HHllliWIirm l 1 'l"1'rlr'lrT'( 'T
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Editorials
Commentary
Wednesday, March 27, 1968
Page 2
'A
1
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Senate speaks
to the outside
An executive committee today will submit three
,. proposals to bolster the Senate's communications
system with the outside world.
There always have been problems with Senate-
s'udent communication but the gap isn't easy to
- cloe considering that a large percentage of the
corstituten's did not vote in the last election and
tha' even fewer students are concerned with Sen-
, a'e activities.
'i aere are interested students, however, who do
-" nil know their senator's voting patterns, how he
s ands on certain issues cr what he is accomplish
ing in committees This is obvious every April when
incompetent incumbent senators are re-elected be
cause of their uninformed constituents.
This is not to say that senators need t con
sult with their constituents to insure that their
viewpoints are represented they shouldn't
but they must inform constituents of their actions
- within the Senate. If the student doesnt like how
he is represented he can vote his senator out of
office at the next election.
None of the recommendations proposed by the
committee will completely solve the Senate's com
munications gap, although some of them would be
effective.
Enacting some of the recommendations would
open a communications line with untouchable sena
tors. One recommendation calls for the senators to
set up office hours during which they would be
available to discuss Senate business. This proposal
should be enacted as many senators tend to hi
bernate from ne meeting to the next making their
accessibility rather limited.
A second proposal would set up public Senate
Seminars for senators from the same or different
colleges to answer questions about their stands on
issues, voting patterns and committee work.
Attendance at these miniature Face the Na
tion sessions would not be large but they might
stimulate inactive senators or uncover pertinent
issues previously unexplained.
The committee also proposed that senators sub
mit articles to the Daily Nebraskan including the
same type of information discussed at the seminars.
This would be the least effective form of com
munication. Any Senator with an English minor
could appear very competent in print when a di
rect confrontation with his constituents might
prove the opposite.
The report doesnl include some new innova
tions recently started by Senate executives. Copies
of all committee reports were recently sent to liv
ing units so students can familiarize themseh-es
with their senators' committee work.
Since the Senate's primary actions are carried
out in committees, perhaps more frequent written
progress reports distributed to heads of living
tni.s should be required.
The executive committee appears to under
s'acd the problem and some of their suggestions
should be approved but additions and corrections
are needed.
Cheryl Tntt
Rcdnev Powell . . .
Riffht wToiiss
to witers
The time has come. I see, to write another
column. This may be of little concern to you out
there with little 'columun-wntir.g experience, but
for those of us with some column-writing experi
ence, who may, in fact, be called upon to weekly
write i in more ways than one get it?; a column,
nothmg is more important.
I am
a Walrus
It is the sacred duty of all columnists to write
solslv tin more ways than one get it?t about
Matters of Moment; not for us the gay frivolities
for the straight ones either) of ordinary mortals.
Nor is it our curse (and paradoxically that al
ways sC'itrtJ? foi' our hlpsssne. that we. with
lar?e and generous vision (my right eye gave me
85 just the other dayi, survey the human condition,
delineate its lineaments and report the sordid de
tails to an appreciative audience, .keep those cards
end letters coming folks).
What fun!" you may well be thinking. Yon
lecherous people think it H rat sport to delineate
everybody's lineaments. rl;ht? Tess up now (Park
er up too if you'd like). Well all I can say is
that you're wrong, wTong, wrong.
It is, in fact, incredibly difficult to sit at the
typewriter and compose these missives to the world.
You crass readers out there do not realize how
essily our sensibilities are bruised. What we ac
tually deserve are Undying Gratitude and Perpet
ual Adulation. What do we usually get? An honored
place at the bottom of someone's garbage can,
that's what. This, I submit, is Rank Injustice, and
it doesn't smell too good either.
But I am not simply a Cusser and Doubter.
No, no. not for me the path of Destructive Dis
tent. 1 offer a solution fcr these manifest ills.
What is needed is a National (or even local)
Be-Kind-to Columnists Week: you know take a
columnist out to dinner, invite a columnist home
for lunch, make sure you have a token columnist
at your next party all the rice things which
make National Brotherhood Week such a big suc
cess every year. After all. columnists are just like
people everywhere only a little different.
