THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editorials
Commentary
Friday, November 17, 1967
Page 2
Wrong Approach
:-' The Daily" Nebraskan feels that the
use of student "spies" to uncover drug
; abuses is a highly inadvisable proposal.
State Patrol Chief James E. Kruger
positively stated Thursday that undercover
agents, possibly students, will be used if
needed to help find drug abuses in the
state's colleges and high schools.
There are several strong reasons that
lead the Nebraskan to object to the use of ,
students as undercover agents.
The very suggestion that students be
paid by the state to report the activities
of their fellow students immediately
makes one think of a totalitarian state
secret police force.
"Good lord! Could it be my roomie is
one of the spies!"
The hiring of student undercover
agents would also contribute to an aura
of distrust among students, that could get
way out of hand.
The campus joke going around Thurs
day was '"Well, how much is the patrol
paying you?"
Finally there is the objection that hav
ing student undercover agents would be
like having a member of your family paid
to spy for the government Student groups
in dormitories and Greek houses and, even
in apartments, take the place of a family
in many ways.
"Would you want your sister to be a
government undercover agent?"
The Daily Nebraskan feels that drug
abuse could indeed become a serious
problem, as Kmeger pointed out It is
important to stop any small abuses now,
before they mushroom. But having one
student paid by the government to spy
upon others is not the best method. It
reeks too much of a state financed witch
hunt.
The Nebraskan further feels that
Kruger and State Sen. Terry Carpenter,
who started the undercover agent ball
rolling, have made themselves and the
entire situation look ridiculous by their
public statements on this matter.
One cannot seriously believe that the
patrol actually expects to employ under
cover agents for a drug investigation on
the campus after having publicly an
nounced it. It would seem more logical
that the agents have been working all
year and there was suddenly a leak to the
press.
If agents havent been working, and
Krugers statement was intended as a
psychological weapon it has already ac
complished part of that purpose. The cam
pus is shook up about the very statement
The Xebraskan feels the state would
be making a serious mistake by hiring
students as undercover agents on the campus.
To Protect the. MOfcm.s
OF OO. &fcVS,AND TO A&ORE
EDUCATION
Credibility Gap
Mark Lane, and James Garrison and
their theories about the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy should be tak
en with a grain of salt.
Lane made several comments before
a University audience Thursday that lead
the Daily Xebraskan to view him, at best,
as an amateur sleuth with an outsized
sense of the dramatic and. at worst as a
crackpot.
Lane was a convincing speaker, but
one should stop to look at the things he
said a little more closely.
For example. Lane said, "The first
serious investigation since the shots were
fired is taking place now in New Or
leans." He chose to ignore, thereby, not only
the Warren Report, but the independent
investigations of several national maga
zines and the excellent and detailed in
vestigation by CES Xews which was pre
sented in a four-part series last summer.
One is left questioning also the char
acter of the investigation, itself.
Lane is obviously making money on
a very tragic happening. If he is attempt
ing through his books and speechs to con
vince people that his solution to the mur
der is correct it didn't show up in his
talk here.
The Xebraskan feels that if Lane and
Garrison had any respect at all for Pres
ident Kennedy they would go about their
investigation if they must have one in a
quiet, restrained manner.
KJ I &&TSSsEssH'LXK TOTAL
Grand Sprix
by George Kaufman
"The presidents of four (California) state colleges
have withdrawn recognition from Sigma Chi fraternity be
cause they believe its policies permit racial and religious
discrimination in selection of members." United Press
International, Nov. 15, 1967.
This dispatch Wednesday got little play in the Lin
coln newspapers, but has more than back-page significance
to students of the University of Nebraska.
The phrase "because they believe its policies per.
mit" is lightly-worded, because in actuality the organiza
tion has recently proven that its policies do indeed per
mit, even dictate, racial and religious discrimination in
selection of its members.
The Sigma Chi chapter at Stanford University had
the audacity to pledge a Negro and was immediately
slapped down by the national officers.
The presidents of San Diego State, San Fernando State,
Fresno State and San Jose State colleges then imposed
the ban upon the local chapters of the famous Greek
social fraternity.
Dr. Ernest A. Becker, dean of student affairs for the
state college system, told UPI the four officials with
drew recognition because local chapters did not have auto
nomy in picking members. This is true not only in Cali
fornia, but even in backwater states like Nebraska.
