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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1969
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
VOL 92, NO. 67
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investigation by citizens and press
by Susie Jenkins
Nebraskan Staff Writer
The University Malone land ac
quisition program has been "the most
investigated activity since Joe
McCarthy," according to University
realtor George Hancock.
. Since most of the Malone area
residents are poor, black, old or
A volunteer teacher at the
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tnterdisciplina ry course status
egro
Z"Z ky Ji Pedersen
Nebraskan Staff Writer
Should the "Negro in American
history" course be interdisciplinary?
Should courses involving Negro
culture be started in many
departments? Two of the professors
now teaching the course disagree.
"For a first course, I think this
one is working out fine," Dr. Jack
Siegman, who teaches , the sociology
portion of the course, said Thursday.
; But I would hope that this is just
the beginning of a series of different
courses in different departments."
SINCE IT is a combination of three
departments in one course and is
topical, it attracts many students, he
added. This is a mere cursory in
troduction into what should be called
"Black History; White Racism," he
added.
The "Negro in American History"
course can be taken for credit in the
English, history and sociology
(lepartments. It is headed by Siegman,
Dr. Robert Knoll of English and Dr.
Phillip Crowl of history, each for a
Jive-week period.
TThis course opens up the possibili
ty; of holding smaller classes and
going into more detail in different
departments," Siegman said. "The
are many aspects of education in
which the contribution of the black
can be studied."
.
ACCORDING TO Siegman, other
universities in the U.S. have black
courses in political science, an
lfcropologj and music.
" Siegman said that the staff teaching
the course expects to take a survey
of ; the students to find out if they
want the course to be continued .and
if they want to see the program ex
panded to other departments.
-"The motivation to create this
course came from both black and
white students because it is a
legitimate area of inquiry," he said.
"It is obvious that it is directed at
India assoc.
it) meet Feb. 21
T. The India Association of NU will
meet at Love Library Auditorium at
7:li p.m., Feb. 21. Ali are invited at
an admission fee of $1.
r:A program of Indian customs and
culture will be presented.
of N
unemployed, purchase of that proper
ty has been carefully scrutinized both
in the press and by private citizens.
BOTH THE University and the city
of Lincoln possess the right of eminent
domain, but as yet the two have not
forced out any property owners or
tenants in the Malone area. Neither
Malone center works with children
culture9 questioned
white students, however."
WHITE STUDENTS don't know
about black history, black literature
and black culture, according to
Siegman. That is why there is
stereotyping and ignorance of blacks
in white America.
"I don't think at this pont there
are enough students who would major
in a black studies program to warrant
establishing one," he added. "Given
the number of black students we have
on campus, I don't think it would
be feasible.
"There would also be a problem
with faculty to teach the studies. I
am not saying that it is impossible
to have a black studies program in
the future. But not now, here in Lin
coln. "THERE NEEDS to be an ex
amination of the invisibility of black
people in the U.S. It is long overdue
in all American universities. This
course is a start."
Knoll differs with Siegman on what
the structure of the course should
be.
"I think the interdepartmental
nature is desirable," he said Thurs
day. "It is not a very rich subject."
"IF YOU put it into three
departments, you would have three
thin subjects," Knoll added. "Conse
quently the student would have to take
three thin courses to get what he is
now getting in a single course."
According to KnolL there really isn't
a deep interest in the course
anyway.
"To expand the course into several
departments would be silly," he con
tinued. "This is the best solution to
a difficult problem."
.
THE COURSE is topical and
therefore it should be inter
disciplinary, Knoll said. But it should
also be temporary, lasting only three
or four years.
"Not every university should have
a black studies program," he added.
"We don't have the faculty or experts
to teach a black studies program pro
fessionally. OF THE nearly 350 students in the
class, only approximately 15 are
blacks.
According to Claude Bolton, a black
student taking the course, there are
many reasons for the small number
agency plans to, according to Han
cock. The University and city strictly
meet the legal requirements which
govern land acquisition in the State
of Nebraska, he continued.
