THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editoriafs
Commentary
Friday, December 1, 1967
Page 2
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Apportionment
Districts: Misrepresentation
ASUN should study ways to elect
qualified senators and not worry about
where these senators live.
It seems that there are only two
real ways of representation for Student
Senate-election by colleges (the present
system) and election by districts, unless
one wishes to revert back to the pre
ASUN method of selecting representa
tives by campus organization which is ludi
crous. Most observers believe that his study
of representation by districts is a blatant
attempt at increasing the number of in
dependent senators to their proportional
size on campus despite statements by
ASUN executives to the contrary.
Those who propose the district-based
system of apportionment apparently wish
to ignore the fact that the present sys
tem does not preclude the election of
more independents. Independents have a
decided majority in most, if not all, of
the colleges and could elect more inde
pendent senators. That more independents
are not elected is the fault of independents
and not the system of representation.
The Daily Nebraskan would have to
agree that perhaps independent students
need more representation on Student Sen
ate but this seems to obscure the real
.and more pressing issue at this point.
It has been suggested that a district-based
system of election would place
; the senator in closer contact with his
. constituency. But looking at the repre
sentation under this type of system one
finds that this would probably not be
the case.
One might elect a senator from two
fraternities and five senators from Abel
Hall. Then the question arises whether
the individual elected from one fraternity
bouse would serv e the interests of the oth
er, or whether the senator from one floor
of Abel would serve the interests of the
other floors. Moreover, under this type
of system, there would be increased ri
'. valry between houses and dorm floors,
and the house or floor with the most
members would undoubtedly get the sen
ator. This could be eliminated by giving
each house a senator and giving Abel
10 senators, but this system would be
so unwieldy that each and every student
might as well serve as a senator.
It is also said that the district-based
system would be more like the U.S. Con
gressional system of electing representa
tives. This system may be good in the
House of Representatives where an agriculturally-oriented
state like Nebraska is
very much different from an industrially
oriented state like Indiana.
But the Daily Nebraskan contends
that the real issues of Senate do not,
and should not, vary greatly from resi
dence to residence.
There are even more technical prob
lems with a district-based representation.
What about a member of a fratern
ity who lives in a dormitory? Does he
vote in the fraternity election or the dor
mitory election? And what about the
fraternity member who lives in Lincoln?
Is he included in the fraternity conti
tuency or the Lincoln student constitu
ency? But the problems still do not end.
There is the possibility that a senator
might be elected from Selleck in the
spring, move to Abel in the fall and
then move to Harper at the end of the
semester. Is he still representing the
original dormitory from which he was
elected?
And what about the changes in the
number of occupants of the various liv
ing units on campus? It is almost cer
tain that Senate would be faced with a
gigantic reapportionment problem at
least every year, if not every semester.
Finally, last but most important, the
importance of constituency contact is be
ing blown completely out of proportion.
Granted there should be some reali
zation on the part of senators of their
constituency's opinions. But is it not far
more important that the senators vote
on issues for the good of the entire Uni
versity community and not just their dis
trict? If senators were faced with feel
out out their constituency on every issue.
Senate would bog down in polling and
become a meaningless, useless organiza
tion. There are those who feel that the
Greek-Independent split should just be
ignored in this issue and then it will
be forgotten. But it will cot; in fact
most students are already well aware
of the Greek-Independent aspect of this
issue.
The Daily Nebraskan feels that ap
portionment by districts will bog down
into a petty Greek-Independent battle
that will benefit neither group. And ther
are too many more important issues to
be resolved that need the cooperation of
both groups and not a childish Greek
Independent rivalry that would be in
jected into the issues.
The Daily Nebraskan is not criticiz
ing the committee that was set up to
study the question of apportionment but
the Nebraskan feels that the only appar
ent alternative to the present system
would bury Senate forever in reappor
tionment and petty Greek-Independent rivalry.
I
GENERAL
Nestle
And Hot out skooud those
PROTEST IMS THE. DWFT BE DRftFTGD,
But those pewESTiucr capitai-
POHISHMENT HoOUD BE ELECTROCUTED,
PkNO THOSE.
North Viet Official . . .
The North Is Winning'
Looking Up . . .
by dave landis
Wednesday ASUN President Dick
Schulze appointed a five-man committee
to "evaluate the various means of elec
ting student senators."
