THE DAILY NEBRASKAM
Editorials
Commentary
Page 2
Thursday, March 14, 1965
Housing policy
The Housing Policy Committee has completed
recommendations for next year's housing regula
tions which amount to little more than a token con
cession to the acceptable policy made last spring
.and then "unmade" by the Regents last summer.
Because the University overprojected enrolls
ment and continued building architectural monstros
ities to contain residents who never materialized,
students again next year will be forced to pay
for the University's blunder.
Understandably the Committee was required to
work under strict guidelines of the Regents pol
icy. And the group did recommend that present
dorm rates be retained and that senior women be
allowed to live off campus.
The committee did not recommend, however,
that junior women also be allowed to live off cam
pus. So the disparity between women's and men's
housing regulations still remains.
One of the members of the Housing Commit
tee reasoned that not a large number of junior
women would move off campus so much better
for the University's faulty finances if they didn't
This disparity should be corrected before final
action is taken on these recommendations as junior
women at least should have the option to move
off campus.
It is difficult to understand why financial prob
lems must always preclude students' interests. And
in the case of housing policy students' interests
always finish second.
In short no student should be required to live
in a dormitory if he does not so desire.
,, If vast improvement in the dormitory system
were made, this statement would not be as unfeasi
ble to the Regents as it is new.
f
If reforms were made fewer students would
be clamoring to leave the dorms for financial, sch--olastic
and personal reasons.
" A residential college or strong IDA scholastic
'. program, a no hour or key system for all womsn
and a liberal visitation policy would greatly en-
nance the dormitories' appeal.
I Until remodeling of Selleck Quadrangle or Wom-
en's Residence Hall occurs, lowered dorm rates
I for these halls warrants investigation.
Until the sterilized, impersonal atmosphere of
I the dormitories is humanized, tired residents will
; rebel every spring when they must accept the
same housing policy which even the housing
I policy which even the Housing Committee doesn't
especially like.
I Cheryl Tritt
;A1 Spangler
Basis of power
Perhaps the next time George Wallace (hus
band of the Governor of Alabama) makes a trip
to Nebraska he will be arrested by federal .offi
cials the Senate just passed a civil rights" bill
that includes a provision to make crossing state
lines to incite a riot a federal crime.
Watching George's harangue at the Omaha Ci
vic Auditorium (via educational TV, which is some
times truly educational, in spite of its pretensions),
it was clear that the ex-Governor knows what he's
about. He permitted the demonstrators to disturb
the proceedings just long enough to turn his audience
Strange
Day
u
into an angry mob, and then let the cops be turned
loose, billy clubs whacking, aerosol cans of MACE
spraying, forcing the small group of protestors to
run a gauntlet of swinging metal chairs to the rear
exit.
The anti-Wallace faction was down for the mo
ment, but, like "Cool Hand Luke," not really oat
of it at all. They hadn't got their minds right.
Perhaps some day a scientist will invent a
chemical spray called MIND RIGHT. One quick
blast in the face, and the most militant of demon
strators would become a "reasonable dissenter." At
the press of a finger on a plastic nozzle, H. Rap
.'Brown would turn into Uncle Tom. Perhaps then,
police tactics would become effective. Instead of
making militants more militant, and turning lib
erals into radicals. Gestapo tactics would produce
the desired effect.
MIND RIGHT could even be used to advan
tage in Vietnam, in place of napalm, and here at
home against those who would protest its use of
Vietnam. Secretary Rusk could take a can along
'with him to Senate Foreign Relations Committee
meetings.
In the meantime, however, our Government of
- ficials will have to be content with MACE and na
palm. We shall doubtless have to watch the geno
cide we are committing in Vietnam take hold here
m the U.S.
We must also rest content with the conclusion
of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Dis
orders: white racism is responsible for black up
risings. On March 5, Vice President Humphrey
stated that "we have known about these (ghetto)
needs for some time. Why haven't we done some
thing: The answer is that we have been doing
something."
One Is Inclined to say "bullshit." And I nse
the asterisk advisedly, for Norman Mailer is right j
"... the use of obscenity was Indeed to be con
demned, for the free nse of it would wash away
the nation was America the first great power to
be built oa bullshit?"
