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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1968)
The Daily Nebraskan MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11,1 George Kaufman . . . In defense of displays Every now and then I get this unbearable com- pulsion to be loved by everyone, even the Greeks. So, forthwith shall be , my (sigh) defense of .Homecoming Displays. Not Homecoming Displays ' as such, understand, but of Homecoming Displays " as an irrelevant manifestation of a super subsistence society. PAGE 2 MANY LINES in this paper Friday were devoted to the theme that Homecoming Displays are irrele vent, useless, costly and purposeless. This is also a favorite subject for Nebraska'i flaming liberals to harp about. But being all of these things is not, in itself, a crime. For if this philsophy were followed to its logical conclusion, then the only honest thing any of us could do would be to become monks, devoid of any social life or material possessions. jl "'J, THIS WOULD mean all the liberals would have to call off their weekend parties, stop buying booze and-or drugs, sell their cars, bicycles, expensive stereos and huge record collections, etc. The Greeks build Homecoming Displays. That lis irrelevant. T" The liberals sit in the Union Cafeteria and - talk about the long-awaited revolution. That is ir C relevant. (Or, they go to weekend parties and talk Il""about the long-awaited revolution.) :. . .ft.'--- Z1?Z EACH ACTION is equally irrelevant, differing "only quantitatively, not qualitatively. we are I n a social setting, we will devise ways of entertaining ourselves. Some ways will differ from others. So, in the immortal words - of Dick Martin, "Whatever turns you on . . Inside report Student council feels table-itus It is probable that no institution on this campus, including the administration and the Board of Regents, is as out of touch with the students as your Student Council. Despite the much-heralded intentions of the Council to communicate with their constituents this year, the "Communications Committee" has become, through lackluster leadership and shallow commitment, a paper nonentity. The Council, with its totalitarian hegemony, has proved itself ..masterful at just one thing tabling resolutions. . .... . THIS HABIT indicates not a desire to think "things over and to contact the students concerning the issue at hand, but rather the broadly-based lack of self-confidence that comes of a Council with no real popular base. Wednesday the Council will In all probability vote down two resolutions; one demanding im mediate implementation of the housing policy allowing all upperclassmen to live off-campus, and the other a resolution forbidding the use of students as undercover agents. Perhaps this is what the students want. The Council, however, has no way of knowing. With its heavy imbalance toward the Greek side, the Council could care less whether students in the dormitories are subject to being spied upon by their roommates; or whether a junior woman, Tgrown tired of the atmosphere in Selleck Quad, wants to move off-campus. " ASSUMING THAT both resolutions fail or are tabled once more, it is time that the students act. This Student Council can be recalled with petitions signed by 35 per cent of the students : in each college. This next step would be for ASUN I President Craig Dreeszen to call a constitutional ! convention of representatives from IDA, IFC and ; so forth to redistrict the Council. After this a meaningful election could be held with senate members elected to serve on a living-unit basis. : Such a senate, with something approaching a real base among the students, may vote down the above-mentioned resolutions. They would, however, have voted them down for a reason: popular opposition, rather than their own personal whims. It is hard to imagine a student government - situation worse than the one Tre have now. With Student Council behaving the way it does, we would ' be better off to remove this administration rubber stamp entirely and simply allow the administration to rule us as it sees fit. The members of the dministration are more progressive, intelligent and decisive by far than our Student Council. The students must issue a mandate to those gunners who would rule them but not represent them. Act or step down, Student Council. Jack Todd ditorials Commenta ry 'Average kid' writes own obit Editor's note: The following is reprinted from the Hartford Courant. Students in the Journalism Department at the University of Connecticut were told to write their own obituaries as a class assign ment. Below is the paper turned in by one of the students. The average kid died today. He wasn't killed in Vietnam, or in a car or shot robbing a bank. : We'll say he was from Con necticut, and a student at Conn. U. His father is a retired Marine. His mother is a secretary. He has three sisters. He was alive until early this morning, when reports from all over the country showed that he had little chance for survival. Last semester he almost worked for McCarthy, but he didn't get around to it. Then he almost went SDS, but he couldn't see his way through the propaganda so he scrapped that idea. An autopsy is to be performed, but it is not likely that the cause of death will be found. Always Wanted To He was born in Bridgeport, and spent much of his life there. In high school he was president of a church organization, and was moderately active ir sports. He always wanted to, but he never seemed to. Last month he joined a liberal non-militant political organization because he finally wanted to act. A "moderate" view He tutored an underprivileged kid in the North End of Hattford. There will be no calling hours. He majored in English and wanted to leach at an urban high school. He often argued with his parents, but realized that they had made him what he was. He leaves them, his sisters, many relatives, friends and acquaintances. He was against