No, I'm But suggesting that your daughter
marry one, but just be civil to us. We may not
all be Sidney Poitier. but heaven knows we de
serve more than Hostile Apathy. So if you see me
or one of my stout-hearted cohorts on the street
at least smile. Or make a friendly gesture. Or
give us money. Or send w money. Or ghe us a
traveler's check, or send us a traveler's chffck.
Or...
Larry Grossman
William F. Buckley . . .
As the bill comes due
The financial crisis brings
to mind the limitations of ma
terial idealism. The swagger
ing talk over the last genera
tion about the responsibili
ties of the rich nations to the
poor nations, about the need
to spend fifty, a hundred,
two-hundred billion dollars to
rebuild our cities, about our
common responsibility to
provide for each other's wel
fare, from the cradle to t h e
grave: breaks down for lack
of a couple of billion dollars.
Literally.
If the" United States had
earned a couple of b i 1 1 i o n
dollars more last year, or
spent that much less abroad,
the crisis would not likely
have erupted. It was building
over a lone period, and in
deed is still building. But
there is the straw that breaks
the camel's back, and it is
melancholy to face the fact
that big-talk idealism has to
submit in the real world, to
the measuring stick, and the
accounting book.
It has been a thesis of clas
sical economics stressed and
restressed over the years,
that somehow, in some way, a
people is going to have to pay
for its extravagances. Con
sider what is now in prospect
for Great Britain.
Because the Labor Govern
ment has failed to take those
measures which alone would
substantially increase Eng
land's competitive prowess
primarily, a reduction in the
cost of government and in tie
cost of production: that is to
say, less government, and
less labor onions England
has talked itself into a situa
tion which now augurs, hold
your breath, an interest rate
of 18 per cent.
That fantastic rate of inter
est is an affront on one of the
most cherished dogmas of the
economic interventionists.
Lord Keynes at one point
signalled out cheap interest
rates as perhaps the central
consideration, above all oth
ers, for the happy function
ing of the economy. The hard
ship of an interest rate set
that high can only be
imagined by those who have
had the dream of a private
house dashed by the cost of
borrowing the money.
The British will argue that
the proposed 10 per cent rate
is not by any means altogeth
er the result of Britain's mis
management but partly of
America's. There is a half
truth there. , ,
The proposed increase in
the rediscount rate of the
Federal Reserve requires self
protective action by England
to arrest a Cow of money
going to high interest borrow
ers in the United States. But
America's plight to begin
with is the result of the same
virus that overtook Britain.
And Britain's dependence on
the United States is related to
her habit over the years of
leaning on the United States
rather than face economic
reality. Now the United States
is too concerned to 'maintain
its own equilibrium, to a c t
as a soft perch for other na
tions. The temptation is to blame
it all on France. France has,
to be sure, acted churlishly,
and there is bo doubting, at
this point, that General de
Gaulle is obsessed by his
spite. But at this point, De
GauDe believes that events
have justified him. Just as
the banker who calls in t h e
mortgages just before the
depression, will be hated by
the community, but adored
by the depositors.
De GauSe takes the posi
tion that consistent misman
agement of the economy by
the United States was mak
ing the dollar a bad gamble:
and he proved correct What
right has the United States to
erpect other countries to hu
mor our mismanagement?
There is a sense in which one
can feel, in turn perversely,
grateful to De Gaulle (and to
his minister, Rueff, who isn't
anti-American, but is very
much pro-gold) for forcing us
towards the brink.
Now we have faced up to
the challenge by a contriv
ance which surely cannot
take care of us for very long.
A permanent repeal of t h e
law of arbitrage? It sounds
like permanent flight, or
spontaneous generation, or
other physical paradoxes.
The likelihood is that the
leakage factor in the two-tier
theory will prove a conclu
sive weakness, and that we
shall stumble on to another
hypodermic.
