thursday, december 1 1, 1975
page 4
daily nebraskan
wmKmmmmmilmm
long hard climb
Bells should ring, ThQ seljjng of TM.t00 high
not cash registers
It used to be that shopping district Christmas
decorations went up right after Thanksgiving. This
year, we noticed, the ersatz trees, plastic Santas
and celluloid bells made their appearance as early
as the second week of November.
Parade magazine advertises a "Patty Prayer"
doll-just pull her string and she says "Now I lay
me down to sleep. ..."
At least one Lincoln department store is selling
Jesus Jeans.
And one enterprising group of Southern
entrepreneurs are getting ready to make a bundle
off the soon-to-be-completed "Bible World," a sort
of religious Disneyland.
Exploiting the spiritual for material gain is by
no means an exclusively American or a strictly
modern syndrome. Medieval European peddlers
did a booming business in saints' toe-bones and
fingernail clippings, and enough splinters have been
sold of the "true" Cross to comprise a national
forest.
But the modern American spirit of capitalism,
equalled in no other place or time on earth, has
taken the process to such extremes that we are
moved, not for the first time, to protest.
This season is an especially appropriate one in
which to cry out against this country's prostitution
of religion, for the exploitation of Christmas is
becoming more blatant and tasteless each year.
Whether we like it or not, whether we believe
in Jesus or not, Christmas celebrates the birth of
a religious leader and the holiday symbolizes, for
many non-Christians as well, observance of the
good humans can do-whether they do it or not.
Christmas should be a time of peace, not chaos;
a time of pine, not plastic. If we must have trees,
let them be the real thing. If we must have bells,
let them be of metal, not paper. They, not cash
registers, should be ringing.
Let us stop trying to buy and sell peace and
good cheer. They cannot be purchased, nor do
plastic Santas help them to happen.
Rebecca Brite
By Marsha Jark , . . .
Transcendental Meditation (TM), which now has more
than 575,000 active practitioners, may be the fastest
growing form of conscious relaxation in the United States.
It's not surprising that TM has caught on so well. After
all, it is well-organized (with 370 centers across the nation)
and enough people practicing it and like it enough to
communicate its benefits word-of-mouth.
Two books concerning TM on the best seller lists are
The TM Book by Denniston and McWilliams and TM:
Discovering Inner Energy and Overcoming Stress by
Bloomfield, Cain and Jaffe. They explain everything about
TM except how to do it.
Initiates are cautioned not to reveal their mantras (the
Sanskrit words practitioners meditate with), chosen from
17 possibilities to fit their personalities. Apparently a free
mantra will not work as well as one which costs $125
(the fee for adults-college students pay $65).
TM people make a number of both physiological and
psychological claims; some have been tested. The meditator
The Daily Nebraskan. welcomes letters to the
editor and guest opinions.. Choices of material
Eublished will be based on timeliness and originality,
etters must be accompanied by the writer s name,
but may be published under a pen name if requested.
Guest opinions should be typed, triple-spaced, on.
nonerasable paper. They should be accompanied by
the author's name, class standing and major, or
occupation. Alt material submitted to these pages is
subject to editing and condensation, and cannot be
returned to the writer.
may expect to experience relaxation that is quicker and
better than sleep. Stress should diminish since two 20
minute periods a day are reserved for meditation.
Although TM people claim that you will get along better
with coworkers if you meditate, you may not experience
a personality change. You may stay as nasty, surly and
sarcastic as you usually are-but you should be more
relaxed.
What is disputed, sometimes vociferously, is TM's
exclusive right to grant such benefits and its claims of
psychological well-being.
Adam Smith, in his book Powers of Mind, reports that
Herbert Benson, an early investigator of TM's claims, found
that some secular and religious techniques work as well as
TM. These techniques create what he calls "the Relaxation
Response."
Benson says four elements are necessary to initiate the
response: a mental device-a repeated sound, work or
phrase; a passive attitude the harder one tries the less
successful he will be-decreased muscle tonus, sit com
fortably, and a quiet environment.
Benson suggests that a prospective meditator relax from
his feet up and think "one" to himself after every breath.
Smith conducted an informal poll to find people's
reactions to Benson's method versus TM. He found people
would rather pay for their mantras than receive them free
as long as doctors like Benson would vouch for the benefits.
Some people are not convinced that worth and price are
unrelated and are unaffected by the kind of reasoning offer
ed by Edith Ann (comedienne Lily Tomlin) on lipstick:
"Lipstick. You know what you can do? You can take 1
red jelly bean and you can wet it just a teeny, tiny bit and
you can make lipstick. . .and it don't cost a dollar. . .and
you can eat it besides."
mi doiut rum
suoe id m tuo
OF WE 1EM,
1 7 1
1 v v t a -t
I'M AT M EM Of Mf
ME. THE PRESSURE IS
TOO 6EhTi ONE MOKE
setback m fM 601US
DOES THAT MEM ITS V0T
A GOOD TIME TO TELL YOU
i mt erne m
CAUUlAM
sfcB I GUESS ,
Ift If he5)
Dear editor,
This letter is in regard to the fund to raise money to
send the band to the Fiesta Bowl.
I have been a student here for about a year and a half. In
this time I have followed both the football team and band
with great interest.
