THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1970
PAGE 4
Examining dissent
"There is . . . enough conformity and
regulation in American life to make some
general disrespect for authority worth having.
When one considers the limitless orthodoxies
of the corporations for whom most students
will eventually work, it does not seem a bad
idea for them to have some training in heter
odoxy early in life."
An American Melodrama The Presidential
Campaign of 19G8
The role of student dissidence in Amer
ican society has come under intense exam
ination in the last six months. Legislatures
have enacted laws concerning "campus un
rest," Vice President Agnew has labeled stu
dents "effete snobs" and historians and na
tional magazines in recording the 1960's have
deplored, criticized and praised the outburst
of student dissent and activity.
But more significant than the examina
tion is the accurate prediction by sociologists,
authors and even politicians that student dis
sent will not subside with the coming of a
new decade but instead will increase in
strength and magnitude.
Even Richard Nixon, in one of his amaz
ing and perceptive moments of foresight,
prophesied continuing unrest "among our
young people long after the end of the Viet
nam War." This raises an interesting point.
Whereas the Nixon Administration, the silent
majority and the "establishment" both fear
and wish to suppress dissent on the campus,
they fully recognize student dissidence as a
powerful political and social force in society.
How, then, can students best capitalize
on their new and hard-won political identity
and power? The answer is to combine ideal
ism, ideology and inspiration with toughness,
practicality and pragmatism. The idealism
which led to the free speech movement at
Berkley and the civil rights movement must
be combined with the toughness of the Co
lumbia University civil disobedience or the
practicality of the thousands of students who
worked for McCarthy and Kennedy.
Students must realize that violence is not
necessarily the most rewarding means of con
frontation. Although it succeded at Columbia
and most student demands were met, it failed
at San Francisco State and the result is S, I.
Hayakawa. On the. whole, intellectual con- '
frontation in the form of conferences and
mass demonstrations is probably more effec
tive in working change in a university and
possibly with national issues than is violence.
Students must now bring their dissenting
idea to bear on those in power in our society
more than ever because more than ever they
are listening to student opinion. Students
should work for the election of officials who
embody their ideas or are receptive to those
ideas. They should work not just for presi
, dential candidates but for senatorial, congres
sional, gubernatorial and university regents
candidates. They should never be so ideolog
ically blind as to overlook an opportunity to
use the "system" to their advantage.
The phenomenon of student dissent
seems to be born out of the overriding eco
nomic security which characterizes this col
lege generation. In addition to the confidence
created by economic security, students form
dissenting opinions out of a certain amount of
intellectual confidence, a confidence born of
a generation which has received more educa
tional attention than any past generation.
It remains for students to utilize their
right of dissent and budding political power
to correct past mistakes in our society and
help set the course for the future of the nation
we will inherit.
Jim Pedersen
0 WO, Klfl( Vtalurra Hvndir.1. Inc. World HtVl rn.rv.it
La Cause Celebre
WASHINGTON In his recent State of the Union message,. President Nixon reminded
Americans that : "The greatest privilege an individual cun have i3 to serve in a cause
bigger than himself."
Political pageantry presented
by FRANK MANKIEWICZ
and TOM BRADEN
Washington When British
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
arrived at the White House last
week, it was apparent a few
changes had been made. No
longer did the plain civilian
leader of the great democratic
republic casually greet his
visitor at the front door, while
the Secret Service stood
unobtrusively about.
Instead, a display of
pageantry was put on which
would have done credit to any
performance of Gilbert and
Sullivan. Army trumpeters in
scarlet and cream tunics, with
the name "Heraldsmen," hung
richly brocaded banners from
their posthorns as they played
the "Grenadiers' March"; the
White House police emerged in
the uniforms that made every
Prince Rudolph the sure-fire
laugh of vaudeville, and a fife-and-drum
corps in swallowtail
coats and powdered wigs,
direct It would seem from
offering Gen. Cornwallis
surrender at Yorktown, stood
in the background.
Staff meeting
One can imagine the staff
meeting that led up to the
change. Present; in addition to
Mr. Nixon, is Vice President
Agnew; national security
adviser Henry Kissinger; USIA
head Frank Shakespeare, and
White House aides H. Robert
Haldeman and John Ehrlich
mnn, the Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern of the Ad
ministration; President Nixon: This Silent
Majority business Is O.K. as
far as it goes, but we need
a touch of class around here.
When I visited those heads of
state In Europe, they had
bands with better uniforms
than you see at most half-time
ceremonies. Almost as good as
.Michigan State's. In the Rose
Bowl in 1954. . .
Camelot crowd won't criticize
Shakespeare: Why don't we
give the Army band brass
section some of those funny
long horns and hnng baron'al
banners from them? That
Camelot crowd wouldn't dare
criticize you then, Chief.
Vice President Agnew: That
would give the networks great
color film possibilities. If they
don't see it that way, I could
point it out to them. I'd like
to see them raise their
eyebrows at that.
Kissinger: In my youth, Mr.
President, the comings and
goings of Emperor Franz Josef
were always very colorful
affairs. I don't suppose the
White House motor pool could
find a goldcarriage...
Uses of pageantry
Haldeman: I've been reading
a lot of history lately. As you
know, Chief, your welfare
reform plan owes a lot to Otto
Von Bismarck. Now there was
a fellow who understood the
uses of pageantry. We could
get the police to wear those
sloping hats. Bismarck got the
idea from the Crown Prince
of Bavaria.
Vice President Agnew:
Everywhere I went Seoul,
Bangkok, Manila, R.iigon the
guards at the palace were all
wearing those drab American
uniforms. You're right, Chief,
we need something a little
more colorful.
Ehrlichman: The whole thing
could be billed as an economy
measure. Get the uniforms out
of the warehouses of all the
civic light opera companies
it will save storage bills and
we can get credit for helping
the arts. That way, it will even
play in Peoria.
Historians getting nostalgic
Kissinger: I'm not sure
Bismarck Is the appropriate
model. Something more on the
order of Kaiser Wilhelm might
do the job. Historians are
getting very nostalgic these
days for the pre-World War I
period. And we can always
give the surplus uniforms to
Central America they have
an excess of colonels.
Shakespeare: Then we put
the whole ceremony on the
satellite. People around the
world can watch everybody
loves a spectacle. We'll get
some Silent Majority types to
stand by the fence and applaud
it'll be the biggest show
since the coronation. . .
Ehrlichman: Coronation?
Now there's an Idea for the
inauguration in 1972. assuming,
of course, we lick this inflation
thing. Instead of having the
chief justice swear you in, you
sit in this big chair and we
get some churchman if the
Archbishop of Canterbury
won't do It, we can get Billy
Graham to stand behind you
with this crown. Henry, can
you find out what kind of a
crown Franz Josef had?
(Exeunt omnes, with
fkiurishcs, and so on.)
DAILY NEIWASKAN
Second class pestaoe raid at Lincoln, Neb.
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