Where do we go now?
Many of this University's problems have their roots
in the mild turbulence of last May's strike and events
of this semester. Some of these events have flowered but
the fruit that grew from them has been sour. Others
produced nothing of beauty only a result that was
ugly and distasteful from the beginning.
Next semester could prove a critical period in shaping
the future of this University as many of these problems
come to maturity. The events that stand out are the Davis
affair, the Rozman case, the furor over the Proseminar
in Homophile Studies, the introduction of one bill in the
Legislature to modify tenure and another to take away
the student fee funding of the Nebraskan.
The Michael Davis case involved intervention on the
part of the Regents to block Davis' appointment as an
instructor in philosophy. Of the four reasons that the Board
gave for their decision, two were later shown to be incorrect
in their allegations and the Regents admitted that they
were not sure of the validity of another when they made
their decision. That left only one reason Davis had
conducted a one-man sit-in and fast in the Michigan
Administration Building and had stated that he would not
leave (nor would he resist) if he were asked to by an
administrator.
Beyond the question of penalizing a man for peacefully
expressing his opinion there is another possible consequence
of the Regents' decision. Dr. Brandt, chairman of the
Philosophy Dept. at Michigan, is considering a campaign
against this University which would include buying ad
vertisements in major newspapers and writing letters to
all the important philosophy departments in the country.
Many people feel that this would destroy the department
here that it would result in resignations within the
department and from the University. It is their analysis
that such an effort by Brandt would make it nearly impossi
ble to recruit quality teachers in philosophy and the depart
ment would degenerate to tenured and mediocre members.
It is possible however that Brandt might not go through
with his plans and that the Regents will be given an
opportunity to make up for their decision.
The Rozman matter, if conchided poorly, would affect
the entire University instead of just one department. It
is far more difficult to 'raise support for someone who
is not hired (as with Davis) than it is to raise support"
for a faculty member who is not rehired, even if they
committed the same or comparable acts.
Should the Regents decide not to rehire Rozman and
if this decision does not seem to be supported by the
evidence of the special fact finding committee, there would
be a crisis of confidence that would affect all of the
University community. These fears are not allayed by the
fact the Board intended not to rehire Rozman till one
day before their last meeting.
If handled callously, either of these matters could
seriously damage this institution.
State senator Terry Carpenter's legislative forays into
University matters of tenure, the course in homophile studies
and the financing of the Nebraskan appear to be somewhat
motivated by a desire for revenge. Motives aside, his efforts
to become involved in the internal workings of the University
are undesirable and set a dangerous example.
The Legislature set up the University's governing body
when it created the Board of Regents and it turned over
the responsibility for governing the institution to the Board
while it kept its own hands on the pursestrings. The Board
of Regents, elected by the public, is responsive to its
electorate and to state legislators. Actions of the sort
that Carpenter is trying to legislate are matters that should
be decided by the Board responsible for governing the
University, not by state senators with an ax to grind.
The events of this semester bear watching after school
reconvenes some of them are very important matters
that could significantly change the direction of the University-
PAGE 4
Discrimination report
Dear Editor,
The report which I recently
prepared for the Board of
Regents about racial
discrimination at the Universi
ty of Nebraska, Lincoln, and
which was recently the subject
of a story in your newspaper,
has aroused some comment and
concern. I would like to make
three points.
First, the report was a con
fidential one. All reasonable
precautions were taken, but
somehow the Omaha World
Herald obtained a copy. I do
not know how a copy was ob
tained by the newspaper; I did
not release any copies.
Second, the report records a
number of complaints by
minority-group students about
various unnamed people, and
offices. I do not endorse any of
these complaints. It is ex
tremely unfair and premature
for anyone to leap to con
clusions on the basis of these
complaints. The fact that such
complaints were made to me is
strong evidence to support my
recommendation that some
mechanism or channel should
be set up for the proper and
fair hearing and disposition of
all such complaints.
The only actual charge I
personally make is that six
'Greek' houses discriminate
racially. After studying the
matter I reached that con
clusion, but please note that
I also say in the report that
provision should be made for
the houses concerned to tell
their side of the story.
Third, the issue of racial
prejudice and racial
discrimination is a complex
issue, and an emotional one for
many people. I tried to be
reasonable and fair throughout
my report. I hope that
throughout the discussion
reason will prevail.
John W. Robinson
Associate Dean
Seven days in anytime
Senators owed an apology
by ARTHUR HOPPE
Thursday A Pentagon
spokesman today confirmed
reports that "a small, tactical
nuclear device" had been
dropped on Red China Tues
day. He said it may have infliicted
"some casualties" on a
"little village in remote
Sinkiang Province." He said
"one or more" American
planes were involved.
