THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editoriab
Wednesday, February 14, 1968
Page 2
i . i : i i .. . i I i J
. . U I 111
,-n
btude
nt power
X
and the IDA
"Dormitories in the news" is rapidly becom
,ing a monotonous headline for students uninvolved
"with these issues. A concept vital to the entire
University, however, is behind the controversy
the idea of student power.
Analyzing the current dormitory situation as to
ts effect upon student power at the University is
' a distressing diversion.
For example, the Inter-dormitory Council elec
, ...tions are the big event scheduled for this week.
The two top executive candidates are running un
contested. While this type of situation would be ac
ceptable to. Eugene McCarthy, it does little to en
hance the IDA's power and prestige, nor does it
allow important issues to be adequately discussed.
There are of course several understandable rea
sons for the lack of a competitive campaign, such
as financial problems and student assistant in
eligibility. Several dormitory leaders have suggested,
" however, that potential leaders are more concerned
" with their individual residence halls than with the
cooperative efforts of IDA.
Student power speaks for the individual student
rbut its mouthpiece must be located in a powerful
' representative body. At present most of the power
ful dormitory leaders are found in executive posi
tions in individual residence halls, not within the
IDA.
These leaders have directed their abilities to
ward the improvement of their respective residence
halls and have found their own methods of solving
problems, as the area of housing regulations.
As a result IDA with its minority of leaders
and lack of continuity compromiser has often been
reduced to the role of compromiser and appeaser,
and consequently has failed to initiate any strong
educational or social programs.
And so the voice of IDA which should be a
major source of student power, still strains to be
heard and individual dormitories continue arguing
among themselves about the most effective way to
promote change.
Hopeally the IDA elections will produce execu
tives who are not afraid of the word student pow
er and who will have the leadership abilities to
lead the dormitories to decisive and progressive
aCti0nS- . CherylTritt
Rodney Powell . . .
Micro-bopper
: disease grows
F v.
, ,' ii ruiiiJ
My problem is that there are some things I
just don't understand. This implies, of course, that
I do understand some things (I'm not that dumb).
For instance, 1 understand why IDA, et al (good
old al, you can always count on him) are against
Section 5 of the open house regulations. They all
want to have orgies. This is perfectly clear. Why
would anyone want to have doors closed if they
didn't want to have an orgy? It's simple and
"straightforward.
I am
a Walrus
This is not to imply, of course, that there is
anything wrong with orgies. In fact, they're good
clean fun. But let's not shilly-shally around closed
doors mean orgies that is all ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know (some obscure Armenian
poet wrote those lines in a fit of pique. He was
coming down with pneumonia, and boy was he
piqued).
After that frightful burst of levity, I must re
turn to more serious matters. From the large num
ber of things I don't understand (Marshall McLu
han, nuclear physics, the vice that has no name),
I am most troubled by the phenomenon called by
Esquire in a definitive piece "The Micro-bopper
Revolution." The micro-boppcrs are, in case you
don't know it, the group of brats aged' 9-13 who are
creating a new lifestyle.
Now I suppose I understand that children aged
9-13 do. exist, and in fact could be called micro
boppers. But my mind refuses to take the imagina
tive leap (poor thing, it ruptured its ego taking the
last one, and is now content to babble about as the
id will allow) and believe that those punks actually
do what the article says they're doing. They're like
an alien culture, a veritable Commie plot to take
over this tair land of ours.
Take the creep who writes about his childhood
from the awesome vantage point of age 15. What
was he doing during his micro-bopopper years? Was
he worrying about how many home runs Mickey
Mantle wouid hit, if "Yancey Derringer" would go
off the air, if he could still get by on a children's
ticket when he turned 13?
In a word, no. This fathead (notice the uniformly
hostile tone I'm adopting toward all these dorks)
talks about going through a William Golding phase,
a George Orwell phrase, and probably even a Hen
ry Miller stage (for his literary merit, no doubt).
And I didn't even read the Catcher in the Rye.
But sex, there's the real mind-boggier (you knew
I'd get around to it sooner or later, didn't you?).
These morons aren't even worried about it! They're
serious by age 12 and experienced too! What's hap
pening when innocent lambs are initiated to the mys
terious vices of the world so early? Where are the
old virtues, the old circumlocutions (watch out for
those they're dangerous), the old frustrations? A
12 year old kid who's a film maker, wants to see
Feliini movies, not because they're sexy, but be
cause they're supposed to be good!