the war in Viet nam, but would have served in the military because this was his country. He was in ROTC his fresh man year, but dropped the course. He liked how Jose Feliciano sang "The Star Spangled Banner" in the last World Series. While in high school he was a foreman in a small manufacturing plant, and for some time was responsible for the total production. He admired Ralph Nader for at tacking an industrial giant. A "J"-Course He took a college journalism course, not because he wanted to be a journalist, but because he knew that most high school newspapers have an English teacher for an ad visor and wanted to be able to ex plain a newspaper to the students he planned to teach. He liked lo laugh and often was in trouble because he saw humor where others did not. He couldn't take even the most serious things seriously. Dag Hammarskjold's death af fected him more than John Ken nedy's or even his own grandfather's, and he wondered why. He feels sorry for Rose Ken nedy and Mrs. Sullivan, who lost all those sons in World War II. He wouldn't have minded crying as much, if it could have done some good. It would have been better to have lived and to have done some good. He liked to travel but enjoyed staying at home because he didn't want to miss anything. In the early part of his life he was so afraid of missing things, that he never had time to do anything. From The South His mother was from the South, and had "typical" Southern ideas. His ideas were not those of his mother but he wondered if his ideas would change later in life. He was idealistic and moralistic and didn't want to lose his ideals and morals to more "practical" ones. He believed in God, but didn't even go to God's funeral a few years ago. He didn't believe that God was really dead, even though so many people said He was. But he didn't always go to church. In stead, he'd often just go for a walk. He liked to watch people. He read Catcher in the Rye and got hung up on it because it was about him. He liked Norman Mailer and Lawrence Ferlingetti. He wondered why bookstores wouldn't sell Joan Baez's book. He wondered about the people on Joseph McCarthy's list, and what they are doing now. Arrangements are incomplete. Passage of Amendment One conceivable in next election Perhaps I should become cynical and pessimistic now that 51 of the voters of Nebraska have defeated Amendment One. Many peo ple worked long and hard for passage of this amendment; within the limits of their finances and their spare time, they talked to many voters, expressing facts and arguments which supported their point of view. But the Amendment lost. On the other hand, it could be pointed out that 49 of the people of Nebraska agreed that the minimum voting age in Nebraska should be 19 rather than 21. Perhaps it should make one feel hopeful and optimistic that 223,000 voters agreed that the Amendment should be part of the Nebraska constitution, even though about 233,000 disagreed. IF ONE TAKES the first point of view, one might say: ''The Nebraska voters never vote for anything progressive so why try again it's not worth the effort." If one takes the second po'nt of view, one might say: ''If only about 1 of the voters of Nebraska could be convinced that there is nothing to fear in letting 38,000 19 and 20 year-olds vote, and that such a chance benefit the state, the amend ment would pass. It certainly is worth another try within the next few years, after ana lyzing county by county, the support and opposition to Amendment One in the past election." If you have not already guessed, I favor the latter position, and am quite op timistic that the next time the majority of Nebraska voters will vote for such an amend ment. The basis for my op timism is not just a matter of temperament. All things must be viewed in historical per spective to be fully appreci ated and understood. For example, two things to keep in mind with respect to Amendment One are: (1) It took several decades for women to achieve the right to vote and other rights of citizenship men had; and, (2) an amendment to lower North Dakota's voting age to 19 failed last September by only 2000 votes, while a year earlier, in the fall of 1967, an amendment to lower Michigan's voting age lost by a 2-1 margin. In this light, Nebraska's election results on Amend ment One really look quite good. As is usually the case, the results of the past election were mixed not all good or all bad from whatever po int of view one might view the Daily Nebraskan Second-class nostae Da id at Lincoln. Neb. TELEPHONE Editor 47J-J58. News 472-J5M. Business 47H590. Address correspondence to Daily Nebraskan, Boom 31. Student Union, University of Nebraska, Unooln, Nebraska CASOt. . . Subscription rata art $4 per semester or for the academic year. Published Monday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the echool year except during vacations and exam periods by the students of the University of Nebraska under the turisdietion of the Faculty Subcommittee on Student Publications, publications snail ne roe from censors mp oy wis ouocorainnu or any person outside the University. Members of toe Nenrasaaa are roaooatiBW for what tney cause to ne pnntea. Member Aaaoaatsa collegiate frees, national oucw wmnisuu bmttkv. Editorial Staff Editor Jack Todd; Managing Editor Ed Icenogle; News Editor Lynn Oorte chalk; Night News Editor Kant Goeksoni Editorial Assistant Molly Murralii Assistant Night News Editor John K rands i Sports Editor Hark Gordon l Assistant Sports Editor Randy Vorki Nebraskan Staff Writer Jim Evinger, John Dvorak. Larry Eckholt. George Kaufman, Julia Morris. Jim Pedersen, Terry Orobe. Bill Smlthennan, Connie WIcMer; Senior Copy Editor Joan Wsgooer; Copy Editors Phyllis Adkiaeon. Dava fUpj. June Wagoner, Andrea Wood; Photography Chief Dan Ladalyj Photographer J. E. Shaw; Artist Gil Plowman, Cashless Staff Business Manager J. U Schmidt; Bookkeeper Roger Boyc; Production Mas. ager John Fleming) National Ad Manager Friti Shoemaker; Business Secretary and Claa-Med Ads Linda liirlchi Subscription Manager Jan Boatman; Circulation k'-aaagera Bon Parelka, Rick Dor an; Advertising Representatives Meg Browa. Joel Glen Friend. Naoqr CuiUiatt, fiaa Uoiuar, lodd Siaugbler. election. Moral: Why knock Nebraska? Anywhere one might live on earth has its own peculiar set of assets and liabilities. If one believes his cause is right, he must perse vere, and believe that even tually enough people will agree with him to accomplish some beneficial change. 