MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1969
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
'Community
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Unconventional constitution
The current proposal to Student Senate
for a constitutional convention is in reality
..anyiiing but democracy in action.
gome senators are seeking convention
to amend the constitution to allow a student
referendum at any time in the school year
not just at the spring election or early
in the fall.
THIS APPEARS to be an excellent way
&T" Involving more students in the
governmental process through referendum.
In reality, it is a political move to provide
for a March referendum on Senate appor
tionment. If approved this new apportion
ment would be in effect for the spring elec
tion. THIS IS FIXE: several senators sin
cerely feel that reapportionment is Impor
tant in making the students feel ASUN
is relevant to them.
But where the backers of the con
stituional convention are departing from
democratic responsibility is in the selection
of delegates to the convention.
The original constitution was approved
witli a clause giving Senate the power to
name the delegates. And now some senators
want to appoint themselves (35 in number)
as delegates, in addition to 20 other
representatives from campus organizations.
This convention, then, would be con
trolled by the Senate, and those other 20
are only a token reference to student opi
nion. - RIGHT NOW apportionment of the
Senate, the ultimate purpose of the con
vention, would not consider other con
situional changes necessary. And, if the
Senate is not adequately approtioned now,
then a convention dominated by the Senate
would also be unrepresentative.
Senate, supposedly concerned with
making the students more aware of student
government, is ignoring accurate
representation in the convention. Senators
should be reminded that they were elected
to serve as legislators within the ASUN
constitutional structure. They were not
elected to remake the constituion.
WHY WILL the Senate not allow a
complete election (by living units or col
leges) of delegates to the convention? Why
will the senators not allow the convention
to be representative of, and of interest
to, the students?
The reason is the senators who want
to call the convention are afraid to turn
the convention over to the student body.
They fear that the convention might go
about actually making needed changes in
other parts of the constitution.
APPORTIONMENT is not the issue
here. If the Senate arbitrarily sets itself
up as molders of the constitution in this
instance, it can in other ways and at other
times.
And if the present call for a con
stitutional convention passes the Senate
without a stipulation calling for direct
election of delegates, then the Senate is
forefiting any claim to valid representation.
l 'MW f SJ &
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T. The Ri
mi Tribune Syndicate
Behind.
the
ical scene
by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak
Washington A bitter struggle now building
np behind the scenes in Alabama between Gov.
Albert Brewer and former Gov. George Wallace
Inow points to a Wallace-Brewer clash for the
governorship in 1970.
------ i"
nitP ijmtn mm
3The sudden resignation of ASUN President
.: Craig Dreeszen, while motivated by personal
treasons, will also serve to spare him the embar-
rassment which would have come with an end-of-the-year
summary of Senate progress.
Not that Craig has anything to be ashamed
about he joins a long line of Student Body
'. presidents whose high objectives have been
frustrated by the immensity and complexity of
their constituency. But Dreeszen bad the misfortune
of being the first campus "radical" to capture
Itbepost, and as such he became the great hope
of '-liberal thinkers" across campus. Rightly or
wrqEgly, Dreeszen was identified with the great
wave of radicalism sweeping the nation, a move-
; meil be seemed more to copy than to understand.
m-
WHEN HIS wheels spun as ridctsd they
had to spin, given the constraints of the office
be was forced to shelve such grandiose Ideas
as "confrontations" and "student strikes" for the
less glamorous business of government by com
mittee. Unable to ignite the Senate or students
generally, he had to settle for less conspicuous
gains.
Undoubtedly bis term has advanced the cause
af Student Power at the University much to the
chagrin of many Nebraskans. But for those who
saCl Dreeszen' s election as Phase One of "the
Revolution", the first battle has ended with a
. whimper, not a bang.
I In what has been termed the "Grape Com-
promise," Student Senate has re-considered and
adopted a resolution supporting the '"workers in
i the vineyards of California." This is a humanitarian
-action deserving strong commendation. However,
a "garden and home" expert reminds me that
-overripe grapes become raisins. Which prompts
" an interesting question: If the grape boycott is
- successful, will we face a raisin boycott in a few
months?
