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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1971
VQU 94, NO. 52
President to deliver
major speech on youth
in Coliseum Thursday
by GARY SEACREST
Nebraskan Staff Writer
President Richard M. Nixon,
taking advantage of an op
portunity to honor the national
champion Corriiusker football
team, will visit the University
Thursday and deliver a major
speech about the challenges
and responsibilities of Ameri
can youth.
White House aides have told
The Nebraskan that Nixon, who
has been under fire because of
his partisan campaign tactics
before the November elections,
hopes to project a less partisan
image during 1971.
His speech in the Coliseum
Thursday will reflect that
desire, the aides said, as well
as set the tone of the ad
ministration's attitudes toward
youth.
It is expected that Nixon's
speech will touch on youth
participation in the political
system and the 18-year-old
vote. The U.S. Supreme Court
recently declared that a
Congressional law lowering the
voting age to 18 applies only to
federal elections.
Nixon has been an infrequent
visitor to college campuses. His
appearance in Lincoln Thurs
day will made his second major
address at a college campus
since becoming President. He
gave a major address at
Kansas State University last
September on violence and
terror in America.
Nixon's speech Thursday will
also be his first big speech of
1971, coming before his State of
the Union speech to Congress
later this month.
Thursday's convocation will
be carried live statewide by the
Nebraska Educational
Television Network through
KUON-TV, channel 12. There
are no plans at this time to
televise Nixon's appearance
live nationwide. The program
will be carried live nationally
on NBC Radio and on the
University radio station
KRNU.
Gasses will not be dismissed
for the session and students with
conflicting classes, who want to
attend, should make arrange
ments with their instructors, ac
cording to Soshnik.
The University convocation
will start at 2 p.m. in the
Coliseum. The President is
scheduled to arrive at the
Coliseum about 2:30, at which
time he will honor the
Cornhuskers as the nation's
number one college football
team and give his speech.
An avid sports fan, Nixon has
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Caesar comes to Coliseum
In October, the Richard Nixon campaign train visited Omaha. With the up
coming November elections in mind, Nixon packed the Ak Sar Ben Coli
seum with fans, foes and Nebraska politicians. Now Nixon troupe will be
swinging through the Capital City both to honor the National Champion
football team and to speak about the role of America's youth in soc'sty. A
packed house, again with friends' foes and Nebraska politicians is expected.
Year of the President
1970 was touted as the year of the quarter
back by s'portscasters and millions of fans followed
the game with religious fervor including the
nation's most prominent armchair quarterback,
President Richard Nixon. With the bloodletting of
the football season and political campaign finally
over, the new year is seen as the year of the Pres
ident, a year for reconciliation and a year that
has been set above politicking and partisanship.
In 1969, 22 football players on television were
able to capture the President's attention while
500,000 Moratorium marchers outside the White
House grounds found him inaccessable. At the end
of the '69 season, President Nixon honored Texas'
national championship team. Following this pre
cedent, he has chosen to honor the Cornhuskers
as the top football team in the nation.
More than a pat on the hack
But Nixon intends to do far more in his ap
pearance here Thursday than merely praise the
football team. Big Red's finish as Number One
and the fact that Nebraska is a convenient stop
over on the way back to Washington from San
Clemente have led the President to choose this
campus for what has been billed as a "major"
address.
President Nixon will deal with the respon
sibilities and challanges of youth in today's so
ciety and his choice of a college campus affords
an audience tailored to the topic.
Nixon's first major speech on a college cam
pus came last September at Kansas State Univer
sity when, sporting the school's colors in his pur
ple and white tie, he praised K-State's football
team and denounced bombing and violence in our
society. In an editorial entitled "Pap from the
President," The Nebraskan expressed disappoint
ment that the chief executive had chosen such an
easy way out (everyone deplores the bombers) and
had wasted his opportunity to "speak with" col
lege students.
Don't waste your opportunity here, Mr. Pres
ident. Speak with us, not at us let ours be a
dialogue instead of an unproductive monologue.
Speak to the important issues of our time and give
us insights that will test our thought and prompt
our action, not the pap so many will easily accept
and digest.
Productive protest
There will undoubtedly be demonstrations of
protest here as there were at Kansas State. But
the 20 or so demonstrators in Manhattan who
"shouted at the President during his speech played
into Nixon's hands and provided illustrations for
his subject. -Such an irresponsible display here
would embarrass the University, discredit all pro
testors in the eyes of the state and the nation, and
pull even tighter the strings on the Legislature's
purse.
The most responsible and productive form
that protest can take is that of silence. Those who
want to express their opposition to the admini
stration's policies at home or abroad should wear
a black armband (available in the north lobby of
the Nebraska Union) and sit silently through the
entire ceremony. , .
The point of protest is lost in the animosity
that heckling creates, but the entire nation would
note the silence of a few thousand.
We fervently hope, Mr. Nixon, that you en
gage us in a dialogue for otherwise, silence will
be our answer.
Revival
Due to circumstances beyond our control, THE NE
BRASKAN has resumed publication. President Richard M.
Nixon's visit to the University Thursday has prompted the pub
lication of this edition and one Friday. -