E!j Parly: Better check out Lancaster
County's new mass gathering laws
before you plan your next woodsic p.6
Debw B-Ubs: A drop in employment
classification and the change from a
monthly salary to an hourly wage
spurred a UNL employe to consult
an attorney P-3
n
n
Wednesday, spril 21, 1976 vol. 3 no. 1 14 Hnccln, ncbrsska
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By Dennis Onsen
Husker swimming coach John Reta apparently will
remain at Nebraska, despite a letter from his team to UNL
Athletic Director Bob Devaney citing 15 criticisms of
Reta and how he conducts UNL's swim program.
AH but one member of the team supported the letter,
according to team spokesman Scott Ruser.
. Tuesday, Devaney said he would not fire Reta, and
Reta said he would not resign.
"I'm looking at this in a positive manner," Reta said in
a written statement Tuesday. "After talking to some team
members this morning, I think we can formulate some
group gods and continue with our swimming program.'
Team members first met with Devaney April 12 to
discuss their grievances. Devaney then arranged a team
meeting with Reta for Monday. However, Ruser said, the
coach refused to meet with the team if the senior spokes-men-Ruser,
Don Wagner and Dave Watermeier-were pre
sent. Ruser and his teammates agreed the three should be
present, so no meeting wss held.
Devaney said the seniors were "unsuccessful, dissatis
fied swimmers" and agreed they should be excluded from
any team meeting.
Underclassmen favored fttrihutloa
"They have nothing to do with the future, Devaney
said of the seniors. "We're not going to let a lot of people
who are dissatisfied come in here and tell me to fire a
coach.
Ruser said the spokesmen were seniors because under
classmen feared possible retribution, such as loss of
scholarship, if they spoke out. However, he stressed that
the seniors reflected the attitude of the entire team.
In the letter, the team cited what they called
"inadequacies' of Reta as a coach and recruiter.
Ruser said that in the 10 years Reta has been coach, his
teams nave never finished higher than fifth in the Big 8
Conference meet. They have finished seventh, out of
seven teams, the last five years.
Criticism of Reta in the letter include his recruiting
failures, his training methods, his personality, setting
double standards, breaking scholarship promises and in-
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MGrchG'Jii : Presidency controls
By Ren Recess
Victor Marchetti, a former member of the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), said he left the agency in
late 1969 because of its operations.
"I felt I could no longer believe in the agency and
its programs and policies, Marchetti told UNL stu
dents Tuesday evening (huing an informal session.
Marchetti, sponsored by Union Program Council's
Talks and Topics Committee, said the CIA was used
by UwS. presidents to spy on the public.
"There h no doubt that we need an intelligence
system, but do not need clandestine agencies," he
ssM.
.
i
StST f IiXtti, a fiLir 12 JX cT twS
Ccstrd lcfeas Acsay (CIA)
He said the CIA may have been responsible for
actions leading to the murder of President John F.
Kennedy and the assasinations of foreign leaders.
CIAd3S33d
"The CIA has done and does do a lot of good
things, including research and analysis of events
throughout the world, Marchetti said in an afternoon
address to around 200 students in the Nebraska
Union.
He said penetration of student labor groups, in
order to marupulate them, is not good.
"The CIA is not out of control as some people
claim, Marchetti said. "It is under control; under the
control of the presidency.
Senators in Washington are watched and in
constant fear of being bugged by the agency, he
added, and this causes a break-down of the checks
and balances Congress has on the presidency.
"In a democracy like ours, no agency should have
that kind of power, Marchetti stated. "No president
should have that kind of authority.
. Getting a the tesde- ; "
Marchetti said he wss a student in France when
the Korean War started and joined the armed forces
intelligence division in Germany.
While in college in the United States after his terra
of service, he said, he was interested in joining an
intdllstnce agency. A professor made contact with a
"rdedy covered" CIA zgsnt and he begsa work for
"Ultimately, I cane to the conclusion that it wss
fir mere important to do soniethirg good at hessa,
tsd I withdrew from the sncy, Mirthetti stii
"When I xi&si any, I had no intention of tid
ing the whistle ca the agency, he said.
