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FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1969
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
VOL. 92, NO. 55
gjy The
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Centennial college opens doors
by Jim Pedersen
Nebraskan Staff Writer
An intellectual community which
will make the student aware of
himself, his society, and his world
is the aim of the Centennial Col
lege. The experimental college, which
has been under consideration for
more than a year, will open next
fall and initially will involve ap
proximately 175 freshmen, 25 up
perclassmen, and four full-time in
structors, according to T. E. Beck,
associate professor of English.
Beck, one of four professors who
will teach full-time in the college,
said Thursday that the distinction
between the larger University and
the college will be between a
passive and active education.
"MATERIAL DESCRIBING the
program along with an invitation to
apply will be sent to all freshmen
enrolling at the University," Beck
said. "From those who apply, we
will choose, at random, a sample of
the student body.
"This is not an honors college.
We want a large number of
students with average ability but
also with motivation. We want to
see just what effect this type of
education will have on them," Beck
said.
Students in the college will live in
two adjacent dormitories which are
Democratic coalition
promises open meeting
The Nebraska Democratic Coali
tion executive committee meeting
in Omaha Saturday will definitely
be "open," according to committee
members.
The promise of open meetings is
one of several New Political guide
lines adopted by the group of
former supporters of Sens. Eugene
McCarthy and the late Robert
Kennedy.
The Coalition executive com
mittee has planned no specific
topics for the meeting, since the
group only recently completed its
organization, according to Wallace
C. Peterson, economics department
chairman and member of the
Coalition executive committee.
'THE COALITION is quite loose
and unstructured," Peterson said.
"I think the group can be very
useful in bringing in all kinds of
interest in current issues and in the
Democratic party."
"It is an instrument for making
the Democratic party more ef
fective," he said.
Peterson stressed that in his opi
nion the Coalition members want to
work as an influential group within
the Nebraska Democratic party.
"ONCE THE Vietnam issue is
settled, there is much less liklihood
that there will be a split between
the Coalition and the regular
Democratic party," he said.
He said that even though the 1968
national election was "unique" in
its attraction of different groups
into politics, the present two-party
system has not changed.
"I think the (Presidential can
didate George) Wallace movement
is dead and that the Democratic
party remains the more pro
gressive, liberal force in politics,"
he said.
PETERSON SAID that although
Coalition members were originally
drawn together by opposition to the
Vietnam war and Lyndon Johnson's
yet to be determined. Of the 175
freshmen, Beck said he expects 25
to be Lincoln residents who will not
live with the residential college.
"THE UPPERCLASS students
will also be selected by invitation,
and will "take part in the course
while serving in a quasi-tutorial
role," he added.
According to Beck, no one is re
quired to live in the dormitories,
but since the college is organized as
a "community," the students are
urged to do so.
"The student will receive 15
hours of credit of which one-third
will be taken in the larger
University," Beck said. "The other
two thirds will be taken in the col
lege and will involve either a math
or language study and the main
'Centennial' course.
"THE CENTENNIAL course will
be an interdisciplinary study in
which the student will learn how to
define a problem and then make
full use of what he already knows
to solve that problem.
"The student will investigate the
problem individually or in small
groups. He will not be a passive
learner. He will be encouraged lo
make his own analysis and his own
decisions.
"The idea is to make the student
think, to develop methods of learn-
policies, the group is interested in
local and national domestic
issues.
"The Coalition wants to em
phasize state issues." To do this the
group is planning to observe the
Nebraska Legislature.
"After all, politics ultimately
culminates in legislation," Peterson
said.
HE SAID little has been done so
far except to classify bills which
may be of interest to Coalition
members.
Coalition members may testify
before legislative committees,
Peterson said, but the group does
not plan to register as a lobbying
force.
Peterson noted that several of
Gov. Nbrbert T. Tiemann's pro
grams for the next biennium were
"progressive." and would gain
support of the Coalition.
PETERSON ADMITTED that
most of the Coalition membership
centered in the Lincoln and Omaha
area, but he pointed out that most
of the population of the state is in
eastern Nebraska, so "we are going
to have lots of activity in this
area."
He said that the Coalition is
functioning on "rather an am
bitious budget," and that all money
is made through voluntary con
tributions. Several people associated with
the University involved in the
Coalition, include: Dan Schlitt,
Coalition treasurer and professor of
physics; Eric Carlson, political
science instructor; Dr. Robert
Narveson, department of English;
and students Kitty O'Leary and
Jim Humlicek.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of
ficers are Lou Lamberty,
chairman, Bill Campbell, vice
chairman. Jan Selvey, secretary
and Dan Schlitt, treasurer.
Speculation varies on Hardin's return
Speculation is steadily mounting.
Will Dr. Clifford M. Hardin quit his
$35,000 a year job as Secretary of
Agriculture and return to the
Chancellor's office?
No one seems to know for sure,
maybe not even Hardin himself.
