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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1972)
editorial Dime in peg hoppe H fl Teen angels Early every spring, this campus is blessed with living proof that every student's high school alma mater is alive and well. This reassurance comes in the form of letter jackets, saddle shoes, colored crepe paper streamers and thousands of teeny boppers pretending to attend the state basketball tournament. Lincoln motels fill up with sleeping bags, beer and sleepless nights in the form of the high school crowd, away from home to join the college crowd for a weekend "Wow lets find the first person we can who is old enough to buy us some beer': is the ay so often heard. - ' . . Well thank goodness it lasts no longer than three or four days. After the kids (who actually did go to a lot of games) dry their tears, or see their smiles and laughter ease into victorious comfort they can reflect upon their pleasant stay on campus. Although dampened by crowded parking facilities, surging mobs of other bubble-gummers and big college kids, we can only wish that they had a good time in Lincoln, and gained a favorable impression of UNL to take home with them. Growing pains The editor of the Grand Island Independent, Al Schmahl took what he felt to be a tenuous position in the eyes of his readers this week on the issue of coed visitation at UNL. He supported the visitation concept. In closing his editorial, Schmahl hastened to make his point by saying, "If we haven't taught (our children) not to misbehave before we cut the apron strings and send them away to school, I'm afraid we as parents are a little bit late." Editor Schmahl can be disagreed with however. In his hypothesis that all apron strings are cut before the student goes away to school, is erroneous. The regrettable truth lies in the fact that most parents delay severing those strings until the student is well into his college years. That is the biggest problem students now face. Until parents realize that adolescence is not a state of suspended animation, a large number of students in this state are liable to be subjected to "growing up" for a long time. Barry Pilger Qfthllf Editor' note: Arthur Hoppe occasionally veert from hit satirical approach to write a totally serious column. This is such a column. Six months ago I had 800 million enemies where now I have 800 million friends. And I am angry. The anger grew all week as picture followed picture from far-away China: a beaming Nixon shaking hands with a beaming Mao Tse-tung; a smiling Nixon toasting a graciously bowing Cho En-lai -the papers, the news magazines and my television set seemed crowded with laughing Nixons, chuckling Maos and wryly grinning Chou En-lais. How warm and witty they all were. And the Chinese people! How friendly and kind and thoughtful and dedicated and happy with their lot. That's fine. I am glad to have 800 million new friends. I am grateful to Nixon for having the courage to give them to me - and me to them. And I am delighted that Mao and Chou went along with the deal. ' How easy it all was. Yet for 20 years I have been taught to hate and fear the Chinese people and their leaders. The people were automatons drudging away in a backward ant-like society led by power-mad dictators who dreamed of sweeping across Asia with their hordes and bringing America to her knees. For 20 years my leaders have been teaching me that. They have led me into wars in Korea and Vietnam to preserve democracy and contain these bloody-handed Red tyrants. For the same 20 years, Mao and Chou were teaching their 800 million people to hate and fear me. 1 was a running dog of imperialism, bent on destroying their revolution and ruling them again through corrupt capitalist warlords like Chiang Kai-shek. So they marched off into battle to kill me and mine. And how easy all that was, too. But now, overnight, our leaders have deckled that I and a quarter of the human race will be friends again - primarily because it suits their purposes. I'm not positive what their purposes are. I would guess that Mao and Chou want my friendship to worry Taiwan and Japan and to make the Russians think twice before attacking China from the west. 1 would guess that Nixon is giving them my friendship in hopes of playing off Peking against Moscow, thus maintaining the split in the Communist bloc. For these are the games leaders play. Containment, encirclement, blocs, splits -the fascinating game of geopolitics. And, being leaders, they play to win. I believe they play for themselves to win - not for me. - For if I die on some unpronounceable battlefield, I have lost forever. But they have only lost another of their millions of pawns. For them, the game goes on. Yet this is not so much what angers me. 1 understand the fascination of the game. If I were a leader, I would probably play it, too. What angers me is how easy it was. How easily they manipulated me into hating and fearing when that served their purpose. How easily they now maneuver me into liking and admiring when that serves their purpose. How easily - almost contemptuously - they turn my emotions on and off like hot and cold water faucets. So I am angry with myself. Okay, this time I'll play. This time I'll give and accept goodwill and friendship. But when they again ask for my hatred and fear, Cod give me the spirit to reject their games. How very hard that will be. (Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1972) AGE 4 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1972