Reports of Schulze's action indicate,
however, that in actuality the committee
will not evaluate "various means." but
one method, the district-based election
system.
This proposal, to elect senators from
living units rather than colleges, is an
affront to the intelligence and perception
of the student body.
The district system would be unwork
able for this University, no matter how
sophisticated it might become. The num
ber of students living in dorms and Greek
houses changes from year to year and even
daring the year.
The Senate would be forced to re
district each year at the minimum, and
quite possibly more often because of the
fluctuation in numbers.
Schulze says the reason for contem
plating a change to a district system
is that students could identify more easily
with their senators. Even if this did hap
pen something the committee will have
to prove) does it mean that it will in
crease lite quality of the legislation or
of the candidates? I don't think so. You
cant translante identification with elected
representatives into efficiency in govern
ment there is no relationship.
The identification-with - your - senator
angle is a ruse, a bogus ploy for a
change to a district representation sys
tem. What then, is the real reason for
change? To increase the power of dorm
representation?
Ttme Wfll Tefl
Another important point in this issue
is the composition of the study commit
tee. Two members, John Hall and Bill
Mobley are fraternity men. The other
three, Bruce Bailey, Loren Schulze and
Bob Peterson are independents. AH four
senators (Baiky is not a senator, but is
president of Cather Han ) ran on the PSA
ticket
If the four senators should be split
on the issue, Eailey will bold the tie
breaking vote. I question Bailey's ap
pointment. What are his qualifications,
other than obvious partisanship as Cath
er President. Why was Bailey, the only
non-senator en the committee, cade the
chairman the tie breaker?
As I see it the district election pro
posal will easily niai it out of the coin
ruttee and onto the Senate floor.
Then we'll see what happens.
(Editor's Note; Steve D'Arazien is the
Collegiate Press correspondent in Saigon.
On his way to Vietnam, he stopped in
Moscow and talked to a North Vietna
mese government official about his gov
ernment's views on the war and pros
pects for peace.
By STEVE D'ARAZIEN
Although it is ciear that the North
Vietnamese do not trust the United States
government. I found it relatively easy
to talk to the North Vietnamese repre
sentative I met with on two occasions
in Moscow. He agreed to see me be
cause I came as a representative of the
college press the North Vietnamese are
very much aware of opposition to the
w ar among college students.
All in all, I talked with Do Kiem,
first secretary of the Democratic Repub
lic of Vietnam (DRV) for about five
hours. He spoke Vietnamese, an attache
translated into Russian and my Intourist
guide translated into English. We drank
green Vietnamese tea and smoked Dien
Bien Phu cigarettes. Di Keim was ex
tremely gracious throughout out discus
sions. I went to our first meeting prepared
with specific questions about the techni
calities of negotiations. Some of these
were touched upon at our second meet
ing, others were ignored. It is my gen
eral impression that once the DRV is
convinced that the United States sincerely
wants peace, these difficulties can be
surmounted.
Americans should realize, whether it
is true or not at this point I have no
way of knowing that the North Vietna
mese believe they are winning the war
militarily.
In the last two years, the Secretary
said, the balance of power has shifted.
He believes the DRV and National Liber
tion Front NLF) fortes now have the
advantage.
STALEMATE
In the last five months, the D"Y
claims to have killed 150.000 troops, of
which 70,000 were Americans. They also
Campus Opinion
Protest, Protest : '
Dear Editor:
Caution: Viet Cong toleration may be hazardous to -your
health.
In a recent letter to the Nebraskan, I took a swing;
at drugs and carefully included tobacco in my target.
Last week's demonstration against Dow Chemical gives
me both the reason and the method to materialize that.
&Uusiv6 fittsck
I would like to reason with the demonstrators that
they should protest first the American Tobacco Conji
pany's manufacture of cigarettes, then Dow's manufac
ture of napalm. For the effects of smoking are no less
gory than those of napalm, merely less apparent, and
they are far more widespread.
The statistics of deaths from smoking are far more
impressive than those caused by napalm.
A Nonsmoker
Dear Editor:
As an out-of-town subscriber to the Daily Nebras
kan, I feel compelled to WTite concerning the protests
against the use of napalm.
There are any number of means of death in war,
all of which are horrible. War can have no rules to go
by. The Viet Cong make ample use of terror by means
of booby traps, others use napalm.