But he has less than a year to
decide; his leave of absence ex
pires January 20, 1970.
"As far as I know, he is planning
to come back after the year is
over," Acting Chancellor M e r k
Hobson commented.
GEORGE S. ROUND, long time
friend of Hardin and director of
public relations at NU, said that the
sew ag secretary is "keeping in
Within the shadow of
doubt . . . will Secretary
of Agriculture Hardin va
cate his cabinet post to re
turn to the chancellorship?
ing in him, and give him self-con
fidence.
"IF THIS type of intellectual
community existed in the larger
University, there would be no need
for the college," Beck explained.
The second third of the Centen
nial College course, that of the
verbal or mathematical language,
will use audio-visual and tutorial
methods and will be coordinated
with the main course, according to
Beck.
The f?ur full-time faculty
members of the college will be
Beck; Dr. Robert Knoll, professor
of English; Dr. Phil Scribner,
assistant professor of philosophy;
and Dr. Jerry Petr, assistant pro
fessor of economics. Several other
University faculty members will
teach in the college part-time.
BECK EMPHASIZED that the
faculty will continually experiment
with teaching methods.
"The training of a student in the
college will have less to do with
him acquiring a body o f
knowledge," he continued, "as it
will be with developing his in
tellectual abilities and motivating
him to learn and interpret."
"The way to discovery will be up
to the student." Beck added.
"Rather than have lecture or quiz
sections, we will have a central line
of investigation which everybody
will be involved in.
"FOR INSTANCE, a group of
students might be given ten ideais
for a political society limited to a
city. They must then establish a
city to fit the ideals. Another group
of students then attacks their model
city, and both groups seek to
amend the first proposals to make
the city better.
"The students must work with a
variety of methods to solve their
problem. For the city, the students
would apply history, politics,
sociology, economics, mathematics
and even linguistics to create the
model city. From the model they
might move on to study the pro
blems of a modern city," he said.
Grad students: Life
in a Pli.D. factory
Reprinted From The Wall Street
Journal
Erik Muller has little in common
with most of his fellow students
here at the University of Col
orado. The 27-year-old candidate for a
Ph. D. in English wears his hair in
a neat crew cut on the campus that
abounds with long-haired, bearded
young men. He's too old to fear the
draft, too poor to ski and too busy
for protest demonstrations.
He likewise doesn't have a lot in
common with CU faculty members.
Even though he is teaching three
classes this semester, he and his
wife, Ann, are excluded from of
ficial faculty social affairs, and he
doesn't receive such fringe benefits
as a 10 discount at the University
bookstore.
Erik Muller is partly a student
and partly a teacher, but he doesn't
really belong to either group. He's
one of a growing lesion of campus
hybrids known variously as
teaching fellows, teaching
associates or teaching assistants
and called "TA's" for short at most
schools.
In theory, the graduate student
TA does a limited amount of
close touch with the University."
Round has "no idea" if Hardin will
remain with the Nixon Ad
ministration. A member of the Board of
Regents said he was "not in a
position to say" whether or not
Hardin would return. Regent
Edward Schwartzkopf did say, "I
think we will know for sure within
three to six months."
After his first weeks in
Washington, Hardin teems fairly
well entrenched. He was
unanimously approved by the
Senate Committee on Agriculture
and Forestry. Nebraska Senator
Roman L. Hruska termed Hardin a
great administrator and a great
leader. Nebraska Senator Carl T.
Curtis said that Hardin is
"eminently qualified" for the job.
The head of the National Grange
has also strongly endorsed the new
agriculture secretary.
Hardin has said that he plans no
drastic changes in the national
Two teachers in the proposed Centennial College, Jerry Petr, economics, and Phil Scribner,
philosophy, discuss plans for the curriculum.
Grape boycott and 3.2 beer
highlight initial Hyde Park
by John Dvorak
Nebraskan Staff Writer
Perhaps the most representative
and valid oration at Thursday's
Hyde Park was by a bearded semi
hippie. "I notice nobody has anything to
say this afternoon. I don't have
anything to say either. But I'm
teaching under the guidance of a
professor; his job is supposed to be
designed primarily to prepare him
for later, full-fledged membership
in a college faculty. The reality
often is quite different, however.
On some large campuses, TAs
carry much of the burden for
teaching the freshman and
sophomore courses that senior
faculty members shun. As some of
the TAs see it, they are forced to
neglect their own studies and find
themselves the target of critics who
contend that the quality of un
dergraduate instruction is
declining.
By their own testimony and that
of others. TAs also are underpaid.
Erik Muller, the father of a two-year-old
daughter, is paid $3,000
plus tuition for a 10-month
academic year, or about as much
as busboys. At other schools, TAs
earn as little as $2,300 a year plus
tuition. One Cornell University
dean compares the lot of the TA to
that of a medieval serf. A
University of Michigan professor
disagrees. "It's more like a slave
labor," he says.
