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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1971)
Vet recalls Vietnam experience by Duane Leibhart Robert Kerrey, a 1965 UN L graduate, lost a foot in Vietnam but returned from the war with a Congressional Medal of Honor. Kerrey was awarded the medal for bravery during a search mission in the China Sea as a Navy Seal, an underwater demolition expert. UNMARRIED, the Vietnam veteran now lives in Omaha. Kerrey is working with the Nebraska Easter Seal Society, helping in a drive for funds to help construct a new resident camp for handicapped children and adults. He said a friend who is chairman of the Society had trouble with the drive. "He took me to the temporary camp that the handicapped are using and showed me the barbaric conditions there, and I agreed to help them raise money," he said. KERREY SAID for the price the U.S. has paid in Vietnam, we've had "a very poor return on the investment." Kerrey said of his part in the war, "I feel like I had gone to a car dealer, bought a car, took it home and found it didn't work." He said a lot of the anger veterans have had over the war is realizing that they have been "screwed," and there is a lot of doubt in their minds as to what they were there for. He said many war protestors think of our front line troops as war criminals. "Contrary to that, the people I met in my Seal team had more human compassion than any other group of people I have ever met", he said. "They appreciated the value of human life." THE VIETNAM policies of Presidents Johnson and Nixon have left a lot to be desired, he said. He said Johnson chose a mass technology move against North Vietnam but all evidence says it's necessary to fight that enemy at their own game with small unit guerilla warfare. He feels Johnson and Nixon have been deceptive in many areas. Kerrey said he thinks there are a lot of excellent candidates for president so far. .He said he favors Sen. George McGovern because he has been honest about Vietnam and the economy, and has been non-partisan in his criticism of Presidential candidates. KERREY SAID he was not in Washington D.C. this spring for the Vietnam veterans' anti-war rally. He said he has no desire to throw his medals away, because that wouldn't accomplish anything. "I would polarize opinions of people whom I might be able to convince to call for an end to the war." Kerrey says UNL students have changed since he was enrolled. "They have more hair and wear sloppier clothes", he said. But students are more honest now and more interested in making contact with the outside world, he added. Students now seem to have a, "finely developed moral conscience" and tend to seek out injustices in our society, he said. '-' I ' 4 ikLii J da yl u II J THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL. 95, NO. 15 Grants encourage teaching innovation Army ROTC enrollment drops Enrollment in Army ROTC is continuing on a downward swing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln but the Air Force and Navy ROTC programs seem to be enjoying an upswing in enrollment. Army ROTC suffered an enrollment drop from 242 to 208 last year. And only 146 cadets were enrolled as of September 1 this year. Major Richard C. Skaggs, asst. professor of military science, attributed the steady decline of ROTC enrollment to two factors. He cited the ROTC Revitalization Act of 1964 which eliminated compulsory ROTC enrollment for the first two college years. IN ADDITION he said, the unpopularity of the Vietnam War has had some bearing on the number of cadets. The decrease is not alarming, however, he said. The UNL program is only required to graduate 25 officers per year to maintain the program. About 75 commissioned officers will be graduated this year. Only about one-third of the 1970 graduates were called to active duty and that percentage shrunk to 20-25 per cent for the 1971 class, according to Skaggs. He said he foresees that the number of officers being called to active duty will continue to decrease as the war winds down. Maj. Gerard Nutting, asst. professor of aerospace studies, cited freshman enrollment figures as those more representative of the trend. He said freshman Air Force ROTC enrollment climbed from 54 in 1970 to 62 for the current year. NUTTING SAID it appears that the enrollment slide has bottomed out with the increased first year cadets and that the whole program will see the increase after a lag of one or two years. Small grants to encourage innovation and experimenta tion in teaching programs at all levels will be available to students as well as faculty for the first time this year. The small Grant Program is handled through the University Teaching Council (UTC), according to Robin West, UTC student member. In the past the money has assisted faculty members in developing new approaches to teaching, like the replanning of Biology 1 for discovery learning, analysis of student participation in the grading process