There was no protest from
Peking. Peking Radio has been
silent for the past 48 hours.
Friday Secretary of
Defense Laird told the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
that Chinese casualties "might
be somewhat higher than at
first anticipated."
He denied, however, that it
was an American bombing at
tack. It was, he said, "an ad
vance retaliatory protective
mission" aimed at "saving
THE NEBRASKAN
American
Asia."
lives in Southeast
The mission was necessary,
he said, to prevent Chinese
anti-aircraft batteries from
firing on unarmed American
reconnaissance planes at
tempting to assess the
damage.
Saturday President Nixon
was to have told four
Republican women from
Dubuque at a private White
House garden reception that
they need "no longer worry"
about Red China. "It has ceas
ed to exist," they quoted him
as sayiing.
The Pentagon would say only
that it was "revising its
casualty estimates." One
source, however, said, "It
won't go any higher than 500
million at most."
Sunday Appearing on Face
the Press, Senator Fulbright
accused Secretary Laird of
having lied to the Foreign
Relations Committee. Instead
of "one small device," he said,
"we rained more than a
thousand megatons of nuclear
bombs on every corner of
China."
Secretary Laird immediately
called a press conference to
deny he had lied. "Senator
Fulbright," he said, "did'nt
ask the right questions."
At the same time, Laird said
radioactive fallout from the
mission ,:poses no danger at
this time, except to localized
areas of the Western
P;r;
Monday Evacuation of
American troops and officials
from Vietnam and other
Asian areas began this morn
ing. The Pentagon described
the move as "precautionary"
in view of "a small radioactive
cloud in the area."
Tuesday The White House
said The Cloud was now
centered over Guam but
"should dissipate within a very
few hours." A spokesman said
U.S. regrets for any inconve
nience The Cloud may have
caused had been cabled to
American allies in the Far
received.
East. No replies have yet been
i Wednesday In a televised
address tonight, President
Nixon said there was "no cause
for alarm." At the same time,
he paid tribute to "our brave
fellow Americans" in the
Western United States.
VThey were part of our
cherished national heritage,"
he said, "and both Pat and I
shall deeply miss them."
Thursday The President,
broadcasting from Air Force
One at 50,000 feet, said "the
short-lived crisis" was
definitely over. The Cloud, he
said, was now moving out over
he Atlantic.
"I know I shall be criticized
for having done what was right,
as I have been in the past," he
said. "But never before have
we been given a greater op
portunity to build a better and
stronger America.
"Each of us, in my opinion,
has been given a fresh start.
And that goes, rightly or
wrongly, for every living
American down there below me
tonight."
Unfortunately, there weren't
any.
by Frank Mankiewicz
and Tom Braden
. i
t '
WASHINGTON There is
far more than meets the eye in
the recent request by
Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker
and Gen. Creighton Abrams
both in Saigon to stop all use
of chemical defoliants in Viet
nam now employed in what has
been politely called "denying
crops to the enemy."
First of an, the Senate was
deceived. -Last summer, Sens.
Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.) and
Charles Goodell (R-N.Y.) co
sponsored a measure which
would have cut off funds for the
widespread spraying in Viet
nam of toxic chemicals used to
kill the rice crops in areas
suspected of being Viet Cong
strongholds.
The senators were
motivated, in part, by the
realization that this was
forbidden by the Geneva
Convention as abhorrent to
civilized people, even when
making war. They were also
mindful that much of the
spraying was done in areas not
entirely .dominated by the
enemy, and perhaps most of all
by the fact that the Pentagon
had authorized for use in Viet
nam a chemical forbidden in
the United States, because it
had produced deformities in the
offspring of laboratory
animals.
For their amendments,
Goodell and Nelson were able
to master only 22 votes. They
were met by a stone wall of
resistance, led by Sen. John
Stennis (D-Miss.), chairman of
the Armed Services Com
mittee, and Sen. Robert Dole
(R-Kan.), a freshman anxious
to be the loudest Nixon sup
porter on the Senate floor an
ambition be has since realiz
ed. Stennis and Dole, particular
ly the latter, took the position
that the men in Vietnam need
ed this weapon and that the
Senate ought not to "tie their
hands" in using whatever
weapon was available and
desired by Gen. Abrams.
Now it turns out that the
users of defoliants and
herbicides in crop destruction
the Saigon military com
manders don't want the
stuff. If the Senate had known
that it was only the suppliers
not the users who wanted the
policy to continue, the result
might have been different.
Second, there is now suffi
ceint evidence that the effort
has been not only ineffective
but countereffective. In the
Central Highlands where the
attack on the rice crop has
been concentrated, some
500,000 acres have been
sprayed.