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Joseph AIsop
4E' for Rockefeller effort
Washington After his New
York meeting with a long list
of Republican moderates on
Sunday, Gov. Nelson Rockefel
ler is near certain to enter
the Oregon primary against
former Vice President Rich
ard M. Nixon. As one of the
Governors put the matter on
Sunday:
"You may not win, but if
you don't try, you cannot
win."
The prospective active can
didacy of Rockefeller is a Re
publican development far
transcending in importance
any other to date, of course,
including the New Hampshire
primary. Furthermore, it is
clear that Rockefeller is tak
ing a very considerable gam
ble and not just because, or
even mainly because, Nixon
has been working so hard and
long to secure delegate
pledges.
The Rockefeller announce
ment will be deferred for a
bit, because his decision is
not yet absolutely final, and
also because the governor
wishes to stay out of Nebras
ka, and challenge Nixon only
in Oregon. And although Roc
kefeller will have vigorous
support from Oregon's able
Editor's note: This is a
CPS book review of The Dis
senting Academy by Theodore
Roszak.
Sometime between World
War II and the demise of Sen.
Joseph McCarthy, a general
attitude that has been de
scribed as liberal anti-communism
became the prevail
ing attitude of the American
intellectual community.
The basic premises of liberal
anti-communism were two;
that the Government should
be encouraged to pursue its
policy of containing Commu
nism abroad and that it should
be prodded to cure whatever
social ills might still be in
existence at home.
At the time liberal antl
communlsm was blossoming,
there is do doubt that many
of its advocates believed they
were taking a stand that was
both idealistic and sensible.
Stalin's repressive and cyni
cal methods of ruling seemed
to discredit Communism as a
means of achieving social
progress while the United
States seemed to taking a
genuinely progressive role in
the world with such programs
as the Marshall Plan.
Whatever the validity of this
view of the world, it permitted
academics and intellectuals to
go to work for the gov
ernment, or at least to work
on Government sponsored
projects.in good conscience.
Criticism, if it was encour
aged at all, was directed at
particular programs or parts
of programs rather than at
the foreign policy or the so
ciety's structure as a whole.
Government, under pres
sure to keep up with the So
viets in the missile race, the
space race, and in other
races, threw off its tradition
al distrust of the intellectual
community and began funding
research programs to the uni
versities. While the amount of money
that has gone out as research
grants to universities is not
snail, it is nothing compared
governor, Tom McCall, even
Oregon is not guaranteed plain
sailing.
What is needed in Oregon
is something more than top
ping Nixon in the polling.
What is needed Is a clear dem
onstration that the Republi
cans this year want a mode
rate candidate with a winning
image. And besides Nixon,
Rockefeller will also confront
California Gov. Ronald Rea
gan, if and when he enters
the Oregon contest.
A recent local poll gave 40
per cent of the Republican
vote to Rockefeller, 36 per
cent to Nixon and 10 per cent
to Reagan, with the rest un
decided. For the Oregon pri
mary to have a major effect,
the New York governor will
have to wage a sufficiently
successful campaign to bet
ter the foregoing figures.
Furthermore, a Rockefeller
success in Oregon, great
though its impact would be,
could never have a truly de
cisive impact. The Nixon dele
gate search has been long, ar
duous and efficient. It is con
tinuing and being intensified.
If Rockefeller is to win at
Miami, therefore, he must not
merely suoced in Oregon. He
must also go on looking like
a pretty sure winner against
Lyndon B. Johnson in Novem
ber, while Nixon goes on look
ing like a pretty sure loser.
The truth of the matter is
that the New York governor's
embryo candidacy is more
keyed to the public opinion
polls, and will be more af
fected by the pollers' fugitive
findings, than any other can
didacy in our recent political
history. If the polls turn
against R o c k e f e 1 1 e r, his
chances will be pretty slender.
The polls can turn against
Rockefeller in two ways,
moreover. To begin with,
deepening political trouble for
President Johnson can cause
the President to drop behind
NIXON. That, In itself, should
be enough to remove, or at
least to blur, the former Vice
President's loser image. And
if that hsflpens, Nixon's in
herent delegate strength can
put him over.
By the same token, Rocke
feller could be greatly hurt
by a change in the present poll
ing pattern, which shows him
with far more power to win
votes than the former Vice
President. A good though ex
treme sample of the pattern
was the Connecticut poll, al
ready cited in this space,
which showed Rockefeller tak
ing 30 per cent of the Demo
cratic votes to beat Mr. John
son in a close race, while the
President, in turn, absolutely
snowed under Nixon.
