Monday, November 28, 1834
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No one said it would be easy. Or fun. Or
feed me. Or pay my bills. But if nothing
else, a job at the university newspaper is
enriching, for times shared with friend3
and the experiences good and bad
that come with learning.
One of the most common complaints
about the press (there are many to choose
from) is that it ha3 nothing better to do
than report "bad news."
As news editor, I'm supposed to sit
down daily and plan for the day and the
week all the thousands of interesting
things happening on and around campus
aU the important issues that affect us.
Something we call "story ideas."
I'll be honest and tell you there were
days this semester when I sat down in
despair to look at the storie3 coming in
for the day and felt I was responsible for
deluging you with world famine, assassi
nation, suicide, drug abuse, and domestic
violence all in one issue.
JJut there are times, I've learned, when
the press acts as more than only the
bear er of "bad news."
Early in the semester we ran a series of
series. Probably one of the most effective,
to me personally, was a series we did in
conjunction with National Collegiate
Alcohol Awareness Week in mid-October.
The week following the series, a friend
of mine admitted to myself and others
that he was an alcoholic. More impor
tantly, he admitted it to himself. I am
moved by the reality that duties Ihad
sometimes regarded as "only the job" are
in fact more. People. People are every
thing in journalism.
This holiday, my friend is off getting
professional help. Before leaving, he drop
ped this note in my mailbox:
"Thankyou for your patience and under
standing. It's impossible to describe what
goes through your head in the midst of a
self-destructing disease but supportive
sympathy is just about my last glimmer of
hope. Thank you.. And I'm gonna try to
get well."
Despite the hardships of the job and
the headaches, the complaints and the
frustration of wanting to please all read
ers and be everywhere at once, there are
those special times like this, for instance
when the press can act as a catalyst for
healthy change, and inspiration, a hope
for new life. Those are the times, espe
cially, when being the press" ain't too
bad.
MlcMda Thuman
D&SSy Nebraska Senior Editor
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Letters
Doctor: Student lacks facts
I wish to respond to the guest
opinion by pre-med student James
E. Ruley Jr. concerning the Baby
Fae case (Daily Nebraskan, Nov.
19).
Ruley states: The first priority
of a good physician and re
searcher is to gather and analyze
all of the facts before making a
decision."
Ruley broke that rule by con
demning the physician who
worked on the Baby Fae case. He
does not have all the facts in the
case and yet, on the basis of what
he has read in the news, he makes
a decision to condemn.
Rule No. 2 is: "Do not trust what
you read in the news media."
Ralph A. Ewert, M.D.
University Health Center
'Boss fan disputes criticism
It seems to have become fashion
able for anyone with a gripe to
blame it on those decadent hooli
gans who lined up for Bruce
Springsteen tickets.
At one time, I had already
decided it wasn't worth my time
to write a response to any obvi
ously fragile attempt at logic that
would be forgotten in a week, but
after seeinganother self-righteous
lettereditorial condemning
Springsteen fans, I feel a slight
need to defend myself. Spring
steen fans have been blamed for
everything from the MX, social
decay, trashing our beautiful
campus, alarming our fine alumni,
interfering with the almighty Big
Red crowds, keeping handicapped
people out of the union to possibly
even the heartbreak of psoriasis.
This is ridiculous.
Sam Umland, Liz Burden, Kema
Soderberg and others: who are
any of you to throw stones? All of
you can condemn others for lining
up for concert tickets when we
haven't done anything socially
significant, but I can't help but
wonder, "what's the connection?"
Do we have to say a Hail Mary and
protest something unjust to earn
a trip to a concert? What's the
price to visit relatives? You say,
Umland (Daily Nebraskan, Nov.
7), you doubt this student body
has done anything to prevent the
MX in Nebraska, yet I doubt you
or your fellow editorial stone
throwers have done any more
than I have. I am also opposed to
the MX, and to U.S. policy in
Central America, and am far from
apathetic about it, but a concert
in Lincoln is something I can see'
and attend now. These social
idealisms are not, and they have
no relation to each other.
Last but not least, there was
KemaSoderberg's alleged editorial
Oct. 26, which probably started
this nonsense. Was there a neces
sity for big headlines saying, "Boss
Fans Wreck Campus Havoc?"
Wreck havoc? If a tent in the
grass means havoc to you I
shudder to think of your reaction
in a real crisis.
So, the point of all this is that if
, you have a legitimate gripe or
complaint, by all means say it.
The only way most problems get
solved is when they are brought
to light. But, to place blame on
something unconnected or blown
out of proportion is absurd. Leave
the Springsteen fans alone. Your
problems are not our fault, just
as ours are not yours. Place blame
where it belongs, not where it's
convenient.
