Daily Ncbraskan ,. . ; Monday, Fcbruaiy 271984
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Once is enough. Nebraska's not-so-.
successful experiment with anon-partisan
Legislature should be enough to
teach us that there is nothing evil
about the nation's two-party system.
Apparently, at least one state sena
tor thinks otherwise. Sen. Tom Vickcrs
of Farnam has introduced which
would make Nebraska a "wide-open"
primary state and further diminish
the role of parties in our political
'system.
Only two states Washington and
Alaska have wide-open primaries,
according to the Omaha World Herald.
Under that system, candidates no longer
are required to indicate their party
registration. All of them are placed on
a single primary ballot and all voters,
regardless of party identification, are
allowed to choose from the entire
ballot
Eight states have an open primary
system where the Republican and Demo
cratic candidates are listed on separ
ate ballots, but voters may choose
either ballot before entering the voting
booth.- -
The most popular system, however,
is the closed primary currently used in
Nebraska. Each party's candidates are
listed on a separate ballot and voters
may vote only from the ballot of their
party. Independents can vote only in
the non-partisan races.
Vkkers has suggested that a wide
open primary would help bring more
people to the pells, but past rises in
Nebraska voter turnout seem to be
related to the issues, not the candi-
dates, on the ballot. But well give
Ylckers the benefit of the doubt here. If
nothing tlse, independent voters would
be more likely to show up on election
day if they could vote in the major
races.
Still, having a larger voter turnout
seems minor w hen compared to the
disadvantages of a wide-open primary.
Secretary of State Allen Beermann
told the World-Herald that such a sys
tem could cause "election mischief
where voters go to the polls not to vote
for their favorite candidates, but to
vote for the other party's weakest can
didates, thereby making it easier for
their party to win in November.
More important, however, is. that
going to a wide-open primary would go
against most of the rest of the country.
That's the system our entire election
process is based on. Maybe it needs to
be changed, but any kind of election
reform will have to come at the national
level or at least in some large states.
Any attempt by Nebraska to change
the system will only put the state more ,
out of step with the rest of the United
States.
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Stop being so paranoid. YouVe got to
, learn to relax. Take things easy.
College creates pressure, all kinds of
"it You can't let it get to you or youll go
crazy. They'll cart you away in one of
those pretty red and white station
wagons and put you in a padded cell
r
lv Bill Allen
and feed you hospital food for the rest
of your life. Do you think pizza places
deliver to padded cells? Think about it.
I have a friend who is constantly
worried about missing classes. He has
three alarm clocks in case the first two
don't work. So I said to him, "What if
you accidenth set them all for the
wrong wake-up time?" His eyes got
wide and he shook his head, then he
set them all for different times. The
next morning he forgot when his class
started. He let the pressure get to him.
I know people who wont go to class
if they are running a few minutes late,
because they are embarrassed. Last
semester I walked into a lecture 19
minutes late. Everyone stared. The
professor stopped. I looked at my arm,
pretended to have on a watch and
said, "Did you guys start early today?"
We're approaching that time of the
semester when all I hear from people
are complaints. I'm sick of it and I'm
sure many of you are, too. You know
how it is. You sit down at lunch with
some friends, expecting some nice con
versation about how great the Celtics
are doing, or how much you are look
ing forward to the weekend, and what
do you get? Complaints. This professor
gave a bad test, or I'm flat broke or that
woman is driving me crazy. I don't
want to hear it. I want to eat my
cheeseburger and fries and finish my
Pepsi, then go for a walk if it's warm
enough, and later, maybe study or
watch television. I lead a simple life,
not letting undue pressure get to me.
So I'm going to list some of the com
plaints heard most often and give you
my reaction to them
1. I hate Professor Whoever. So
what? You signed up for the class. Does
it make you feel better telling me about
it? What do you want me to do? Should
I go to the prof and tell her she's been
a bad girl and that she'd better be nice
in the future? Give me a break.
2. 1 hate this class. So what? You
signed up for the class. What do you
want me to do? Should I stop eating
lunch, grab your book bag, and start
doing your assignments for you, or
what? Give me a break.
3. In a couple of weeks youll start
hearing this one. It's hot in here. So
what? You signed up for this class. If
you cant stand the heat, drop the
class. Last semester I had this class in
Bessey Hall and the sun shone right in
on. it every afternoon. After about a
week of sweating like a professional
wrestler I took a fan to class. It was a
quiet fan, and the professor thought it
was a good idea. As I walked across
campus with my fan people looked at
me as if I was - weird." What's more
weird, sitting in a classroom so hot you
cant concentrate, or bringing a quiet
fan to stir a breeze?
