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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1969)
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1969 ime Out: A unique event - " A rather unique Intellectual experience is in 'Sf6re for the University of Nebraska community Monday and Tuesday when four speakers will be on ttfampus as part of the Time Out program. -" The purpose of Time Out, according to the .sponsor, ASUN, is to examine the university as far "" "what it is doing and what direction it is going." . .J. '..Hopefully, the four speakers will not present two "days of emotional cries for reform, but will give in tellectual, reasoned and provocative arguments. The four speakers, all of whom will talk in the .,,, Union Centennial Room, are: ,uii Charlts Palmer, president of the U.S. National - j Student Association, will speak 7 p.m. Monday on .," "Student Self-Determination." James Turner, director of the Center for Afro ;t, o American Studies at Cornell University, will speak 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on "Minorities on Campus." Dr. Bill Birenbaum, president of Staten Island Community College, New York, will speak 1:30 p.m. " "Tuesday on "Educational Reform." " Carl Davidson, former graduate student at the . University of Nebraska and former national leader ' of SDS, will speak 7 p.m. Tuesday on "Schools Must Serve the People." Many students ask "what is ASUN doing for . . stne?" One of the few tangible and worthwhile tilings .... recently is sponsorship of Time Out. Now it is up to . v the University community to respond and take part In what promises to be a thought-provoking two days. k eroes . in in e seawee J by Jim Evinger Peter Wirtz (Story, p. 1), assistant in the Office of Student Affairs, is doing his thing. He's doing it to a whole spectrum of people, ranging from junior high bubble-gummers to the Lincoln Junior League. His thing is probably one of the more interesting and ambivalent phenomena on campus. Wirtz's thing is essentially people, but it's the not-so-subtle medium he utilizes in working with people-types that has a number of University of ficials worried and concerned. Perhaps not without cause. As an educational psychologist, he Is a part of the pervasive group of human behavioralists that staff this University. As Pete Wirtz, he heads a core of dedicated people who believe In the value of others, strive to further better human relations and groove on the culture that surrounds such humanistic endeavors. Labels are hard to apply with much accuracy or consistency, but terms like group dynamics, sensitivity awareness, leadership development and encounter groups help connote the games Wirtz's people play. By no means are these sincere and serious ef forts to be confused with the touchy-feely groups at the Essalen Institute in California. Wirtz em phasizes that his activities do not approach the in tensity or depth of Infamous sensitivity sessions, T groups or pyschotherapy groups. The head of the Rocky Mountain Behaviorial Institute in Denver describes things such as those that happen here as "therapy for normal people." However, discussion with Wirtz brings out a - realistic appraisal that such happenings are not necessarily beneficial to the average, normal person, whoever that may be. .'-Other University staff people, like Ron Eaglln end Chris Genelin of the Student Activities Office, Alan Pickering and Sue Tidball of United Ministries hr Higher Education, Russ Brown from the Student Ufairs Office, and faculty members -like Keith Fritchard and John Janovy have lent their support SUd participation. Z'A number of campus groups, Including several eororltles and student organizations, have com fliTlted themselves to Wirtzlan exercises. Indeed, those that have participated are probably the best Jlldges of the effectiveness and worth of such sessions. It Is in that careful context that a fiicasurement and evaluation should be made. IT in particular, C. Bertrand Schultz, director of rhe University museum, and Frank Hallgren, Erector of placement, are two University staff members who have voiced criticism. One of their concerns is Pickering's role In such exercises. They are particularly concerned with Pickering's announced stand against the campus Greek system. Both Schultz and Hallgren have served as advisors to the IFC. Another concern stems from the claim that a number of students, after participating in various exercises, have sought psychological help from the University Health Center. But no formal public com plaint has yet been levelled against the Student Affairs staff and its core of adults and students who re the apostles of this "up with people" philosophy. On one hand, those working with Wirtz are sincerely attempting to deal with a number of very real problems affecting the modern student: identi. ty In a large, impersonal environment, more ef fective self-expression, etc. For this, they can only be praised. To a large degree, their medium Is their message, and that rubs a number of people wrong. Those who would cast stones at Wirtz had best be careful of what they charge and in which context. Some argue ad homonym, others against the entire principle of group dynamics and self-awareness as practiced In this manner. Whether Pete Wirtz functions without formal sanction of the Student Affairs Offke, or whether he moves with endorsements by University ad mlnlstrators. he continues to confront Individuals with that which concerns us most: ourselves and our relationships with others. DAILY NEBRASKAN KM tlMt (MtlM MM II LlMtlll. N. 47t-MM. Nmn 471-tUt, SWIMM Vt-tm. (wbicritltM r.l.i inum wimHr r M pw year. Illw4 MMay. WrtiwMltv, TMfMay amt PrlOf Hki MKS r turn vaullwtt mm) Mm MrM at M N kratM VKM, Line Na. tf mttrvwxtutt prwt. NiltWMl ItociltoMl Avrtltlitf !!!!!.?