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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1971)
Goodell: frustration causes alienation by BILL SMITHERMAN Staff Writer Former U.S. Senator Charles E. Goodell mixed a cood bit of Dolitics into a speech on "technological alienation" in the Nebraska Union Centennial room Monday. Activist youth are reacting to a " thermonuclear technocracy" they don't understand and don't seem to be able to influence, according to Goodell, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1968 to fill the unexpired term of Robert Kennedy. Goodell criticized the actions of students during the campus disturbances following the Cambodian incursion as ; 1 it- hpinff anti-intellectual. Students should realize that a complicated situation cannot be changeu in a short time with simplistic methods, he said. Goodell's speech keynoted the World in Revolution Conference and drew over 600. THE NEW YORK Republican said there is great danger in the cycle of trying to change the system through activist means, getting frustrated when changes aren't fast, and dropping out. But, the system is starting to respond, he said. The value of science, when its results may be harmful, also came under fire from Goodell. People are questioning the value of science, he said. For a long time, he added, scientific investigationhas been held out as a way to answer all of man's questions. "Now, people are starting to realize that science is just a higher form of superstition. "We are starting to see that science doesn't have all the answers." He said that scientists must ,begin to take moral responsibility for what they do. If a scientist can see no good for mankind from his work and possible harm, he must start to question what he is dnine Goodell continued. SOCIEY collectively does not really know what it is doing, Goodell said. "We live in a world balanced on the brink of nuclear holocaust and still pursue peace by using more and more power," he said. "We find ourselves, the most powerful and most affluent nation in the world, bringing our power to bear against a nation of 17 million, people 10,000 miles away, and unable to win," the former senator said. The war in Vietnam shows the core of the moral problem facing the United States, he said. "People here get very excited when Americans die, and rightly so, but they don't seem to mind when Vietnamese die." He accused President Nixon of "de-escalating American man-power while escalating American fire power." "IS THERE really any difference whether you kill individuals from 50,000 feet or 50 feet? "Goodell asked. "We are killing more civilians now than we were two years ago when there was more Turn to page 3 Student affairs starts investigation by GARY SEACREST Staff Writer After a lapse of ten months, the Student Affairs office is apparently beginning an investigation to identify some of the students who violated a University regulation by refusing to leave the Military and Naval Science Building during last May's anti-war protest. Student Affiars has informed 12 students, who reportedly signed a letter printed in the Daily Nebraskan stating they refused to leave the Military and Naval Science Building, that the University is investigating to determine "if disciplinary procedures should be used in the cases of any or all the students allegedly involved." Ronald D. Gierhan, assistant in Student Affairs, said he will personally ask the students to sign a copy of the letter that was printed last month in the Daily Nebraskan. Gierhan told the students, in personal letters dated March 19, that if they sign any statement which indicates they violated a University regulation, they will be subjected to disciplinary action. However, it appears that if the students 'exercise their rights not to testify against themselves and refuse to sign the statement, the University will have no evidence to take any disciplinary action. "We don't feel an article in the Daily Nebraskan is sufficient evidence todetermine if a student violated a rule," Gierhan said. Gierhan said previous disciplinary action has not been taken against students involved in the occupation of the Military and Naval Science Building because the Student Affairs office "had no reliable w a v of making positive identification of those students involved." Seven faculty members (four are untenured) also reportedly signed a similar letter stating they refused to leave the building after President Joseph Soshnik declared the occupation disruptive. C. Peter Magrath, dean of faculties, said Monday no follow-up action is planned concerning the faculty letter. Both letters protested the Board of Regents' decision not to rehire Stephen L. Rozman, assistant professor of political science, because of his actions during the occupation of the building. The letters asked the Regents why Rozman was singled out. If a student does sign a statement saying he violated a University rule then his case will be taken before the Student Tribunal, according to Gierhan. The Spelts Commission, which investigated last spring's anti-war protests on the Lincoln campuses, noted that actions of some persons during the occupation appeared to have violated Nebraska's 1969 Riot Control Law. The law provides that any one convicted of refusing to leave a public building or obstructing a public function can receive a maximum penalty of $1,000, six months in county jail or both. Gierhan said Student Affairs has not "contemplated" turning any evidence gathered in the case over to civil authorities. Although it has been estimated that over 100 persons refused to leave the building after ordered to by Soshnik, the University has taken action only against Rozman. m&mm r 5S MJU a. mmm 1MK&S TUESDAY, MARCH 23,1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL. 94 NO. 87 Unicameral votes 35-0 'R ozinan Act' advances by JIM PEDERSEN Staff Writer The Legislature Monday gave unanimous first round approval to a bill which provides for the expulsion of any student and the dismissal of any faculty member for engaging in disruptive activity. LB 445, nicknamed the Rozman Act, was advanced by 35-0 vote with virtually no debate. Only the bill's sponsor. Sen. C. W. Holmquist of Oakland, spoke on the bill saying it was necessary 10 give the governing boards of the state institutions the authority to deal with disruptive acts. The bill defines disruption as "use of force or to counsel, recommend, or urge force or the threat of force or the seizure of property in order to prevent the faculty, administrative officers or students from engaging in their duties or studies." THE BILL also provides for hearings to be held in all cases involving dismissal or expulsion before the Board of Regents or a committee designated by the Board. The Legislature adopted all of the Education Committee's recommended amendments. Those amendments were suggested by Flavel Wright representing the Board of Regents. The most significant Wright amendment, added another section to the bill which says "dismissal shall not include the failure to renew a probationary appointment of any faculty member or administrative staff member." Under this provision, an untenured professor such as Stephen L. Rozman would hearing, even if his on alleged disruptive not be accorded a dismissal was based acts. THE UNICAMERAL also gave a narrow first round approval to LB 446, a bill prohibiting corporal punishment in both private and public schools. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, was significantly amended, however, to give school authorities the right to inflict corporal punishment if the consent of the parent is obtained. The amendment was introduced by Sen. David Stahmer of Omaha who said he feared the number of suspensions and expulsions of students would increase if schools could not exercise corporal punishment at all. "Many parents would probably prefer that the schools discipline their children than expel them," Stahmer said. "We could do worse things than give the control over a child's discipline to the parent." CHAMBERS OPPOSED the amendment which he said contradicts the philosophy of education which forbids "inflicting pain and suffering on children." The amendment carried 22-14. Sen. Herb Nore of Genoa, warned the Unicameral that if the bill was passed "the state is headed for trouble," and Sen. Glenn Goodrich of Omaha labeled "this protecting of disruptive students seeking publicity" as nonsense. Sen. Terry Carpenter of Scottsbluff spoke in favor of the measure but expressed concern "not for what is in the bill, but for what is not in it. I'm afraid some students might think we have given them free rein to do anything with no penalty." The bill advanced on a 25-17-7 vote.
