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TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1969
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
NO. 4
Even beggar can afford ticket
to 'Threepenny Opera9 show
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One of the 300 daily customers in the Nebraska Union cafeteria settles his bill. Union food prices
were raised at the beginning of the first summer session.
Up in price is simply economics
Regular customers in the Nebraska
Union are already aware of the in
crease In food prices.
Gary R. Bradford, the food service
manager, explained that raising the
prices was "simply a matter of
economics."
"The prices had to be increased to
meet the rising costs of food and
labor," he said. "Up to this point, the
Union has been absorbing the in
creases in food and labor costs. There
has not been a price Increase for more
than two years."
Bradford added that with the price
structure the way it was before the
increase, "naturally the Union
wouldn't be able to keep itself at a
break even point."
The Increase, which went into effect
on the first day of summer session
classes June 9, is based on the actual
cost of food and a survey of
restaurants in Lincoln, he said.
Items have been increased from 10
to 20 per cent.
Conference on alcoholism
helps close educational gap
There Is an illness affecting about
six-and-one-half million Americans
and most hospitals will not admit vic
tims of this illness for treatment, ac
cording to Jack Swift who heads the
National Council on Alcoholism in
Kansas City.
Swift was on campus last week in
connection with the First Nebraska
School for Alcohol Studies a joint
undertaking by the University of
Nebraska Extension Division and the
alcohol division of the State Institu
tions Department.
Law enforcement officials, medical
personnel, clergymen, nuns,
counselors, teachers and others In
terested in bridging the educational
gap in training programs for the
"helping professions" on the subject
of alcoholism attended the five-dny
course. One person taking the course
worked for a brewery.
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Alcoholism is "an enormous problem which is 'getting
cnormouser' each year,"' according to Jack Swift, who heads
the National Council oa AJcahoium in Kansas City.
A hamburger which was 35 cents
now costs 40 cents. The cost of a
package of crackers are included in
the price of a bowl of soup. Additional
packages are three cents each.
"We are still under the uptown
market, especially in the area of
beverages," Bradford said.
Soft drinks in the Crib are still 10
and 15 cents. However, in the
cafeteria soft drinks have gone up a
nickle, making them 15 and 20 cents.
One of the cashiers in the cafeteria
said that the increase in the price of
beverages has caused the most com
ment from customers.
"Even though the prices are posted
in several places around the cafeteria,
many persons do not notice the in
crease until the cashier rings up the
bill." she said.
According to Bradford, food costs
have been increasing from two to four
per cent each year and labor costs
have risen as much as 25 per cent
since the last adjustment in Union
ALCOHOLISM IS the third largest
health problem in the United States,
in terms of sheer numbers of people,
according to Swift.
"The amount of money that we are
spending on the treatment o f
alcoholics is enough to buy one bottle
of beer to pour over the head of each
alcoholic," he said. "And the empty
bottles would have to be returned for
a deposit in order to break even."
Using what he calls the "wild health
figure guesses" obtained from the
National Information Bureau, Swift
cited the following I960 statistics:
heart disease, which affects 14
million Americans, receives about
$201 million in federal and private
money for treatment and research.
mental illness, which affects nine
million Americans, receives about
$322.7 million plus in federal and
private money.
food prices two years ago because
restaurants had to meet the re
quirements of the minimum wage
law.
"These are both costs which we
cannot control," he said.
About 20 persons are
employed full-time for the food ser
vice and about 40 persons, mostly stu
dents are employed as part-time help.
The cafeteria has been serving
about 300 persons every noon during
the summer session as opposed to the
600 served during the regular school
year.
Cafeteria hours are from 11 a.m. to
1:15 p.m. and from 5 to 6:30 p.m. each
evening Monday through Friday. The
Colonial Dining Room which offers
waiter service is open only at noon
from 11:30 to 1:30, Monday through
Friday. The Crib closes at 10:30 p.m.
and Sunday hours are from 2 to 10:30
According to Bradford. th serving
times "quite likely may be changed
for the second summer session."
-cancer, affecting about 890,000
Americans, receives about $232.8
million in federal and private money.
IN COMPARISON, though about six-and-one-half
million Americans suffer
from alcoholism, only $2.3 million Is
spent on treatment and research.
"This is all private money," Swift
said. "There is no identifiable federal
money spent on alcoholism."
He said that "alcoholism Is where
cancer was about 30 years ago."