- '''' Mmintttratlul, (Many awl MM "" mir Cdiiw Kant CkM. dm r Jim Pmurt,, NiM Ntw fait i. L. tknmin, Ct Ml7l, Sutorw AMlttMt Mally Mrar AMIalmi Nmi MJ.wWI, iMHt anM. Yr Htt-iitM !. Wrntn Jm Bvr., till ImfliMrmm, lira Ittnrtatar mrf tMCnwi, av llaclalr, IKMHO ItAfh, LIMa McCIW. Mtk amn, . iy, lywic L, Hen WMltM, Ctr Mw rww-fn Dm S.MWy, ja NmIkMt, Jtm , ifm IXKiwtfcr. Mik Naymmi Cy tMitort twM JwMlm, Imm .., Mai'O. (MM Witttor, tMs fcMfcMtnwttr, VaJ Mart 'K4 THROAT SB Footprints' Times Are Changing? by Don Stenberg Biology 3 died a relatively quiet death Tuesday after a somewhat prolonged debate that saw the small (but vocal) student contingent and a small (very small) but concerned group ef faculty mulched against the inert mass of the remainder of the faculty. The effect was quite .similar to the one yon. might observe by throwing a superball against a concrete wall. But the idea behind the course (the study of how the scientist relates to the world) still flickers somewhere In a committee appointed to deal with this problem. Unfortunately, faculty committees are well known for being composed of experienced firemen. In all seriousness, I hope that this committee will take responsibility and draw up, within a reasonable length of time, a workable program that Includes and expands the ideas proposed in Biology 3. It was suggested to the Biology department that the portion of the proposed Biology 3 course dealing with the relation of biology to today's environment be expanded and offered as a course relating to this topic. I hope that those people in the Biology department who wrote the original proposal have not yet become so discouraged as to junk this idea. In passing, I would like to note that If more departments were as willing to try Innovations as the Biology department, that the quality and diversity of education available to the student would improve and expand at a much greater rate than la presently the case. In other Curriculum Committee action It was decided to suggest a rewording of the Group E fa cie nee and math) requirement to the faculty. The logic needed to justify this change must be quite intricate because it must step over, under, around and through the current trend across the nation loosen group requirements and allow the student greater flexibility. Next week, same column, same page, I shall attempt to devote time to . explaining the above mentioned logic and the remainder to the task of destroying It. Nebraskan editorial page Open forum Dear Editor: Prior to the Vietnam war moratorium, news media in the San Francisco area reported plans on the East and West coasts for the up coming moratorium. I began to wonder if the "no business as usual" slogan had even reached the Midwest, specifically Nebraska. I left NU last January beause it seemed sleepy and even (gasp!) stagnant. I transferred to Berkeley in hopes that I could find out what was really going on in the revolution that had begun to shake the nation. That aim was accomplish ed after the People's Park Incidents in May. I'm now trying to evaluate the various movements and their leaders that have taken hold of tills Mecca of demonstration, disturbance, riot and revolt, and decide where I am in relation to it all. Experience has taken the edge off my idealism - I'm sure of that and I find myself becoming increas- Soul gab: concept of black identity The American system purports to be one of equality and opportunity for all men, including the black man. This is a mere idealology. In reality this system is no more equal to the Black man than is Communism toward its pro letariat. As a result, this system can no longer sus tain the title of a system but has achieved the title of machine, a machine manufactured by a racist industry the white man. Though the black man's role In this machine Is significant, he has no identity; neither does he receive any of what the machine manufactures ex cept racial injustice. The black man's function is to serve as a small fragment of this machinery. His most significant roles to the white man are those of the Ignorant voter, the dumb consumer a small, rusty wheel of a shiny, vast machine. As a result the bluck has been manufactured. Institutionalized and brainwashed for the benefit of white society. In this process of Institutionalization the bluck man was left without a name, without a heritage, or without a proper society in the American machine. The black man has also been left at the disposal of the machine, without political or economic sovereignty, not able to determine his own destiny in essence without black identity. As far as the machine is concerned the black people can identify with nothing but labor and the alums. The black man was able