And that's not all, not by a long shot. No
siree, there was a picture in that very same Es
quire of a 13 year old girl posing for a lingerie
d. Thirteen years old! Lingerie Ad! I'm appalled.
""She was even trying to look seductive. When she's
,Just supposed to be getting rid of her baby fat.
I could continue to catalogue the horrors, but
the mind grows weak, the light grows dim, the
years pass by, and this revolution has made me
weary.
My solution is this let's start exterminating
these foreign creatures, these loathsome micro-,
boppers. People tif that's the word) who make us
feel so inferior shouldn't be allowed to live, right?
Get a gun readily available from your friendly
mail order firm, and start killing today! Kill a
liicro-bopper and we won't be back 'til it's over
ever-therei
Bwjamin Spoof: VW uweeV WHO)
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William F. Buckley ...
Travel restrictions blasted
The great events in the Far
East naturally dominate the
news in Europe but there is,
concerning them, a spirit of
fatalism which is not freight
ed with anti-American odi
um. Too many European pow
ers, too recently, have been
too overwhelmed by events,
to bring them to share Ameri
ca's innocent faith in the ef
ficacy of the national will.
France lost Indochina, and
then Algeria. And for that
matter, France lost France,
twice in seventy years. One
half of Germany is still sub
jected, twenty-three years af
ter the death of Hitler. The
sun has permanently set on
the British Empire.
So there is an undercurrent
of sympathy: but none at all
concerning President John
son's unfolding program f o r
preventing Americans from
coming to Europe. The mean
ness of his proposals and the
sheer indignity of their en
forcement may very well b
costing American prestige
more among the people of
Europe than the reversals in
the Far East.
There is, to begin with, the.
philosophical contradictions.
For years and years we have
been saying at every oppor
tunity that the peoples of the
world should get to know
each other better. We have
had p ople-to-people, English
speaking union, cultural ex
changes, Fulbright scholar
ships: travel has become part
of the ethos.
Suddenly, the United States
anounces, at one a n d the
same time, that a) Americans
should stop traveling to Eur
open and b) that Europeans
should increase their travel to
America. The sheer psycho
logical inanity of the twin
statements is itself arresting.
Europeans have their pride.
Why should they invest their
savings in travel to a country
which proposes to punish
those of its citizens who wish
to travel in Europe?
And what is a European to
think about & country like the
United States whose citizens
permit their government to
inflict such a humiliation upon
them? It isnt as though
Americans were Englishmen,
who officially gave up pride
when the Queen became na
tionalized after the S e c o n d
World War. America has a
gross national incu-je which
in a few years will amount to
a trillion dollars. It is pro
poses to deprive Americans
of a part of their indepen
dence to travel unencum
beredin order to save five
hundred million dollars that
would otherwise be spent
abroad.
A nation which accepts such
humiliations for such very
low stakes is not one which
remains sensible to the join
erwork of liberty. If the
United States can tax over
seas travel, it can in effect
forbid overseas travel. And
the complications inherent in
such a law should at least
double the size of the income
tax form, causing it to resem
ble an application form for
work in the C.I.A., or that
blue monster of the Census
Bureau which demands to
know how many toilets you
have.
The Europeans say its pro
tectionism, and the hell with
it. They are dead right, that
is exactly what it is. Once
again, the Johnson schizo
phrenia; lower tariffs and tax
travel. The Europeans to be
sure live in glass houses. But
the United States is supposed
to act bigger than most Euro
pean nations do.
Granted our size, our
strength, our traditions. It is
we who should be taking the
initiative in reducing tariff
barriers, in fortifying our
freedoms. But Mr. Smoot
Hawley in the White House,
who has gotten terribly accus
tomed to telling people what
to do, is now prepared to re
peal, by other means, what
progress we have made in
lowering tariff barriers.
Last week the British
Broadcasting Company de
nied to an American tenor,
Mr. Richard Cassilly, a Role
in Aida, on the grounds that,
sniff, there were plenty of
qualified British tenors. That,
in the land that suckled Adam
Smith! Once again, perhaps
one can say concerning Eng
land that she has no alterna
tive (though; in fact, she has).
But concerning America? Th
national copper strike cost
America nore dollars used to
buy foreign copper than will
be saved under the pending
act of tyranny. But will Pres
ident Johnson propose a re
form denying to labor unions
the right to strike an entire
industry?
Well, the proposed act has
not yet passed in Congress.
We shall have to see how it is
handled there. In Europe, it is
automatically assumed that
anything President Johnson
desires, be gets from his Con
gress. The Europeans are too
nearly right for comfort.