Swift, who had a 15-year career with
the Kansas City Star as a crime
reporter, said that as a cub reporter
he could remember when the word
"cancer" was taboo in death notices.
Society looks upon excessive drink
lng as "a sin or misbehavior," he
said, adding that very few persons
will undertake to change another's
morals.
THE WORLD of the alcoholic af
fects manyersons besides members
of tho immediate family. There are
co-workers, acquaintances and any
number of strangers that the alcoholic
comes into contact with dally.
The cost to society because of the
effects of alcoholism is phenomenal.
Besides the losses to business and
Industry, which amounts to about 7-and-one-half
billion dollars annually,
there are the law enforcement costs,
welfare costs, and property losses
caused by fire or automobile wrecks,
he said.
Alcoholism has a "lousy recovery
rate," according to Swift. Nine out
of 10 alcoholics will die of the illness.
"Most doctors will not treat an
alcoholic," he said. "This may bo
good, though,' because many doctors
do not know how to treat a case of
alcoholism."
The causes of the illness are com
plicated, he noted. There are more
than 300 definitions of alcoholism and
not one of these definitions is agreed
upon by all of those in the medical
field.
Swift was only one of 28 professional
persons at the conference who has
directed his attentions to one of the
nation's most serious soclomcdical
problems.
The 197 persona attending the con
ference, which concluded last Friday,
represented a seven state area.
Swift who attends several of these
conferences each summer, rated this
conference hlph In its ability to
stimulate the persons In attendance.
John North, with Nebraska's
Division on Alcoholism, was director
of the conference.
Three pennies for the sales tax plus
$1.52 will buy a ticket to "The
Threepenny Opera," a play so named
because the price of a ticket was
"cheap enough that even a beggar
could afford it."
The play, which opened Monday
nieht at Howell Theatre, is the second
offering on the University's summer
repertory bill.
"It is a great theatre piece and
a great musical all rolled into one,"
according to Jim Baffico, the
graduate student in theatre who is
directing the show. He uses adjectives
such as "high flying, quick-witted,
terribly funny" when he talks about
the play.
'
"THE SCRIPT is alive with guts
and the whole play bursts with an
uncontrollable energy," he said. "The
worst thing would be for me to see
the show drag."
This musical from which came the
popular song, "Mac the Knife," ran
off-Broadway for seven years and
established many firsts for the
Greenwich Village theatres.
Bertolt Brecht, a German, adapted
the play from John Gay's eighteenth'
century drama, "The Beggar's ,
Opera," a parody of the mores and
customs of the English upper-class.
The play was Brecht's first major
dramatic success when it was pro- ,
duced on a German stage in 1928.
According to Eaffico, the play
"became more Brecht's own rather
than an adaptation" after he had
reworked it.
Another German, Kurt Weill, wrote
the original music, music which Baf
fico described as similar to "lice
crawling up your arm."
THE MUSIC in the play is at the
level of "a higher art," he added.
"It sometimes conflicts with the ac
tion, which gives Brecht and Weill
a chance to say something. For in
stance, a lovely melody may be
coupled with horrible words.
"it is not a gigantic message play,
but it does have this decadent,
despairing air."
The plot centers around Captain
Macheath, or Mac the Knife, who
desires to marry Peachum's daughter.
But the father does not approve ot
the marriage because he is afraid
that 'he loss of his daughter will cause
a decline in his business. The
cus omers will not be able "to come
in and look at his daughter's legs."
So Peachum conspires to have
Macheath arrested and hanged.
There is much irony in the play,
according to the director. "Brecht and
Weill are too expertise to come right
out and sav what they mean. So they
say one thing, meaning another."
Baffico, who has never directed a
musical on this scale before, says that
he chose the cast on acting ability
and in the process, he also "got all
good voices."
"THE SINGING in the show Is in
credible," he said, "when you con
sider the fact that the parts were
not cast for singers."
There are a total of 26 In the play
plus eight musicians.
Thn musicians are b 1 n ft in
corporated into the show "in a wav
that has never been done before'
They play on the stage and are part
of the action.
There are six different settings and
Baffico says that the style of the
show is "different from any other
style that has ever been seen around
here.
"It is very theatrical and fast-paced."
;U has Peace Corps
by Sue Schlichtemcler
NU School of Journalism
This year, 12,000 Peace Corps
volunteers are In training. And for the
first time, the University of Nebraska
is directly participating in the pro
gram. One of two universities In the UnHed
States to receive a contract with the
Peace Corps (the other is Cornell), the
University has sent nine May
graduates to Escondldo, Calif., for
training.
