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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1969)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1969 AGE 2 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Campus protests as a seat of power As the campus moratorium to protest Vietnam Oct. 15 was adopted this weekend by a number of Congressmen from both houses, campus protest gained new dignity as well as national stature. Bat, far more Important, campus protest gained the knowledge that it can be effective at high echelons where it counts. During the last five years protests have had ", a drastic effect for reform on local campuses. , . Anti-ROTC protests are among the most widespread and visible examples of effective local action. Two big-name schools, Harvard and Dart mouth, completely dropped ROTC this year, action triggered by spring protests. When the present enrollees graduate, ROTC wUl cease to exist on these campuses. At Nebraska, though there have been only one or two very small demonstrations, ROTC enroll ment is down dramatically. Thus protests are ef fective in carrying spirit from campus to campus, affecting even quiet campuses such as Nebraska. That they also have reached the high schools is evidenced by a similar drop in freshman ROTC enrollment. But recognition by government officials, favorable recognition, is a new dawn. Tacit recognition has been stirring for several years as officials have jumped on the bandwagon to end involvement in Vietnam, but the spirit of acting together with campus protesters has never been evident. It will be as these senators and representatives attempt to spend the day spotlighting war protest on the floors of both houses and to introduce resolutions limiting and reducing the war. Moreover, Congress is an arm of government that can do something about the problem, much more than the standard administrative sop of a study committee. The Vietnam war is so big and so tied up in bureaucracy that support at high levels must be won if the course of American policy is to be changed. Years of protest In all but a few cases peaceful and constructive have culminated In just that kind of support. For the collegians and professors long involved in protesting the war and seeking official recogni tion of the legitimacy of their protests, years of disappointment and disapproval have been vin dicated. They have the added satisfaction that they originated what may soon come to be a new direc tion in national policy. They are, and should be, proud. Now that the campus has seen what it can do, it may become a still more portent force in influencing the direc tion of the nation. Holly Rosenberger, editorial page assistant Chicago, ive come in peace The Chicago Eight, dissenters Indicted on a flimsy conspiracy charge of plotting to incite riots during last August's dismal Democratic National Convention, came back to the city last week. The flimsiness of the supposed conspiracy is far from being the most significant issue in a landmark case. The trial stands in a good position to test the new Federal antiriot law as well as Attorney General John Mitchell's decision that wire tapping is legal "in the interests of national secur ity." This can be a worthy test of controversial procedures, and the defendants are well aware of Us possibilities. However, such a test can best be taken in an atmosphere of calm and thought. Several statements made by defendants in a mass rally at Grant Park may encourage disastrous disregard for that atmosphere. Ronnie Davis, an organizer of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, told some 2,(XX) sympathizers, "The pigs are trying us in a courtroom, but the real determination of tills fight will come in the streets of this city and across the country." lie was followed by Ylppie leader Abble Hof fman, whose pledge to breed a conspiracy of love ended with, "We have come to Chicago to fight . . . victory or death." Hoffman's words were met with upraised fists as followers shouted "Fight on." These men, some of them leaders of the thousands of young people who came to Chicago last summer to protest in peace, who came to a city girded for violence, and either found it, met with it or provoked it, with fault on both sides, understandably returned with bitterness in their hearts. But their cause is too important to let bitterness override reason, and it Is hoped that they won't, that they will try every other avenue first. The eye-for-eye, tooth-for-tooth philosophy was the law code of Hammurabai, and can best be laid to rest with that long-dead king. HR DAILY NEBRASKAN Satan ctM rattasa HW Lhtcoln, Nak, ltiitmiHii diier VMM. Nm VMM. InltMM VI-UH. tuMcriptiKt ratal ara 14 wr nwiw r a p-w yr. Pvkilaha Monday, WtdnmUy, Thurwwy and Friday vriM th aciwoi yaar a dunn vatatiana M M Ncraka OMen. Uikom, Nab. kmar at IntarawHatiat Praaa. National Bdvtirtlanal Uvarllilnf Sanrtca. Hi Daily Makrokan la a tfvtfaot aualkaHan, Indapandant a Id Untvanlfy at Naaraakat administration, totally ana aradant tovarnmani. Cdi:rlal Halt StSJtar aar layat Manaalnt " Kant Cackaan, Nawa lmar Jim radanaii) HlnM Nam dltar J. c Schmidt, Dav PIHpli dlrarlal AMiilant Holly AonBr? Aulatant Nam lunar danat Maawalli lw latlar Handy Yarki Nakraakan Staff Writart John Dvarak, till nilUmva. Sara tthwiadar. )ary tral, Sinclair, kacnitlar sinah, Linda MtClara, Mik arraif, tea Pattay, lylvia kaa Ran WMttan. Caral Andanaoi (atHHacaraanara Dea tadaly, Jam Naahchar, Jim Oaan. Jan MMttndorf. Mika Maymani Ci dttura lvM jankint, I tun Mat Canal vinkiara n tcMkniamaiar, Val Matin. Buvinaa start a!