PAGE 2
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1969
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
True life drama at NU vies with theater of the absurd
True life drama No. 10-4. The Stolen Car Inci
dent. Saturday. 1 p.m.:
"Campus police. May I help you?"
"Yeah, my car's been stolen out of the Cather
Pound parking lot."
"Uh huh, when did you discover this?"
"Just now. I was going down to the game
and I happened to notice that my car wasn't there."
"Uh huh. Make and model please."
" '67 Olds, blue and white. My name's Cutberth,
David Cutberth.
"Uh huh. Well, Cutberth, we'll contact the Lin
coin City Police and I'm sure they'll contact the
State Patrol and they'll get right on it. You just
go on to the game and rest assured that the police
will find your auto as quickly as possible."
"Yeah . . . O.K." CUuT
Monday. 8:30 p.m.
"Hello?"
"Is this a David Cutberth, owner of a 1967
blue and white Oldsmobile?" "Yeah, I used to
be. Did you find my car?"
"Is this Cutberth?"
"Yes, yes. did you find my car?"
"Uh, Cutberth, this is the Campus police. The
City Police just notified us that they have found
your stolen auto."
"Yes, yes, where is it?"
"They said they found it at Avenue A and
49th Street. I suppose you could go on down and
pick it up if you'd like."
"Right." CLICK
Avenue A and 49th. 9 p.m.
"What do you want?"
"Officer, that's my car."
"Uh huh, who's with you?"
"Him? He's a friend, drove me down here.
I didn't have a car. You see . . ."
"Uh huh, got any proof that that's your
automobile?"
"Well, I'm sure if you'd look at the registration
slip. Its right here in the glove . . ."
"DON'T TOUCH THAT CAR! "
"What?"
"I said don't touch that automobile. It's a stolen
auto and hasn't been fingerprinted yet."
"Oh. Well, when are they going to fingerprint
it?"
"Who?"
"The fingerprinters. When are they going to
do it?"
"I don't know. May have something to do with
the University police. But then again, the depart
ment may send some print boys down."
"When will that be?"
"I'm not sure. Tell you what, you boys can
stay here and wait until they're done with the
car. I'll go on back to too station."
"O.K."
Same evening. 9:30 p.m.
"I bet they took all my stereo tapes out of
the car too."
"Why don't you look?"
"Maybe I should. I wish the cops would get
here."
"Why don't we call them?"
"Campus police. May I help you?"
"Yeah, I'm out here at Avenue A and 49th.
I was wondering about whether you are sending
anyone out to fingerprint my car?"
"What?"
"My car, it was stolen and ..."
"Stolen car? Is this a report?"
"No, no, no, I found my car, but . . ."
"Oh, you found a stolen car."
"No, you don't understand. The City police
found my car and they said I could have it as
soon as it was fingerprinted."
"Uh huh. Where'd you say you were at?"
"Avenue A and 49th."
"Oh, well I afraid that's out of our jurisdiction.
That's not on university property. You'll have to
contact the City police about that." CLICK
"City police. May I help you?"
"This is David Cutberth at 49th and Avenue
A. Are you sending anyone out here to fingerprint
my car? It was stolen and recovered."
"We'll have someone right out."
Same evening. 10 p.m.
"Here comes somebody."
"Hello, boys."
"Aren't you the same officer that was out
here earlier?"
"Yes, I am. They sent me back out here. Print
boys haven't shown yet, huh?"
"No. Say, we were wondering if I could check
in the car, see if my stereo tapes were stolen.
I had about 110 bucks worth."
"Well, you'd better let me do that. Don't want
to disturb anything."
"O.K."
"Let's see, where'd you say they'd be?"
"In the glove box. Don't you think you should
take your hand off the steering wheel?"
"Oh, yeah. Uh huh, there's no tapes here, boys.
Wait a minute, there's a couple on the floor. These
yours?"
"Yeah. Do you think you should have touched
them?"
"Uh ... I think there's something coming
over on my radio. Excuse me."
"Great. What time is it?"
