page 2 fathom friday, november30, 1979
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
High school students of the new decade will scrawl their
messages on the railroad overpass, covering those of
1970s. Another decade of college students will leave its
message on the UNL campus, wether it's one of protest,
disillusionment, apathy or optimism.
Procession of time
leaves valued gems
decades are like jewels. Roughly formed at the be
ginning, they are shaped by the hands of man and God
until, plucked from the sands of history, they are cherish
ed forever.
The jewel formed bythe 70s is ready to take its place
in the lineup of decade's. Its value depends on the per
ceptions of the viewer and varies from person to person.
This issue of Fathom looks at the different facets of
the 70s, fully aware that no broad generalizations can be
used to describe the past ten years or the next.
We've tried to hold this decade up to the light and
analyze it from different angles. Each turn of the hand or
difference in. opinion gives the decade a new look and we
acknowledge the futility of explaining each side of the
gem.
We also attempt to compare the formation of the jewel
of the 60s in hopes that an analyzation of both wiQ help
in determining the look of the 80s.
It seems that the decision to pluck the jewels from
history has an arbitrary air. The Iranian situation and the
energy shortage will put the final polish on this decade,
just as Woodstock and campus unrest were the shaping
forces for the 60s. It is doubtful if any jeweler would pick
such events for the final touches, but time was the only
one consulted in the decision.
This same feeling of random selection applies when
attempting to predict the jewel which will be formed by
the 80s.
With this attitude, we look backward to the 60s, while
analyzing the 70s and casting light on the possibilities of
the 80s.
Where have .oil thts hippies g
H
By Betsie Amnions
lippie, a catchall phrase. A drop-out. A drug-crazed,
societal rebel. A flag-burning, draft-board-hating radical. A
spaced-out, turned-in advocate of free love and communal
living. A cliche of the 60s.
Known as "beatniks" in the 50s, "hippies" became
prominent enough in the 60s to earn a place in Webster's
Dictionary-hip-pie: "a young person who rejects
established mores, advocates non-violence, and often uses
psychedelic drugs or marijuana; a long-haired, uncon
ventionally dressed young person."
Whatever the world's cloudy origins, whatever the
dreams of those it describes, the transition from the 60s
to the 70s has meant a change in lifestyle and focus.
Where have all the hippies gone?
The faded 60$ jeans have made way for sleek Calvin
Kleins, militancy has all but faded from the scene and
drugs no longer are considered the open door to mind ex
pansion but the basic values of those participating in the
hippie movement have not changed.
According to a survey by Rex Weiner and Deanne Still
man, to be published in an upcoming book "Woodstock
Census," these values simply take a different form.
STILLMAN AND Weiner say, "According to the
people we surveyed, the 60s live (although often in dis
guise). The style has changed but the attitudes and out
looks, for the most part, have not."
UNL sociology Professor Mary Jo Deegan concurs. But
she contends that groups working for social change today
are more concerned with economics than were their
radical predecessors.
Deegan said the movements of the 80s will be directed
at gaining economic democracy. The participants will be
working class, she said, because these are the people who
are having increasing difficulty meeting costs of food,
housing and utility bills. .
Senior citizens also will play a big part, she said, adding
that they have been active during the 70s but have receiv
ed little attention from the media.
Deegan said she is involved in CLASS, a Lincoln group
organizing a conference next spring to help people learn
ways to gain control over the cost of living.
She said she also has participated in demonstrations in
the 70s concerning the ERA, abortion and other women's
issues.
( - ' ...
DEEGAN minimized the importance of drugs' in the
60s youth movement.
"I don't think it was that crucial to organization," she
said. But she said she knew many hippies who were
heavily into drugs and were not politically active.
Deegan, a participant in anti-war and women's marches
in the 60s, said she thinks the movement was successful to
some degree. A lot of the success, she said, depended on
the movement. '
"Personally, I think protests were successful in ending
the Vietnam War," she said.
But gains made in the women's movement during the
60s and early 70s are losing ground, she added.
Of the 70s, Deegan said she thinks the general aura has
been apolitical, but that some social change has been
attempted, especially in the area of rape and battered wo
men, phenomenon she called a 'late 70s issue."
Deegan said she thinks accusations that the 70s are a
"me decade" are somewhat unfair. -
"I don't really think its been a for me thing," she said,
"butrather a mistrust in institutions," such as the family
or the government. . -t '
UNL SOCIOLOGY Professor David Brinkerhoff said he
thinks the 70s have brought an increased emphasis on
what the individual can get from the system.
College students, rather, than dropping out with drugs
or participating in radical movements, are shifting back to
more traditional activities, and are more grade-oriented,
he said.
. But, Brinkerhoff said, "I don't think this means that
young people have abandoned concerns. They just think
that working within the system, I can accomplish
things."
Birkerhoff called himself a marginal participant in the
youth movement.
He said he grew his hair long like most young people at
that time and participated in protest marches and
coalitions for change, but was not into drugs or commu
nal living.
For some reason, hair seemed to be an issue. Deegan
on?
said she thinks the fact that men did not cur their hair
bothered people, more than other aspect's of the hippie
movement.
She also said some were upset that women wore their
hair long and straight, instead of ratting and teasing it as
was the fashion.
DAN LADELY, director of the Sheldon Film Theatre
and a UNL student in the early 60s, said a group of men
in his hometown, Gordon, Neb., offered reward to any
one who would catch him and give him a haircut.
Continued on Page 3
fat
Magazine editor: Mary Fastenau. Managing editor: Gail
Stork. Editor-in-chief: Amy Lenzen. Advertising manager:
Denise Jordan. Production manager: Kitty Policky.
Business manager: Anne Shank.
Fathom is a magazine published by the Daily Nebra
skan. . - Unless covered by another copyright, material may be
reprinted without permission if attributed to Fathom,
magazine of the Daily Nebraskan.
Cover art by Mike Hofeldt.