page 4
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, October 26, 1977
M xeoos for dooedl s3ir5 ft fees flici)
is
There's something to be said for closed doors.
They keep out drafts and sometimes dust and
dirt.
There's also something to be said against closed
doors. They can keep public business away from
the curious eyes of the publiC-and keep dirt in.
Nebraska recognized this darker side of the
door issue. It's answer? LB325 passed by the
Legislature in 1975:
"It is hereby declared to be the policy of this
state that the formulation of public policy is
public business and may not be conducted in
secret.
"Every meeting of a public body shall be open
to the public in order that citizens may exercise
their, democratic privilege of attending and
speaking at meetings of public bodies. . ."
Apparently NU does njot share the state's
insight. The university is getting set to produce its
own version of a recent television movie
"Student Fees: Behind Closed Doors."
The University Wide Task Force on Student
Fees plans to close its meetings as they review and
prepare a report for NU President Ronald
Roskens.
Hans Brisch, NU assistant vice president for
academic affairs and chairman, says the
committee will meet behind closed doors because
it will be faster and will allow a free range of
opinions to be expressed.
We challenge this closed door policy of the
committee. It seems to violate the spirit if not the
letter of Nebraska's open meetings law.
To further quote pertinent portions of the law:
"Public body shall mean. . .governing bodies
of all political subdivisions of the State. , .(or)
advisory committees of (those) bodies."
We believe this includes the task force, in effect
an advisory body to the NU Board of Regents.
Technically, NU may have a loophole; "This
act shall not apply to subcommittees of such
bodies (like the NU Board of Regents) unless
such subcommittees have been given authority
to take formal action on behalf of their parent
body. . ."
Technically, it may be a loophole. But ethically
the university should be committed to the
principle of the law.
The law clearly outlines thai principle. By the
law, meetings are defined as "for the purposes of
briefing, discussion of public business, forma
tion of tentative policy, or the taking of any
formal action."
Further, the law outlines that meetings can be
closed only by a vote "if a closed session is
clearly for the protection of the public interest or
for the prevention of needless injury to the repu
tation ot an individual.
According to the law, meetings only can be
closed for "(a) Strategy sessions with respect to
collective bargaining, real estate purposes or liti
gation (b) Discussion regarding deployment of
security personnel. . ., or (c) Investigative pro
ceedings. . .of criminal misconduct."
There is no question that student fees are
public business. Chairman Brisch's reasons for
closing the meeting do not fall within the guide
lines of the law for closing meetings. Indeed, the
excuse of speed should not outweigh the right of
the public to know.
Officials contend that students will not be de
nied vital information from the meetings. But
who is determining what information is vital?
It's like having football games played before
76,000 empty seats and then depending on the
coach to reveal the outcome. In the fees case,
however, the football game involves money and
the game is public business.
The legal community can decide if NU is
violating the law in this case. The public can be
sure, however, that it is getting cheated.
There is no valid excuse to close the meetings.
(On O
Raid buries myths about terrorism; corner turned
Washington-It is always dangerous to say a corner has
been turned. But it certainly seems so after last week at
Mogadishu, a capital most people couldn't even pro
nounce until terrorists put it on the map.
Not only did the West Germans stage their spectacular
and most welcome Israeli-style raid, showing that ter
rorists are not invincible, but the victims finally reacted
the way victims are supposed to react.
In place of the old terrprist-victim syndrome, which
saw victims identifying and falling in love with their
captors, we saw a realistic appraisal of the kidnapper
murderers. The potential victims-unromantic, at last
came off the plane calling the terrorists "sadists." No
more, no less.
georgie anne geyer
the oeuf file Sl
Another myth was laid to rest: terrorists don't fear to
die. They have not feared to die so far because virtually
none of them have died. Now it is a new chapter.
Yet, in this wholesome process of demystification, in a
world I suspect if finally fed up with terrorists and the
way they use the decency of decent governments against
them, there are other, new questions that demand demy
stifying. Why this siege of terrorism in West Germany, one of
the more healthy democratic societies?
What is the relationship of the traditional Left to the "
sheer anarchism of groups like the terrorists of the Baader
Meinhof gang? What can the rest of us in the West learn
from the German experience?
Two Cultures
A West German intellectual recently put it clearly.