Protesting is a right which should not be abused,
yet it is being abused more each day.
Protestors should be able to understand that there
are those who are concerned with graduating, securing
proper employment and putting their knowledge to work
to either better our country or to support their families.
I sincerely hope these sort of demonstrations do not
hamper the more rational students from securing jobs,
with whatever con;pany comes to the campus to inter
view. Thomas Steel
Fremont
The Foreign Student "
Dear Editor:
In regard to the problems of foreign students on cam
pus. I think that a possible solution might be the forma
tion of an international dorm which would house all for.
eign students and those Nebraska students who would
be interested in living and exchanging ideas with the for
eign students.
I understand that this idea has worked extremely
well on the Minnesota campus. An international dorm
would alleviate the surplus of dormitory rooms and it
would give the foreign students more of an insight into
campus affairs, which. I know from experience, the off
campus student doesn't have. It would also offer the
foreigner more opportunities to meet and get to know
Americans and for us to meet him.
I realize that there are problems in financing this
project but I think the thing to remember is that a
few extra dollars spent to help create a favorable im
pression of the U.S. in the mind of someone who can
go back and "tell it like it is" is far better than billions
spent in U.S. foreign aid to dispel bad impressions of
out country.
. A Concerned Student
claim to have stalemated U.S. offensive
operations.
Do Kiem said that 2.407 American
aircraft have been downed by DRV or
NLF fire. This figure includes 43 types
of aircraft including B-52s. Later I saw
an edition of the Herald Tribune, still
published in Paris, which said we had
admitted to 2,709 losses, but that not all
the losses were due to enemy fire. Do
Kiem also said that because captured
pilots are now older men, and of higher
rank, the DRV believes the United States
faces a pilot shortage.
In spite of the heavy bombing by
U.S. planes, Do Kiem claims rice pro
duction in the North has been increas
ing, that industries have been started
where there were none before, and that
"the education, cultural and medical as
pects of life are being developed." In
a country with a population of 18 mil
lion, five million young people are in
school, including institutions of higher
learning, he said.
At the present time, Hanoi and Hai
phong have not been leveled. American
attacks on the port of Haiphong, I am
told, have been carefully executed so as
to not sink any foreign ships. Presum
ably some targets in both cities are still
restricted.
I asked Do Kiem whether the North
Vietnamese were prepared for the level
ing of these cities or for the possibility
that all the escalation if merely a pre
lude to nuclear attacks on China itself.
My question was misinterpreted to mean
nuclear attacks on North Vietnam. Do
Kiem said they could absorb even that.
"Modern weapons are useless in Viet
nam," he said.
Later another journalist told me the
North Vietnamese are prepared for any
thing. They have already written off Han
oi, a city they regard as too French.
They have drawn up plans for a new
city.
"All the Vietnamese people believe
in toe victory over American imperial
ism," Do Kiem said. Their belief in even
tual victory is bolstered by a 4,000 year
history of resistance to foreign domination.
ouble Jeopardy Violation Of Student Rights
Editor's Note: The following is part two of the text
of the "Joint Statement on Student Eights and Free
dom,1' prepared by representatives of five education or
ganizations including the American Association of Uni
versity Professors . )
As safeguards for the editorial freedom of student
publications the following provisions are necessary.
L The student press should be free of censorship
and advance approval of copy, and Its editors and man
agers should be free to develop their own editorial poli
cies and news coverage.
2. Editors and managers of student publications should
be protected from arbitrary suspension and removal be
cause of student faculty, administrative or public dis
approval of editorial policy or content. Only for proper
and stated causes should editors and managers be sub
ject to removal and then by orderly and prescribed pro
cedures. The agency responsible for the appointment of
editors and rasnagsrt should be the agency responsible
for their removal.
3. AH university published and financed student pub
lications should explicit state on the editorial page that
the opinions there expressed are not necessarily those
of the college, university or student body.
V. Off-Campus Freedom
A- Exercise of Rights vf Citizenship.
College and university students are both citizens and
ewmbers of the academic community. As cneris, kU
4ents should enjoy the same freedom of speech, peace
ful assembly, and right of petition that other citizens en
joy and. as members of the academic community, they
are subject to the obligations which accrue to them by
virtue of this membership. Faculty members and admin
istration officials should insure that institutional powers
are now employed to inhibit such intellectual and per
sonam development of students as Is often promoted by
their exercise of the right of citizenship; both on and
off the campus.
