page 4
daily nebraskan
friday, September 22, 1978
opinioneditorial
FSA To BUY A f
Supreme Court's dealings
not favorable to the press
The press probably won't look
forward with confidence to the
Supreme Court's next term.
New York Times reporter Myron
Faber got a raw deal when the New
Jersey Supreme Court upheld his
comtempt convictions for withhold
ing notes in the murder trial of Dr.
Mario Jascalvich. Jascalvich is
charged in connection with three
murders at a New Jersey Hospital.
The court has ordered Faber back
to go to jail next Tuesday unless he
hands over his notes.
The fact that Faber signed a
contract with a book publisher
should have no bearing on the de
cision. The notes belong to Faber
and what the issue boils down to is:
Should the press be an extension of
Their praise runs free, buffaloed by Ali
Many heavyweight intellectuals let
themselves get punch drunk over
Muhammad Ali.
Wilfrid Sheed, a literary critic, wrote
a cerebral biography of Ali that called him
a genius who had achieved "pure fame
undifferentiated and unqualified."
Norman Mailer wrote a "hymn" to Ali's
exquisite soul titled The Fight, that a
Washington Post critic calls a book of
"remarkable perceptivity."
Colman
ITIcCarthLj
Other cornermen eager to sponge Ali
with their praise include George Plimpton
of The Paris Review and a writer of the
New York Times Magazine whose article
calls his hero "the king of all kings, the
lonely man of wisdom."
None of these love taps to the ego cause
Ali to blush in modesty. "It ain't no
accident," he said in 1975, "that I'm
the greatest man in the world at this time
in history."
Hero stuff
If respect for winning-and making
money-is what determines our support
of heroes, then Ali's self-assessment as
being "The Greatest" is accurate. In his
chosen trade, he has been on top for 18
years and has earned more than $50
million in gate receipts alone.
The appeal to intellectuals first sprang
from his ability to leak secrets about his
own subconscious.
'See how I take care of you, Bob," he
said to Robert Lipsyte, a novelist-sports-writer.
"When you're around me you
always have something to write about."
The same routine prevailed with Mailer
and Sheed.
This was no aloof DiMaggio or vapid
Nicklaus. With mother wit and instinct,
Ali could talk for hours about religion,
sex, money, politics, justice and freedom
and then tell the ambassadors from The
New York Review of Books: "There, I
filled up your pads."
'Put-on cult'
The evidence suggests that Ali. caught
on early to what lively sport sparring
with the intelligensia could be. When he
noticed the persistent intensity which
Mailer or another projected wisdom and
kingly status onto him, Ali-the Louisville
Kid who had a reading problem-went
along and made it part of his show. He per
fected what the late sportswriter Jimmy
Cannon called "the cult of the put-on."
Unlike nearly all the other put-on
artists, Ali openly talks about it. "I just
said I was the greatest," he explained a few
years back. "I never thought I was.
"A long time ago, I saw Gorgeous
George promote a wrestling match he had
coming up. He promised blood and guts.
He promised to kill his opponent. He said
anything to sell tickets. And (it) sold out.
The Greatest'
"I saw an opportunity to do the same
thing. So I started with the 'I Am The
Greatest' thing. I began with the poetry
and predicting round. And it worked. They
Continued on Page 5
1
T-5 7
the police?
There cannot be any deals made
or exchanging of reporters' notes
if journalists are to remain credible.
The problems of the press are
further compounded by the poten
tial losses in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The press has no champion on
Chief Justice Warren Burger's court,
according to Lyle Denniston,
Supreme Court reporter for the
Washington Star.
There aren't any absolutists in
defense of the First Amendment
rights like former Justice William
Douglas or the late Hugo Black.
There are higher risks for the
press, Denniston said, because the
press is finding itself in court much
more often.
"The trend ran strongly against
First Amendment claims" in the last
term in which press law was a
dominant, recurring issue, he said.