.
.STUDENTS who had registered for clacses
taught by T. E. Beck, Robert KnolL Jerry , Petr
.' and Phil Scribner were greatly disappointed when
- these gentlemen failed to appear in class Monday
morning.
As it turns out, these men have been relieved
of much of their teaching load in order to develop
the curriculum for the newly-approved Centennial
College.
One cannot help but be envious of the 150
freshmen who mill profit from the collective think
ing of these outstanding teachers next September.
One further hopes that this "'pilot" college involving
less than one per cent of NU's students will be
found worthy of rapid expansion in the years to
come.
WITH the flap over the confirmation of Wally
Hickel as Secretary of the Interior, we have all
" butlgnored t.n obvious case of conflict of interest
;' closer to home. It seems hardly proper for beer
distributor T,?rry Carpenter to extol the virtues
of alcoholic "highs"' while deploring "highs" of
the marijuana variety.
Yes, Terry's all in favor of 3.2 beer, but if
. grass is your thing, then don't plan on staying
at a Nebraska college he'd have you suspended
. for 30 days if a student spy fingers you.
By the way, Terry is said to have overheard
' some of his Scottsbluff constituents who were plan
ning to make him a saint for his unswerving
dedication to truth, justice and the American way.
r Terry humbly thanked them but pointed out, "I
am not interested in consecration for consecration's
sake."
Brewer got to his present position as a loyal
Wallace lieutenant. As speaker of the house. Brewer
was named by Wallace to run for lieutenant
governor in 1966, the year Lurleen Wallace was
" elected governor.
Brewer became governor himself when Mrs.
Wallace died last year. Ever since, the Wallace
Brewer relationship has been souring, with Brewer
asserting more and more independence.
NOW Wallace wants Brewer to run for governor
in 1970 as a member of Wallace's American
Independent party, setting the stage in Alabama
for Wallace to make another run for President
on his third-party ticket.
Brewer is bucking. Somewhat reserved when
he first took over the governor's office, he now
glories in his job. He is in no mood to run as
a Wallace stooge.
The possible result: a smash-bang, head-on
gubernatorial battle between Democrat Brewer and
third-party Wallace with some politicians giving
Brewer, incredibly, a tiny chance.
Running third would be Republican James
Martin, the former Congressman who was beaten
by Lurleen Wallace in 1966 and wants another
crack at the governorship.
The Rarick Purge
Besides humiliating Speaker John McCormack
and the regular Democratic leadership, the vote
by the House Democratic caucus to strip seniority
from Wallaceite Rep. John Rarick of Louisiana
buried the myth that liberals do better on a secret
ballot
Veteran leaders in the Democratic Study Group
(DSG) well remembered 1965 when they counted
a 40-vote bulge in the caucus to deprive Goldwater
Democrats of seniority but, in fact, squeezed by
with only 15 votes on a secret ballot.
CM PRIVATE discussions among DSG leaders,
consequently, it was decided to go for an open
roll-call ' vote (a motion successfuJly made by
Rep. Richard Boiling of Missouri). Wobbly Northern
moderates exposed to public tiew had to vote
against Rarick, and the liberals won by a surprising
28 votes.
A footnote: The Rarick loss could prove a
setback in the leadership ambitions of Rep. Daniel
Rostenkowski of Illinois, the majority caucus
chairman, who backed McCormack while his Illinois
colleagues voted with the DSG. Simultaneously,
it boosted the stock of the new DSG chairman.
Rep. Donald Fraser of Minnesota, who led the
Rarick purge.
Rocky's Archives?
. Republican politicians puzzle as to why Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller of New York has asked key
1968 aides to send him exhaustive critiques of his
losing Presidential campaign last year.
The Governor's explanation to intimates seems
too simple: he wants the study for his archives.
But the only other explanation that he is eying
a possible third Presidential race in 1972 or 1976
twhen he will turn 68 ) seems preposterous.
