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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1968)
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Editorials Commentary Page 2 Wednesday, March 20, 1953 Political maneuvers Choice '68 began quietly last fall as an invita tion from Time Inc. asking the University to par ticipate in a college presidential primary this spring. - Since then it needlessly has developed into a controversial issue, which has been completely blown out of proportion due to the political man euverings of Senate executives and the ASUN Electoral Commission. A few weeks ago the Senate executives re fused to participate in Choice '68. No one knows why they refused at they never submitted any valid reasons for their objections. Then the free-thinking Student Senate by a slim majority also vetoed Choice '68, and again the reasons for the vote were ludicrous. The main argument for rejecting the primary seemed to be that Choice '68 would detract from the Nebraska presidential primary. If anything the student interest enthusiasm aroused for Choice 68 would stir student action in the May 14 pri mary. After the Senate veto several interested stu dents decided that Nebraska's absence In Choice '68 would not only be embarrassing for the en tire state, but that the student interest shown in the project was great enough to warrant Univer sity participation. The students formed a coordinating committee and selected April 10 to hold Choice '68 so the pri mary would correspond with ASUN elections and insure a large turnout. ; The students however, received a succinct let ter from the Electoral commission refusing to al low the primary to be held April 10. Not one rea- . son was listed for the refusal. The coordinating committee is rejecting the commission's decision and will conduct Choice '68 on April 10 as scheduled. The Committee also denies that the Student Senate even has jurisdiction over Choice '63. First the primary will not be held under the auspices of ASUN. Secondly there is a clause in the ASUN con stitution which states that Senate may "schedule all student elections of general interest, not ex cluding those for contests sponsored bv subordin ate organizations." The electoral commission sup posedly is using this clause as proof of ASUN jurisdiction. Choice & however, is not sponsored by a stu dent organization but by a group of interested stu dents. Also Choice '68 is not an election. It is simply an opinion poll to measure several million college students political viewpoints and preferences for presidential candidates. The results win produce no real winner. It is disgusting that a few powerful Senate members have placed impediments before Choice '68 for what could only be personal and political reasons. Cheryl Tritt A needed addition Editor's note: The following article it con tributed by Dorothy Walker, a University student who is advocating the establishment ef a course n Negro history at Nebraska. I What is Black Power? Who are the Black Revo lutionaries, and what are they fighting for? How did the Negro race come to be locked in hopeless ghettos of poverty in most of the major cities of this country? You don't know? Why not? Lack of care, lack of awareness, or is it lack of know, ledge? Why knowledge? Don't you go to the Uni versity of Nebraska and isn't the goal of this in stitution, as we are often reminded, "a total edu cation?" The University cf Nebraska has no course in Negro history? Why not? Is it because they do cot feel it is important, or relevant? Mewing the situation on this campus and in Omaha when we received a "friendly" visit from Governor Wallace two weeks ago, I would say it is shockingly rele vant and urgently essential. Or is ft because there are VI enough fundi t hire an instructor and develop a eurriculBni? Yet I tee much money being poured bit remold ing tbe Stodest Union, and building a thirteen floor faculty ffiee building. Did yen come to the University t fit in a building, r did yea come to lean something? Or is it because there is not enough interest? Not enwugh interest when a hundred people pack a coffee Swuse. designed for forty, to hear Rever end Malcolm Boyd protest the racial situation to day? Not enough interest when students give Con gressman John Gcmyers a standing ovation for voicing his true opinions on the Mack poverty problems in Detroit? Is Reverend Boyd speaking the truth when he says "society is mt going to teach anything but the 'white history it has always taught" Can we ignore Congressman Conyers when he says that the universities of this country mast tarn cut clear thinking individuals who can solve these problems, and to do this we must establish a "debraiirwashing system to wipe out the stereotype myths of the Black Man. I say we can do longer hide from the truth; we can Ignore tils problem no longer. We must demand from the University that such a course be developed and in the immediate future. If we do not begin to understand and to seek solutions to the overwhelming problems ef "Tie Black Minor ity" we have Ignored, then it will be too late. It is already too late for the generation which controls the means to an immediate solution, but cot for us. Kow ij the time to become aware, to get out of our glass bubbles and gain the needed iaowk-dge to cope with making the Negro a mem ber ef society. Tie Bnt step is aa academic coarse cam ass in Nejra Meter. And Hie time is BOW. .i this cwrr MAMS Ml Tft HAfiSH OF HIS SOW.. V