Perspective on prose , .
Russian satire examined
Editor's Note: The follow
ing book review on The
Master and Margarita is
contributed by Tom Hol
land, an instructor in the
University English depart
ment. Soviet author Mikhail Bul
gakov's novel The Master and
Margarita was written in the
1930's, but banned until last
year. The reasons for its sup
pression seem rather slight:
the satire on Soviet bureau
cracy, though extremely fun
ny, is not particularly criti
cal of the bureaucrats; the
episodes dealing with sex (pri
marily nudity and adultery)
seem rather bland to a gen
eration brought up on Lady
Chatterly's Lover and Fanny
HiuV
Although he questions the
official atheism of Stalinist
Russia, Bulgakov does not go
so far as to defend Christinity.
But Russia is apparently still
unenlightened in literary mat
ters; the version of the book
published there last year was
badly expurgated, and omits
most of the references to sex
and a great deal of the satire.
.Ironically, this "official"
version of the novel was pub
lished in translation by the
avant-garde Grove Press,
while the more stodgy Harper
and Rowe have published the
complete manuscript version.
The plot of the novel is
based on a standard satirical
situation. Satan, disguised as
a magician named Professor
Woland, pays a visit to Mos
cow. His retinue includes a
pair of practical jokers (one
of whom is a pyromaniac
black cat named Behemoth)
who immediately run afoul of
several aspects of the state
bureaucracy. Their "misun
derstandings" result in mys
terious deaths, disappear
ances, and a sudden epidemic
of insanity which sends peo
ple to the madhouse in droves.
But although the greatest part
of the novel deals with the
tricks of Woland, he is not the
main character.
The real hero of the story is
the Master, who is first intro
duced about a third of the way
through the book and never
plays a major part in the ac
tion. He is a novelist who has
gone mad because of the sup
pression of his novel about
the crucifixion of Christ. The
main plot concerns the efforts
of his mistress, Margarita, to
rescue him from the asylum,
which she finally accom
plishes by selling her soul to
the devil.
This plot, unfortunately, is
probably the weakest part of
the book and the fantastic de
tails surrounding Margarita's
conversion into a witch are
overdone and unconvincing;
Only the author's mordant
sense of humor keeps the
story from collapsing com
pletely at this point. At any
rate, the story has a happy
ending, and the Master and
Margarita are taken off to
live happily ever after in Hell.
But for all its humor and ab
surd detail, the book's pri
mary concern is with the
question of what is real. Wo
land's magic tricks are one
expression of this theme; it
is developed more seriously
and more fully in the episodes
dealing with the relationship
of Pilate and Christ which
are interspersed throughout
the book.
T&e first of these episodes
Is told by W7oland to two skep
tical writers; the second is the
dream of one of these writers
while he is in the madhouse;
those remaining are chapters
from the Master's novel. Al
though they are told by three
different people, these epi
sodes form a unified whole,
in both plot and style. It is as
if the story has a separate
existence, independent of the
storytellers.
Using this impression, Bul
gakov closes the novel with a
paradox: the Master's fate is
decided by Christ, which
seems to affirm the reality
of the story; yet it is left up
to the Master to determine
the fate of Pilate, because as
author of the story he has
created Pilate.
.This paradox illustrates
Bulgakov's main point: does
reality lie in the dull, every
day world of the bureaucrats,
or in the fantastic but excit
ing world of the creative
imagination? It is left up to
the reader to decide.
Graduate students' future doubtful
Washington (CPS) Mem
bers" of the House Education
Subcommittee would like to
know what President Johnson
is going to do about drafting
graduate students before act
ing on the Administrations'
proposal to Improve graduate
schools.
The subcommittee's con
cern about the drnft surfaced
this week when Commission
er of Education Harold Howe
II testified in behalf of the
Johnson Administration's
higher education program for
Fiscal 1969. The program in
cludes a $10 million legisla
tive package designed to
strengthen graduate schools.
Howe did not mention the
draft in his prepared testimo
ny about the proposed grad
uate school legislation. But
when questioned by members
of the subcommittee, Howe
admitted the current draft
policies are causing a serious
problem for graduate schools
across the country.
Under the new draft law, un
dergraduate students are de
ferred from the draft, but
graduate students are not. The
present policy also calls for
the oldest -Selective Service
registrants to be drafted first.
Howe said as many as 150,
000 students planning to at
tend graduate schools next
September face the strong
possibility of being drafted.
Peter P. Muirhead, the Office
of Education's associate com
missioner for higher educa
tion, said the figure 150,000
"is probably too low."
