THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editorials
Commentary
Friday, February 9, 1968
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Toward the death
of King Grade
There is a professor at the University who pre
faces his first class each semester with "there will
not be any teaching in his course but I hope there
will be a lot of learning." His students are then in
formed they will give themselves a grade at the
end of the course and this is the mark which will
be fed to the computers.
At this announcement some of the students show
show signs of insecurity and bite their nails, some
simply stare in disbelief but a few know the course
will be a rewarding and satisfying experience.
A few people, such as this professor, recognize
that the present grading system is one of the most
ridiculous instruments of modern education. The
Grade is kingpin at the University and education
thus far has been left pouting in the back row.
1 The University took a few cautious steps to up-grade
the system two years ago when a limited
" pass-fail system was introduced. Only juniors and
seniors are allowed this privilege and they are se
verely limited in the number of courses they can
take and the number of departments offering pass
fail courses. ,
The original pass-fail is now outmoded and
needs expansion and revision. This was clearly
demonstrated last semester when only 92 students
were willing to comply with a gruesome list of re
strictions in order to take courses pass-fail.
This system needs help and the white knight,
disguised as the ASUN Education Committee has
volunteered to rescue it. The committee presented
several revisions for the. pass-fail system this week
which would expand and liberalize the system to
fit the current needs of the University.
Under the proposed revisions a student theo
retically could take every course during his col
lege career pass-fail, although he would need his
instructor's permission to take courses in his ma
jor field.
The Senate undoubtedly will approve these re
visions but the proposals progress through the
same dreary channels of the Faculty Senate and
the Board of Regents.
Whether the system is expanded and passes or
retains its present restrictions and fails depends
on the foresight of the faculty and the Regents.
Cheryl Tritt
l I
2r The YD
Dilemma
Dan Looker . . .
Call for radicals
Columnists are notorious problem solvers. Men
like Steward Alsop and David Lawrence have been
casting bland solutions on the political waters for
years. In order to follow in this great tradition, I
thought that today I would solve a problem ex
clusively for Daily Nebraskan readers.
In my search for a subject I first looked to the
national and international scene but things were
so bad that I did not know where to begin. Also,
the problems were so great that I wondered if even
a columnist could solve them. Finally I decided on
the University Young Democrats. "They never do
anything." critics say, and when they do do "they
are ineffective." On top of all that "they are com
pletely out of it." Unfortunately, some of these
criticisms are valid.
The root of many of the YD's troubles is the
fact that they have to satisfy two completely dif
ferent interest groups the Nebraska Democratic
Party and the University campus liberals.
The state party has always tended to be a bit
more conservative than University Democratic sym
pathizers and during these times they would just
as soon ignore national politics and concentrate on
Nebraska. However, the liberal elements on the
campus cannot get as excited about Governor Tie
mann's airplane and are more concerned with those
embarassing national problems such as the draft,
urban problems, and the war.
Except for a brief period when Bruce Mason
was acting president, the YD's have chosen to fol
low the lead of the state party In recent years.
The YD's should not worry so much about the state
party and concentrate more on campus issues.
This sounds very radical but in the long run both
the state party and the campus would benefit.
"Do the Young Republicans have this prob
lem?" one might ask. Of course there are conflicts
between progressives and conservatives there also
but the YR's have no trouble attracting campus
leaders. They have the prestige of working with the
majority party in Nebraska.
The remaining campus leaders with more lib
eral views obviously cannot be attracted to the
YD's in the same way. The only way to attract and
hold the interest of campus liberals is to be con
cerned with what interests them. It's really very
simple. All the YD's have to do is do something
INTERESTING, something that appeals to college
students.
Most of the students who participated in the
Model UN last semester enjoyed it and thought it
was worthwhile. Why couldn't the YD's sponsor a
model unicameral? (The speech department could
hold tryouts for the role of Terry Carpenter.) Or a
model Congress, or even a model Pentagon (which
would win the war in Vietnam in one week)?
Passing resolutions may seem like powerless
club busywork but It can be an effective way of
etiring up debate and discussion. I see no reason
why the YD's should ignore student reaction to the
draft, Vietnam, restrictions on spending abroad,
drug laws and other prominent issues. It does not
matter whether those resolutions are pro or con
they will put YD's back in the news If they reflect
student opinion.
newest waH-fcise: pfccuecT i
William F. Buckley . . .
Who are the totalitarian6-?
We are headed, once again,
for a highly agitated season.