Hancock admits that relocation of
a poor or black family causes pro
blems. He also admits that "the
University has neither added to nor,
r
l t
whose parents are working.
of blacks taking the course.
"SOME BLACKS think it is
necessary to have a black professor
teaching the course," he said.
"Therefore they don't want to
participate"
Some Black students, and
myself included, could care less about
what happened 100 years ago," he
added. "We want to know what has
happened in the last five or ten years.
We want to know what we can do
in the future for blacks."
by John Dvorak
Nebraskan Staff Writer -He
really didn't say anything stun
ning or important. Yet for more than
an hour, he kept an overflow Union
ballroom audience in utter fascina
tion. George Plimpton is a professional
amateur. He has quarterbacked the
Detroit Lions, boxed with Archie
Moore, pitched to Willy Mays and
played forward for the Boston
Celtics.
After writing about all these ex
periences and more, Plimpton has
taken time to be editor of the "Paris
Revew" and an actor, musician and
politician.
He has written about all these ex
periences and more, and he kept his
audience in continual laughter
relating parts of his life.
"I have lost at practically
everything I have tried," Plimpton
smiled. "When I joined the football
team, I didn't even know how to put
my hands behind the center, which
was terribly embarrasing."
When he finally got into a full scale 1
intrasquad game, he kept falling down ;
and fumbling the ball.
"I went on the professional golf tour
for a month, playing in the Bob Hope
Desert Classic and several other
tournaments," Plimpton related. "I
had a miserable time."
Despite his losses, Plimpton has had
one triumph. But it was not in
athletics.
Plimpton
J
with
from
"PEOPLE HAVE suggested wild
ideas about paying more for a house
than the house is worth," Hancock
said.
"Fair market value is fair market
value. That's all the owners will
get." 1
Some people working with the
Malone relocation problem disagree
with this University official position.
One of them is Lincoln human rights
officer Gerald Henderson.
Henderson is working with
dislocated Malone area residents to
find new housing.
"OWNERS WHO received fair
market value for their houses cannot
replace their property for the amount
of money the University or the city
pays them," Henderson said.
He gave an example of a house
whose "fair market value" "was ap
praised at $7,000 by the University.
"The owners had put at least $8,000
into the property over a 10-year
period, so the investment was around
$16,000," he said. "They can't possibly
buy an equal house for the amount
they received."
HENDERSON SAID he firmly
believed that the University realtors
hadn't been inside many houses ap
praised for an ' i n s u f f i c i e n t ' '
amount.
"Many of the houses are probably
1 overdeveloped for the area," he said.
They have been remodeled substan
tially." Because of the appraised payment,
of families can't get equivalent
housing elsewhere in Lincoln,
Henderson said. Consequently, many
minority families are simply moving
from the city.
"The occupancy rate in Lincoln is
100 per cent," he said. This means
the Federal Housing Authority (FHA)
has determined that there is no
available new housing in Lincoln.
CONSEQUENTLY; families "forced "
to move by a landlord, or because
they have sold their Malone property
have a difficult time at best in finding
a family home.
Disputation of the University's
position also comes from Dr. Paul
A. Olson, English professor at the
University. Olson works with a com
munity committee centered in the
Elliot School area, near the Malone
area.
"The University's legal position
may comply with Nebraska law, but
it is not nationally obligatory," Olson
said.
Olson said that a case involving the
city of Washington, D.C. was decided
against the theory of fair market
value for property.
"THE COURT ruled that money
was not the important thing, but that
those dislocated should be equipped
to obtain equal facilities," he said.
"There is something less ( i n
Nebraska) than an effort to do this,"
Olson said.
He added that the apparent insuffi -
unfortunately, subtracted
relocation problems.
dm
1
ascinates audience
amateur adventures
After much persuading, Leonard
Bernstein, the director of the New
York Philharmonic aUowed Plimpton
to play in the percussion section. He
went with the Philharmonic on a
month long Canadian tour.