"Within the broad sweep of that
trend there are a number of
threatening undercurrents:
"A testy mood is emerging in
regard to the press's role in society,
a mood that nurtures suspicions on
the court about the constitutional
claims of the press.
"The court has no consistent view
of press freedom, embraced by a
clear majority.
"There is an easy willingness to
allow experimentation in lower
courts on the newer questions of
press law."
If Denniston 's predictions are
correct, the next court term looks
gloomy for journalists. The press
needs an absolutist. The press is
another check on the government
and responsible reporting cannot be
done if laws rule against it.
1
IS
TV Vlfr
If (h
The story of Nam-Xuong; helpingshed light on a culture
By Nghiep Huynn
The best way to understand a people is
to come to know their culture. A people's
literature offers unique insights into their
cultural character. Vietnamese literature is
a challenging subject of study, because our
history goes back five thousand years.
During this long, long journey of our
people, our country was dominated by the
Chinese for one thousand years, and by
the French for another hundred. Twenty
years of prolonged battle forced the
removal of the French forces. The Geneva
agreement divided Vietnam into two parts,
North and South. In the subsequent war
these two parts of our country became a
terrible battleground, in which over one
million Vietnamese lost their lives. The
three world superpowers were heavily in
volved in the war; and for a time Vietnam
became a crossroads for international cult
ural exchange.
How have the Vietnamese people con
tinued to exist though this long period of
heartbreaking warfare? One answer is that
they are a strong, brave people who have
been willing to endure great hardship and
struggle in defense of ideas they believe
in. A second answer is that they have pos
sessed a cultural heritage that is old and
beautiful.
Ancient folk tale
This is an old folk tale, dating from the
period of Chinese domination. It is one
step in our long journey as a people. Walk
with us through the opened door, listen
to the Vietnamese talking about their
country, their beloved country.
guest opinion
A young couple fell in love and wished
to get married. They had just been married
when war came to their country. The
young husband had to leave immediately
to defend the border against the Chinese.
A couple of months later the wife, Nam
Xuong, realized that she was pregnant.
And nine months after her marriage she
gave birth to a boy. Her husband had not
returned, so she had to manage by herself,
working in the fields and raising her little
boy.
Years passed, and still her husband
didn't return from the war. Nam-Xuong
continued to wait and to work to support
her family. One day her young son asked
her who his father was. Nam-Xuong did
know what to say. At last she pointed to
the shadow made by the candle on the
wall, and said that that was his father,
satisfied the curious boy.
Finally one day her husband returned.
He was very anxious to see his wife again.
Nam-Xuong was at the market, however,
and when he reached his home he found
the boy was there alone. His first thought
was that the boy was his son and he called
the boy to come and see his father. The
boy stayed back though, saying that he was
not his father; that he had never seen him
before; and that his real father came every
night to see him.
Furious with wife
The husband was amazed and angered
by what the boy said. When Nam-Xuong
returned from the market, he did not go
to her and embrace her. He was furious
with her and shouted at her, asking her
what kind of woman she was, being visited
every night by another man and bearing
another man's child. Nam-Xuong couldn't
believe what she was hearing. The man she
loved, whose child she had borne and was
waiting for and had raised all alone, whose
return she had been awaiting for so long,
happily looking forward to the day when
they would be a whole family again; this
man was here now, saying these things,
shouting at her, not letting her say any
thing in her defense.
Commits suicide
Nam Xuong was heartbroken. She
turned and ran from the house. She went
to the river and threw herself in. She
drowned before they could save her.
Greatly saddened now by his wife's
death, the husband took the boy home
with him. That night when the sun went
down, the father lit a candle, and the boy
pointed to the shadow on the wall, saying
there, there was his real father. Too late
the man understood his wife's faithfulness.
Hopefully this sad story is an open door
that American readers can step through to
learn more about our Vietnamese culture,
and to appreciate it.
Editor's note: The author is a junior
mathmetics major from Quaug-Nqui,
Vietnam.