It is ironic that one of those
who will suffer most from the
excesses of election-year rhe
toric is the same Lyndon
Johnson who looked with glee
on the on-minuet political
commercial four years ago
which pictured a little girl in
nocently picking daisies and
then being atomized as the di
rect result of the election of
Barry Goldwater as President
of the United States.
At the purely political level,
Mr. Johnson is charged with
bloodlust, megalomania,
sadism, that sort of thing.
"Hey, hey. L.B.J. ? How many
kids did you kill today?" That
slogan, which greets the Pres
ident everywhere he goes, is
countenanced, and indeed ap
plauded, by men who use to
tear out their hair in frus
trated despair because Sena
tor Joseph McCarthy had said
the day before that John
Crinkley belonged to twenty
two Communist fronts when in
fact every one knew he be
longed to only twenty-one.
Within a two-week period
shortly after the nomination
of Barry Goldwater, three dis
tinguished Americans 'Dr.
Martin Luther King, a Prct-
Alan Reed . . .
estant, George Meany, a Cath
olic, Emmanuel Celler, a Jew)
delivered the electric opinion
that Goldwater's rise to pow
er was to be compared to
Adolf Hitler's. Where will it
all end?
The question was asked
most provocatively by Dr.
Franklin H. Littell last sum
mer at a meeting of the Na
tional Education Association,
Dr. Littell, president of Iowa
Wesleyan College, is himself
an abusive rhetorician who un
guardedly accepted the na
tional chairmanship of an or
ganization nobody has ever
heard of, called the Institute
for American Democracy.
It is the successor to the Na
tional Council for Civic Re
sponsibility, the phoney outfit,
financed by the Democratic
Party and commissioned to
defame Senator Goldwater
which Arthur Larson, of the
Law Institute of Duke Uni
versity, was prevailed upon to
head.
The principal purpose of the
Institute of American Demo
cracy is the old-time purpose
of creating an amalgarr by
which to score polemical
points off the conservative
opposition.
Now Dr. Littell actually has
an interesting point. His point
is that the polices of totali
tarianism are such as do not
lend themselves to democra
tic procedures. That is a point
which apparently the Ameri
can Civil Liberties Union wiK
never, ever learn.
"It was one thing, Dr. Lit
tell told the NEA. "to espouse
pies,' so nobly affirmed in Wil
son's Fourteen Points, in a
world which differed very lit
tle technologically from that
of the ancient Romans or Su
merians. "In an age of enormous
concentration of power, politi
cal and economic and mili
eous in an age of communica
tion: in a world of atomic
warheads and inter-continental
ballistics, such a principle
is untendable.
Our own actions in Guate
m a 1 a, Lebanon, Vietnam,
Cuba and the Near East, show
that our practical wisdom is
better than our theory. It is
one thing to affirm the First
Amendment liberties in an un
i:alif.ed fashion in an socie
ty beginning to industrialize.
It is another thing in an age
of mass media and electronic
opinion-forming to sloganize
the rights of the Communists
or Fascists to the detriment
and destruction of constitu
tional order and due process."
Just so. However, the point
the civil libertarians always
bring up, and quite rightly,
is: where do you draw the
line? Here Dr. Littell becomes
a prime exhibit of human
fallibility. He will lump to
gether: "Hargis, Bundy, Mc
Intire Welch, and Gerald L.
K. Smith." He will refer to
them as composing ' the fas
cist underworld." all in the
cousle of a single sentence.
It leaves the mind reeling.
Compare Welch to Don Qui
xote if you will. But to Hitler?
What does Dr. Littell mean
by "fascist"? He would dis
charge any member of the
John Birch Society (and for
all we can tell from his speech
any member of Major Ben
dy's Church League of Ameri
ca, which presents orderly
protests against the social pro
grams for the National Cou -cil
of Churches), from any
fraternal or business associ
ation, branding them as dis
loyal and totalitarian. He is
capable of enjoining us to
avoid control by either Stalin
or Hitler, Gus Hall or Robert
Welch."
A political scientist in politics
Editor's Note: Alan Reed is
an Assistant Professor of Po
litical Science at the Universi
ty of Nebraska, and worked
as an Analyst la American
Foreign Policy at the library
of Congress in 1963 and 1964.
He ran for national President
of the Young Democrats at
their biennial convention in
Hollywood, Florida, Novem
ber 1967, on a platform oppos
ing U.S. policy in Viet Nam
and advocating extensive or
ganizational reforms aimed
at greater autonomy and policy-making
power for Young
Democrats within the Party.
