing recruiters military, business or otherwise from appearing on campus. There have been rumors that this type of action might be taken. We do not feel that certain' companies ought to be denied the privilege of recruiting students from the Uni versity campus merely because the product they manu facture is not considered morally right by some indivi duals. Nor do we believe that the Dow Chemical Co. re cruiters should receive a similar treatment to that which they were subjected at the University of Minnesota and numerous other campuses. We would hope that University students have enough common sense to allow Dow Chemical to talk to those University students who might wish to work for that company. Denying Dow Chemical' the right to recruit at the University through demonstrations and violence would be the same as denying demonstrators the right to pro test against Dow Chemical Company. BUT if there are University students and professors who believe that the company should not manufacture napalm, we would not discourage them from letting their feelings and opinions be known. BUT only if they do it peacefully and without ob structing Dow Chemical from recruiting or allowing other students to talk with Dow Chemical. Students have the right to demonstrate and protest against that which they disagree and we would be dis appointed if they did not make use of this right. But this is good only insofar as it does not interfere with the re spective rights of others. Joan There have been quiet , rumbles in this town for the last few weeks ever since Lincoln, Neb. heard that pacifist, nonviolent singer Joan Baez would perform at Pershing Auditorium Wednesday. "Let's give her the same treatment she gives the boys in Vietnam," or "she shouldn't be allowed to appear here" was the cumulative impression of these rumbles some of the citizens of Lincoln, Neb. The local newspapers carried several letters protest ing Miss Baez's appearance and one student wrote to the Nebraskan that "an all-out boycott" of her appearance "would be appropriate." He said, further, that the town should give Miss Baez a "taste of her own medicine." What is it that these citizens of Lincoln, Neb. are afraid of? Are they afraid of a slightly-built, brown-haired, 26-year-old woman with a guitar and a haunting voice? Hardly. These citizens are afraid of Miss Baez's "radical" ideas. Her "radical" idea that all men are brothers and that war is wrong because it is wrong to murder your brother. And they are angry and afraid of her "radical" attitude that one should not pay taxes to support a war one does not agree with. If these citizens have taken time to read some of the things Miss Baez says, they would probably also be afraid of her "radical" idea that nationalism is the wrong attitude to have. The Daily Nebraskan does not feel that Miss Baez's political viewpoint is the issue involved in her appearance. Miss Baez is an artist an excellent artist. She ex presses in her songs many of the feelings of the college generation and much of the protest movements in Ameri ca today. And, as such, she is making a valuable con tribution to society. . It is typical of Miss Baez that when she was asked at a press conference Tuesday how she reacted to oppo sition to her appearance she said, "I'm glad because at least people are doing something. At least it takes a lot more adrenalin to picket and protest than to be passive." Later she added, "So many people are passive." Lincoln, Neb. needs to think again before rallying against Miss Baez. It needs to think to see if there is a reason. The Daily Nebraskan welcomes Miss Baez. Out ManHoppe By ARTHUR IIOPPE The National Committee to Look on the Bright Side wishes to salute Defense Secretary McNamara for bring ing a nervous nation what it needs most these days reassurance. Mr. McNamara, who looks like a sincere insurance salesman, called a press conference to announce grimly that he thinks the Russians are building a new secret weapon to blow us all up. But, said Mr. McNamara, practically bubbling over with reassurance, he doesn't think it will work too well The now weapon, he says, is tailed a "Fractional Or bital Bombardment" system or F.O.B. (Or, ai you mav prefer to think of it, F.O.B. Moscow.) And instead of being a jngh lob, iff kind of an overhead smash h aK work' now- U th Russians take it in their heads to drop a thermonuclear bomb on, say, Tren ton, N.J., they lob an I.C.B.M." up tOO miles and 15 min utes later - splat - there goea Trenton, N.J. But under the new system they send it (F.O.B. Mos cow) into a low orbit, a mere 100 miles up lust like an other satellite. "Ho-hum," we say, "just another satellite." Three minutes later, with only a third of the first orbit completed, the brakes are put on and the whole thing goes smashing in on Trenton, N.J. Only it hits Philadelphia splat instead. For that's where Mr. McNamara's reassurance comes In. The F.O.B. Moscow is, he reassures us, "significant ly less" accurate than the good old I.C.B.M. Thus Philadelphia can take comfort in that final blinding Wash in the secure inner knowledge that, "Ho, ho, ho, they were aiming at Trenton. That sure is one on them." Oh, they'll die laughing. Nor is that all. At