Under the ban, Sigma Chi chapters at the schools can
not use college facilities or carry on activities on campus.
At last word, the action was threatening to mush
room, with a similar ban being considered on Sigma Chi
chapters at UCLA, Berkley and Santa Barbara.
Now the question arises: should a thing which hap
pens in California prompt action in Lincoln, Nebr?
I don't mean a similar ban by the administration on
the Nebraska chapter of the Sigma Chi party group. I
mean a self -motivated (if this is possible) action on the
part of Sigma Chi. Sort of to prove it can do more than
paint EX on the bottoms of university coeds.
It would be surprising, but improbable if this were to
happen. Perhaps it is a dream that the Greeks may ever
reform from within.
This poses an even bigger question: Will the Sweet
heart of Sigma Chi ever be black?
A Plea To Straw Poets
CAMPUS OPINION Ri&ht of Left
By SUSIE DIFFEXDERFER
I want to talk to you about today. Now.
Lincoln. Nebr. I am irate, irritated, and
aggravated, as well as being appalled by
a certain attitude that sleeps silently in
side Nebraska coeds. Read on my friends
for I am not talking about apathy. Per
haps you will sympathize when you hear
how I, just a few days ago, in idealistic
naivete made a total fool of myself.
Scene: Creative writing classes, Uni
versity of Nebraska, Lincoln. Enter en
thusiastically, Me: (playing the role of
Editor of Scrip Literary Magazine. )
Me: Good morning, good morning, I'm
here to talk to you about something
you're all very interested in PUB
LISHING YOUR OWN WORK!
(Fat drops smoothly over the edges
of desks and the same fat faces are
expressionless, weighted down by
heavy cheeks.)
Me (with added projection): Now, I
have two questions for you. First, how
many of you have published already?
No hands.
Me (more loudly). How many would
like to be published?
No hands . . . just fat faces.
Me: Well, what-in-hell are you taking
this course for?
No reaction . . . nothing.
Now this is not apathy, it is a danger
ous lack of self-confidence, and an absurd
lack of motivation to get beyond the nar
row bounds of one's self and friends.
Not apathy because people at t h e
University simply do not wish to promote
themselves, nor their work. Poets curl shy
ly in their humble corners and whisper
(only to friends, of course), "Maybe some
day, after I'm dead they'll discover my
great masterpieces and the world will be
sorry they did not know me alive."
Well, you Emily Dickinsons I wish
you luck in your coffins: but I ask you
to check the biographies of great writers
again. Humility is one Christian fine
thing. Sappy, provincial, ignorance is
another.
THE STRAW MEN
You may accuse me of false general
ization, but there have been other in
stances. There was the time Scrip ar
ranged a poetry reading on the steps of
Sheldon Art Gallery . . . Friday for the
scene, and the readers had shriveled into
corners of the campus. Or look at the au
dience the Union sensations pull: full house
for indian dancers and Bel Kaufman (in
that order). Now compare this to t h e
measley dozen a poet like Cooperman
(now you are asking, "who's he?") draws.
I am reminded of the college woman
who wrote a fantastic broadway satire,
Macbird. And I am conceited enough to
think that any political science major with
a little wit at this University in Lincoln,
Nebr. could have written such a play. But
the fact remains: they haven't, and prob
ably won't.
So, I plead to you whimpering writers
and poets of Nebraska, come out from un
der your desks, come out of your over
stuffed apartments, and let us hear you!
Scrip Magazine needs your support
now. here, in Lincoln, Nebraska. And we
need it before Thanksgiving Vacation.
Type up your stuff over the weekend and
put it in the Scrip box, English Depart
ment, second floor Andrews Hall.
Dear Editor?
I wish to clarify my position regarding
the presence of business recruiters on
campus.
The resolution I introduced in :he Sen
ate was NOT designed to forbid Dow
Chemical Co. the use of campus facilities.
Rather, my intent was to condemn Dow
for its practice of selling napalm to the
U.S. military.
My concern, as regards the general
issue of campus recruitment, is that some
segment of the University community
might get the job of making ethical dis
tinctions among potential recruiters sim
ply by default as there is no official pol
icy on the matter.
I advocate that we have an open
campus, there is no need to protect stu
dents from companies like Dow Chemical.
Indeed, it seems that elsewhere the re
verse has been the case.
Thank you.