LVDUSTRLUIST J. Irwin Miller, who headed
Citizens for Rockefeller last spring, has submitted
his study of where the campaign went wrong. So
have other aides, including some who handled the
nuts-and-bolts travelling operation.
McLuhan in Virginia
Virginia politics, until recently mired in horse-and-buggy
procedures, will be jarred this year by
a master of McLuhanite media techniques: Joe
Napolitan, who directed the brilliant Humphrey
' media campai gn last fall
Napolitan, a protege of former Democratic Na
tional Chairman Lawrence P. O'Brien, has been
retained by one of the three candidates in this
year's red-hot Democratic primary for governor.
What's surprising is that Napolitan's client is LL
Gov. Fred Pollard, the conservative in the field
tbe other two: moderate William Battle and libera
State Sen. Henry Howell.)
Napolitan will find it no easy task to turn
the colorless Pollard into a vibrant TV personality.
Pollard is now considered to be raining third and
likely to miss the primary election run-off. But
Napolitan has performed the impossible jj
Alaska last spring when Mike Gravel upset the
veteran Ernest Gruening for the Senate nomination,
c) 1969 Publishers-Hall Syndicate
'Tie Marriage of Figaro'
by Jackie Freeman
The University of Nebraska School of Music
and The University Theatre combined efforts this
past week to create a delightful preentatkm of,
W. A. Mozart's opera, "The Marriage of Figaro."
This satirical comedy was first presented in
Vienna is 1786 as a biting complaint against the
ruling classes. Since that time, this humorous and
complicated tale of deception and intrigue has
become a perennial favorite for most opera-goers,
BOTH CASTS of this year's opera gave
outstanding performances. If one cast seemed to
be a little more vibrant in their staging and facial
expressions, the other cast made up for it with
their musical sensitivity and grace. Everyone, in-
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Editor's Note: Miss Freeman is a graduate
assistant in Music History in tine School of Music
She received ber Bachelor of Arts with distinction
from NU in 1968 and is the winner of the 18
Mn Phi Epsfloo National Musicological Research
Contest, undergraduate division. She is also a
member of Pi Kappa Lambda, National Music
Honorary.
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eluding the chorus, was convincing and at ease
on the stage.
The orchestra, which plays almost continuously
during the three and a half hour performance did
a commendable job, particularly during the
overture which is always a delight to hear when
it is played well.
WW
THE COSTUMES and scenery lacked interest
and imagination and were in roost cases only ade
quate. The opera program at the University has grown
steadi'y in sie an3 stature over the past five
years under the guidance of Prof. John J. Zei,
Director of Opera and Stage Director, and Prof.
Richard M. Grace, Conductor and Musical Direc
tor. Last year, in addition to the first semester
production of Benjamin Britten's opera, "Albert
Herring," the School of Music presented several
opera scenes (without costumes or scenery) in the
spring. These casts went on tour for two days
to high schools around the state.
Another innovation in 1968 was the stag
ing of a "full-fledged" opera during the summer
session. "La Boheme" by Puccind.
This year, in addition to J four evening
performances of "Figaro," a Saturday matinee was
added to accomodate those attending the "Weekend
with Music" activities.
From all indications the completion of Kimball
Recital Hall will be another big boost to opera
at Nebraska. The need for an orchestra pit. a
larger and more adequately equipped stage, and
increased seating capacity is only too evident in
Howell Theatre.
IT IS a real credit to the cast and crew,
the orchestra, directors, and the entire University,
that so demanding and difficult a work could be
performed with such musical and theatrical pro
fessionalism. Mozart's music, although it can sound deceiv
ing simple, is rerarded by many mas4ers of the
art as one of the most difficult styles in which
to perform .
w w
WITH THE steady increase in the quality and
quantity of opera being produced at Nebraska,
the only misfortune seems to be a lack of support
iron greater numbers of the student body.
The chance to see an opera is not often
available ! the students of the University, or to
the -citizens of Lincoln for that matter. Bui -"hen
the -opportunity is so readily available why not
tike advantage of it?