The average annual yield
here is .4 tons per acre, and a
large Vietnamese male con
sumes .2 tons per year (slightly
more than 1 pound per day; the
rice is heavy and mainly husk).
This means that 1 million heads
of family have been starved of
rice. The population of the area
is approximately 1 million,
largely Moncagnards. It is not
hard to see why the enemy can
recruit more soldiers than we
can kill.
No one in this sad story has
behaved very well, except for
the handful of senators who
opposed it from the start, and
no one in this war it is one of
its tragedies ever says "I'm
sorry."
THE NEBRASKAN
Letters
Snow blow
Dear Editor,
Congrats to the snow removal
team. Classes should never
have been scheduled for today
(Jan. 6). There are some peo
ple who feel that parking is one
of the University's biggest foul
ups. I have always believed
parking here is one of the
school's better qualities.
Obviously if we came to get an
"education" we would be
disappointed. So, really we just
just come to take advantage of
the wonderful services such as
parking.
When parking areas are not
available school should not be
called. There is barely enough
"education" found here to call
classes in good weather condi
tions. After all, the world can
wait a few days for the new
crop of mechanics to make up
lost time toward their voca
tional training here at
Nebraska Tech at Lincoln.
Floyd S. Tesmer
Do unto others
Dear Editor,
I must object to an
organization such as LINGAG
(Lincoln Gay Action Group)
being allowed to form on cam
pus or anywhere else for
that matter because I
believe the behavior which it
supports to be immoral.
Morality, these days, appears
to be becoming more and more
relatively determined, but I
will stay with the absolute
standards of Christianity as
prescribed in The Bible. In this
instance, I believe at leas! the
following two passages apply:
"Do you not know that the
unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God: Do net be
deceived; neither the immoral,
not idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor thieves . .
. will inherit the kingdom of
God." (I Corinthians 6:9 RSV);
and, "For this reason God gave
them up to dishonorable
passions. Their women ex
changed natural relations for
unnatural, and the men
likewise gave up natural rela
tions with women and were
consumed with passion for one
another, men committing
shameless, acts with men &r
receiving in their own persons
the due penalty for their er
ror." (Romans 1:26-27 RSV)
Of course, all of this can
be forgiven by God through
faith in Christ's atoning
manifestly clear that The Bible
and thus the God of Chris
tianity condemns homosexual
behavior. We can, of course,
reject Christian morality, but I
dare say that if we do, we can
with as much justification re
ject any or all bases of morali
ty... We should also distinguish
between understanding a pro
blem and encouraging it.
Rodney W. Schulling
a graduate student
THE NEBRASKAN
Telephones: Editor: 472-2588, Business: 472-2590, News: 472-2589. Second class
postage paid at Lincoln, Neb.
Subscription rates are is per semester or $8.50 per year. Published Monday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the school year except during vaca
tions and exam periods. Member of the Intercollegiate Press, National Educa
tional Advertising Service.
The Nebraskan is a student publication, independent of the University of Neb
raska's administration, faculty and student government.
Address: The Nebraskan
34 Nebraska Union
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
Editorial Staff
Editor: Kelley Baker; Managing Editor: Connie Winkler; News Editor: Bill
Smitherman; Sports Editors: Jim Johnston and Roger Rife; Nebraskan Staff
Writers: Gary Seacrest, John Dvorak, Mick Moriarty, Marsha Bangert, Dave
Brink, Steve Strasser, Par McTee, Carol Goetschlus, Monte Gerlach, Charles
Harpster; Photographers: Howard Rosenberg, Mike Hayman; Entertainment
Editor: Fred Eisnhart; Literary Editor: Alan Boye; News Assistant: Andrea
Thompson; Copy Editors: Laura Partsch, Jim Gray, Warren Obr, Blythe
Erickson; Night News Editor: Tom Lansworth; Night News Assistant: Leo
Schleicher.
THE HUSKERS ARE NO. 1
AND SO ARE
THE STUDENT ASSISTANTS
Applications ore now being accepted for Student Assistant
positrons in both Men's and Women's University Residence
Halls for the 1971-72 academic year.
Qualifications:
1) juniors Seniors Graduate Students
during 1971-1972
2) 2.5 minimum 6. P. A.
3) mature
Responsibilities:
1) live with students in a resident hall
2) work with individual students
3) advise student groups
4) assist In the administration of the living unit
5) help develop student government experiences
Rewards:
1) room and board
2) a lot cf groovy experience
INTERESTED?
Applications available at the Office of University Housing,
103 Administration Building or from any Residence Director.
Deadline: February 1, 1971
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1971
FRIDAYJANUARY 8, 1971
PAGE 5
