if!
Dear editor,
lam enclosing a copy of a letter I have just sent to
my attorney, Pat Healey, in the hope that you will
publish it in the Daily Nebraskan
Please excuse my delay in responding to the
unfavorable decision to our court case and,
specifically, to your letter. I have been gathering my
thoughts and awaiting a free and proper moment.
My reluctance to even think of pursuing the case
to a higher judicial level is based on two factors: 1)1
could not win m the Nixon-Burger Supreme Court: 2)
I feel that a sense of defeatism has pervaded the
University of Nebraska community to the point that
those who had so strongly identified with my struggle
against the Board of Regents have since divorced
themselves from this effort. Indeed, this second
factor outweighs the f irstin my mind.
Even though the wording of the case has been
"Rozman vs. Board of Regents" I have never thought
of this struggle as a personal one related solely to my
own individual interests. Moreover, had I not been
convinced from the outset of the case that important
sectors of the University community likewise
regarded this confrontation as a people's struggle, I
would have refrained from engaging your services as
an attorney and would have withdrawn quietly from,
that community without challenging those who used
me as a target for their act of repression.
If this had been a struggle of a single individual
rather than a significantly mobilized community,
factors of my personal benefit and gain would have
blotted out the important issues involved. It goes
without saying that I would have lacked the material
resources to have fought this battle had I not received
such tremendous support from so many students and
faculty, plus organizations which included American
Association of University Professors and the
American Federations of Teachers.
From the outset, I recognized the potential of this
case in promoting community consciousness of the
nature of the system, for hadn't the system revealed
its true Mr. Hyde character in its very act of
repression? I have never relished my having been the
target of the repression, but, still, I do recognize the
positive value of repression.
Clearly, it serves to shatter the illusions we so
automatically tend to nurture, entranced by the
opiate of optimistic liberalism, I have reluctantly
concluded that our optimism about the system in
which we live must be made to decline much further
before our remaining harmful illusions will disappear
so that we can fully see reality. Only then will we be
able to come to grips with injustice and work for
positive change.
How clearly I remember the reassuring statements
of students and faculty alike, the echoing choruses of
how certain victory was in this case; that the
repression was so blatant and so crass that the courts
would undoubtedly rule against the Board of
Regents. Frankly, I am thankful that my
consciousness level had advanced beyond the stage of
liberal optimism prior to the onset of this
confrontation with the forces that rule the University
of Nebraska. Only because of this was I mentally
prepared for the defeat to come. My concern now is
the lesson learned by my optimistic liberal
supporters. To me, the liberal is a greater source of
anguish than the conservative, since the former is
pained by social injustice.
Yet, the liberal is no threat to the power structure.
Indeed, he is 6ne of the pillars propping it up. Oh, if
we could do something about his trusting nature, his
belief in the basic reasonable character of all those
surrounding him. Has the lesson of the Rozman case
been learned by these liberals? Or can they be shaken
from their positive outlook only by further shocks,
perhaps of a greater intensity (and which are sure to
come)?
For me, the most positive facet of the Rozman
case was always its educational value, not the weak
promise of a victory in the system's courts, nor, much
less, a personal gain for me. My prime concern was
that the minds of each member of the community be
opened to the reality of the system, to its true nature.
What was to be aained from the position of those
whose consciousness reached only to the degree
where they could say, "Gee, Rozman got screwed,"
or "Those regents and their lackeys on the
administration are really s.o.b.'s." A defining of the
problem on the basis of personalities was a
misconception of reality. Of overriding importance
was the understanding of s system which impelled the
regents to act as they did, and impelled the
administration to give it knee-jerk response.
As for our relationship, Pat, I found it to be a
positive one. Few attorneys in Nebraska would have
committed themselves to this case more for a concern
over the issues involved than for financial incentive. I
remain confident that a sizeable sector of the
University community regards you as a friend for
your energetic defense of its interests. I am certain
that this loss will not deter you from devoting your
energies to future victims of repression. Indeed, if I
know you, it will have the effect of strengthening
your commitment. ' .
I must admit that I had some incipient reluctance
at the time we decided to take the case beyond the
federal district court to the appellate court. I could
see that the district court defeat had seriously
demoralized the liberal community at the University.
Would these liberals repeat their normal policy of
abandoning a commitment when the going gets rough
and things look bleak? I felt that many of them
would, if only to protect the stability of their overall
positive outlook (hence, the defeatism as a protective
mechanism). Yet, after speaking with you I felt
certain that we had adequate finances to pursue the
case through the appellate court, so I decided to
continue the court action (and keeping the issue alive
had the potential of promoting further
consciousness). -
Now, I am troubled that the costs greatly esceeded
your estimates, so ? that nearly $300 of your
out-of-the-pocket expenses still remain unapid, in
spite of the fact that we came up with additional
revenues beyond our estimates.
I call upon the members of the University
community to extend their commitment to this case
at least to the point where Pat Healey is paid this
final debt.
Steve Rozman
Asearins allegory
by noted director feterNXkkins
CrCmerPrMleseO of the suppression
of personal freedom by private
citizens acting in the name of justice.
' 1 '
4- AJ
Br
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riiiiiitiftiiffi---3'ii.lti'Sfii'''ti'
n
Wednesday, December 6
3, 7, & 9 p.m.
SHELDON ART GALLERY
$1.00 Admission
Union Special Films Committee
UVJVSOIJ UVlOO
oo
The RECORD and ART Lending
Libraries are closing for the
semester.
Please return all records and paintings
to room 237, Nebraska Union,
at the following times:
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Fridays: 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
If materials are not returned, next
semester's registration will be withheld.
mm voa,
Nebr. Union Record c?
Art Lending Committee
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fW 13 1972
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Wednesday, december 6, 1972
daily nebraskar.
page 5