Peace party formed in California
(CPS by David Berson)
In a convention loaded with
internal conflict, California's
Peace and Freedom Move
ment (PFM) chose their can
didates for state office and
remained firm in their resolve
that neither Democrats Eu
gene McCarthy nor Robert
Kennedy offer an acceptable
alternative to the Johnson Ad
ministration. In fact, the major tone of
the Movement's founding con
vention was anti-political.
"We don't want to do what
the Republicans and Demo
crats and everybody else
does," a Los Angeles dele
gate told the convention. "We
don't want to have a conven
tion moved by manipula
tion." But there were still plenty
of charges of wheeling and
dealing among the predomi
nantly old leftists and young
radicals at the convention.
Most of the charges came
over the selection of a candi
date for the Senate.
The Movement finally those
writer Paul Jacobs, co-author
of "The New Radicals," a
popular anthology ea the New
Left, and currently a lec
turer ia politics at Saa Fraa
dsc State CeQege,
At one potet, a staunch op
ponent of Jacobs, Leon H.
Trousdale, told tha convention.
that Jacobs was "so corrupt
and so evil that if he receives
the nomination I will kill
him."
Another writer, Robert
Scheer of Ramparts Maga
zine, was considered the front
runner for the Senate en
dorsement at the outset of the
convention. But Scheer, who
narrowly missed ousting Ber
keley Congressman Jeffrey
Cohelan in the 1963 Democra
tic Primary, dropped out of
the PFM race after the sec
ond day of the convention.
The Movement got on the
California ballot with an in
tense registration drive begin
ning last August pledging a
peaceful end to the Vietnam
War and freedom for the
black ghettoes. The Move
ment estimates its current
membership at 120.000.
Ia February, the PFM
formed a coalition with the
militant Black Panther party,
and at the convention, dele
gates agreed ta support the
gram and voted to "demand
that fluey P. Newton be set
free bow." Nenton, the
founder of the Black Panthers
is ia jail, accused of murder
ing an Oakland policeman and
wounding another in a pre
dawn incident last October.
Minority groups banded to
gether at the convention to
form the Elack-Brown Caucus
and had 50 per cent of the
convention vote on racial
questions, although the cau
cus contained only 10 per cent
of the convention's delegates.
Eldridge Cleaver, an author
and Black Panther Minister
of Information, urged dele-
Vai (l. . m
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gates to demand that the
United Nations send observ
ers to black neighborhoods to
"halt aggression and provoca
tive tactics of racist Gestapo
police who occupy our colony
as foreign troops."
The convention approved
that proposal and another
urging a plebescite to deter
mine if black Americans wish
to remain U.S. citizens or
form an independent nation.
Ia other police decisions,
tbe convention passed a reso
lution supporting tbe rights of
servicemen, resolved to joia
tbe Stop tbe Draft Commit
tee in up-coming demonstra
tions in April, and approved
a plan to launch a drive to
lower the voting age from 21
to 18.
Despite the fact that with
out a presidential candidate,
the Movement is extremely
weak on the national level, the
PFM could be a major force
in the Califomial senatorial
election.
Jacobs could make a strong
asainrt tbe likely candi
dates Los Anceles Mayor Sara
Yorty and State Superinten
dent of Schools Max Raffer
ty, both of whom are re
garded as arch-conservatives.
But be would have a tougher
time if liberal Senator Thom
as Kuchel manages to keep
Rafferty from getting the Re
publican nomination.
The Metro, El
and the Tube
The subway of Chicago is actually not a tru
subway. For most of the distance, it is an ele
vated train (thus the name EL) that travels un
derground only in the downtown area. The trains
in current use range from air conditioned coaches
that shuttle noiselessly along to ancient cars of an
ugly green and yellow color that convince one by
their groans and protests going around curves that
this ride is the last you'll evei take.
The elevated trestles run even with the second
story windows of tenements that stand jammed
next to the tracks. During the day, one can look
down on the roof tops of Chicago or see people
hanging out laundry on back porches. At night,
sparks jump off the third power rail producing a
flash of light Momentarily you can see into rooms
or catch the red glow of a cigarette being smoked
in the dark.
Near downtown, the train descends from its
TRESTLE. Tbe light disappears as you are swaL
lowed by the earth. The noise of the train Is Inten
sified by the tunnel walls. As the train speeds up, the
noise gets louder and the wheels start to scream
against the metal tracks. The screech hits a high
note that drills into your herd and you think
it cant get any louder but it does.