Continued on page 4
farm program
maybe not later."
"not now
IF HARDLN leaves his post
before the end of the year, he would
be breaking tradition in the
Agriculture Department Orville L.
Freeman, the last secretary, served
two Presidents from 1961 to 1969.
Before that, Ezra Taft Benson als?
served eight years.
Should Hardin come back, he
would simply return to the
Chancellor's post, Hobson said.
Hobson would then devote full time
to his Vice Chancellor's position.
Should Hardin decide to spend
more than a year in Washington,
two options are open, Hobson ex
plained. Hardin's leave of absence
could be extended by the Board of
Regents or the University could
look for a new chancellor.
The first option seems highly
unlikely. "I don't think Dr.
Hardin's leave of absence will be
extended," Schwartzkopf said. "It's
highly improbable. It's just not
next September
going to get up and say that I've
got nothing to say." With that he
proceeded to say nothing.
Several of the more frequent
Hyde Park orators did say
something though. Bill Chaloupka
complimented S e Senator Terry
Carpenter. He is sponsoring a bill
in the Legislature that would
permit the sale of 3.2 beer in the
state to anyone over 18.
Chaloupka attended hearings on
the bill and speculated that
Carpenter, who sells liquor in and
around Scottsbluff, probably
"parked his car on the highway
outside Scottsbluff and saw all the
kids driving to Colorado."
Chaloupka mentioned that the
Lincoln police favor it. A police
spokesman told how a convoy of
cars makes regular runs from Lin
coln to Marysville, Kansas each
weekend. Kansas permits sale of
3.2 beer to anyone 18 years old.
AN ELDERLY MAN attended the
hearings, representing no one but
himself, Chaloupka reported. The
man said that if the state sells
more beer, there will be more
alcoholics.
Phil Metcalf spoke on four dif
ferent topics at four different times
during the session.
He is spearheading a drive on
campus that urges the consumer to
boycott all California table grapes.
He works with the Lincoln Com
mittee of 1000, also urging the
grape boycott.
The boycott is in support of the
United Farm Workers Organizing
Committee of the AFL-CIO. In 1965,
that union struck the largest
California table grape growing
ranch. The ranch refused to
negotiate with the strikers and
done in educational institutions.
Anyway I don't think Dr. Hardin
would want it that way."
WHEN AND if Hardin officially
notifies the Board of Regents that
he is not returning, then the search
for a new chancellor would com
mence. President of the Lincoln campus,
Dr. Joseph Soshnik, explained the
exact procedure to be used if a new
chancellor were to be selected.
"The responsibility lies directly
with the Board of Regents," he
said. "They will follow a generally
well-accepted procedure.
"The Regents would suggest that
the faculties on all campuses
designate people to serve on a
special board," Soshnik said.
Presumably, the students would be
asked to designate representatives
also.
THERE WOULD be just one ad
visory group, Soshnik pointed out.
All groups on all campuses could
work together.
i ; I r ' I
replaced them with imported
workers. In January of 1968 the
union launched an international
boycott of all California table
grapes.
Metcalf also scored the Paris
Peace talks, chastised University
students and other Americans for
giving only $30,000 to the Save
Biafra campaign and charged that
the United States does indeed 'have
political prisoners, using draft
resistor Steve Abbot and Russian
agents Martin Sobel and the
Rosenbergs as examples.
PERHAPS THE SHARPEST ex
change of the afternoon was be
tween former Schramm Hall Presi
dent Steve R. Tiwald and ASUN
Senator Bill Gilpin.
There has been no communica
tion between senators and their
constituents, Tiwald charged. The
Senate should be reapportioned
before the spring elections. That
would require a constitutional con
vention which seems highly
unlikely at this time, he said.
Each senator must have a con
stituency if ASUN is to be truly
representative, Tiwald said. He
pointed out that Able-Sandoz
Residence Halls have one senator
whereas Beta Theta PL with 117
residents, has three senators.
"The Senators have been lazy all
year," Tiwald noted. "They should
get off their fat butts and come up
with a solution."
Attendance at the semester's first
Hyde Park session was large but
not initially lively. At the end of the
hour session, one student, who was
describing a book about uniden
tified flying objects, spoke to more
chairs than people in the Union
lounge.
This group would nominate pro
spective chancellor candidates.
Other members of the academic
community could also suggest
names.
"The advisory group would then
have a significant number of
names," Soshnik said. The group
would then review the backgrounds
of the prospective candidates.
Finally, the prospects would be
narrowed down to a small number.
"The Board of Regents will then
determine how many of the can
didates they want to interview
personally," Soshnik said.
"In a sense, the chancellor is the
Board of Regent's man," he said,
referring to acting-Chancelks- Hob
son's appointment. "They must
make the final decision."
What type of man would a new
chancellor be?
"He should have a real firt
educational record and be able to
provide good learning conditions
for all students," Schwartzkopf
commented.
Continued on Vait 2
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