Graduate schools are facing
a critical problem because
they don't know how many of
the students they accept will
be drafted, Howe said. "Grad
uate schools are in the process
of awarding fellowships, hut
they don't know whether the
recipients will sliow up. Some
institutions are awarding
more fellowships than they
liave funds for in anticipation
that some of the students will
be drafted," Howe said. "
He also said some graduate
schools are accepting more
students than they have room
for in an effort to insure they
will not have a critical short
age of students next fall.
Mrs. Green asked Howe
what could be done to help
solve the problem. "I am not
Daily Nebraskan
Feb. M. 1968
VI. U. No. 1
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o( Nebraeu under the jurisdiction of the Faculty buDcomtnlttee on Student
PublicaHOBe. tMoltcaaoaa ehall be free from censonhip by Urn Ituoconuniuee
or any pereon ovicide toe tniveraity. Member ol the Nobraakan are reeeoaelaea
lor what they cauaeto be printed
Member Aaaociateel CoUefiat Iron, National Edaeataoaa! AdvertUtnf crrtea.
EUrriMUaX. STAFF
Editor Cheryl Trirt; Managing Editor Jack TckM; New Editor Ed Icenogtei
Night News Editor i. L kctimidt; tutorial Hee Aaeiitani June Vteaoneri
Aaaittant Nlrtii Neva Editor WUbar wenim f porta Editor (ieora tUutnuu
Asatatant feporta Editor Bonnie Sonneau: Newa Araistaat Lynn Ptaceki
Staff Writer- Jlfn Bvmeer, Hard Martin. Mara Gordon. Jan rwrh. Joaa
McCullough, Janet Maxwell, Andy Cumungnam, Jim Haderaen, Monica rykorny,
fhyllia AdktMoa, Kent Cockaon, bran Skinner. Nancy Wood, John Ireorak.
Keith Wlliumia: Senior Copy Editor Limn Uottacnala: Cosy Edtlore: Betsr
frenunore, Dave I liipi. Jane lkeya. MoHy MttrntU. ChrMtxe aenwarbaopf; Paotu
raphen Mike Hayman and Iter. Laderv.
BIStNtue KtATt
Tluatneaa Manager Clem Friend ! ProooeBon Manager Cfcarn Baxter! He
ttonai Ad Manager Leeta Macner: Bookkeeper and claaeifken ada maoagar Gary
Holungaworth: business Secretary Jan Boatman; enbectiptwn Manager Jane
Kot; haioneuo Dan Croak, Leu looker, Katny Sroila, lead ilwigMag. ttmiin
aiio neii, aOOl Da Via, Ljim ftoiiiaita.
an expert on the draft,'
Eowe said, "but 1 believe the
solution to this particular
problem Is to find a way for
a Tandom (election proced
ure. 1 believe random selec
tion is ultimately fair and
simple." If a nystem of ran
dom selection were imple
mented, Howe said, "only one
in every five or six" grad
uate students might be taken.
Under the present law, Presi
dent Johnson could implement
a random selection system by
administrative action.
Howe, however, testified
that he has not played a large
role in forming the govern
ment's draft policies. "I was
involved in several conver
sations informally when the
draft (policy) was being dis
cussed," he said. Mrs. Green
said perhaps "better balance"
could be achieved if the Of
fice of Education "had a
greater voice in draft poli
cies. Howe said he proposes a
plan to defer graduate stu
dents in certain disciplines,
such as the arts and humani
ties. He said this plan is "not
sensible ... for the long-range
health of education."
Larry Grossman
Traffic jam
Italian style
J
The most exciting show in Rome is the flow
of traffic. The narrow streets that wander through
the seven hills of the Eternal City were designed
for horse drawn vehicles, but today are jammed
with thousands of tiny, toy size European cars.
Travel
Notes
Traffic congestion is aggravated by the behav
ior of the Italian driver. The average Italian is a
polite, courteous person. He opens doors for wom
en, answers questions with grace and politeness,
and behaves as a gentleman. But put him behind
the wheel of a car and he becomes a charioteer
in the Roman arena. His manners disappear.
He lashes his horsepower, screams around
curves, ignores all traffic lights, and acts as if
pedestrians did not exist He directs a steady flow
of invective, nose thumbing, and obscene hand
gestures at other drivers. Inevitably there are
many near misses and frequent bumper crunch
ing collisions.