"I don't know. Pretty late."
"Boys, you might as well go ahead and take
your car. You said it was stolen from a University
parking lot?"
"Well I've just been notified that we can't
handle it then. That's out of our jurisdiction. You'll
have to refer it to campus police."
"But the Campus ..." .
"I'm sure they'll help you. Good night.
"Now what?" , . . , .
"I guess I'll drive it home. Thanks for bringing
me down."
Same evening. 10:45 p.m.
"Something wrong, officer?"
"Get out of the car."
"What?" J
"Don't give me any backtalk, just get out of
the car. Hands above your head, that's it. Frisk
him, Harvey."
"Right . . . nothing on him."
"I don't quite understand, officer."
"You mean you don't understand that this is
a stolen vehicle huh?"
"Yeah, I do. I mean, no. I mean, sure it
was stolen. But it's mine. I just went and got
it. I'm driving it home right now."
"That's what they all say. Step over into the
headlights, that's it. Check his ID, Harvey."
"Right . . . yeah, it matches the registration."
"Uh huh. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere.
I'U go radio in."
"Right."
Same evening 10:55 p.m.
"Let him go, Harvey."
"Does he check out?"
"Yup, HQ just notified that one stolen '67 Olds
has been recovered. Hope you don't misunderstand
son, we're just doing our duty. I mean, when
there's a stolen car report, we gotta check 'em
out, don't ya see? You can go on your way now,
O.K.?"
"Yeah."
"All right. Drive safely, 10-4."
Vebraskan editorial page
Give to football
what is football's
Once again, with a little help from our friends
the Corncobs and Tassels, the University of Ne
braska is out to prove to the world of name en
tertainment that our campus is Cowtown, USA.
Not only that, but they're painting the picture
with the brush of the true master, by trotting out
the biggest piece of mldwestern campus schlock
still going the crowning of the homecoming queen
during the Peter, raul and Mary concert Friday
night.
One can only imagine what will be in the minds
of the cosmopolitan trio. It may well, however,
echo Bob Dylan's sentiments when a small crowd
gave him weak applause almost five years ago. He
responded with the classical high sign of youthful
distaste.
Or they may just go back telling others the same
thing the Byrds probably did this fall after the
Pershing sound system was inadequate to handle
the hard rock of the Underground Sunshine.
Just no place for a real entertainer to try to
really entertain, folks.
The students will stand for it, because we're
used to the rah-rah and starved for good enter
tainment. We'll also have yet another answer to
the endless question why good entertainers seem
to avoid Lincoln like the plague.
Meanwhile, how about a few Budweiser ads to
liven up the Hallmark Hall of Fame?
Holly Rosenbcrgcr
Open forum
Dear Editor:
About a month ago while
driving in the vicinity of 16th
and 'S' streets, 1 was stopped
by the friendly fuzz. It seems
as though I didn't ' yield to a
pedestrian In a cross-walk."
Since I am not from Lincoln,
I was not even aware that I
had committed the dastardly
deed until informed by the
officer who promptly issued
me a citation.
Since It was my first traffic
ticket In five years, I win
naturally somewhat Irked.
But. what was even more
annoying Is the fact that I
have observed the police
parked in front of W.R.H.
time after time, too naive to
understand what was churn
ing in their devious minds
each time that they sprang
into the street to nersue
another offender. Now I
know and my experience has
given me something to think
about.
There Is a point to be
made from this, as many
people who cross Sixteenth
street In front of W.R.H. are
well aware: this Is a
dangerous crossing Just
ask the blind girl who was
'trapped" out there a couple
weeks ago. The uneven, but
nearly continuous flow of stu
dents across the street at
tills point causes the move
ment of traffic to become
Impeded.
Because of this, especially
rush hours, many motorists
become impatient and
"wade" through the in
tersection, breaking the law
and endangering lives.