"Flaying the bells and the gong looks
easy, but it's terrifying," he com
mented. Besides that, Plimpton can
not read music.
Things began rocky, however, as
Bernstein said Plimpton destroyed the
fourth symphony. The bellsx were
taken away from Plimpton. '
In another number though, Plimpton
had his greatest moment. At the
climax of the song, he struck the gong
harder than it has ever, been
struck before. Bernstein loved the ef
fect, and when the Philharmonic
recorded that number, Plimpton was
recalled to strike the gong. The record
jacket lists Plimpton as one of the
soloists.
Plimpton is not content just to
watch the professionals at work. He
wants to find out "what makes them
tick." He wants to feel the emotions
they experience and the mental and
physical punishment they often en
dure. His career began years ago, as a
student at Harvard. He ran in the Bos
ton Marathon, a 26 mile running race.
"I didn't run the entire race," he
quipped. " I entered the race, just be
hind the leader, about 100 yards from
the finish line. The winner, who had
Continued on page Z
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Gerald Henderson . . . critic of
ciency of payment by the University
to Malone residents "seems to point
to a double responsibility of the Uni
versity. "It would be desirable for develop
ment of loan arrangements for Malone
residents to buy in other sections of
' Lincoln," he said. "Either no efforts
have been made in this direction, or
efforts have not met with enough en
thusiastic support to be effective "
OLSON SAID this support would
need to come from the University,
the business community and the area
residents.
"In circumstances of dislocating the
poor, the civic agency and the
neighborhood should plan jointly,"
Olson said. "The University has plan
ned for the future with such groups
as the Art Association. I don't know
of any comparable effort with the
Malone area."
Olson also noted lack, of planning
in the "exceedingly insensitive"
-situation created by the -University
in encouraging fraternities to move
into the area.
"Fraternities have been tradi
tionally racist," he said. The
University should have sent in
something like the school of -social
work, something at least that the
residents can identify with."
HANCOCK POINTED out that t h e
Malone expansion comprises only 16
per cent of total city campus ex
pansion. "We're much more interested now
in buying old buildings and
warehouses near 14th and Vine," he
said. "Therefore, the Malone acquisi
tion is long range."
The natural rate of vacancy of a
neighborhood is about 10 per cent,
Hancock said, and the University
"doesn't want them to speed."
"We wouldn't change our purchas
ing policy even if we had all the
money we need," he said. "It would
still take five to eight years to
purchase all the property."
THE UNIVERSnrs attitude is
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Raconteur George Plimpton, the all-around amateur, takes time
out to speak to NU students.
University land acquistion policy.
businesslike out of necessity. Land
acquisition money comes from the
state Legislature.
This group is traditionally hard on
the University, cutting funds unless
the allocation is absolutely necessary.
Even Gov. Norbert T. Tiemann, a
friend of the University, had originally
allowed no capital construction funds
in his preliminary budget. It took
some prodding from the University
to get him to include more money
,for land acquisition in his final
recommendations.
That money was necessary, ac
cording to a memo from the Ad
ministration's Eastward Expansion
Committee, "lest the University be
in the embarrassing position, after
announcing its land purchase plans,
of being unable to buy properties from
people desiring or needing to dispose
of land."
SUCH A POSITION, the committee
said, could bring more justified
criticism "than' ""has " thus far
developed."
Henderson said that those working
with low income families had been
hopeful that the 1968 Housing and
Urban Development Act (HUD) would
help to combat problems of housing
relocation. The f&ieral law would
provide funds for qualifying tenants
to purchase new homes.
"This act won't solve the problem
now because local housing authorities
must do so much paper work, and
the qualifications are s o com
plicated," he said.
Also, the federal government must
approve the participants in the pro
gram. Henderson said he knew of a
county where only two of 14 applicants
were accepted by the government. .
Renters with low incomes have an
even greater problem, Henderson
said. To qualify for federal help the
low income family must first find an
apartment or house which fulfills
federal requirements. Often this is
most difficult because minority group
members are still subject t o
Continued on page 3
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