least equally reassuring is the fact that the Russians, when they blow up Philadelphia or wherever, will not be violating any treaties. Thanks to a technicality. The only treaty they could violate, of course, is the one against putting a nuclear warhead in orbit But "they agreed not to place warheads in FULL or bit," as Mr. McNamara reassuringly points out. "This is a fractional orbit and hence not a violation." The only danger here, then, is that the brakes don't work and the F.O.B. Moscow makes a couple of orbits before it lands on Trenton or Sioux Falls or wherever. This would be a clear treaty violation and we would have to take stern retaliatory measures such as blow ing up the world. But Mr. McNamara obviously has confidence the F.O.B. Moscow's brake system will work and that it will blow us up in three minutes as advertised. And if he's not worried on this score, there's certainly no reason we should be. it come: on bov , rowvP Pl Ay D&ftD o beg Once There Were Hippies By JACQUES LESLIE Collegiate Press Service Once there was a group of highly imaginative, Bo hemian people who lived in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Among them were musicians and ar tists, men who used drugs fairly regularly. They have been driven out by high rents, tourists and the fact that what was once a community has now become merely a place to live. It is difficult to say who came to Haight-Ashbury first, the hippies or the news papermen. In any event, the press turned a community group into a national movement, warning that the num ber of hippies would grow and fulfilling the prophecy by writing endless stories about the hippies. FASCINATED Fascinated by the defects of their society, middle class Americans read the articles about hippies with absorp tion the hippies seemed to them a threat to their way of life. They focused their attention on hippies, for whom "inarticulate" is not a strong enough word, and not on intellectual critics who have been rejecting middle class society for years, for one simple reason: the hippies, be ing a middle class movement, were not really rejecting middle class values at all. Instead they were trying to find antidotes to middle class hangups, primarily sex and boredom. The hippies prescribed drugs and middle class society became obsessed with evaluating this prescription's re medial powers. Either you were for it or against it. Among those who decided for it were thousands of college students across the country. Even the most en trenched gin-and-tonic set in the fraternities began to spon sor pot parties (not without a twinge of guilt, of course). But others condemned the use of drugs, citing statis rics and studies on the dangers of LSD and marijuana. (Had any of them stopped to compare how many people are killed on LSD with, for example, how many are killed on highways?) The important thing, though, was to have an opinion, and Time and Newsweek and Harry Reasoner obliged. The hippie movement grew tremendously. "Summer hippies" and "weekend hippies" became more common than the real thing, and, of course, all came from the middle class. That so many people found it so easy to shift roles back and forth made it clear that the real issue in the hippie movement was not' middle class im morality, as the hippies claimed, but middle class bore dom. STIMULATION Who wanted to stay at home watching TV when you could go outside and receive stimulation from psychedelic lights? Marijuana was popular for the simple reason that it could turn the most prosaic of atmosphere into an in teresting one. Lost in the shuffle were the original hippies and the ideals they believed in. "Community" became four or five people holding hands together. "Truth" became whatever you thought of when you were high. And "grooving to gether" became an excuse to avoid the conflicts between people that lead to understanding. If someone began to hint that maybe something you said was not quite right, you stopped him, telling him he was "blowing your mind." To be a hippie was to have a fragile mind. So what have the hippies contributed? They have, hopefully, dispelled a few myths about the evil powers of marijuana. They have opened up a new world in clothing styles and popular music. They have made non-violence the creed of thousands; and perhaps also they have made middle class society a little more conscious of its own hypocricy. But have they gotten closer to a more basic honesty? The answer has to be no: here perhaps as in any mass movement, the majority deem to have deceived them selves, confusing grooving together for understanding. It is apparent the hippie movement will not last, if for no other reason than that people usually become un comfortable after living with a myth for awhile. New movements, aided by the compulsive media, will come along, grow and decline. But the hippies have reached their peal. The end will come when too many of them discover that the vision they were constructing was not new. It was just good old middle class hedonism, concealed by beads and flashing lights. Campus Opinion: A Time To Understand Dear Editor: President Eisenhower said that understanding holds the key to our survival. It is important, then that we avail