One warm summer evening I was walking
through the central part of Rome near the Colos
seum. Cars stuffed with sweating irritated parents
and their squawling mobs of "bambini" jammed
the narrow streets. As I walked along I heard the
steady sound of angry honking behind me. It drew
closer and I turned around to see if an ambulance
or fire truck was trying to get through the eve
ning traffic.
A bus was honking at a slow moving Fiat
blocking the way. The two vechicles were so close
that I first thought the bus was pushing the Fiat
The Fiat pulled over to the curb and the bus
came to a halt in the middle of the street. The
owner of the Fiat, a young man in a suit with his
tie loose at the collar, jumped out of his car and
ran over to the front of the bus. The bus driver
came out into the street and the two began a face
to face argument.
Since the beginning of time, Italians have ar
gued. Their arguments though, rarely lead to vio
lence. Everything is a show. The two men, in
traditional fashion, stood so close that their noses
almost touched. They shouted into one another's
face. Their hands moved through the air making
a thousand gestures (Italians love to talk with their
hands).
I didn't understand the language but the scene
needed no translation. The Fiat driver kept point
ing from his hub cap which was slightly dented
and scratched to the bus. The bus had probably
scrapped the Fiat and then kept on going. The
Fiat owner in turn drove his car in front of the
bus and slowed it to a stop.
A second man got out of the Fiat andlattempted
to separate his friend from the T"is driver. After
five minutes of tugging and yellii he succeeded
in dragging his friend away. The b. river got into
his bus, pausing in the door to give a final shake
of his fist in the direction of the Fiat
1 should pause here and state two things about
this particular bus. The buses of Rome are all
entered through the rear door where a fare collec
tor sits. Some of the buses (like this one) are
powered by electricity, with attachments to over
head power lines.
As the bus pulled into traffic, the fare collec
tor leaned out the open back door and did two
things at once. He kicked out at the Fiat driver
and spat at him. Both actions took but a second.
The Fiat owner ran after the accelerating bus and
pulled the power connection wires on the back.
A shower of sparks rained on the street as the
overhead wires cracled and came loose. The bus
ground to a halt. Traffic puled up in both direc
tions and a thousand horns set up a raucous pro
test. The bus driver ran out to the street, angry to
the point that veins swelled on his glistening fore
head. 1 thought now the two men would surely
come to blows. But again, there was only hand
waving, shouting, and another nose to nose confron
tation. A crowd of 100 people now gathered from out of
side streets and from cars caught in the jam. They
joined in the confusion, split into two teams, about
30 on a side, and argued with each other. Most
had not seen any of the events leading to the
stalling of the bus, but all vocally expressed their
opinions on the probable cause.
Several people came up to me and asked what
had happened. I said nothing not understanding
their Italian. This did not deter them from con
tinuing to talk animatedly to me as Italians both
ask and answer their own questions.
The fight was finally settled by some general
of the Italian army who had been watching from
a seat on the bus. He was wearing a grey summer
uniform covered with medals and campaign rib
bons. With great effort, he succeeded in separating
the two men. There was some final name calling,
swearing, and an exchange of addresses. The Fiat
drove off and the bus driver climbed to the top
of his bus to hook up the power lines. Mo police
man appeared during the half hour show. The traf
fic of Rome began to move again, first slowly
and then at a more rapid pace.
I turned to an old man standing near me and
said with a smile "Viva I'ltalia."
IIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIlllluilllllllllUlllllllllUlllllllllllMk
I Campus opinion!
Dear Editor:
Mr. Stark brought up an interesting concept in
lus editorial column of Monday. In it he suggested
that since the inevitable masses of poor need rea
son to rise from their situation of social parasitism,
the rich of the community should not be required
to pay taxes which go to support job training for a
seiect. poor few. It was obvious that yoTwere on
firm ground when you so cleverly pointed out that
your stand was justified because the rich get noth
ing directly" m return for certain tax payments.
thn,M WlU ,excse my PresumptiveneBS, I think
4 2 1PP y MW de to Paying taxes
more extenfltvely. Some of the city taxes I pav go
to maintain schools in north Lincoln Suice l"bve
I dn,t mnk 1 SSmy taxel
Mr S A?181 glves me no direct benefit, right
J f m Hd n lBtate ievel ttere "eerns no rea-
western nH 'X1 Prom in the
of Fir Park Vntvt' J'Ve never been weKt
m, SJu iIik? 1 m S0ing t0 Bave I,rt of money
t?k a irlh y W1h Alr- Stark- 1 euess it jul
ptrspecuve imaE'natlve outlo to put things in
L& Aitken, interested Kebraskan