4. I'm broke. So what? What do I
look like, the First National Bank of
New York? If you want a loan, just ask.
IU probably say no, because I'm broke.
You should have thought of that before
you went to the Billy Joel concert. Or
before you spent your last $5 on a pizza
last night. I wish I had.
5. 1 flunked a chem exam. So what?
If you wrant help, and I can help you, I
will. But please stop whining. Smile.
Study for the next one. Do you think
complaining is like a magic wand that
will make a bad grade disappear? In
the meantime, how out those Celtics,
huh?
Continued cn Page 5
Sex stereotypes haunt women in politics
, Those who poll the political consciousness of a
country are a little bit like gold miners following the
glitter. Sometimes they get the real thing and
sometimes they come back with a wheelbarrow full
of fool's gold.
For the past several years, these people have been
digging away at the rich vein of opinions about
women in politics. They keep emerging with nuggets
Ai
Elle
Goodma
of data about how much our attitudes toward
female candidates have changed.
In 1040, for example, only one-third of Americans
would have considered voting for a "uniquely quali
fied" woman for .president In 1977, 77. percent '
would vote for her. By 1 C33, most cfus thought that
there were too few women in public odce, and the
overwhelming majority claimed that they would net
be -at all influenced by the sex of a candidate. If
anything, more said they were prejudiced in favor of
a female candidate than against one.
But it turns ou t that some of this is glitter. We are
now beginning to mine the mother lode of the politi
cal subconscious. Florence Skelly of Yankelovich,
Skelly and White has just completed a limited study
of some 200 voters for the National Women's Politi
cal Caucus. The early results suggest that the biggest
gap of this political era may be between our princi
ples and our behavior.
To put it simply, some three-quarters of those
interviewed for the study said that the sex of a
candidate has no influence on their vote. But w hen
these people chose between hypothetical candi
dates for governor, they were highly influenced by
traditional sex stereotypes. They tended to vote for
men and only voted for women when they were
clearly more qualified than the men.
A large margin of men and a much smaller margin
of women agreed that men in high office were better
at making decisions under pressure, better at deal
ing with big budgets, and at public speaking. Women
in high office, on the other hand, were considered
better at understanding the "human" side of issues,
at bringing new and fresh ideas into office and at
keeping well-organized.
After hearing this data, political consultant Bob
Squires fantasized the perfect commercial for a
female candidate. In one 60-second spot, she lands a'
multi-million dollar jet plane in an ice storm w hile
caring for the male co-pilot who becomes suddenly
ill. She then makes a brilliant presentation on a deal
that involves millions, and whips the cash out of her
briefcase while her name flashes across the screen.
Decisive, caring, organized and able to deal with big
budgets the best of both sexes she wins the
election.
What we would not see in that commercial are
any small children. This study picked up a definite
bias against female candidates with small children.
The study was not all bad news. Male voters didn't
overwhelmingly favor male candidates, and women
were more inclined than men to judge female can
didates openly. Indeed, a candidate's stand on
issues, her personality, and her experience would
wipe out the negative impact of her sex. Ironically,
the best way for a woman to win is as an incumbent
But there is this gap between our principles and
our behavior when we face a choice between male or
female politicians. I suppose that most of us knew or
suspected this. After all, most of us know people
who talk a better line than they feel WeVe all been
caught short by our own lingering prejudices.
Today, prejudice against women in public life is
less acceptable. It's no longer fashionable to admit
that you won't vote for a woman, no longer fashion
able to wonder out loud if a woman can handle big
budgets or crises. So cur views have gone under
ground, to the subconscious.
I dont think we are necessarily lying to the polls
ters, or even to ourselves. We are not hypocritical
but, perhaps, hopeful. We know intellectually that it
shouldn't make any difference if a candidate is
white or black, male or female. So we prefer to
believe that it doesn't make any difference.
Florence Skelly reads into the data "a profound
hunger to do the right thing, and I think that's
accurate. Our ideals are often a step or 10 ahead of
us. As usual, we are struggling to catch up.
m i!3 time' lf we close the gap between how we
think and how we vote, we may also close the gap
between men and women in public life. Kight now,
though, women have to keep flying airplanes through
the ice storms.
1834, Tha Boston G!eba Newspepar Cc-.T,-s.ry
Washington pott Writers Group