ourselves of as many educational opportunities as possible. International Week at the University is one such opportunity. International Week is designed to give our students a chance to become better acquainted with their counter parts from other countries who are on campus and, at the same time, it is designed to point up the many con tributions which these international students have made to the University. I hope that a large number of our students will par ticipate in the week's activities which are being spon sored jointly by People-to-People and the Nebraska In ternational Association. Clifford M. Hardin Chancellor mocracy" is more similar to the totalitarianism to which Smith thinks he objects. And to the Communist swine with the flag, I say: "Keep the rag, baby. Applaud Dick Gregory. Participate in grape-stomping orgies in Memorial Stadium. Jeer capitalist pigs. If only to assure yourself that you still have some degree of freedom, occasionally contest au thority." But perhaps I am being too harsh with Smith. Per haps, in fact, he can define in 25 words or less, what "universal truth" really is. . If so, we'll be able to answer another contemporary issue of great relevance. We'll know that God is not dead. He's alive and well and rooms with Scott Smith. Doug Cowglll Daily Nebraskan Nov. U, 19CT Democracy Dear Editor: Apparently Scott Smith can't see the trees for the forest. If he is really an advocate of democracy, how can he question some free-thinking student's right to express an opinion and display a Communist flag? Why can he be critical, while denying another stu dent a similar right to criticize? Obviously Smith is a "rah, rah democarcy" chanter, one of a caste of millions in America, to whom democracy is an ideology which prevents rather than stimulates free thought and ex change. Personally, I would say that this kind of "de- Vol. 91. No. 38 Second -c) see postage paid at Lincoln. rleb. Telephone: ButneM 472-2SM. Newa 472-2SW, Editor 47X-990 Subscription rate are M per earn eater or M for the academic ever. Pub lished Honda. Wedneeder, Thursday and Pridap during the actual rear, except taring vacattooe and exam period a. bp the etodents of Che University of Nebraska coder the Jurisdiction of the Faculty Subcommittee oa Student Publication. Publications ahall be free from cenaorrhtp by the Subcommittee or any person outaide the University, Membere of the Nebraska! arc raepoatibie for what Ihey cauae to be printed Member Aamciated Collegiate Preaa. National Advertising gcnauc. taear eorated. Puhlmhed el Koorn SI Nebraska Union. Lincoln. Neb., M9U. eitrroiuAi rtafp Editor Bruce Giles; Mamting Editoi Jack Toddi Newt Editor Cheryl TMtti Mailt News editor Alan Pkniman: Editorial Pale Aectataat Julie Morriei Sporta Editor Mark Gordon. Awlsiani Sports Editor Charlie Da vies; Aaaiatant Night Newa Editor, Randy Irey; Stall Writere. Dave Bumain. Andy CorrUnn. Gary Gillen, Ed Icrnogle. Hick Lowe. Sherry McGatlis. Jaa Parka; Newa Aesi stent Kendra New land; Senior Copy Editor. Dick Teitmeieri Copy Editors. Lynn Gotta chalk. Belay Fenimore. Jim Evinger, Jeaa Remolds, Job! Schmidt; Photogra phers Mike Haynwn and Dan Ladeley. . BUSINESS IT AIT Business Manager Glens Friend!; National Advertising Manager FojreT Bore; Production Manager Charlie Baxter. Secretary Janet Boatman. Bookkeeuing and Classifieds Allan Brandt; Subscription Manager Jane Ross; Circulation Hanagera David Kovanaueh and Gary Meyer; Sale Managera Daa Creak. Kattqr DreMa, Rick Haaecch, Ken Miller, Wants Moles and Kay PyJ. Commentary Wednesday, November 15, 1967 The Anti-American Foreign S tudent Editor's Note: Benno Wymar is a second year PhD candidate and a teaching assistant in the University de partment of economics. A native of Dusseldorf, Germany, Wymar got his M.A. at Syracuse University in the early 1960's. Wymar's situation is somewhat unique because he is married to an American. His comments come from his own experiences and from his talks with other foreign students at the University. By BENNO WYMAR Un-American Activities on the Campus? The FBI must have suspected something for some" time. But the authorities of the University, where these activities are taking place seem to know nothing at all about them. Perhaps it would be wise to call in the federal government. But on the other hand, one might let this whole thing go as the work of a group of idiots. Still ; one should really be concerned about these secret ac tivities, if nothing else, they should be regulated. The participants (sometimes also referred to as sub-, versives) usually meet at night time in a dark cellar (near the campus), use languages that not many people are able to understand, and what is the worse, are to a great extent involved in un-American activities. It is known that some of these people are receiving instruc tions from abroad and receive communications via short wave from foreign countries. And all this Is taking place, in the heart of America at Lincoln, Nebraska. If one considers that at the present time thousands of Americans are dying to some extent because of the above situation and that this country is spending billions of dollars to deal with it, it is somewhat surprising that at