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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1975)
doiu thursday, may 1, 1975 lincoln, nebraska vol. 98 no. 121 Veterans: Viets no worse off after surrender By Martha Bohling and Randy Wright South Vietnam has surrendered, but the South Vietnamese are no worse off for it, according to five UNL student veterans. The five discussed their attitudes on U.S. involvement in the war in interviews Monday. Bruce Drake, 25, a junior in industrial education, said he's certain the country will fall but said he believes it's too late for the United States to attempt any further involvement. "At least under Communist rule they'll be happy," Drake said. "They couldn't function under a democracy. They've been under a kingship too long." Wasted efforts "It's ridiculous to waste our efforts when it's their country and they're not good enough to defend it," said junior Ken Chambers, 25. "If we let them alone, -they'll get along fine, no matter who they're under," he said. President Thieu's resignation brought mixed reactions from the veterans. Gary Bose, a 25-year-old sophomore, said the resignation was a loss for the South Vietnamese. "He was the only source of inspiration the people had," he said. "As long as they had some kind of leader, they were okay." Should have resigned Thieu "should have resigned a long time ago," said Brendan Moore. Paul Vavra, who served for a year in Vietnam beginning in 1968, added, "Most people outside Saigon didn't even know who the president was." Perhaps the most frustrating part of the fighting, according to Chambers, was the "red tape" the men had to go through to shoot at the enemy. He recalled one time when a guard at his base, on duty at the perimeter, reported suspicious noises outside the barbed wire to his commanding officer, who reported them to Chambers. When Chambers went to the lieutenant to ask for instructions, he was told it was "probably just rats." The next thing they knew, he said, the base had been overrun by North Vietnamese. Drake said he seen men killed because of similar circumstances. Four deaths He remembered a U.S. troop that was pinned down 500 feet north of the demilitarized zone. They needed permission to fire north of the line, and in the 10 minutes it took to get that permission, four men died. All five veterans agreed that U.S. reinvolvement in the war would be senseless. "If they'd continued fighting in '72 it would have been okay," Drake said, "but now we'd have to reconquer North and South Vietnam. Bose said he would not favor further aid to South vans unsure of Senate candidacy By Chuck Beck Money is a problem for one UNL associate professor of economics. Bert Evans, a Democrat who has mentioned running for the Senate in 1976, said he would run for the national office if he had financial support. Evans qualified his announcement of candidacy, however, by adding that he would not run if Wallace Peterson, chairman of the economics department, chose to run again. Peterson ran for Congress in 1972, but lost the primary election. "There is no reason for two economics professors to run against each other in the primary," Evans said. "We would take votes away from each other and this could hurt the Democratic ticket as a whole. 'Can't decide' Peterson said he cannot decide whether he will run for the Senate until Gov. J. James Exon announces whether or not he will -file. He added that his decision to run also would be based on the amount of campaign financing he can get. Democratic Party officials have not announced who will challenge Republican incumbent Sen. Roman Hruska. Evans said of Nebraska's senatorial delegation: "They've done a very good job in responding to individual needs." The Nebraska senators respond immediately to constituents who have questions or problems with the federal bureaucracy, Evans said. The senators, however, have not made legislation that benefits "farm folks," he said. Hruska and Sen. Carl Curtis have ignored the declining income that many Nebraska farmers have faced the last two years, Evans, the part-owner of a Bloomfield farm, said. Farms ignored Evans said farm issues generally have been ignored at the national level for years. He mentioned that President Gerald Ford's farm price supports for dairy products would benefit farmers and not significantly affect consumer prices. "Consumer prices (of dairy products) will only rise if handlers and shippers also raise the rates they charge for services," Evans said. "They always seem to raise their rates when farmers get increases. What we need is more federal regulation of middlemen," he suggested. ' Evans was critical of the federal government, which has done little to reduce unemployment, he said. Jobs could be found for unemployed persons in public works project to rebuild cities and towns, to build homes for persons earning small incomes and to develop mass transit systems, Evans said. Defunct systems m "The public transportation systems are almost defunct now," he said. "If municipal