COT OF - AMP FAJTH TP our of oozm. f ' . tJ 3 -ir William F. Buckley, Jr. . . . The price of domestic peace The K?rner Report on the riots last summer is likely to engage the attention of a gen eration of politicians and mor alists as the central document of the period, accounting for our revolutionary summers and laying the blame for them squarely on the culprit our old friend, honkey. Floyd McKissick, the direc tor of CORE, was made a hap py man, perhaps for the first time in his tortured life. "We're on our way to reach ing the moment of truth," he said exultantly. "It's the first time whites have said, 'We're racists.'" And then, the typi cal American response: buy your way out. Two-million new jobs, six-million new housing units, vast educational pro grams, welfare, anti-poverty, you name it. Now there is a very good case for trying very hard to improve the lot of the Negro in America. But it has noth ing to do with summer riot ing. A few years ago, our mor alists used to tell us that the way to curb Communism abroad was to increase wel fare at borne, a most tortu ous non-sequitur, it being su premely immaterial to the Communists how much wel fare we enjoy in America. Rioting in the ghetto is merely tbe slum variant of what Drs. Martin Lutber King, Benjamin Spock, and Wil liam Sloane Coffin are busily engaged in doing, to tbe ap plause of a significant sector of the intellectual community. The riot in Detroit was mere ly a proletarian version of well-fed w ell-housed white stu dents preventing McNamara from speaking at Harvard, or a police car from leaving the premises of tbe University of California. One wouid have thought that the old stomach-argument about how to prevent riots would have died for intellect ual undernourishment after the riots in New Haven and Detroit, model cities from the positivist point of view which guided the thinking of the Ker ner Commission. What caused the riots isn't segrega tion or poverty or frustration. What caused them is a psy chological disorder which is tearing at the ethos of society as a result of boredom, self- hatred, and the arrogant con tention that all our shortcom ings are the results of other people's aggressions upon us. The Kerner Commission is committing the same mistake that the Freedom Nowers com mitted beginning a decade or so ago. All those civil rights bills, all those Supreme Court rulings, all the heaving about for forced integration: very good arguments can be made to defend that activity. But once again, they are not justified as bringing Freedom Now, and the high expecta tions cultivated by the dreamy rhetoric of Martin Luther King standing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 bred only frustration and resentment, not composure and faith. We need St. Paul, counsel ling patience and forbear ance, and reminding us that true justice is reserved for an other world; not the agnostic utopianism of those who tell us how Congress can vote in paradise. The Commission, so far as one is able to judge, has added nothing at all to one's knowledge of the imperfec tions of our society that is un available to, say, tbe reader of Claude Brown's "Man Child in the Promised Land." But by its emphasis on the material elements of the prob lem, it falls totally to ac count for a malaise which it mistakenly thought of as a Ne gro problem. Last week, Negro sociologist Harry Edwards said: "I'm for splitting up in twos and threes, killing the mayor, getting the utilities and poisoning the wa ter." And last week Robert Bly, the poet, on receiving the National Book Award, said: ". . . It turns out (America) can put down a revolution as well as the Russians in Buda pest we can destroy a town as well as the Germans at Lidice, all with our famous un concern ... In an age of gross and savage crimes by legal governments, the institutions will have to learn responsibili ty, learn to take their part m preserving the nation, and take their risk by committing acts of disobedience." The problem is bi-raciaL and nothing said by the Ker ner Commission is relevant to its solution. Perspective on Prose New writing f orimi limited Editor's note: The following review of the New American Review is contributed by Tom Holland, instructor In the de partment ef English. New American Review is a literary magazine in the form of a paperback book; an in teresting innovation, probably intended to capitalize upon the ease of marketing paper backs. Its nearest predeces sor, as far as format is con cerned, was probably the old New World Writing series; but there are two major dif ferences. First of alL New World Writing was not a magazine, but an anthology of new writ ers. And it was specifically intended as a forum for new and experimental writers, which New .American Review is not. Tbe introductory statement by the editor, Theodore Solo tarofi, states its reasonably conservative position: . . we are more interested in publishing writers who are arriving rather than those who are departing or standing still: but we are also commit ted to good writing and do not plan to whore after the young and the wild or to pub lish material merely because its like has never before been seen on land or sea. We believe the cultural tra dition needs to be restated, not abandoned." And so t h e magazine restricts itself to tbe more conventional "academ ic" writers, ignoring the school of Ginsberg and Bur roughs entirely. T b i s editorial restriction would not be so disturbing if tbe material selected for pub