Depending on the polls
and Rockefeller has no al
ternative is obviously an
immense gamble. The risks
are all the greater, this year,
because of the third-party can
didacy of the racist former
governor of Alabama, George
Wallace. Any poll that leaves
Wallace out will be worthless.
And only an all-wise Provi
dence knows how many votes
for Wallace will be gained if
there is bad trouble in the
cities.
On present prospects, how
ever, it seems most likely that
the Republicans at Miami will
have to choose between the
moderate Rockefeller, with ex
cellent prospects of winning '
the White House if they nomi
nate him, and Nixon, with the
backing of Barry Goldwatcr,
but with fairly doubtful pros
pects of defeating President
Johnson if nominated.
Test tube morality
. . . The Dissenting Academy
to the indirect subsidies that
universities have received in
states where industries were
getting fat on Government
contracts.
In California, for example,
the aerospace industries
needed engineers and scien
tists, and therefore provided
music of the political pressure
that led to the massive growth
at the University of California
system.
The consequences of the
post-war romance between
universities and the Govern
ment are what most, though
not all, of the eleven contribu
tors to The Dissenting Acad
emy talk about. Although it is
clear that the war in Vietnam
is the starting point for all of
them, they do not write so
much about where academics
have failed in trying to end
the war as about the larger
failure of the universities to
criticize a society that would
get into such a war.
As described in this book,
some of the failings of acad
emics are almost incredible,
Sumner Rosen, an economist
writing about the deficiencies
of economic work in this coun
try, says that the impact of
military spending in the eco
nomy has been all but ignored
by professional economists.
According to Rosen, "war and
preparation for war" is the
most important single force
in the economy today, Why,
then, has this area been neg
lected? It's bard to avoid the con
clusion that economists, the
group that has come closest
to the inner circles of power
in this country (what other
discipline boasts anything
like the President's Council of
Economic Advisors?), just
plain don't want to point out
how dependent our economy
is on war-spending because it
would spoil their cozy relation
ship with the Government
Rosen suggests this in part
of the problem, but he sees
as less direct reason for it.
As he explains it:
The scholars and teach
ers are not consciously
avoiding or evading a duty
which they know in their
hearts must be faced. Ra
ther, they are conforming to
a point of view about the
economy and about their
own role and responsibility
which they find both bear
able and honorable. It is
part of a more general view
of scholarship which effec
tively molds all but a hand
ful of men, and casts that
handful into the role of
peripheral figure, cranks,
or monomaniacs. This is at
root a historical, a techni
cal or mechanical, a non
political view of what the
economy is and how it
works. It is seen as a sys
tem with stable structural
characteristics, operating
within parameters that will
not change.
Economists, in other words,
accept the structure of the
economy, in the large, and
Vol. tl. tit. 71
Daily Nebraskan
March 14. 1WI
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address their criticism to lim
ited technical aspects of it.
A similar criticism of an
thropologists is made by
Kathleen Gough. She says
that anthropologists in gener
al study primitive cultures,
and sometimes even examine
the impact of Western socie
ty on these cultures, without
considering the largest ques
tion of Western imperialism,
its origins and overall impact
Miss Gough, who is on the
faculty at Simon Fraser Uni
versity in Canada (she has
also taught at American insti
tutions), suggests that the
tradition of concentrating on
out-of-the-way cultures has
given anthropologists a
means of evading the larger
questions, which in turn has
meant that they can take
Government research grants
without qualms about what
their Government may be do
ing to non-Western people
around the world.
Some of the contributors to
the Dissenting Academy dis
cuss the role, or non-role of
professional associations in
their respective disciplines
with regard to taking public
stands on issues.
Louis Kampf, an associate
Erofessor of Humanities at
IIT, says the Modern Lan
guage Association is more a
"trade association" than a
professional association, a
group whose "natural drift is
toward the councils of the
Chamber of Commerce."
He describes the total lack
of concerned with public is
sues, such as Vietnam, at a
recent 1WLA convention as a
consequence of the under- '
standing by its membership
that their affluence ultimate
ly depends on the Cold War.
"The buffrflery at the MLS
convention," writes Kampf,
"is the visible sign of a com
petitive spirit, of an acquisi
tiveness, which is ready to cut
throats; further, it pictures
not only private feelings, but
the structures of a society
which is learning to exploit its
men of learning."