and metropolitan transportation systems were enlarged people could eet jobs.' the federal government should eliminate loopholes in the income tax structures, Evans said. Income tax reform, however, must be carefully done, he added. "We must all equally pay for the cost of our government, not according to our professions," he said. Continued on p. 7 ,4 ? Vietnam, adding that the time he served was "a complete waste and an inconvenience on my part." Vavra and Chambers, who were often fighting with the South Vietnamese, said they were not surprised that the country fell without U.S. aid. Viets lazy' Chambers said the South Vietnamese troops would often shoot rounds of ammunition just to make it look like they were doing something. "It's not the equipment that makes the army," Vavra said, and added that the South Vietnamese troops often appeared lazy and disinterested in the war. "In their opinion we're letting them down," Chambers said, "but we busted our ass helping them." The character of the South Vietnamese was evident when the evacuation planes sent to carry women and children away from Saigon came back full of men, Vavra said. Chambers said the children have the most to lose by the war, and recalled three- and four-year-olds who took on American habits, flashing the . peace sign and scrounging for cigarets. He said many GIs believed the condition under which the children grew up was the United States' fault. . Bose said he had seen no inhumane treatment or massacres of civilians, but Drake said he had. MT was the talker for a spotter for naval gunfire," he said, "and several times we were set to fire and were halted due to civilians in the area." t : . - - 1 due to civilians in ine area. w ; insomnia? Bert Evans, UNL associate professor of economics. Two of late night TVs most famous personalities are featured on page 3 of today's Daily Nebraskan in exclusive interviews with reporters Lori Demo and Rex Seline. Majority recGivs first class choices Of 9,273 pre-registered students, over 55 per cent received their first requests for all classes and sections, according to Ted Pfeifer, director of registration and records. "Some students did not receive all the classes and sections they requested but, overall, 82 per cent received the first-choice courses they requested, though some had sections changed," he said. Incomplete schedules or alterations were usually caused when students did not list alternative courses or time conflicts arose. Section changes were made when a section requested was filled by prior requests, according to Pfeifer. Only 13 per cent did not receive all the courses requested and will be given a chance to complete their program during free drop and add May 5 to 9. The registration office has received "surprisingly few" calls concerning registration forms which were sent to students April 28, Pfeifer commented. Column question "The most frequent question has been about the "comment" column printed on schedules," Pfeifer said, "the column was just for such things as a passfail indication but was printed on ail schedules." Last semester confusion concerning call numbers and course listings on schedule print-outs arose. "If a section was full, the computer would change the section but instead of changing the call number to correspond, the programmer would print the original call , number," Pfeifer explained, "students would see that their original request call number was correct but the time on the section was different and would think the computer had made a mistake." No similar problems "We've had no similar problems this semester," he said. Free drop and add for pre-registered students will be next week, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, said Pfeifer. Monday and Tuesday are reserved for students with incomplete programs (fewer courses than requested) he said. Free Drop Add also will be available for pre-registered students June 2 to July ?3 Mondav through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. The terminals will also be open June 14 and 28 in the afternoon, Pfeifer said. Ferguson Hall DropAdd will be processed by remote computer terminals in Room 20 Ferguson Hall. Information packets will be mailed to pre-registered students August 1 and will include final schedules, ID cards, certification of registration, religious preference cards, and "last-minute" information on parking, ombudsman, football tickets and housing, said Pfeifer. Students are requested to return the final schedule as confirmation of their intention to attend in the fall, Pfeifer explained. On the forms is space for indication of campus address, also, he said. Students who will have a summer mailing address different from their permanent address are requested to notify the registration and records office so they will receive their final class schedule mailing, Pfeifer said. "Arrangements can also be made if the student will not be at any mailing address, for instance if he will be travelling." 5 f t I Mi 1. 1, ..I . iiKir.nii.rr -r w.wjn.iwmi.--