Sometimes a student will at
tempt to "ssert"himself and
suddenly bound Into the
street catching a driver off
guuid, causing him to slam
on his brakes. Thus, the
possibility of a rear-end col
lision ns well ai Injury
arises. Since the flow of
traffic through this part of
the street Is usually heavy
anyway, the driver's vision Is
often Impeded by other
vehicles. Therefoit, a stu
dent attempting to cross the
street may not be seen until
the lust moment or seen at
all, resulting in a neur-mlss.
According to the officer
who Issued me the truffle
ticket, already there huve
been a number ot cases of
bruises und broken bones.
This Is a good Indication thut
the sltuiitlon ut this cross,
walk Is no joking mutter and
that something should be
done about It.
Since police are often right
there at their post, would It
not be more sensible for
them to leave their car ana
do some good-old-fashioned
traffic directing? Or Is a
human life worth the effort?
Or if the City of Lincoln feels
a little more Renerous.
perhaps a crossing light
could be Installed.
Many people are eager to
prevent the "senseless" Mil
ing of Americans and the
hotiendous destruction oc
curring in Vietnam. More
than 50.000 Americans
senselessly die right here at
home on our own streets and
highways in traffic accidents
every year and getting
crossing lights erected at Si
xteenth and 'S' streets would
be one step toward ending
this senseless death and
destruction right here in
America.
Bruce Blrge
and InbuA SyiMteaM
Heroes in the seaweed
by Jim Eviiiger
Among some political scientists, Hubert
Humphrey earned accolades and academicians'
hnlos for "rising above politics" and coming to
the a kl uf the embnttlrd Republican president bv
siding with Richard Nixon against the October
Moratorium.
Although the deed earned Humphrey some
sought-after publicity, it also placed him In a school
of thought that thinks the presidential office is
under a new and unprecedented danger.
There are those thut argue that new and lr
regular political forces in the United States sue
reeded In "breaking" Lyndon Johnson, and who.
charged with rising expectations after thP October
Moratorium, are set to "breuk" Richard Nixon.
Indeed, many Moratorium backers here last
month steered clear of the issue of supporting
the President, purposely avoiding the garbled
rhetoric intrinsic in such arguments. However,
many people locally who refused to participate
voiced the opinion that the Moratorium was actually
an attack on the Administration and Its Vietnam
policy. They refused to separate the stated purpose
of the demonstrations from the symbolic and de
Jure leader of the nation.
Those who view the upcoming demonstrations
as an attack on the Presidency Itself subscribe
to an argument with an obvious flaw: Lyndon
Johnson was not broken by new and irregular
political forces, nor was his vilification anything
that hadn't been done before in American history.
Subjecting an American president to savage,
even wholly unfair and unwarranted attack is "as
Amerlcmi as apple pie," one nullonul columnist
wrote last month.
In this century, Herbert Hoover. Franklin
Roosevelt and Harry Truman were subjected to
severs criticism and attacks; yet the institution
of the Presidency has survived and grown ever
more powerful among the three branches of
government in our federal system.
Johnson's high-banded style and apparent
politicking rendered him little kicking his last three
years In office, whether deserved or not. He himself
recognized that he hud little chance of being re
elected. And he largely brought it upon himself.
His further commitment of this nation to an
undeclared war brought home a political reality
Americans will fully support a war, being the
great silent majority they are, If they can bt
convinced that a war is necessary and Justified.
Nixon is now under fire for his domestic
policies, or lack of. and his efforts to end the
wur ,or lack of. if he could end the war and
curb Inflation, he would probably be re-elected.
If not, he'll be another grey, one-term President
who passed on to his successor those issues he
couldn't resolve.
The effectiveness of any man In the Presidency
can be destroyed by his failure to resolve, or .
appear to resolve, the problems of the times. Time
quickly brings the "old and regular" political forces
that work In our society to confront the men in
office who fall.
In perspective, the institution of the Presidency
will outlast Richard Nixon all men are expen
dable and replaceable In the contemporary
American political system. Perhaps this is mist
clearly symbolized by the sacrosanctity we grant
the Supreme Court.