Of Germany today, Prof. Peter Glotz, West Berlin's
Senator for Science and Research, said, "It's as if there
are two cultures, a , culture for the universities, in which
most of the students read only left-wing magazines, and
newspapers, and a second culture, in which people rely, on
the (conservative) Springer newspapers and German tele
vision for all their information." .
This indeed is the strange breakdown in Germany,
historically an apt weathervane for health in the Western
world. What has happened since the '60s is that, through
the "Gruppenprinzip," or group principle which gave
students an equal voice with faculty in universities, the
anarchist Left has taken over.
This, plus considerable unemployment amongv the
young, has created a country of two societies, two ideo
logies, virtually two nations.
When one tries to apply the old idea that poverty or
desperation, or even a poor distribution of income, causes
people tto careen to the Far Right or Far Left, it just
doesn't stick. Indeed, these young Leftists of the New
Terror in Germany maniacally resent the bourgeois
decency of modern-day Germany. In another era, they
would have been fanatic Hitler Jugend. .
Demystification
It is important for all of us, therefore, that these
processes of demystification, go forward in Germany, both
in terms of the terrorists themselves and in terms of the
kind of society they want to achieve.
These are not misunderstood or abused youth; they are
spoiled youth. These are not youth who have had no
power in their society; they are youth who have had too
much power too early. Although the organized Left
originally encouraged them, they are not even a serious
Left, they are a darkly frivolous infantile Left, .
, These are not people fighting for a just cause. These are
not the victims of. poverty. Indeed, they are the rotting
product of too much middle-classness, which, while more
than occasionally boresome, is hardly the justification for
mayhem,
These are the real lessons of Mogadishu, and they are
lessons the rest of the Western world would do well to
assess.
Copyright 1977, Loi Angeles Times Syndicate.
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Puzzle problem
letters
& to the editor
The column by Dennis Onnen about Coach Cipriano
(Daily Nebraskan, Oct. 21) was amazing in several
ways.
At first we thought he was seriously trying to
defend Coach Cipriano V winning record which is
padded each year by small school patsies. Or, we
thought he was defending Cipriano great defense
consisting of "who can hold the ball the longest."
It was then when we realized it was October, the
middle of the football season, and his column h called
4th and 20. What a relief, he dcesn't know anything
about basketball anyway.
' Sid Dinsdale
Marvllefli
That's it, Daily Nebraskan. You have finally
managed to enrage the masses of students who normal
ly don't know or care what is going on. You have
forced us unrepresented and normally meek students
to take arms and stand up for our rights.
If one more issue comes out without a crossword
puzzle, we shall be forced to organize even further and
take any action, I repeat, any action necessary to
ensure our beloved crossword puzzles are in each
and every issue. This is your last warning Daily Neb
raskan, we mean business.
Students for Equal Representation
of Crossword Puzzles (SERCP)
Editor's note: Sorry, we don't like to leave the puzzles
out either. Part of the problem is a cut in student fees
this year for the Daily Nebraskan. We have to run a
higher percentage of ads to make up the lost revenue.
That means less space for important news and features
this campus deserves. We promise well fry hard not to
let it happen again.
Walk-on woes
'They turn out in hopes of making the big time.
For most, it is little more than a dream."
So says sports reporter Jim Kay about walk-on
basketball players (Daily Nebraskan, Oct.- 19). Is
making the varsity basketball team "little more than a
dream" for walk-on hopefuls at Nebraska?
Maybe, However, I find it hard to believe that there
aren't people on campus who have the ability to make
the varsity basketball team, while there have been
many walk-on football players.
Why? Because football coaches take a prospective
athlete and develop that person to his full capabilities
as a football player.
This has not been done at Nebraska in basketball.
The coaching record of Joe Cipriano during his 14
years at Nebraska is proof. If one takes into account
the equality oft teams Nebraska plays year after year,
one finds that Cip's record at Nebraska (roughly
.500) is less than mediocre.
It also may be noted that in those 14 years, Cip has
yet to win a Big 8 Conference basketball champion
ship. As yet, Nebraska docs not have "big time" basket
ball. Cip has had his chance. Let's use the new Sports
Complex to its fullest potential and give it what it
deserves: a good, solid basketball team.
We have good and potentially good basketball
players, now let's get a basketball coach capable of
using and developing that talent.
Mark A. Nastase