Al Spangler
Senator, Grad College
By A. C. E.
Joan
Dear Editor:
I went out of curiosity, rather than
real interest to bear Joan Baez discuss
her non-violent philosophy. She stated that
the American people should treat tyranny
as a "big bad boy," but with kindness
and understanding.
I feel it is extremely fortunate that
this country, along with a few dozen
others in Europe did not have this "sweet
ness and light" attitude in the early 1940s.
Jndy Fisher
Are You Kidding Me?
The announcement at Student Senate
that State Sen. Terry Carpenter wants to
talk to students interested in the campus
drug problem led ASUN Sen. Susie Phelps
to remark, "I thought Carpenter didn't
give a damn."
ASUN Vice President Gene Pokorney
was quick with a rebuttal, "Would you
care to expound upon that?" he asked.
Whereupon the Senators broke up.
A University history professor com
mented this week that when he first ar
rived in Nebraska last year he got off
the train and "set my watch back 20
years."
Mark Lane, author of "Rush to Judge
ment," said Thursday of J. Edgar Hoov
er's "Masters of Deceit," "I haven't
read it but I presume it is his autobio
graphy." Signs of the tenor of the campus
times:
In Architectural Hall:
"I'd like to have the name of the
governor of this state."
Dick Gregory
On a dormitory room door:
"Due to lack of interest,
tomorrow will be postponed."
Thanksgiving vacation begins next
W ednesday.
'In The Heat Of The Night:' Meaningful Attempt
By LARRY ECKHOLT
There are hardships for the amateur movie critic
who writes in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not the least of them
is the time it takes for most movies to get to Lincoln.
By the time a critically-acclaimed movie, such as "In the
Heat of the Night," is shown in Lincoln, the amateur critic
has devoured many other reviews on the movie, searching
for style techniques and the general pattern of critique.
Then, when he does have a chance to review the movie,
he is not sure if what he is writing has not already been
predetermined by previous readings, or if what he says
is actually what he feels. But "In the Heat of the Night
is one of those movies that leaves one searching for new
ways of expressing oneself, instead of just giving feelings
whether predetermined or not.
There have been many attempts to film a meaningful
movie on the racial hatred of the South. Two of them
have been released in 1967, the year of the riots; one of
them ("Hurry Sundown" futilely directed by Otto Prem
minger) did not make it, partially because the movie
tried to be a modern day "Gone with the Wind" and when
there already is one GWTW there is no reason for another.
"In the Heat of the Night" brings together two of the
finest American actors on the screen: Rod Steiger and
Sidney Poitier. For those who have been waiting for Poit
ier's talents to be fully used this is tbe movie. Someday
soon Poitier will be giving performances not determined
by color. But this portrayal of the Northern Negro police
man who accidently stumbles onto a homicide case in
dumpy Sparta. Mississippi and is used by a townful of
bigots is nothing less than beautiful.
Powerful
But the most powerful performance is given by Steig
er. His police chief Bill Gillespie is certainly the finest
performance of this year. He chews gum with what could
almost be termed psychic disorder as if persecuting the
gum for his own faults; he pricks Virgil Tibbs (Poitier)
with a multitude of prejudiced needles while subtly show
ing respect for a "Northern nigra" for his capabilities as
a law officer. This is truly one of the most complex rela
tionships brought to the screen. And when Gillespie says
good-bye to Virgil Tibbs at the train station, Steiger, with
a chomp on his gum and a warm smile, brings hope into
the cause of ending racial strife in the real South.
Two people must be given the most credit for this
excellent movie: director Norman Jewison and scriptwri
ter Stirling Silliphant Jewison has tackled one other
movie with a touchy plot "The Russians are Coming,
The Russians are Coming." In that movie he showed how
a competent director can satirically treat a situation in
volving American patriotism and international relation
ships with comedy and succeed.
Jewison now treats an equally difficult subject with
such precision that never does the racial question get out
of hand. He never actually condemns the Southern bigot
for his beliefs. He enables the complex nature of personal
relationships do the work for him. There is enough verbal
assault on the Negro to let any Mr. Charley in the
audience chuckle with self-delight. But, in the same re
spect, the whities in the audience can marvel with Gilles
pie at the superiority of this Negro Tibbs.
