mondsy, d-xcsrJjsr 6, 1D73
ds3!y ncbrssksn
. ' ' . ' opinion
Whatreferenceto Mormons?
Gary Gilmore was supposed to be killed to
day. But the latest scene in the Gilmore drama is
another stay of execution. The U.S. Supreme
Court, which gave states the go-ahead last July to
execute, wants to make sure Gilmore gets a fair
finish.
. If there is one good which possibly could come
from the show-biz atmosphere surrounding Gil
more, it is that people will be jarred sufficiently
to take notice of what they are condoning.
(Americans approve the death penalty, two to
one.) But his redeeming value has not been suc
cessful in -surfacing.
Last Monday on this page Nicholas Von Hoff- ,
man chided the American people for capitalizing
on a man's crime-packed life and impending
death. Von Hoffman broadly hinted that this
death would be an anticlimax to the melodrama
tic scenes leading up to it. The way to remedy
that, he advised, is to have the execution at the
Mormon Tabernacle.
A properly indignant and influential (his word)
gentleman called to let us know tij. he was of- -fended
by the derogatory reference to Mormons
in that column. What derogatory reference to
Mormons? Von Hoffman wasn't talking about
Mormans. He was talking about the absurdity of
the death penalty.
Von Hoffman s remarks can be compared to
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers sussestion earlier
this year that we hold Nebraska's state-sanctioned
executions in UNUs Memorial Stadium.
By suggesting that what is done usually in rela
tive privacy involving only a few state employes
be made public and involve those most directly
responsible for allowing it to take place, Cham
bers intended to show the barbarify of the death
sentence. Likewise Von Hoffman.
Von Hoffman was. not speaking of Mormons no
more than Chambers was talking about football.
Both men selected a place of high reverence
which is also a frequent gathering place for per
sons from the state because it served the point
they were to make.
As long as men are more readily outraged by
non-existent (or real) jabs at their religions than
at state killings, nothing will be ilone about the
fact that we live in a country which takes so few
steps toward helping criminals that death looks
good to them. ;
As long as men are more concerned about self
righteously defending their religions rather than
practicing tftem, state-approved murders designed
to avenge another murder will be allowed.
If enough people would give serious thought
to what the death penalty means, it would not
be so hard for them to understand why, when '
"the states take care of their biggest problems by
killing them, their citizens do the same.
One, q passport to life's gocdiss,
By Nicholas Von Hoffman
The advice to young people warning them off college
continues to issue forth in a multiplicity of forms-. One of
the latest discouraging announcements appears in the
Chronicle of Higher Education (Nov. 8th), telling of a new
study by psychologists which concludes "that the roost
outstanding students in college are the ones who are most
likely to be unhappy 10 years hence. . . unhappiness is
the only thing the new test shows to be predictable on the
basis of a measure of academic success.
Ten years ago we were beinj told that life was over for
the young person who tried to take it on"unequipped"
sideviS9
by cellos; parenu nth children wbo dropped out of
higher education heaped put on themselves for their
failure to do their job."
Now the newspapers tell us that the U. S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics estimates that 10,C00 college graduates
a year will soon be in "over supply. Ve have Roy Forbes,
director of the National Assessment of Educational
Presets, quoted in the piiVAc punts S2yirg,"I don't think
education sliould say that if you go to ccllrje you are
ptnizziszi a better paying or more satisfying job Ve
. to prepare people psychcloIIy for the fact that
the. types of jobs they want aren't tl-ere at present." In
fist ccnr.fction, Forbes organization has determined that
44 percent cf our 17-year-clis ire looking forward to -professional
careers. That is about twice the number of
pre feraional and maneerizl jobs tLere are.
r.eihhj is btily ardss. The experts, educationalists -tsi
cuhsrlty Hjures who have had control of higher
ct-zzzzi pclley xni recniitment these past years
cbrlr!y birm't ir-crn v.hat they were taking about.
Zo r.y prrrle have teen so bzily rriireeted in
ci-::r cLzi eri eiucaticn that rr.en Iks Henry Levin,
a professor of education at Stanford University, now talk
about "the educated proletariat" and the "increasing
disjuncture between the values and expectations of the
educated workfer and the realities of the workplace.
How did the disjuncture between educated worker and
the workplace grow so great? Part of the explanation is
the greed of the academics overselling their services to a
gullible public. The taxpayers were and are being bilked
for billions to pay for sloppily administered higher
educational enterprises in which hard work is rare and
intelligent hard work rarer yet
Everybody is supposed to have a ssrlsfyiBg job; every
body is supposed to have a non-dead-end career. How can
that work? It can't, which is why the academies rushed in
with the idea cf the meritocracy.' The academically
deserving, the competent as determined by objective
examination would get the goodies which would no longer
be distributed on the beds cf sueh tiss as social class,
inheritance or sex rppesL ...
