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daily nebraskan
Wednesday, december 9, 1981
Issues and actions have changed student leader
By IVlelinda Norris
The college students of the 1980s are no more
apathetic to social and political issues than the students of
the late '60s and early '70s, said Sen. Don Wcscly of
Lincoln and leaders of the UNL student government.
"Apathy is a common malady in our country," said
Wcscly. "This is shown by the lowest voter turnout in a
democratic country in the world."
VVescly said students were apathetic during the mid
'70s when he attend UNL. At that time, the ecology and
consumer movement captivated students' interests. As the
founding father of the UNL chapter of the Nader's
Radcrs, Wcscly said Nader was an inspiration to him.
"Students need somebody like that to inspire them and
then direct them," Wcscly said.
"(Edward) Kennedy doesn't have the appeal his
brothers had," he said, "and Nader doesn't have the pub
licity." Wesely was also a member of the Public Interest
Research Group at UNL, which dealt with public interest
issues. A platform for consumer issues, PIRG died a few
year ago, Wesely said.
"There is no movement like (PIRG) now," Wesely said.
"The state student association is a national movement but
deals with academic rather than economic or consumer
issues - more on campus than off campus like in the '60s
and '70s."
The switch of interests from social issues to academic
interests is the "pendulum swing of politics," Wesley said.
Business concerns dominate the interests today, he
said, and "I can see the pendulum swing again when stu
dents become active again."
Issues have changed
The issues of today are different from the late '60s said
ASUN Senate President Rick Mocklcr. The nation is not
fighting a war. From a sociological prospective, the same
motivation for students to speak out does not exist, he
said.
"Economic issues are facing the students today - how
to pay for an education," Mockler said.
Students recognize a need for an education, but they
are at a survival level with the reduction of the loan and
grant programs, said Nette Nelson, ASUN Government
Liaison Committee chair.
The number of students attending college has increased
over the years, she said, and over 40 percent of them arc
working and attending school part time, changing the
attitude on campus. Itecausc students arc working more,
they "may be selective on the topics on which to speak
out," she said.
Reflecting on the riots, sit-ins and protest marches of
that earlier era., today's students approach problems in a
more realistic fashion, Nelson said.
"Activism has taken a different form," Nelson said,
from strikes, demonstrations and the destruction of
property to litigations, grievances and "our biggest
strength," lobbying.
"The thurst has shifted but in an intelligent way,"
Nelson said.
The types of luetics used by today's students have
shifted from being visible in the short range to less visible
but more active, she said.
"Students have learned to work more within the
system," Mocklcr said, "like through the state lobbying
commissions." Mockler predicted that the country will sec
more visible student lobbying in the 1980s.
Students disillusioned
Like the change in protest tactics, the perspective of
the student of the 1980s has changed. Students have be
come disillusioned about government after Watergate, Nel
son said.
"It is easy for students to become jaded about the
political process and jaded about their involvement," Nel
son said.
The 18-through-20 age group has the lowest turnout
among voters, Nelson said. However, the amount of
college students voting is close to the same percentage of
the general public, she said.
Because college students are included in the age group
with the lowest voter turnout, they are identified as being
apathetic.
"Personally, I don't feel students are apathetic," Nel
son said. Non-involvement is a reflection of the time
factor, she said.
"If you view non-involvement as opposition," she said,
"this view assumes students don't have a mind of their
own. But students become involved when the issue suits
their needs and time schedule."
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Daily Nebraskan Phoio
A UNL student raises his fist in protest after an
arrest in front of the Administration Building during
the early 1970s.
DeCoster calls current student attitude 'disenchantment'
By William Graf
The co-author of a recently published
book, Understanding Today's Students,
which is about student attitudes, values
and lifestyles, says he doesn't see what is
termed an apathetic movement. But rather,
he said, that among other factors, there's a
preoccupation with success that dictates
priorities.
"I'm not ready to call it an apathetic
movement. It's more one of disenchant
ment," said David DeCoster, UNL Dean of
Students. The motivation that brings stu
dents to campus right now is a feeling that
'I've just got to be here. There's just no
alternative.' And so if there is no alter
native, that means there are a lot of people
here that literally haven't chosen to be
here.
