Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1973)
, , t . tf V Sneakin' around Thursday night at its formal session the Board of Regents was to discuss a UNL administration proposal which, if approved, would allow dormitory residents to schedule as many as 12 hours of coed visitation on Saturdays. The limit is now six hours. This editorial will not be spent urging the regents to accept the proposal. The board and most students must be aware of where the Daily Nebraskan stands on this issue. For more than five years we have asked, pleaded and demanded that UNL dormitory residents be granted the right to determine rules for their individual living units. This case is no exception. But even if the proposal is accepted by the board, UNL students should not rejoice in acceptance. For the methodry used to push the proposal before the board reeks of the attitude of some of Nixon't thugs when they testified before the Senate Watergate committee. Several of them said they thought the illegal activities in which the Committee to Re-elect the President allegedly was involved were justified because they believed the end more important than the means. So it was with the new coed visitation proposal. UNL administrators kept the news of it from the public in the hope that litle public furor would increase its chances of passing. These same persons support increased student self-government and are correct in doing so. But they must realize it is better for a favored proposal to be openly discussed and then defeated on its merits than to sneak about trying to assure its passage. The government of the University, like the government of the nation, must not become involved in cloak and dagger tactics. Government must be run so that the citizens (in this case, the students) can discuss the issues involved. Secrecy thwarts free speech, discussion and the development of stronger proposals better fitting the needs of those affected by it. UNL students and the state expect better from college administrators. Michael (O.J.) Nelson c rrrrrr fiS f TRUTHFULL4 5PIRO... if J Kxr isH 1 D0NT THlNK im PStf Lr ryl "tf! 1 is coins to go over, 'W$Bfyy.. II Dangerous to ur iTSithy 1 J'ymm Concerned citizens request ban on Twinkies The National Committee of Self-Concerned Citizens held a gala rally to thank the government for nropo&ing a ban on cigarets. "This will mark another giant stride toward our common goal of having our kindly and benevolent government protect us from ourselves" Executive Director Homer I . Pettibone said. "Following as it does on the heels of laws requiring motorcycle helmets and seat belts," he told the cheering throng, "we now can look forward to the glorious day when every man no longer will fear his own most dangerous enemy - namely himself." But the exuberant mood of the rally was broken by Henrietta Heiffer, who rose to demand a government ban on Hostess Twinkies. "You smokers who love smoking are quite right to thank the government from saving you from smoking," she said. "But what of us decent citizens who love Hostess Twinkies?" "I eat 23 Hostess Twinkies a day and now weigh 214 lbs." Heiffer said. "Unless the government bans Hostess Twinkies, statistics prove I will pass to my reward 10 years ahead of schedule cither by having a heart attack or becoming irretrievably stuck in a sedan chair." "Why don't you just give up Hostess Twinkies?" shouted an irascible old man in the back row. "Why don't you just give up smoking?" Heiffer snapped back. Pounding his gavel, Pcttibone managed to restore peace. "Let us remember our motto," he said. "Man is weak, government is strong; thus the government can take better care of us than we can." A motion to lobby for a government ban on Hostess Twinkies then was carried with only one dissenting vote. It came from the irascible old man, , Qfthur hoppe lftfiOfll who apparently though he was attending a meeting of the National Rifle Assoc. "When Hostess Twinkies are outlawed," he warned ominously, "only outlaws will have Hostess Twinkies." The measure opened a floodgate. Resolutions quickly were adopted to seek government bans on such potentially dangerous items and activities as potatoes O'Brien, sunbathing, step ladders, jogging, bathtubs, windows in high-rise buildings, skiing, matches, platform shoes, horses, knitting needles and, as a blow against veneral disease, sex and toilet seats. It was a young man named Rancid who brought up the critical financial question. "The government already forces us to save up to pay our taxes through compulsory withholding," he said. "And it forces us to save for our old age through compulsory Scoial Security. It knows we're too stupid to do this for ourselves." "But what about protecting us when it comes to saving to pay the rent, the light, the gas? Whoever makes ends meet? The government must protect us from our stupidity by taking over our household, budgets and preventing us from foolishly squandering our money on such fripperies as mod ties, Hungarian doorknockers and ground chuck." The motion passed with a unanimous roar. The meeting adjourned hastily, however, when old Mrs. Ziggenfuss pounded her cane and demanded: "What about banning alcohol? Now there would be a noble experiment." "I'll," Petti bone said, leading the mass exodus, "drink to that." Copyright Chronicli; Publicum) Co. 1')3. J V. . , page 4 daily nebraskan friday, august 31, 1973