the homefront so little is done. Although many people will disagree with this, the problem seems to be basi cally a lack of international understanding. At the local level this means international relations between foreign students and Americans, something which is , almost completely lacking. To put it bluntly a great number of foreign students have become strongely anti American because of their experiences here at Lincoln. Many governments around the world spend great amounts of money to assure that foreign students obtain a favor able opinion of their country. Student governments of many foreign universities set up special offices to deal with their foreign fellow students. Students in France, Holland, Austria, etc., take their for eign colleagues on trips around their countries, so that the foreign students might learn more about them. Natur ally, in some of these countries about ten percent of all . the students are from abroad, including a great number of Americans. An out-of-state tuition is not known there. The Young Christian-Democrats and the Young So cialists not only make all-out drives for foreign mem bers, but even send delegations abroad to other univer sities. Quite a few universities in foreign countries have international houses where even foreign foods can be ob tained. Well, after all, universities are institutions -of : international learning. No wonder that foreign students are somewhat surprised about the different situation here. Almost as a rule, most foreign students are quite pro-American when they arrive here. However, very soon this changes. Through some excellent efforts of the USIS they have heard, while still at home, what a great coun try the U.S. is and how friendly and hospitable Ameri cans are. But it does not take long to realize that most. Americans care absolutely less about the foreign student. The people he meets are other foreign students, and where he lives no Americans are around. The few Americans whom he meets know as a rule very little about anything outside Nebraska, even less about the country from which he comes. Although ha might have been told abroad that the U.S. is perhaps the most cosmopolitan country since its people come from around the world, he will soon come to the conclusion that the U.S. is not only one of the most nationalistic countries, but very provincial as well. It is hardly simi lar in this respect with a past world leader, the United Kingdom. ' No wonder then, that very soon after his arrival he withdraws and associates only with other foreign stu dents. And here it makes no difference whether these other foreigners come from Africa, Asia, South America or Europe. That much they have in common; they are all fellow-foreigners. Besides feeling rejected by Ameri cans the fact that most foreign students do not have the outgoing personality also causes them to withdraw. In addition many foreign students feel that it is not proper for him to push himself into so-called campus ac tivities since it should be up to his American host to in vite him, after all one does not invite himself to dinner. It is not surprising then that many foreign students re turn to their home-country with a strong anti-American feeling. Although this is not to suggest that all foreign students will eventually become important leaders at home, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah, the former Prime Minister of Ghana is a good example of what the result of such an American experience can be. Even American capitalism might face some difficul ties abroad if American businessmen will have to deal with these former foreign students. And regardless wheth er political or economic interests are at stake, why be come one of the most hated nations in the world? To be sure a world leader will always have some enemies, but even an imperialistic country like Britain was well re spected when it was a leading country. There can be no doubt that a problem does exist. Some years ago many people abroad felt that a new age was coming to America in this regard with the event of Mr. Kennedy's presidency. He seemed to be a real world leader (he had even been a foreign stu dent himself at the London School of Economics). But it seems people abroad saw more in him and appreciated -him more than Americans did. Perhaps under Mr. Kennedy, America might have become a real international country. His idea of a Peace Corps seemed a step in the right direction. But un fortunately Mr. Kennedy is dead and so are most of his " excellent ideas. On the local level most foreign students appreciate the efforts of ASUN in dealing with the "international problem on the campus. But much more needs to be done. Past attempts of foreign students to get together with Americans by arranging social events and lectures have resulted in the so-called "secret-activities" since as a rule no Americans show up. Perhaps there, are enough Americans who still have some pride in their country to be concerned about its image. ...... The present International week might be a good b&V casion to make a new start, at least here on the cam-' pus, to bringing about a better understanding and re- ' lationship among students from different parts of tha world.