"I think the economy is part of the
cause. Students seem to be perceiving that
things are not likely to get a whole lot
better. With costs continually going up
they see that they're going to have to be
that much more competitive. So there has
been a tremendous amount of pressure that
has been internalized that probably wasn't
during the '60s and 70s," he said.
"Folks in the '60s, for example, found
it relatively easy to find a job once they
got their college education."
Also, DeCoster said, the Vietnam War
helped unite students with a cause.
"There are no dramatic issues like that
(Vietnam War). And also the types of the
issues that there are - students are in a
sense denying them as real issues.
"They are essentially saying that if the
issue docn't have a direct impact on what
they're pursuing at that time then they
aren't going to be troubled with it. And
what has a direct impact is whether they
get a C minus or B plus.
"And a third variable is a sense of
powerlessness. They're in a way saying
'what I need to do is somehow establish
myself. And once I achieve a position of
prestige and stature then 111 have an
impact on these issues. But as a college stu
dent I'm relatively powerless.' "
He said the increased competitiveness of
today's job market, the enormity of the
campus and the feeling that so much is
messed up in the world is contributing to
the feeling of powerlessness.
"These students barely remember the
Vietnam War and the kind of impact the
college students had on that issue. They
barely remember the civil rights movement
of the late '50s and '60s where the college
students played an important part. But
what they do remember is Watergate and
Abscam and other indications of a lot of
corruption and a lot of what's not so good
in the world," DeCoster said.
Although there arc fewer students
involved in outside issues, he said, the
reason that those who are involved arc less
visible is that they are working more within
the system through groups such as the
State Student Association.
"Today's students are a product of
another generation in the sense that the
country has moved to th
which
means, perhaps, that a lot of their attitudes
and values are a reflection of what they've
grown up with. So they are using different
mechanisms (to deal with issues),"
DeCoster said.
Although he said he doesn't fully under
stand why, today's students aren't rebelling
against their parents as much as in the past.
"They talk very warmly and fondly of
the relationship they have with their
parents," he said.
"They (parents) were the students of
the '60s who felt alienated from their
parents. Maybe they've done a better job in
terms of die communication process
through child bearing."
Woodstock participant calls
70s age of self -improvement
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Daily Nebraskan Photo
Students march in protest against the Ku Klux Klan during the late 1970s.
By Melimla Norris
As a participant at Woodstock and the
November Moritorium in 1969 and the
National Student Strike in 1970, Chuck
Jagoda found that the enemies were not
the bad guys who tried to continue the
war, but the anger and fear within himself
that he would make the same decisions
under the circumstances.
"The 1970s were called the age of nar
cissism," said Jagoda, "but it was an age of
searching for a proper way to improve our
selves." Jagoda, a member of the non-traditional
student club at UNL, was a student at
Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
from 1965 to 1969. He taught in the be
havorial science department at the New
York Institute of Technology in Old Wes
bury, N.Y. from 1967 to 1970.
Jagoda describes the feeling of students
during the Vietnam era as having doubts
about their actions and frustration with the
U.S. government.
"People did make an effort to work
through the system, but when it doesn't
work, they become frustrated and pro
test," he said.
In 1969, more than half a million pro
testers converged on Washington, D.C. to
protest Vietnam. Jagoda recalls the wall of
buses President Nixon parked in front of
the White House to insulate himself from
the protesters.
The protesters were told that Nixon was
not "the least bit concerned" and that he
was going to watch television while they
protested , Jagoda said .
Although it seemed no one was listen
ing, he said, "it was exhilarating to get it
off our chests."
Jagoda was "very involved" in the Nat
ional Student Strike over the invasion of
Cambodia. There was much activity ami
consciousness, he said.
But since then it became frustrating to
"protest so much and accomplish so little,"
Jagoda said.
"It was like knocking your head against
a stone wall - no one was listening," lie
said.
The late '60swas a cultural and political
revolution, Jagoda said. Today, students
don't protest because there are no big issues
and the protesters of the '60s are "burned
out."
The "me" generation of the '70s isn't
just narcissistic, Jagoda said. The generation
adopted the philosophy of "gc and change
yourself. Teach by being an example in
stead of telling people how to live."
Jogging and meditation is part of the
self-improvement attitude, he said.
"It is harder to improve yourself than to
try to get new leaders," he said.