I am most often asked why
I made an effort to be
elected President of the
Young Democratic Clubs of
America, when I was opposed
by the overwhelming power
and wealth of the Democratic
National Committee. I d i d
not do it without much
thought, or naively, as D o n
Quixote tilting with windmills.
As a political scientist, I was
always aware that the odds
(and the White House staff)
were against me.
But, the continuing tragedy
of Viet Nam left me no moral
alternative. Moreover, I am
convinced that the quality of
political leadership generally
in the United States is a great
deal lower than it should be.
Many of our politicians
wear nicely tailored suits and
Princeton haircuts all right.
They can smile and wave at
the camera at the right tima
and smoothly deliver the
jokes inserted in their pre
pared speeches by speech
writers. But, with a few invaluable
exceptions such as Mansfield,
McGovern, Fulbrlght, Rocke
feller, and the Kennedys, they
have neither the commitment
to the great purposes and
promise of American history,
nor the crative minds that
our people need.
This is as true of the Young
Democrats and Young Repub
licans as of others. Therefore,
I strongly favor the entrance
into politics of many more
teachers, historians, philoso
phers, writers, journalists,
scientists, and artists.
Unfortunately, these citi
zens usually have the great
est disdain for politics and
politicians. They are extreme
ly critical of our political
life, but, in my view, engen
der a self-fulfilling hypothesis
that politics is dirty and be
neath their talents by refus
ing to participate in it.
The campaign itself was
exciting, challenging and re
warding, even though the ob
stacles were always great and
I lost. For a brief time at
least, I had the ears of thou
sands (and for one glorious
minute would you believe 30
seconds on ABC evening
news, of millions) of active,
intelligent Americans, and I
could tell them my view of
the War. Through the cam
paign, also, I gained an inval
uable glimpse into the secre
tive halls of power in Ameri
ca, which hopefully will en
liven the academic knowledge
I impart to my students in
"P.S." 20.
The campaign got underway
in June of last year, nearly
six months before the conven
tion. From Texas, it was clear
that President Johnson in
tended to prevent anyone op
posed to his foreign policy
from gaining positions of in
fluence in the party organiza
tions. Also, the campaign quickly
Daily Nebraskan
Feb. t. 1KI
Vol. t. No. 58
Second-claw instate said at Lincoln. Neb.
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EDITORIAL STAFF
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Mitchell. Joel Davis, Lynn Womacqu.
illuminated the leading candi
dates. The man to beat. Spen
cer Oliver, was a person.!
aide to John Krisweil, Treas
urer of the Democratic Par
ty, John Bailey, Chairman of
the Democratic National Com
mittee, and Marvin Watson,
the President's chief political
manipulator. He is a native
Texan, former State Presi
cent of t h e Texas YDs, and
has been campaigning for ten
years.
From Washington, D.C. to
San Francisco, Boston, Day
ton, Ohio, Topeka and Holly
wood, Florida we debated and
competed for support. Follow
ing the usual devious prac
tices of his political teachers,
Oliver resigned his DNC posi
tion a month before the con
vention. I predicted that he would
immediately resume the po
sition after he was elected
and would be appointed to re
place former Congressman
Charles Weltner as Director
of the Young Americans for
Johnso n-Humphrey. Br th
these things have happened.
All youth activities in t h e
Democratic Party are now
concentrated in one place and
will serve without question
the policies of the Johnson ad
ministration. The Young Dem
ocrats are no longer a mean
ingful group nationally.
The convention in Holly
wood was the climax of t h e
campaign. John Bailey showe
up Monday, two days before
the convention began, with
three full-time aides, and or
ders to prevent the "peace
niks" from winning.
,,1,1111,1111 Illllllllllllllllllllllll imillllHIMIIII! Nllllllllllllllllllliillllllllllll
(Campus opinion
Dear Editor: 4 ., T
Once again ASUN, IDA and the Daily Nebras
kan, in their stands on the Harper Hall housing
controversy, have shown to us, the residents of
Harper 3, that these groups are not functioning for
the student but, consciously or unconsciously as
mouthpieces of the Administration.
Where else would a Student Senate, reportedly
to represent students, take such a negative stand
towards its own constituents. In refusing to support
Harper's resolutions which ignore the open door
article of the dormitory Open Housing Policy, they
have shown us they are not acting in the student's
favor, but merely as individuals who want to satis
factory complete their Greek policy which states
they participate in so many activities.