and sponsorship of a seminar on innovative methods of teaching literature, she said. UTC secretary Charles Adams estimated that S15.000 is available for the program this year. Grants usually range from S50 to S3,000 according to Robin. The application for funds, which should briefly explain the purpose of the project, the amount of funding requested and how it will improve instruction at the University, are due Nov. 8 to Dean Bruning, Teaching Council, 106 Love Library. Fourteen copies of the application are requested. Varner adds to pub committee President D. B. Varner has appointed two additional members, to a - special committee asked to draft appropriate guidelines for University of Nebraska publications. Those named to serve are: Ann Pedersen, UNL, and Richard D. Brown, UNO. Both are members of their campus's respective Publication Boards. The committee was created in response to a resolution passed by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents which said that University publications should "be required to meet journalistic responsibility and the code of ethics of the working press of Nebraska." ASUN unanimously approves ombudsman by Carol Strasser ASUN will seek funds from the Administration or the University Foundation to establish an ombudsman office at the University. At its meeting Wednesday. ASUN unanimously approved the ombudsman proposal from the Student Legal Rights Committee, and rejected an alternate proposal for a student advocate. According to the Legal Rights report, the ombudsman will receive and investigate complaints from faculty, staff and students and use persuasion to resolve the grievances. The report recommends that a committee of student and non-student representatives establish criteria for selection. Although the report doesn't specify, it strongly recommends "that the ombudsman be chosen from the student or faculty population." The ombudsman would be appointed for two years. The report also suggests that an assistant student ombudsman be employed part-time under the work-study program. The ombudsman office would be located on campus but separate from the Nebraska Union or Administration buildings. Although ASUN will work on original funding of the office, the report states that "the funding of this position should be included in the University budget." The report recommends a salary equivalent to that of an associate professor, about $15,000. John Humlicek. Legal Rights Committee member, told the Senate that he has talked with interim chancellor C. Peter Magrath about the proposal and quoted the chancellor as saying. "If there's enough interest in the ombudsman concept, I'll find the money for it." The Senate rejected a proposal written by Ed Anson for a student advocate. Anson defended his proposal to the Senate claiming that a student would be as effective in the ombudsman position as faculty member. He said he has met with faculty and administrators on the question, and "it seemed to be the consensus that faculty don't need an ombudsman." Anson pointed out that the faculty have the Faculty Senate and Faculty Liaison Committee to handle complaints. Also present at Wednesday's meeting was Fred Otio from the Committee for Undisrupted Education (CUE). CUE plans to set up an ombudsman committee of volunteers to handle complaints. Otto said. Otto told Senators that CUE will attempt to publish complaints and responses in campus publications similar to the Omaha World-Herald's Action Line In other action. ASUN passed a resolution asking the Council on Student Life to investigate "alternate structures" for the Student Health Center, "with an eye lo establishing a University community health service with a governing board composed of Health Center's constituencies." After half an hour of debate and two roll call votes, the Senate failed to pass a resolution criticizing Abel Hall for allowing the sign "Aggies :tre Faggies" in its windows last weekend. Although the majority of senators present favored the resolution, there were enough abstentions to kill the proposal for lack of a voting quorum. The resolution stated, "this body deplores the blatant contempt for gay people as exhibited on the east and west fronts of the top floor of Abel Hall. ..and requests education to avoid such action in the future." Those in favor of the resolution said ASUN should take a stand in support of gay liberation and condemn that type of name-calling aimed at any minority group. Most of those abstaining said they felt the resolution wouldn't do any good from a practical standpoint since Abel's staff was handling the matter. The Senate also voted to hold its Oct. 1 3 and Dec. I meetings on East Campus. Because of the Time Out conference, ASUN will not meet Oct. 6. There are three vacant senate seats, one each from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration and Home Economics. Anyone interested should contact the ASUN office in the Nebraska Union. Y k. n i' '. J Y X -" ? r