Geoff McMurtry
sophomore
broadcasting
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Memories e
voke
longing
for boyhood days gone by
"W t was yesterday. We rolled
I down the last dusty mile in
JL the old green station wagon
and parked in the farmyard in
front of the house. Grandma walk
ed out, untying her apron, and
Grandpa stood in the doorway.
Both waited for the onslaught of
children the green Ford was about
to unleash.
f .V ' i
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EDITOR
GENERAL MANAGER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PUBLICATIONS BOARD
CHAIRPERSONS
PROFESSIONAL ADVISER
Chris Wcfcch, 472-17C3
Daniel Shattil
Kitty Pollcky
Nick Fclsy, 47S-C275
Angela fJietfcSd, 475-4S31
Don Wetton, 473-7301
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-CSO) is published by the UNL Publica
tions Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and
Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations.
Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daiiy
Nebraskan by phoning 472-2583 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through
Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For informa
tion, caii Nick Foley, 476-0275 or Angela Nietfield, 475-4331.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska
Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 6S5S3-0443. Second class postage paid at
Lincoin, NE6S510.
ALL E.1 ATEP.1AL COPYRIGHT KZi DAILY ESHASXAN
Grandma always hugged me
first, I'm sure of it, and as I ran
past Grandpa toward the kitchen
for buttermilk and prune kuchen,
he quietly said, "Christowhatfer"
Grandpa always spoke quietly,
except when Mike drove Dad's
car into the ditch while having a
little fun on the roads between
the farm and our catfish lines in
the Big Blue. But he must have
been tempted to raise his voice
when I spaced off my turn at Spit
and Spite because of the suspense
on "Jeopardy."
"You playing cards or watching
TV?" Grandpa asked.
Pinochle was the big game in
Grandpa's living room. Grandma
taught me how to play pinochle
in the kitchen while the big folks
played around the card table with
Grandpa in his rocking chair chew
ing Redman. Grandma smelled
like cinnamon roils, Grandpa like
tobacco their house smelled
like home.
The cold upstairs bedroom had
in it what Grandpa called a pee
pot so we wouldn't have to go too
far into the cold from the quilt-
laden big brass bed. I fought with
anyone who wanted to sleep with
Grandma; once, when I lost, I
tried to sleep under the big brass
bed with the daddy longlegs.
In the morning, after break
fast, we ran to the barn to pet
cows and watch them at the
water tank! We climbed into the
hay loft, where we played cow
boys and cops and searched for
tunnels. When the hay was high
enough, we could swing from the
pulley on the roof, slide abng the
cable across the loft, let go of the
hood at peak speed, fall into the
hay and race to get back on the
pulley.
Back in the house, we played
Chinese Checkers and listened to
stories on Grandma's ample lap.
We ate more kuchen and cinnamon
rolls and spun around in the liv
ing room swivel chair until it was
time to go into town.
We sat in one of Hebron's two
bars, or both. Grandpa and Dad
drank a beer and I had grape or
strawberry Nesbitts and beer nuts.
Everybody wore overalls and
everybody knew Grandpa
"Hey, Joe. Who's this? One of
Max's?" .
I wanted some overalls and a
beer. But no Redman.
We went back into town for
mass on Sunday morning in
Grandpa's '6-4 Ford Custom. Old
Monsignor Rezabek looked and
sounded the same at Grandpa's
and Grandma's funerals as he did
at their 50th wedding anniver
sary "The Lord be with you," he
drawled into the smell of cin
namon rolls and chewing tobac
co. Now only swallows fly through
the hay loft. Nobody chases cows
into the pond or shoots at toads
with the old .22, and nobody is
baking any prune kuchen in the
kitchen. Somebody else cuts the
milo and mends the fences, but
nobody says "Christowhatfer."
You can't go back, And I don't
like it. I know it won't change, but
I don't like it. Grandpa would say
"Tain't funny." Tain't.
Editorial
. Policy
Unsigned editorials represent
official policy of the fall 1984
Daily Nebraskan. They are written
by this semester's editor in chief,
Chris Welsch.
Other staff members will write
editorials throughout the sem
ester. They will carry the author's
name after the final sentence.
Editorials do not necessarily
reflect the views of the university,
its employees, the students or the
NU Board of Regents. .
The Daily Nebrsskan's pub
lishers are the regents, who
sta'blished'the UNL Publications
Board to supervise the dally pro
duction cf the newspaper.
According to the policy set by
the regents, responsibilkyfor the
content cf the newspaper lies
solely in the hands of its student
editors. .