V' sjF ' '' tL. Alt&Sr
Mick Lowe
Number seven
only $5.04
I helped organize a demonstration last week.
Sixty people turned out, it lasted all day Fri
day, and surprisingly, it was a success. Best of
all, it only cost $5.04.
It all started when we discovered that the Dow
Chemical Company was returning to campus. They
were here last semester, you may recall, and
there was a demonstration at that time, too.
That was the first time that I had ever parti
cipated in a picket line, and I discovered that even
I
Was
There
holding a sign for an hour and being sneered at
is an excellent way to relieve one's conscience.
So we decided to go around again.
We started by "obtaining" scraps of wood for
our signs at a local construction sight. Imagine
we can say that our demonstration had the ma
terial support of Peter Kiewitt.
Then we wrote a letter exhorting everyone to
mass action. It was later pointed out that my
phraseology in the letter, in certain passages at
least, was open to several interpretations.
For instance, the phrase, "the war is not a dead
issue, as a look at any outlet of the mass media
will demonstrate." You can't win them all.
Then we trooped into the men's dorms to dis
tribute our letters. We felt like Rap Brown lead
ing an anti-Wallace rally at Ole' Miss.
Part of it was my own fault. I was wearing
blue jeans and a black sweater, looking like the
issue of an unhappy cross between Che Guevera
and a Viet Cong nurse.
That, I think, was one reason that SDS has
been a failure at the University. The past lead
ers have been, almost without exception, graduate
students, Easterners, wearing long hair and mus
taches, then coming on with new and completely
strange ideas.
They are shot down before they ever get a
chance open their mouths. University students
are not .iopelessly stupid, but it takes tact and a
certain amount of understanding to succeed with
persuasion.
At any rate, the demonstration itself made for
an interesting Friday morning. People came and
went as people will, a't University demonstrations
on school days, but we managed to get the rough
count of sixty participants, thirty of whom had
never participated in a demonstration before.
There was, happily, a wide variety of partici
pants, ranging from members of Greek houses
to a single black power advocate.
I asked him if he had ever participated in a
demonstration before.
"No," he replied, and then smiled a bit sheep
ishly. "Well, not a peaceful one, anyway."
It developed that he had been accepted at an
Ivy League school, (he was a senior at a local
high school), and would attend on a scholarship,
no less.
"Athletic?" I asked.
"No," he replied simply, "it's a eet-a-Negro-for-your
college scholarship."
Soul brother.
The hecklers were fun to listen to, and after
a while a group of pro-war picketers appeared,
the "antl-antl's."
I noticed members of our line were inconspic
uously infiltrating among them. They all seemed
to be getting along amicably until Alan Bennett,
, the manager of the Union sensibly ordered that
we stay apart and glance at each other. It was
right out of El Cid and I could see drawn battle
lines charging another, spilling blood on the Union
carpets.
But we stared at each other's groups so long
that we actually became rather friendly. At least,
I think we all felt, we were better than the people
who were simply watching, and doing very little,
at all.
Finally, it was all over. The response of the
news media was gratifying - (I, personally feel
that demonstrations prove little except for the pub
Uclty and emotional catharsis that inevitably fol
lows.) About three o'clock both groups agreed to call
" hak,e ,hd. "l go drink beer. And
at three thirty all of the signs were gone, the march
ers bad gone home, the observers had dispersed.
Ut t1! Vs,' 1 noticed- one tmU crudely
written sign tacked onto a Union booth. "The anti
antis, 'it read, "have gone to Myron's." So I
suspect, did the "anti's."
I was feeling pretty cocky about the whole day
until I stopped at a booth where a pair of iramacu
lately made-up, and manicured sorority chicks were
collecting votes for "Sports Queen."
Still in the heat of committment, I paid my
nickel and voted, feeling that I had Just been raped
and paid a isickel for the experience.
I asked them how many people had actually
paid five cents to go along with all of this.
"Oh, we had about three hundred tius morni-" "
chortled one of the girls. My satisfaction withered.
Three hundred people had paid money to vote for
a Sports Queen while seventy had demonstrated,
one way or another, concerning Vietnam.
Irony piled npoa Irony a bit later when Craig
Preeszen recently-announced candidate for ASUN
president and a principal In our demonstration,
refused to vote because be thought It was "silly."
JiM?0" 1 beard onc of S8 cutter
as we walked away.
Oh well, what can you expect for five dol
lars and four cents?