If. they wish to remain free from activities
which may meet the disapproval of the Adminis
tration, as they have demonstrated in their handling
of the students of Harper Hall, they should retire
to some organization such as Corn Cobs or Tas
sels. The IDA has proven it is really an ineffective
organization which does :ict even have the back
bone to support the actions of one of its members
in an issue-which affects au dormitories. The group
has failed in its first and probably only opportunity
to achieve something which will truly reflect the
thoughts of its members and should retire to the
job of functioning and scheduling dances, about all
IDA is doing for the halls at present.
The Daily Nebraskan, the voice of the stu
dents(?), is not. in our opinion, representing our
voice at all. Why does no', the Nebraskan openly
state that Harper's actlo.ib were appropriate and
needed instead of saying it acted "a little too
soon". Could it be that the Nebraskan represents
only the Greeks and could not care about the
"dormies".
The paper took a vehement stand against De
ferred Rush, but only i.ays we "acted a little too
soon." Could it be the Nebraskan is staffed by
Greeks who merely want to remain "in good"
with the. Administration? When will the paper ful
fill its job as a voice of the student and not only
utter the ultra-conservative mouthings of the Ad
ministration? It would be useless to add to the thousands of
words on the controversy except to ask where else
but in Nebraska would a person who was at home
during the weekend be punished for breaking a
University ruling which only applied during the
weekend?
The Housing Office is constantly telling the
public it is trying to make the dorms like a home
for the students, but no student can remember
the last time he was told to sign a form telling
where he was going when he left his true home
nor can they remember the last time they were
-punished for having their door shut while they
were trying to study. The dorm is not a home.
Then the Housing Office wonders why so many
people want to live off-campus.
Harper 3 wants to see student groups and pub
lications come out and -ctively support its fellow
student now whne the pportunity is present and
not during any election speech. It appears to us
these people are applying for positions as Univer
sity administrators, and are passing the entrance
exams with flying colors.
Sincerely,
The Residents of Harper 3
Bob Busboom, president
John Reiser , . .
Heart and hands
Hecent ct'tements by Nebraska Democratic
Chicttan John Mitchell deserve a little comment,
even if v ry Little.
Mitchell snipes away constantly at the Govern
or on the iu'vjert of spending and taxation, all the
while blar.ii the Governor for higher taxes.
When ii. public's opposition to those who
would desire the Governor's tax program be
came apparent, however, Mr. Mitchell quickly an
nounced that the Democratic party would have
nothing to do with any petition efforts.
This puts him in a postition not unlike the man
who advocates free beer and then gives temperance
lectures. The question to be put is "Are you, Mr.
Mitchell, going to dance or are you goint to sit
this one out?"
Talk about Tiemann as a "spender," of course,
is the purest kind of irresponsible partisanship. But
we shall have to accept the fact that there are
still politician- -mg to perpetuate the myth that
progress shoun't cost money.
Governor Tiemann, in the courageous, far
sighted pattern he set from the very first day of
his administration, has tried to commit Nebras
ka to a higher standard of excellence than we have
known before.
Anyone who says this will come cheaply is
either kidding himself or is attempting to delude
the public. But let those who are unwilling to pay
the price for progress consider carefully its alter
natives: The continued emmigration of most of our
competent young people from Nebraska.
The graduates of our educational institutions
failing to measure up with students from other
parts of the country.
Operation of state institutions which are lit
tie more than cages, performing only caretaker
roles.
Fewer dustless, hard-surfaced roads than any
other state in the union.
Continued racial discrimination In housing.
These are the grim alternatives to the Tie
mann program for Nebraska. These compose the
price which is really too high to pay.
At long last, Nebraska has a Governor who
strides through the briar-patch of state problems,
instead of pleading like the rabbit not to be thrown
into the briar patch.
' Mr. Mitchell pleads a losing cause, for Ne
braskans are becoming infected with the excit
ment of this Tiemann administration and they are
joining with their Governor in his committment to
excellence.
This is all to the good, for still ahead are the
passage of the Governor's open-housing legislation,
the calling of a state constitutional convention, and
the difficult adjustment period for the recently
merged OU-NU.
Governor Tiemann's popularity, never so low
as suggested by the prophets of doom, will increase
over the months ahead, as more Nebraskans re
alize just how richly-blessed we are to have this,
young dynamic Governor.
Mr. Mitchell suggests that "only time can
save the Governor." One other boost might be for
the Democrats to nominate Mr. Mitchell.
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