lication were better; If they can't be representative, they could at least be good. But, in tbe literary sections of the magazine, they are not, or not consistently so. Poetry is the magazine's weakest point; it is generally downright bad, the only ex ception being a series of four poems by Gunter Grass who is neither new nor Ameri can). One of these, "The Jel lied Pigs Head", is the most grisly thing I have ever read. The only really good short story in the collection is by another established writer, John Earth- It is also the most experimental piece in the book, an autobiography for tape recorder. Also good, but not outstanding, are Joseph McElroys "The Accident" and Alan Friedman's black humor autobiography of a teenage hermaphrodite, "Wil-ly-NIlly". The rest are gener ally of campus literary maga zine quality (and I've seen bet ter in Scrip.) Tbe bright spot of the mag azine Is its selection of essays. A number of tbem are by es tablished essayists, and their subjects reflect tbe tastes of the college audience for which the magazine is intended. There is the obligatory film review by Stanley Kauff- mann, covering Ingmar Berg man, Ulysses, Bonnie a a d Clyde. How I Won the War and other recent films. There are two essays on Marshall McLuhan, ore scholarly and the other a sort of forced attempt at wit 1 Mc Luhan becomes "McLu han"). Nat Hentoffs "Re flections on Black Power" is one of the best essays on tbe subject I have seen; and Mary EUmann's essay on Tolkien and his campus cult is enjoyable reading she says of the Rings: "It is a book like climbing to the top of Mount Everest to keep an appointment with one's sixth grade teacher.") If only the poetry and fic tion in this collection were as good as the essays, it would be a respectable magazine. But as it is, it stands some what lower than the Atlantic Monthly, both as a magazine and as a sampling of new writing. (CPS) After assuring it self a place on the California ballot, the Peace and Free dom Movement now faces the task of creating an organiza tion at the grass roots to challenge Democrats and Re publicans this November. The party scored an im pressive victory, registering over 105,000 Californians be fore the January deadline. The figure was well above the 65000 needed for a place on the state ballot It was re markable, considering that last August the party was only an idea of a few Berkeley radi cals and former labor orga nizers. Bat for sow, PFM is for all purposes without candi dates and eoarrete positions. PJKht now it's Jnst "tiat party against tbe war" witltont bas es ef power ea tbe eigbbor bood asd local levels. Tbe party's greatest streagtli is In and around eoBVe campuses, particularly in tbe Bay Area. Only recently has the party begun organizing on a nation wide scale. Leaders doubt that the party will be able to California third party action be on the ballot in other states. However, a peace and freedom ticket with Dick Gregory listed for President and Dr. Benjamin Spock for vice president has made it on the ballot in Pennsylvania. Spock may not be so popu lar among California peace groups. Spock, a member of tbe National Conference of New Politics, got a cool re ception from many of the Bay Area's anti-war people. Many of them say that the NCNP places too great an emphasis on personal ties, when it should be con- centratiin? on building a strong third force in Ameri can politics by organizing a movement The PFM's own search for candidates is hampered by the California statute which prohibits the party candidacy of anyone registered in a dif ferent party twelve months before officially filing for can didacy. Also, a party candi date must be registered with the party for at least 12 months. Reeling tbe 'old law unfair ly penalizes new parties, the PFM challenged the law in Daily Xebra&kan mm M. mi Vat. 9L Sis. TELEPHONE a,immim fax wn M ir mmMtmr m mw Om avHtfnm naiiiaiii ?. VMMam TMrvtir mt mtmr -arm mt n PMArWMM Pttvnan b free m vmmntfm r WaniitM w mf r'u nafe Ow lfwt. mmom M Bm MmMkm an twm tm tu Okt ctmiim k prim. wuK Ciazun Pma kaemai EAoM lliwli1 iwnm. r . wriU4i murr UK Or Trxu MmMm pjtnm Jvt TrnM. CAMr K4 mtm Km Mm C4tk t L 4v, eMnai P MtfeOot Jnw ft'uowr; tea" nr &m Omrrs Sport fc&v-r Crw afmtmi nm fpwfe tinm ttmcm Immwms mwitm tram htacmi fe WrHan- Jim L-wm. turt Mxm. Mm OMofc in Pub, Mm MHrm, Jaa Mnrawii 4m, Cnwua itm PMma. ua Poftervr. ttrrtbi t &nm. Km otw. fcmn Skwr. Mi Oronk. Cm Ewr tftmOmrmmt Op C4(Mrt- hnn frmnmn, 0w Mi, imm fem. mmilf Mrniwa. Cfencb SawarufeeX; i'liwtrWm tfaw Dma aft Oka LaaaV. n m Mmaw Cfcaa frmmtt- PrnkvOM Vnaar Chart MKoan Ha. a ma Mwfeer, vn 4 etatmtmt a awaaaer Oarr 'a wwy Jm Boomaa; fhmkm Nmcr Ja the State Supreme Court. But the appeal was turned down last week in a 7-2 decision. Tbe only weel-known candi date who has filed at this time is former Free Speech Move ment leader Mario Savio. Sa vio announced last week that be is seeking a State Senate seat on the Peace and Free dom Movement ticket And rumors are circulating here that Robert Scbeer of Ramparts Magazine is inter ested in running for tbe Sen ate tbe PFM ticket la , Scbeer was narrowly de feated ia his independent bid for Cesgress fey Democratic Jeff ery Cobelaa, d e I p 1 1 e faif colorfrj and intense campaign featarfcig reck bands and go go dancers. If Scbeer does seek and get the PFM nomination, he'll likely face Democrats Jesse Unruh, State Assembly Speak er or Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty. Republican front-runners