The subways of Manhattan could easUy serve
as the set for the filming of Dante's Inferno. Man
hattan is not a pleasant place ir. the summer
time. The crowded buildings bottle up the heat
and the Atlantic Ocean contributes humidity to
make a giant pressure cooker. It would seem rea.
sonable that by going underground to the subway,
one could escape the heat The opposite occurs.
The subways are hotter than the streets. Tha
proximity of the subways to Hell must have some
thing to do with this.
The subway in Manhattan is reached by en
tering one of the rabbit hole stairways that go
down from the street level. Once you have paid
your fare and passed through the myriad of wire
cages and mazes leading to the tracks, you find
yourself in one of the dirtiest, most squalid places
imaginable.
The platforms are grey concrete strewn with
trash. The ceilings are exposed steel beams. The
lighting is poor. Cops with night sticks patrol the
platforms and after dark walk np and down through
tbe trains.
The ride on the New York subway makes up
for the previous sufferings one has gone through.
The trains are fast They start suddenly and ac
celerate at a wild rate. The speed is so fast that
the train swings from side to side and you think:
that any moment it is going to turn a somersault
Tbe lights blink on and off and you shake back
and forth. Only an outsider appreciates this. The
people of New York continue to read their news
papers. Unfortunately, the United States has not learned
from Europe bow to build and maintain a nice
subway. The Underground in London is an old sub
way system but ft is brightly lit, kept clean, and
offers a smooth and quiet ride. There are seven
lines that fan out to cover all parts of the city.
"Tube" entrances are found every where. Yon buy
a ticket to your destination and change trains at
points where the different lines Intersect The con
necting passages are often long but are well
marked.
You hand your ticket in when you leave tha
Underground station. Since there is no one on the
trains taking tickets, it is possible to ride under
the city for hours or days before emerging again
to the surace.
The most delightful feature of the London Un
derground is the names of the stations. West Ham,
Elephant and Cestle, Shepherd's Bush. Oxford Cir
cus who could not help but love the "Tube"?
The Metro of Paris wins the crown for the
finest subway of the four cities. The stations ara
conveniently located and are well lighted and clean.
Benches are fitted into the platform walls for one's
comfort Huge maps are placed in every station
indicating clearly one's present location and all the
subway lines connecting throughout the city.
After buying your ticket, you present it to one
of the women mho guards the Metro entrance. She
does not look up from her knitting when you walk
by. You can ride tbe trains la one continuous direc
tion U the end of the line. To return, yon have
to cross to tbe other side of the platform and that
requires leaving the station and buying another
ticket
Tbe trains themselves move by rubber tires
on the tracks and the power connection is made
by spinning metal brushes that make a whooshing
sound. Tbe ride is smooth. The sound is like a dis
tant vacuum cleaner.
The walls of the Metro stations are covered
with big billboards proclaiming tbe merits of vari
ous products. Tbe Parisians love to take their
chewing gum and stick it onto the teeth of tha
paper people who urge them to buy this or that
The subways of the United States have not yet
emerged from the cave. Whether this necessary
item of big city life will remain a dismal and
dark vision of the Underworld or become a pleas
ant part of the urban environment is dependent
upon transportation officials enlightening their
present tennel vision.
Campus Opinion
Dear Editor:
Perhaps of the overcapacity of women's dor
mitories justifies the administration's discrimina
tion on housing choice, but no one has or cats
give a reason for the discriminatory regulation
of women's hours.
Yet nominees for AWS Congress, the organiza
tion which should be fighting the curfew, seems
to fa-or hours, at least for freshmen wemen.
WTiat about freshmen boys Do they show a
marked effect from lack to regulation? Do their
parents forbid their coming to the University?
Large apartment hotels lock outside doors at
night but each occupant owns a key. This is the
only rational situation offering both freedom and
protection to residents, and completely unlike the
AWS key system, a Mickey-Mouse procedure based
on the assumption womeu are irresponsible second-class
students.
Jack Y. Emmons