(ms Manaaar Id ttnaic LcM Ad Manatar d. I. Schmidt! MttRl Ad Mnar Marvarat Ann trownj eaokkaaaar Kan SawUm katlnaaa SacrMary an SakKrlattan Manatar J anal 9atman; escalation Manar Jih sialtari Ciaititlt Ad Ammw Jam Waamart Advrlltt Rawatantativaa t. L. maraarat Am krawn, dl Ban, da tkllaan, UM (2k nnrn LnJU 00000000000000000000( IOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Dfl()IL(l by J. L. Schmidt Lorin Hollander Is balding, bearded and twenty, five years old. Lorin Hollander is an artist, a musician specifically. He has a gripe concerning his profession and he is currently trying to right the wrong in his work. At the age of four, Hollander took up the violin. At five he started playing the piano. He played Carnegie Hall at 11 and pinch-hit for Van Cliburn at 14. He enrolled in Julliard and played many concerts, even a world tour for the Department of State. At the end of his tour he began to change. The artist began replacing the robot and he realized that there was more to music than just polishing notes eight hours a day. He was labeled as the freak of the classical establishment. On Febr. 23 this year he played a new electronic piano in a concert at Fillmore East. Angel Records was there and the result is an album of cuts from this concert. Philosopher-musician Back to Hollander's gripe. He told the audience he was at Fillmore because, "Fillmore is com munication." Sounding more like a philosopher than a musician, he continued: "... A cold, impersonal attitude permeates the communication and interaction between men. A veil of games and lies distorts the original vision and intent of many of man's institutions. The deepest meanings behind even the more sensual of man's explorations into himself artistic crea tion or religious wonder have been lost in a tangle of dogma ar.J politics. "Classical music is a sad example. Here is an art soaring with emotion and screaming with urgency, able to satisfy the deepest intellectual longings, yet rejected by many as being archaic and effete." A tocatta, a free form composition displaying the artist's virtuosity, called "Up Against the Wall," Is probably one of the finer cuts of the album. Hollander said about this piece; "I think I can put Vietnam, the ghetto, Blafra, etc. etc. in my own way, into music." This he does with a hard, driving beat which is at times vicious, almost enough to make one crawl the walls. But then, the situations in Vietnam, the ghetto and Biafra. etc. etc. are much like that, too. The song builds up frustration and there is absolutely no relief in store for the listener a very vivid song which makes its point. ' Other works by Bach, Partita No. 6 in E Minor; Debussy, Fireworks and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7 in B Flat round out the album with two bands devoted to spoken Introduction and interpretation by Hollander. First electronic piano An electronic piano, engineered by Baldwin and officially called the Baldwin Electronic Concert Grand made its first public appearance at this concert. , . . . .. It sounds like a regular piano but has the advantage of a self contained amplification system and volume control without tonal distortion. The sounding board is replaced by ferroelec tric cantilever transducers which channel the sound through speakers in the body of the instrument. Additional pedals allow the pianist to achieve a crescendo or diminuendo effect on a given note or chord. . Designed for use at places like the Hollywood Bowl or Tanglcwood, the piano was also found to be very effective at Fillmore East because It lacks good acoustics. Hollander might be the freak of the classical establishment, but the likes of him are going to keep classical music alive. An artist with the dedication and talent of Hollander is a good man to have on one's side, and when the establishment realizes that, classical music will live again and take its true place in our culture. Nebraskan editorial page and then there were None Open forum Dear Editor: I expect to catch all kinds of hell from all sorts of peo ple about the article in Wed nesday's Nebraskan concerning second semester freshman English classes "for frosh Greeks." I think it is necessary to clarify our position. There may be those who gained from your article the impression that the English Department desires to have its instructors rub elbows with the elite and serve up T. S. Eliot with tea and crumpets or Hemingway with beer and pretzels In posh surroundings. We have no such desire. There will be no freshman Englsh classes in fratenity or sorority houses or any place other than An drews Hall; there will be no "special" classes designed for fraternities or any other groups; there will be no spe cial teachers hired for or as signed to any such classes. We do have considerable Interest, however, in a general program Involving the grouping of students from the same living units and placement in the same fresh man English classes to a very limited extent, limited primarily by the tremendous complexities of registration and scheduling. We are not so naive as to think that the entire process of education, or even perhaps its most significant part, takes place within the four walls of the classroom. It is our Intention In our freshman English classes, and our hope, to stimulate intellec tual activity, to generate serious discussion, and to foster an atmosphere of freedom in Inquiry and ex pression. If the students in a particular class also associate closely with one another in living units, we would expect some con tinuation of discussion originally generated in class, and vice versa, and we would thus expect significant im provement in the quality of the students' educational ex perience both in and out of the classroom. For the past two years, the Department of English has participated In such a pro gram; and, though the results have not been sub jected to any intensive or extensive evaluation, we have felt that the classes have proved to be of suffi cient benefit to warrant our continuing participation. In fact, a nmn'ier of the persons most instrumental in Uie development of the Centenn ial Education Program, both faculty and students, have been involved