I do not think many students are aware of the hard work
the band goes to, to be perhaps as good in their particular
field as the football team is in theirs. 1 have walked past the
stadium many cuiu inOiiuiigi ru ths triu practices regard
less of the weather. I also know the band has been practic
ing since the middle of August.
The fact that the band raises morale and spirit not only
at the games, but also in the community and state, is un
contested. They are one group the whole state can be
proud of.
I hope everyone will send in anything they can
contribute to help the band, after they have done so much
for us.
Band Booster
Nebraska Union class struggle
Dear editor,
There is much to be learned from Carl Oglesby's inspir
ing analysis (Daily Nebraskan Nov. 21) of the developing
power struggle between the two capitalist elites: that of the
idustrial Northeast, grounded as it is in the old money of
the robber barons era at the turn of the century
(significantly West Virginia, stocked with the coal that is
basic to the northeast, sided with the North in the Civil
War), and the new money of the South and West, manifest
ed in oil interests, Las Vegas gambling and head shops
spawned in California (significantly, a lot of our dope
comes through Mexico into Texas).
We can see similar alignments in the powerful rock
industry, where the Western-based rock producers are now
shamelessly promoting the musicians of the South, going so
far as to arrange the marriage of Greg Aliman and Cher
Bono.
There is a struggle within the struggle in the CIA, a long
time tool for the terrorist operations of the capitalist class,
now turning its guns against both sides of itself.
On the one hand, the conspiratorial usurpers of the
South and West have turned against the leading figures of
the old northeast-both the Kennedy brothers and Doors
leader Jim Morrison.
On the other hand, opposing Northeastern interests
within the organization have tried to undermine this threat
to the oppressive status quo, by engineering the assassina
tion attempts against Wallace, Ford (Manson is after all
Californian), Castro and other Caribbean leaders who,
though not American, are undeniably Southern.
Perhaps it is indicative of the shift of power that all
these attempts have failed.
The Southern new establishment also represents the
interests of continued racism, a device the capitalist elite
exploits to divert the working class from the class struggle
... ... w ... -..,, . wifaauai ,trh VullipilvdV til
the mysterious deaths of "uppity blacks" like Martin
Luther King and Jimi Hendrix.
It is no accident that the Watergate burglary was carried
out under the administration of Californian Nixon-making
use of Cuban emigrants! Nor is it coincidental that Ford feels
most threatened by Reagan in the primaries of Florida and
New Hampshire.
" But are we, safely lodged in the breast of the Midlands,
truly sheltered from this struggle by virtue of our neutrality
and general lack of monied men on either side? No.
In fact, our historical alignment with the manufacturing
Interests, despite our supposed connections with the largely
mythical and legendary Old West, can be clearly shown.
Note that Amtrack runs through Lbcoln only in an
East-West direction, not allowing direct linking to the
South. Note our ncnslave alignment during the Civil War
In the meantime, the vicious struggle takes its toll among
the workers. This is most obvious in the oil crisis, a clever
gambit of the Southern capitalist pigs.
The struggle is also the primary cause of the current
depression; while the big capitalists of both sides hide safely
behind high profit margins, the small producer falls victim
to capitalist concentration (so ably predicted by Marx) and
the working class, hardest hit by the dual spiral of inflation
and unemployment, starves.
We have an analogous process going on in the Nebraska
Union, in which the Union masses find themselves pitted
against the Union bureaucrats, petty tools of the capitalist
class. They have stolen tables from the Union lounge and
now threaten the TV set.
They have steadfastly refused to legitimize, let alone
support, the playing of spoons. We, the vanguard of the
Union oppressed, recognize that the only true course is that
of active resistance. ,
I UIOI1I VttU US leilUllMS, 101 IIM3IM pivikMM "v
exist. Our knives will stick deep in the capitalist pigs
hearts; we will draw blood, and slice bacon. And we will
emerge triumphant, though somewhat dirty. "La Lutt,
Continue!"
Spoons League of America (SLA)
Gobbledygook outpourings
Dear editor,
As a "down-trodden" member of the working class it
will be necessary for me to insist on hazard duty pay if j
have to attempt to type another letter like the one above!
My mind is now reeling with the gobbledygook outpourings
of the minds of ??????
Your devoted editorial asslsM
Editor's note: Don't you worry your pretty "red" head,
kkldo.
The repercussions of this are being felt today most "'fld tflQ SCQDOS
recently in trie great 5upr Bowl controversy. Bear Bryant
staunch representative of the interests of the South has
kept us out of the big bowl games in a personal vendetta
against our continuing affirmation of the capitalist status
The victims of all this are clearly the proletariat Under
the control of either elite the workers' inSts would
be squashed under the heel of totalitarian reoreTS
Witness the coalition of both elites against the New Left
and their dual guilt in embroiling us in the struMes of tha
capitalists against the finally victorious people of V etaam
Dear editor, v
I see the UNL football coaches are to receive 1 healthy
raise over the 5 per cent plus $468 due each NU employe.
This is fine, but I wonder If the behind-the-scenes people
also get merit raises.
I am speaking of the office workers, student managers,
trainers, equipment room workers, grounds crew and per
haps many more who do not come to mind right now.
There are the people that do great job and make
our great coaches look great. , . '
Wondering