look like incumbent Thomas Kuchel, Senate Ma jority Whip and State Super intendent Max Vavferty. Larrv Grossman Legacy of fear The glowing prosperity one sees in Western Euroi today masks a legacy of deep hatreds and fears from World War II. Time and again in con versations with Europeans, the subject of the War came up. The older people spoke of their personal experiences. The younger ones told the stories heard from their parents. The common theme run ning through all the conversations was a strong anti-German sentiment Let me illustrate with three personal experiences. The youth hostel on the edge of Florence is an old villa once owned by a prince. It is large and held over 200 people during my stay last summer. One evening after dinner, a folk singing fest started on the lawn. A crowd of over 100 gathered. They were young, mainly students, and repre sented all the countries of Western Europe. The group seemed to be having a good time singing songs known to all young people whatever their language or nation. A warm feeling of friend ship spread through the singers. An Italian led the songs, and French, Canadians, Germans, and Americans followed his lead. The singing stopped and someone started to call out the names of the countries represented. Each time a nation was named, all those present from that country cheered. France, Italy, Ameri ca, all were yelled for in their turn. But when someone called out the name Germany, there was a momentary silence followed by some booing. Keep in mind that those present were mainly stu dents in their late teens or early twenties. My second experience comes from a hitchhiking tour across Switzerland. I was riding with a Swiss school teacher, a man in his early thirties. We were on the highway going from Interlakken to Bern. A car passed us with the letter D affixed next to its license plate. The D stood for Deutsch land (Germany) and was typical of the letter plates on many European cars to indicate its na tional origin. My driver could speak only Swiss German, but when he saw the D on the car, he said in broken English. "Nazis, no good." This seemcl to be a strong reaction to a car bearing anonymous peo ple from Germany. Finally when I was in Brussels I met a Flem ish girl who worked as a secretory. She was 22 years old. We spent aa afternoon talking together and at one point the conversation drifted to ber recollections of the Second World War. She said that she was too young to remember the war. Her parents though bad vivid recollections of the con quest of Belgium. Doubtless she had heard their personal stories many times. She told me that the young people of her gen eration had an expression summing up their feel ings about the War . . . "We did not know Hitler." She felt no personal animosity toward the youth of Germany. They were born after the war and were innocent But towards their parents, she felt a definite resentment and dislike. The three experiences convinced me that there are great antagonistic feelings in Western Europe today towards the German nation and the Ger man people. Despite the cooperation achieved bv the Common Market and the vastly increased movement of Europeans within their continent from one country to another, there remains a legacy of mistrust of Germany. Twenty-three years have passed since the end of World War II. That seems like a long time to someone who has lived only 21 years. But 23 years is too short a time to wipe out the wrongs and horrors of the past People remember injustice and the memory is passed on to their children. Does time heal all wounds? I think not Rodney Powell Spring song It was a marvelous day, straight out of "Mary Poppms" or "The Sound of Music" or such like joyful pictures. A day full of cream-colored ponies and bright woolen mittens vou know what I mean a nice day, in toto (You all know Toto Tonto's illegitimate son). Anyway, that was the situation ("have you ever seen the grass so green or a bluer sky" name that tune). Such are the days on which hope springs eternal in tbe human breast, we climb every mountain, fjord every stream, and so on (notice that interesting spelling of "ford" I've seen "The Graduate" too.) Having thus set the scene (or thus having set the scene, take your pick) I must now Inform all of you fine folks out there what I fcu-nd to do with it. I realize that yon all are probably pretty aa- '.k , .fW; " mattCT tact, I feel quite sure that there are at least three people eat there wbo are positively dying to know. I esgbt to bete them, right? This discursive style tends to put peo- Now on to tbe heart of the matter, say L LJeWAr5 ?fward' Pard- Take arms against a ZLtT0l"A bJ "PP05 ttem. end tnem &ajl on, o mighty shjp of state (notice "sea of doubles and "ship of state" - I Just didn't put those together by accident no siree, I bad apian) for those of you who may be puzzled by that lPaSgraph caUed "oratory Admonition. Those of you with smutty minds will think one thing, and the rest another. a ?nntep " muaUy the I won't mind at all. But seriously folks, when was the last time you saw much a nice Hortatory MwonS (with a heart of gold even)? I'm proud of my l or tatory Admonition, and don't you forget It if r lt?" d0WD to m d't it? You want it straight from the horse's mouth (some nrtv weird people out there in NebraskaiaS U Sj the way you want it that's the wayTouTl grt 1 I am very agreeable. I aim to please, I don't want ffndiWtrrry about Ky deram akrm go! Me.e is simply this don't press.