The meritocracy was a mirese. Too many people
qualified, which is why we're hearing the ducking about
raising standards; beyond thai the ability of the professors
to instni merit, much less to test for it, is in dispute. The
professors have been caught too often manipuiatbg the
tetters
The other side cf the coin is that there are Jess and less
people to do the dirty crk. In fees past we've tried
to recruit, people by threatening thesi with starvation or
23Sfi27in? to lha ifatus of the inhx f-"a
11 O s J " -mtm "J"'t jJiuuivsk -ii5 Vil Wv;41
become ssnitatioa erJaeen, only nobody believes it ' cf the campus liortar Board rrcctes
EdItsriviisTi is the strorjest slrIe, operating'
politiesl rdue in the Udted Stiles. The love cf liberty is
rere; the love cf quIty is tsdwizd. Sdenti imbued with '
e.il.rin i!-es won't pvt r? tltzlx millers decrees to
accept careers zzctsz ths streets, ar.i, tritrs a -zy is
fcursd to get a deser mZUh fcetweea exptctsJica and
realty, we trs ping to hr.e some unueud ard difrent
troubles fcr curxlni.
iAro ro zfrdd?
We have just experienced a rather impressive American
phenomenon, the dethroning of a president. With that
dethronement comes the hope of better things for a coun
try bound to the democratic way. Jimmy Carter will take
over the reigns of the government on Jan. 20, 1977 and
supposedly have the freedom to exerdse Ihe rights of the
free-will majority who elected him. He is the first Demo
cratic president since Lyndon Johnson and the first elect
ed from seeming obscurity. Gerald Ford became presi
dent after Nixon's downfall in the wake of Watergate.
Lyndon Johnson became president following the assassin
ation of John F. Kennedy. This article is about that
assassination and the real state cf the nation since that
time. ,
Why in America are we so afraid to name the real
murderers of Kennedy? Why js America so willing to
accept the findings of the Warren Commission that L.
Harvey Oswarid acted alone? It was 13 years ago last
November that the fateful day in Dallas took place. Have
we forgotten that day? Have we blocked out of our minds
what constituted the largest conspiracy in American
history? Hope for America lies in the ability of our peo
ple to demand the truth. Kennedy was not killed by
Oswald. lie was killed by our very own military because
he would not support their view of global militarism.
These are hard facts to accept yet it makes them no less
the truth. Kennedy vowed to have our troops out of
Vietnam by 1965. Kennedy became the victim of a coup
d'etat. We say to ourselves that things like that only hap
pen in obscure countries in South America. Are we afraid
to face the fact that in this 20 years since World War II
our government has spent over a trillion dollars on arma
ment? Kennedy saw that the foundations of our demo
cracy were being undermined and that warfare interests
. had gained excessive power in our government
I'm riot saying believe me. I'm saying look at the facts.
We can choose to allow this incident to go unnoticed and
live with the illusion of freedom and democracy. We.,
won'l know if we have another choice if we don't at least
try. . ..,
JohnLarscn
Citizens Inquiry into the Death
of John F. Kennedy
P.E. Dept. worthy disciplino
My "In Praise of Average" (printed Thurs. Nov. 11)
spoke critically about the use of university funds for the
UNL Sports Complex, implying that would divert money
from research, degrading our scholastic reputation and
relegating us to a Tlys Ed Institute.",
I leam, with regret and delight, that the Department of
Physical Education is not a part of the athletic heirarchy
at NU.hut is instead a worthy scholastic disdpline fight
ing for the same academic values and educational prior
ities that I do. My regret stems from having malned this
department unwittingly, I apologize!
But I delight in having found an unexpected ally in the
enemies territory! As the Department orHiyskal Educa
tion knows more predseJy the merits and demerits of
physical exerdse as a component of intellectual endeavor,
it is in a better position to demythohize the value of
competitive athletics and the "macho No. 1 syndrome"
as a "builder of superior persons" than anyone else.
J look forward to documenting my critical positions on
athletic scholarships arid Big Red versus advanced re
search more explicitly, with Lhrirhc!?.
- NebW.Forde
. .Professor, UNL
Department of History
Dirty Sneakers
Be it resolved that Mortar Board encourage and promote
the formation and funding of women's collegiate athletic
partidpation."
"Be it resolved that liortar Board encourage and
promote the awarding of athletic sdiokrship aid to colle
giate women athletes."
"Be it further resolved that Mortar Board shall strive to
eliminate the existing prejudicial attitudes toward women
in athletics, thus encoureglng and promoting the status cf
women athletes."
The Black Masque Cheptrr cf Mortar Board would like
to take this opportunity to recognize the talent anJ dedi
cation of the Nebraska Women's Basketball team.
In tryang to promote the status cf women in all areas-
the C3TO9US Liortar Board -h-? u ntiffy
recognition the taikctbaU team and an women's allelic
reams nave grven to women on campus.
We would ak like to applaud the efforts cf a group cf
sports enthusiasts who are cr-nizi- a tpirii group to
support the baaketball team. The Dirty f-irerj Cub is
open to a3 cteretad unlrsty studem. Contaet dry
Loomis for further i-fb nnati .
The Elaak I'jlsym Chspler
Jlcrtar Beard