Dear Editor:
It is a pity that because of the piessure of
their schedules Mr. Pedersen could not interview
other facilty participants in the Centennial Educa.
tion Program than Mr. Beck. Mr. Pedersen's efforts
were considerable, but his deadline was absolute:-,
and we understand. (We also were as delighted
by his own evident interest in this student-facultv
enterprise as I was by his final examination in
EnglUh 129).
Although Mr, Beck has neither the authority
nor the intelligence to speak for other and abler
colleagues nor is he yet an "Associate Pro
fessor," by the way his main concern here
has to do with certain phrases and statements
whose nakedness makes them misleading.
"THE DISTINCTION between the larger
University and the college" will not be "between
a passive and (an) active education." Intellectual
accomplishment in any University department, we
should think, would demand an active mind, a i
aggressive involvement with the material and with
the teacher's mind. In its course and methods,
however, the Centennial Program will demand of
the students, together and individually, initiative
in analyzing a problem and in seeking and testing
answers to it
No student can lean French or calcului
"passively," but too often a student attempts u
learn history or economics or biology by some
process of absorption, by the careful taking and,
reviewing of notes. He has not let himself discover
the excitement that can be part of coming to un
derstand that area of knowledge generally. He has
;M let himself discover the nature of inquiry proper
to historical or economic or biological research.
GOOD STUDENTS do. mediocre ones do not;
and grades often do not distinguish the one from
the other. But the discoveries themselves are
regularly made by students who enjoy the excite
ment of a shared intellectual life. By common
report English students h- ong found suci
discourse, moral and intellec. i, on trivial and
serious topics civilizing.
Hot-eyed New Yorkers thinking more of the
City University and NYU than of Columbia, i,f
course have found in such a life an ecstati;
way of self-discovery, a passionate testing ground
for later earnest labors and many-faceted lives.
WIT IS PART of this intellectual life: convic
tion, too; and irreverence, because the discourse
are holidays from and preparation for responsible
labors. And in the young personalities involve.1
in the dialectic of minds, even eroticism at times.
Some of it is an expression of seriousness, some
of it an expression of a pleasure in verbal ani
intellectual grace. The whole man or woman a
involved in the play of the mind.
Teachers are not the only ones who find this
exciting. But at any University it is the students
to create and enjoy. Neither a faculty nor an
administration can provide this life, try as they
may. The present experimental integrated course
in the CoDege of Engineering is evidence that they
are indeed trying.
The daily efforts dt teachers in dozens of
classrooms is even better evidence, of teacher?
trying to jar students attention away from credi.s
and grades into a freedom to enjoy and understand
an area of knowledge for its own sake.
BUT STUDENTS usually only spend time in
classrooms, they do little living there. Our concern
is whether the material that we teach ever really
enters their lives from day to day. And yet th'
students at mis University are delightful. They have
a wonderful integrity of mind and purpose, thev
will work incredibly hard, imcomplainingly and
even eagerly. They are not a dull lot, and their
lack of cultural and intellectual sophistication ii
both relative and remediable.
But they generally show little interest in, little
excitement about their education as such, or
worse about ideas and matters that should indeed
touch them directly.
IN ENGLAND, and at some American schools,
it is customary for a professor to meet with studem
informally for sherry and good, merry conversation.
I should not like to think that Nebraskans of age
could not rise to the level of conversation but
would concentrate on the sherry.
We all know that a university is a communL" r
of scholars. But the students themselves are hv
far the larger part We hope to create through
the Centennial Program a situation in which this
sense of common delight in intellectual discount
and pursuits will occur. It is another of the
University's attempts to stimulate such an end.
We hope it wifl be creative.
T. E. Beck, Jr.
DepL of Erglith
The Daily Xebmkan is solely a student
publication, independent of the
University of Nebraska's administra
tion, faculty and student government.
Opinion expressed on the editorial
page is that only of the Nebraskan's
editorial staff.
DAILY NEBRASKAN
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Editorial Staff
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Business Staff
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