E. Institutional Authority and Ovil Penalise.
Activities of students may upon occasion result in
violation of law. In such cases, institutional officials should
be prepared to appraise students of sources of legal
counsel and may offer other assistance. Students who
violate the law may incur penalties prescribed by civil
authorities, but institutional authority should never be
used merely to duplicate the function of general laws.
Only where the institution's Interest as an academic
community are distinct and clearly involved should the
special authority of the institution be asserted.
The student who incidentally violates instutional regu
lations in the course of his off-campus activity, such as
those relating to class attendance, should be subject to
no greater penalty than wouid normally be imposed. In
stitutional action should be independent of community
pressure.
VL Discipline
In developing responsible student conduct disciplinary
proceedings play a role substantially secondary to ex
ample, counseling, guidance, and admonition. At the same
time, educational institutions have a duty and the corol
lary disciplinary powers to protect their educational pur
pose through the setting of standards of scholarship and
conduct for the students who attend them and through
the regulation of the use of institutional facilities.
In the exceptional circumstances when the preferred
means fail to resolve problems of student conduct prop
er procedural safeguards should be observed to protect
the student from the unfair imposition of serious penal
ties. The administration of discipline should guarantee pro
cedural fairness to an accused student. Practices in disci
plinary cases may vaiy in formality with the gravity
of the offense and the sanctions which may be applied.
They should also take into account the presence or ab
sense of an honor code, and the degree to which the
institutional officials have direct acquaintance with stu
dent life, in general, and with the involved student
and the circumstances of the case in particular.
The jurisdictions of faculty or student judicial bodies,
the disciplinary responsibilities of institutional officials and
the regular disciplinary procedures, including the stu
dent's right to appeal a decision, should be clearly formu
lated and communicated in advance. Minor penalties may
be assessed informally trader prescribed procedures.
In all situations, procedural fair play requires that
the student be informed of the nature of the charges
against him, that he be given a fair opportunity to re
fute them, triat toe institution not be arbitrary in its
actions, and that there be provisions for appeal lor a de
cision. The following are recommended as proper safe
guards in such proceedings when there are honor codes
offering comparable guarantees.
(Coat Page S, CoL 1)
Dear Editor:
Rand followers, and most straight thinkers in the
world, say "Amen" to Jackylene Emmons. (Campus
Opinion, Nov. 13)
The point was well made but, as John Gait learned,
the only way in now is through the back door.
Bill Smithermaa "
Ri&ht of Left
By A. C. E"
Dear Editor:
I read with interest in the letters in the Nebraskatf
attacking Frank S. Devine and have decided that the time
has come to rush to his defense.
Who in this state has made such effort to aid his
country as has Frank S. Devine? He should be listed
with the other great men who have espoused such phi
losophies and who share such a prominent place in the
hearts of us all.
He deserves to be recognized as one who stands
with such greats as Joe McCarthy and Robert Welch,
true defenders of the American way!
In this decade of strife when our noble President
is burning the midnight oil fields to save our great na
tion from the perils of communism, who are we to dis
sent? After all, this nation was not built bv dissenters and
surely we cannot now begin to allow such a cancerous
growth to prosper in our country.
University students should be thankfr: that we have
among our ranks such an enlightened individual as Frank
S. Devine. He is one among many who has recognized
the threat of dissert and without him we may hav
never realized what was happening until the Red Flag,
was flying in front of the White House and implanted
on top of the capitol building.
And what has Frank S. Devine received from (is for
his bold deed? Cat-calls and ingratitude? Yes! Is this
not a sad commentary on us? Have we no conscience? -
Nebraskans, don't you realize that our country is how'
engaged in a struggle to bring the bask freedoms of
speech, thought and action which we now have to the
rest of the world?
Don't yon realize that if it were not for men like
Frank S. Devine we would lose these freedoms? Wake
op, Nebraskans, and thank a man who is truly work
ing for your defense ! -
A Concerned America!
(Editor's Note: This letter should be read with the'
music of the Battle Hymn of the Republic playing soft
ly in the background. )
VOL . C M
Dailj Nebraskan
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