Writer Silliphant (who is now doing a picture in Sel
ma. Alabama) has produced a symphony in black and
white (the movie is colored, ahm, in colon. Each race is
given a chance to voice its prejudices. Tibbs is caught in
the middle. He must cope with the near-fatal tauntings of
the whities who want him dead because he is too much
like a white plus extricate information from a Negro wom
an by capitalizing on the same kind of prejudices There
are numerous scenes which show the southern Negro com
pared to Tibbs (who is not typical, that's certain) and
southern whites compared to each other. These may not
be fair comparisons, but they certainly are powerful.
Brilliant
The force of the art of the film is epitomized by Has
kell Wexler's brilliant photography. Some of the closeups
are near abstracts and there are many visual symbols,
some needed, others not The movie was shot in a small
midwestern town, for obvious reasons, which certainly will
not win any Lady Bird beautification awards if it reveals
its true identity publicly. It is the archetype of cities that
rear George and Lurleen Wallaces, Lestor Maddoxes, etc.
When I saw the movie one post-viewing experience
added to the impact of the film on me. Two pre-school
boys, both of whom probably came to the movie in lieu of
a babysitter, were sitting together just far enough away
from their parents to feel apart from them. One was a Ne
gro, one was white. The boys were having a good time
before the movie started and sat through the entire movie
together. When it was time to leave the boys started to
cry because they had to part and each parent had to ex
plain to his child that they couldn't spend any more time
together that night. But the crying persisted. The lart thing
I heard was the white boy's mother telling her boy that
he shouldn't cry, that he will see his friend again.
"In the Heat of the Night" is not sentimental like the
aforementioned anecdote. It is powerful, it is important,
it is a masterpiece but it is not sentimental. Yet it gives
to the people of this embittered nation a reason to hope.
And I'd gladly be sentimental over that
While innocently walking through the Schramm Hall
lobby Wednesday afternoon I spied an interesting sight
There in the midst of an estimated one-hundred and fifty
students sat Joan Baez and Ira. My poor, befuddled mind
could not comprehend the scene. I knew that administra
tion was interested in keeping the dormies happy prison
ers but sponsoring Joan In The Lobby??!
Being the super-sleuth that I am I decided to investi
gate. Much to my surprise it was not a rendition of folk
singers revisited although I did notice that one coed had
a copy of the "Joan Baez Songbook." It was instead a
philosophical debate. This did even more to my mind
administration couldn't actually have had a hand in stimu
lating thought among the students!
Confronted with such an interesting situation I could
not resist the temptation and so I stayed to listen.
My first impression was "Joan, ever have the feeling
that people might be using your name?" for Ira spoke
at length with comments from Miss Baez thrown in at ran
dom to prove that she really did agree with what was being
said.
However, that was my first impression and as the dis
cussion proceeded my attitude changed for Miss Baez
began to express her beliefs personally and quite well at
that
After making statements referring to the growing to
talitarianism of America and the abomnible U.S. policy
in Vietnam, audience reaction was varied. On the whole,
however, the consensus seemed to be "Commie, Commie,
Commie "
As I said earlier, administration couldn't have been
sponsoring anything to stimulate student thought and as
it turned out. they most certainly were not.
In reference to the growing totalitarianism of Amer
ica many students reacted quite adversly. This interested
me for I could not help but recall a letter printed in the
Daily Nebraskan concerning a Soviet Russian flag hang
ing in a Harper Hall window.
The person writing the letter considered this a threat
to the American Way of Life. Afterall, a Communist flag
how horrible ... and besides who needs freedom of
speech. I mean, it's okay if you express your opinion
as long as it agrees with the consensus. Of course, this is
just an isolated instance at Nebraska but unfortu
nately there have been too, too many of these isolated
instances throughout the country.
The Red flag incident, "Baez is a Communist," etc.,
etc., lead me to believe that the flagwavers are becoming
a little overzealous in their drive to protect the American
Way or Life.
When concern for humanity becomes equated with
the great red terror of communism whenever the U S is
involved on the shady side I think it's time too check our
premises.
Somehow it just seems a little too easy to label every
thing "Communist" that you don't agree with, and so as
I sauntered out of Schramm Hall I could not helo but
recall an old Kieirkegaard favorite of mine :
What fools men are! They want
the freedoms they do not have, and
they do not use the freedoms they do
have. They want freedom of speech
and have freedom of thought
Vol. . No. m
Daily Nebraskan
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