William Colwell, dean of Interna
tional Programs at the University,
said the $10,232 contract, which was
approved last month by the Board of
Regents, calls for a part-time
coordinator to recruit graduating
seniors and plan their orientation
program.
The coordinator selected for the
University campus Is Bob Kirwin, a
:ormcr Peace Corps volunteer, who
returned last December after spen
ding two years in Columbia.
Kirwin feels that the program has
been successful "especially due to the
quality of people being sent out."
The nine University graduates
Baffico played football during his
undergraduate days at the University
in 5962 and 196?. Then, he "laved pro
baJ! for the Buffalo Bills three years
as a center and guard before return
ing to Lincoln to study theatre.
,
"IT MEANS a lot to me to direct
this show," he said. "I have tried
to make the play live before
everything else because I have con
fidence in the play. It is a great
theatre piece."
Directing is a "long period of
anguish," he says. "Not only to you
want to do justice to yourself and
the actors, but to the theatre.
"I think that the theatre should be
exciting fun not heavy-handed or
dull, not a place of instruction.'.'
The greatest thing, he feels, is that
the performance should "give the
viewer a good experience so he will
want to go again. That is why you
sit out there and die every minute."
Some of the "most beautiful
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James Eaffico is directing a "high flying, quick-witted, terribly
funny" show, "The Threepenny Opera," which opened at Howell
Theatre Monday evening. The play is the second to open on the
summer repertory bill.
Love addition
. As soon as LB 1425 is passed by
the Legislature and is signed by the
governor, the University plans to go
ahead with making detailed plans and
specifications for an addition to Love
Library.
Last Tuesday, the Legislature gave
Initial approval to put $4,850,000 into
the project.
"It will be extremely helpful to us.
if we are permitted to begin meeting
our needs for additional library space
in the near future," said Joseph
Soshnik, president of the Lincoln
campuses.
He added that the addition is needed
to meet growing student enrollments
and to serve the faculty and staff.
A total of $6,500,000 is needed to
presently participating in the program
are taking a six-week Spanish course
at Escondldo, Calif., followed by
another six weeks of intensive training
in language, sensitivity, and culture in
Bogota, Columbia, by members of the
University Mission.
Dean Colwell noted that
agriculturally trained Peace Corps
volunteers are in very short supply.
However, students in the College of
Arts and Sciences at the University
will be eligible for the program if they
have a farm background and meet
basic requirements by taking certain
SUMMER REPERTORY! Aa English professor reviews
"Much Ado About Nothing" opening page 1
WASHINGTON, DC.) A journalism student writes about his
experiences as a summer intern with the U.S. Information
Agency ' page
HEALTH EDUCATION! Another journalism student examines
the health education program taught by Lincoln public schools
page 5
moments in theatre" happen during
rehearsals, he said. .
This is when the actors reach a
performance level where they "are
caught by the tension of the play and
totally submerged in the dramatic
action. This is really, really exciting."
THOUGH THESE moments ar
rare, Baffico feels that this has hap
pened with the actors in "Threepenny
Opera."
"Every profession has ite 'beautiful
moments,' I suppose. Often you get
the feeling that whatever you do
makes no difference, whether its
directing a play, painting a picture
or developing a chemical formula.
"But when one of these 'beautiful
moments' happens, then you know
that what you are doing is worthwile
no matter what else happens."
And that is the way Baffico feels
about directing "The Threepenny
Opera."
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is funded
construct the addition north of the
present building and to convert ex
isting space.
"The Implication is clear that In
a subsequent b i e n n i u m , the
Legislature will appropriate additional
funds to complete the project," he
said.
The $4,850,000 will permit a staged
development of the project.
Two other top priority items in the
University's expansion plans have not
been funded by the Legislature. They
are the $1,500,000 for land acquisition
and the $4,500,000 for the Life Sciences
Building. Both the governor and the
Budget Committee allowed only
$200,000 for land acquisition. No funds
have been appropriated for the Life
Sciences Building.
contract
courses In crops, livestock, and home
economics.
The contract is being continued this
fall and Peace Corps speakers will
then be available to talk with
students on campus. Next spring,
potential volunteers will take a course
concerned with world food problems
and attend several sessions in
preparation for their summer
training.
Persons Interested in this program,
can talk with either Dean Colwell or
Kirwin, the campus coordinator, at
310 Agricultural Hall.
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