to kill the slave machine only to be compelled to become slave to a vast racist machine. One of the steps In Institutionalizing the black man into a perfunctory part in the racist bureaucracy was to give a label, not a name. To achieve identity, black brothers and sisters have denounced the derogatory Negro, which replaced colored people, which replaced darkle, which replaced nigger. They have adopted the word black. Black is more than a biological phenomena. It Is a step toward black identity by one who has broken . . . Kenneth Secret away from the white man's derogatory Jokes and have adapted a black man's complementary distinction from the white machine. Black people cannot Identify with white because Ceople In the same machine must have the same erltage. Black people have began to refuse to accept racists as their heroes. Even though the racist machine was constructed on the black man's back, the white man gave him no credit. He only acquired a debt, building something that would ultimately kick him in the posterier. In order to achieve pride and identity brothers and sisters have rejected such heroes as George Washington, who had seven black babies and died walking to the slave quarters, and Thomas Jef ferson who had four black babies. No longer will black people identify with such racists as Lincoln. In leiu of these, blacks have adopted such brothers and sisters as Nat Turner, Harriet Tubmann, Huey Newton and Eldrldge Cleaver with whom they can Identify. The justification of the denunciation of American patriotism Is pride, an essential part of achieving black Identity. "I'm black firsted, Ken Secret second, and never have been American." The slave was 1 an essential part of this machine's economic history. When the slave killed the slave master the machine suffered because Its flunky was gone and the economy was dead. Also, "when the slave killed the slave master it was a cleansing process because a man is born and the oppressor is gone." (Huey Newton). Since the black man Is so essential to the machine, when the black man breaks from the white machine, it Is a cleans ing process because pride and identity are born In the black man. Black institutionalization and the white machine Is dead. ingly skeptical of both Establishment and Anti E s t a b 1 Isihment banner bearers. Of one thing I am also sure: I firmly believe in a true patriot's obligation to protest the slaughterous fiasco that is Vietnam and the growing militarism of our country. This brings me to my final point. My family sent me clippings of your moratorium and I would like publicly to withdraw my accusations. Nebraska is no longer sleepy and Is definitely not stag nant. You are alive and well and your marching footsteps were heard 1700 miles away in similarly cold and rainy Berkeley. I feel like I'm a part of you, and I'm very proud. Gretchen Hedge Dear Editor: We would like it made known. to all students of the university community that you, as students, are not looked upon as equal In the eyes of the Tassels and Cor ncobs. It was publicly stated that tickets for PP&M would go on sale at twelve noon on Monday, Oct. 20th. Will so meone please explain why over three hundred choice seats were already sold before the designated time? David A. Bush Glen T. Schumann Phil Waggoner Dear Editor. As a regular reader of the Rag I was deeply distressed by the editorial "Conscience conscious" which appeared Oct. 22. Although I do not agree with the YAK on many points and am not a member of that organization, I (eel that most of the criticisms advanced against it were unjustifiable. Consider the first criticism. It points out that the YAF's national advisory council contains several famous or infamous depending on your political affiliation con servatives. This is absurd. Why should a con servative - organization not have conservatives on Its national committee? Another absurd criticism concerns the statement by a YAF spokesman that "we believe victory is possible In Vietnam." Exactly what is meant by victory is not stated in the quote, but it apparently refers to either military or diplomatic vic tory of a sort. This simple statement in no way Implies victory as "the destruction of land, people, and spirit" as the author Interprets It. Nor does it tell us that the Yaffer is "so in awe of honor that he will utilize dishonorable means to secure it." And It certainly does not tell us that "he Is blind to reality," for no one short of the President and other top leaders In possession of highly technical and classified Information Is in a position to say what Is militarily or diplomaticly possible. The last criticism is perhaps the most ridiculous. Just because the Yafferi have not carried on an active membership drive here does not mean they are snobbish, "clltest," or undemocratic at the author believes. They may have failed to do so for any one of several reasons including lack of resources or fear of Infective criticism by the less con servative members of our academic community. Michael L. Egger j v t r.'-s.' "(,'"."( "." '," Yi"i . inev shy vou hews To ee i w s s r i i fl far lw m T w I Ml VtllLA liiJUlrt i. 1 Si "TUTKBUt XSS p FWUnqih nev dorms, sav vou have fo be fo oe happy liVmo in Vinat's )u$t the orobh.m- fnot entyh stewed arts.