0 0 IN SUBSEQUENT columns I hope to consider such ques tions as: What assets and liabilities do various ap proaches to problems have? How serious are the defects of "the establishment"? I s "revolution" ever "necessary", and, if so, when and how? In considering these ques tions, I accept the following premises: all human beings have weaknesses and in consistencies and no one has "a corner on " virtue; no one can realistically be expected to change firmly held convic tions quickly; all societies have flaws, and no one can really "drop out" of any society; and finally, our goal as human and social beings is, in my opinion, to learn to live in the most "construc tive" and "satisfying" way possible. I always welcome the com ments and criticisms of my readers. John Schreldnger Nixon to the left? by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak Washington The best reason for believing that Richrd M. Nixon, who owes his election to the South and Border states, may now move to the left is the counsel being given him by Lt. Gov. Robert Finch of California. Finch, perhaps Nixon's closest confidant, may well resign his California post to come to Washington in the Nixon administration and, in any event, will be here to put the new administra tion together. In whichever capacity, Finch will provide counsel quite different from the habitual caution of those who managed the Nixon campaign for President. THUS, FINCH is telling close associates as well as Nixon that the 1968 election will be the last to be determined by the un-young, un-black, and un-poor. To keep from being strictly a one-term President, Finch tells Nixon, he must reach out his hand to the left. Finch is buttressed in this position by several Nixon aides who were frustrated by Nixon's modified Southern strategy during the campaign and who look for a more free-swinging approach now that Nixon has won. Rather than let his debt to the Southern and Border states hedge him in, they now argue, Nixon must stretch his mandate by moving left. None of this means Nixon will run an Ad ministration radical by or even acceptable to New Left standards, but he may go far leftward by Eisenhower standards. Through such schemes as his black capital ownership plan, Nixon will try to wed Republican free enterprise dogma with New Leftish concepts of decentralization. Whether he is successful in this marriage may be shown quite soon by his Cabinet choices. ACCORDINGLY, THERE Is strong sentiment inside Nixon's inner circle for a legitimate Democrat not a Southern-fried conservative Democrat of the kind conspicuously favored in the Eisenhower administration. Specifically, Nixon is being advised to offer a top job a White House spot or possibly Secretary of Urban Affairs to Daniel P. (Pat) Moynihan, the Harvard urbanologist whose support of decentralization oc casionally dovetails with the Republicans. Nixon aide Leonard Garment, a political liberal in Nixon's law firm, has been exploring the ranks of liberal Democrats and some New Left thinkers to cull ideas and size up personalities. For example, Garment lunched with Richard Goodwin, Kennedy speechwriter and liberal pamphleteer, in Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. No offer was made, and none would have been accepted. But there was an exchange of ideas. Nixon's Cabinet is expected to be speckled with left-of-center Republicans, obnoxious though that would be to Republican Bourbons. John Gardner, the liberal Republican who served as President Johnson's Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, could have that job back or the Urban Affairs portfolio if he desired. Three big name Republican liberals also are under Cabinet con sidcation: Gov. Nelson Rockefeller (Defense), William W. Scranton (State), Gov. George Romney (Commerce). NOR WILL orthodox Republicans who yearn for a latter-day George Humphrey at Treasury, even at the price of a little recession, be satisfied. Nixon seems to have decided that a moderate exponent of the New Economics, not a doctrinaire budget balancer, should be his Secretary of the Treasury. That rules out Chairman George Champion of Chase Manhattan Bank, an economic traditionalist and longtime Nixon fan. It also probably eliminates Maurice Stans, budget director in Eisenrower days who would love the Treasury post (Because of bis fund-raising efforts for Nixon and because of expert knowledge of the Post Office, Stans may end up as Postmaster General a considerably less sensitive post than the Treasury. The top Nixon choice for Treasury seems to be Chase Manhattan's David Rockefeller, though it is doubtful Nixon wants two Rockefellers in his Cabinet. DESPITE THESE indications, however, Nixon and his political managers aren't about to forget, even if they could, the Wallaceite right. Their ob jective: to bring the South back into the union. Typically, Nixon wants to look both right and left. While the election returns came in late Tuesday night, seated together and chatting amiably as they waited to see Nixon were perfect symbols Df the Republican right and left: Sen. Strom Thur mond of South Carolina and San. Jacob Javits of New York. Yet, it would be an impossible political balancing act for Nixon to satisfy both for long. With perhaps less confidence than they show, more progressive Nixon advisors fervently hope, for the sake of the Nixon administration, that it is Thur mond who ends up unhappy.