Those who worry about an attack on the in
stitution of the Presidency had perhaps be cautious
of another front that might emerge as significant
in the American political system comprised of
truly new and irregular political forces. The focus
of those new forces, presently possessing more
potential than viability, will be to change institu
tions whose policy-makers will not be moved. What
will characterize such forces is the willingness to
resort to violence the severe distinction between
revolution and rebellion.
Vietnam speech
'tactical failure'
by Rowland Evans and Robert Novak
Washington At a private huddle with Con
gressional Republican leaders in the White House
shortly before his Monday night speech on Vietnam.
President Nixon was strongly urged to "give the
doves something" preferably announcing a
timetable of troop withdrawals.
Mr. Nixon rejected that advice because he con
sciously wanted to split off what he regards as
a small minority of anti-war activists from his
"great silent majority" of Americans. He was
striving for a polarization of opinion Isolating the
dissenters and thereby dooming the extremist-led
Nov. 15 March on Washington.
That this attempt would fail was clearly
signalled by the fact that on of his own Con
gressional leaders specifically asked the President
to lay out a withdrawal timetable.
Thus, instead of Isolating the far-out doves,
the President has unwittingly wedded to them a
great mass of Americans tired of war and
thereby energized the Nov. 15 demonstration. What
makes this ironic is Mr. Nixon's actual but
unannounced plans for accelerated troop
withdrawals.
The President's failure to achieve his purpose
is evident in the immediate public reaction of
Republican doves such as Sens. Jacob K. Javits
of New York and Charles E." Percy of Illinois.
Ihey made clear they are not about to be silent
but instead will reiterate their old positions favoring
much faster troop withdrawals.
Moreover, private criticism among Republican
pohticuns is far more critical.
"With a three-week buildup," an Eastern
Republican Senator told us. "Mr. Nixon's effort
hud only one immediate effect antagonize the
students and guarantee a quarter of a million
turnout In Washington Nov. 15."
Furthermore, the President's release of his
private exchange of letters with Ho Chi Minh did
not have the desired effect of depicting Mr. Nixon
as a peace-seeker und Ho as an intransigeant
What Ho Chi Minh said in his Aug. 23 letter
-,smH!y a "iteration of I,ano,' demand for
unilateral. U.S. withdrawal - was less interesting
than the fact the Nixon letter of July 15 had been
answered at all and answered without Hanoi's
trying to get a propaganda boost out of the ex-
iila,?t;eMDurin u11 Uie son war years, the
White House never once got a confidential note
from Ho Chi Minh.
If the central purpose of Mr. Nixon's speech
had been to Impress Hanoi with U.S. inflexibility,
the President's hard line would have had more
meaning But the seech was definitely not pro-
S . ' "S" ll. Was an l?eal 10 Americans,
not a warning to Hanoi. Its political value to Mr.
Nixon directly depends on his reading of the silent
majority,
Thus; Pwrfu pro-Nlxon reaction aweeplnf
f. 7! cm"',tr3: ould b0,n Jwy
naUrv ". " Wr",ll "e American mood and
Sffi T' t.h"t ,.he Nlxon lmlnltratlon had
f, ?,.,n. v."" out f,nal "fluted settle
inent or a final letnamizution of all combat chores.
! JIS'nT mw av lit the opposite.
Leaders of the November anti-war demonstrations
- dominated by far left sympathizers with Hanoi
th an H.f "!y ,?r(,mism more massive show
L.-n H v5 nwatorlum last month. They
will be backed by anti-war Democrat i who are
now say.ng publicly what they have Sen f?en5
privately for months - "Johnson's war" hai
become "Nixon s war "
trooJf uZTZ W?l i ,hird tMrawaI of
troops, larger than th first two is an nr!tn
mmally reduce the anger and disappointment of
the doves in reacting to Monday night's swech
VM Uceltnw'nMeSidfl!i A' a S
w?,r J ?iV? betier' ,nd Probably Sd deal
mv w? lre he Wnt on television. Conse
fa"Se rcrformanc must be rated a tactical
DAILY NEBRASKAN