in our previous experiments. The basic philosophies underlying the Centennial Program and our ex periments are the same. Thus, we wish to continue to cooperate in a program of cluster grouping students from living units into freshman Engtish classes. We care not at all whether the living units are "Greek," or Roman, or Mayan, or Independent, or whatever, Indeed, in terms of the supposed benefits of such a program Greek living units stand to gain the least. One of the side benefits we would expect from a cluster group Ing program would be that new students could gain some sense of group Identity and "belonging" that they might not otherwise gain so quickly. New students In Greek" organizations have little need of that. Then, too, we find It generally desirable to have as many different "kinds" of student li classes as possi ble students with various educational and socio, economic backgrounds, rrorvsenllng ari:!t sub cultures. This sort of variety is particularly desirable lu literature classes, sine students learn perhaps more from one another than from either the Instructor or the material under discussion. It is our observation (ac curate or Inaccurate) that students associated with particular f ralernal organizations tend to be "of a kind" with similar backgrounds, similar at titudes, and similar value systems. If that observation is true, students in classes made up of only such students may find their education experience Im poverished rather than enriched. But just as we have no in tent ion of discriminating In favor of fraternities and sororities, we have no inten tion of discriminating against them. We wish to schedule as many cluster grouping clas ses for living units as Uie difficulties of scheduling and registration will allow; hut wa have not chosen, and have no Intention of choosing, which specific living units will participate. That task of selection, as far as we are concerned, rests entirely in the office of Student Af fatrs. Ned S. Hedges Director of F r e s h in a u English .'. . Kelly Baker "Whatever you read about Midnight Cowboy Is true" sounds like a promotion for Denmark's latest sexport. No so, for this is the advertising copy for a movie which does not need such em bellishment to stir up curiosity seekers. This powerful, sometimes brutal film follows the Journey of Joe Buck to New York and Miami and eventually to a realistic outlook on life. Played superbly by Jon Voight, Joe leaves the fertile fields of Texas with the vision of setting up his personal stud farm In New York City, where "there's women just beggin' for it." In New York Joe meets Enrico Salvitore (Ratso) Rizzo, who first takes him for twenty dollars and later becomes his only friend. Dustln Hoffman in an excellent performance as Ratso is living a hand-to-mouth existence on what ho can steal and his fantasies of a life in Florida. Director John Schlesinger uses flashbacks of Joe's youth and his relationship with Crazy Annie, the town simpleton, to establish the lack of personal Involvement in Joe's life which later underscores the importance of his friendship with Ratso and ex plains an act of almost sadistic cruelly. These monologues in which Joe takes no verbal part emphasize his inability to form meaningful personal relationships and his ability to use people as he intends to use the women of New York. Whereas he employs factual memories to ex plain the character of Joe the Dreamer, Schlesinger uses Ratso's (originally the realist of the two) fantasies to help in defining him. The movie traces the movement of Joe from dreamer to realist and Ratso from realist into fantasy delirium and even tually release from reality. Midnight Cowboy is a very powerful motion picture and it Is a testament to Schleslngor's ex pertise and artistry that the brute force of the movie Is never out of control . . , that our sym. puthles condone Joe In his brutality and stay with him and Ratso afterwards. Schlesinger directs an excellent supporting cast rather coldly, generating little audience empathy for these characters. Joe develops a symbiotic relationship with each of these people the pro stitute, the homosexual, the religious fanatic and the society matron in which he intends to use each of them and ends up being used by them. And just when he is finally free of the emotional poverty that condemns them, Joe is freed from the person who has kept him in this poverty, but at the same time has helped him grow out of his fantasy adolesence. Transit troubles cities by Whitney M. Young, Jr. It seems strange that a nation that caa transport men to the moon can't get people to work on time In the cities. Public transportation s the lifeline of America's cities, but It's usually inefficient and too expensive. Part of the reason is the obsession with road building that's gripped the country. Since World Var 11. $50 has been spent on roads for every $1 spent on mass transit. One reason why roadbullding has been so popular is that there is a limitless supply of federal funds for it. The federal government puts up 90 percent of the cost of highways, so It's difficult for cities and states to resist the temptation to build road just to get some of that bankroll. There s always plenty of cash around for highways because Ihey're financed by a trust fund made up of earmarked gasoline taxes. So whether they re needed or no!, highways are built. It's necessary to get transportation policy back on the right track after years of neglect. There ought to be a freeze on unneeded highway con struction and the billions saved spent to improve public transportation. i j.0 fa".urfS 1,1 transportation are Just another Indication of how this affluent nation Ignores publio needs in favor of private privileges. Low fares, new equipment, and experiments with ghetto-to-factory public transport can help to revitalize cities - all (or the cost of unwanted and unnecessary highways.