Marchetti and loha Marks co-authored the bock,
Tfg CM csz til? ofmtiLKtct, which was severely
ability to mentally prepare his team for meets.
Ruser said only five Nebraska high school state
champions have come to UNL in the past five years. Of
those five, one quit after one month, one quit after two
years and another now is scholastically ineligible, Ruser
said.
"My high school coach said don't go to Nebraska if
you're interested in improving your swimming, Ruser
said.
Swim like gEds
Once here, many good swimmers do not improve their
times, he said. Four team members who were high school
AQ-Americans or honorable mention AH-Arnericans, have
not raced faster than they did in high school, Ruser
continued.
Another complaint was that Reta never varies his train
ing program from day to day, he said, which frequently
nukes training boring.
Another point made in the letter was that Reta
allegedly ridicules swimmers at practice.
"He said things such as yu guys swim like a bunch of
- girls, Ruser said. "I really think it's his sense of humor,
but nobody thought it was funny; it was a pretty tense
atmosphere.
He also said it was hard to trust Reta because he asked
swimmers to spy on teammates, such as finding if they
were out late the night before a meet
According to Ruser, there are a few instances where
Reta rencec- scholarship promises.
r He said one swimmer on partial scholarship this year
has been told he will not receive money next year, despite
promises to the contrary.
Didn't psyche swimmers
"He (Reta) had told him if he worked hard and his
times remained competitive, he wouldn't cut his scholar
ship, Ruser said. That swimmer had the fastest time in
his Eig 8 swim event entering the Bis 8 meet.
Ruser added that at the college level the winner usually,
depends on who is prepared better mentally.
'The better programs go beyond getting them physi
cally ready, Ruser said. "You need a lot of mental
encouragement, and he'd (Reta) never talk to you and try
to get you psyeneu up for a race.
"I truly believe Mr. Reta doesn't believe there's a real
problem; he's naive to the whole situation, he said.
"When you criticize him, he becomes very self-defensive."
Reta declined to respond to any of the charges.
Both he and Devaney said the swimmers could be
blamed for some of the team's lack of success.
"The success of the individual in a sport is dependent
on a lot of variables," Reta said, "hut the effort the
individual spends is the most important thing.
. More t&aa coach 7
Devaney added, "It's got to be more than the coach.
The coach doesn't win or lose swimming meets. They (the
v swimmers) didn't want to place any blame on themselves
for not winning.''
Devaney said that Reta has coped with the poor
Coliseum pool and said that Reta should be given a chance
to prove himself next year at the new pool in the sports
center at the State Fairgrounds.
Devaney also said he was not worried if several team
members quit.
"If they all left, we still couldn't finish any worse than
last, he said. "I'd ask for people to come out of the uni
versity and try out for the swim team.
Reta said he does not expect many team members to
quit and warned against expecting a lot of improvement
next year, even with the new pool.
Of two underclass team members interviewed, one said
he would quit if Reta returned. The other said he
probably would return and that he thought most of those
on scholarship probably would, too.
Ford campaign iroi
brings Jack fo UNI
Jack Ford, 24, President Gerald Ford's second son, will
speak Friday at 1:30 pan. in the Nebraska Union Cen
tennial Room.
Ford will talk about his life in the White House and his
father's presidential candidacy, sail Ted McConneS,
coordinator of Ford's visit. The visit is sponsored by the
UNL Young Republicans (YR) and the UNL Resident
Ford Committee,
A formal speech is not planned because Ford wants to
U2; to students informally, sail McGonneH, a sophomore
busSsess and prelaw m?;or from Lincoln.
Fcrd was graduated from Utah State University in
1974 tzd currently is youth marketing director for World
Msrk Travsl Inc. Hs devtbps programs and guidebooks
for student travel, McConstH sdd.
. Ford's UNL vit is ia response to ta invitstba from
MsCcEstH trd junior business and prehw isot HtzX
Easa of York, who is presdsnt of UNL YRS.
