Page 4
Tuesday, November 19, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
i w fl
Center must
serve UNL firs
t
Lied
nhe NU Board of Regents formally accepted the $10
million rift from the Lied Foundation last week, mak
ing the Lied Center for Performing Arts a reality.
With ground-breaking ceremonies set for May 1986,
it is time for NU students and faculty to stop question
ing the construction of the center and work together to make it
a worthwhile benefit to the university and the state.
UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale already has appointed a
faculty advisory committee to make recommendations for the
policies and use of the center. A student advisory committee,
representing 11 campus organizations will begin seeking stu
dent input for the project after Thanksgiving, said Sara Boat
man, director of Campus Activities and Programs.
The two committee's first priority should be to ensure the
Lied Center is used as a learning tool.
The center should be considered a classroom, in which
dance, theater and music students should be given first prior
ity to use the structure for their educational benefit. Like the
Union, the coliseum and any other university classroom, stu
dents and campus organizations should be free to use the Lied
Center whenever the space is available. Community organiza
tions should be allowed to use the center as well, but only after
the ends of the university are met.
The committees also should strive to eliminate any competi
tion between the new center, Kimball Hall and Howell Theatre.
Events for each hall need to be scheduled such that patrons
won't be torn between attending a recital at Kimball, a ballet
at Lied or a play at Howell. The halls should function as one
showcase for the arts in Nebraska, complementing each other
by providing flexibility in the amount of space offered to
artists.
Subsequent parking planned for the Lied Center after its
construction should benefit both the university and Lied Cen
ter patrons. The committees need to make plans for the park
ing space now, ensuring that students and faculty have use of
the proposed parking garage by day, while Lied patrons use it
at night.
It is up to the committees to keep their constituents abreast
of what policies are being considered and how students and
faculty can voice their concerns.
With $5 million in state funds going to the construction of
the Lied Center, the committees need to make sure the build
ing serves the best interests of the university.
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SINCE THE WCHBJKD AFFAIR, THATi! TAKEN ONA
MbW MEANING,,,
Miniseries preempts TV routine
Look I lead a simple life, and I
don't make too many demands on
my environment. I can cope with
just about anything, and I even enjoy a
good healthy change every once in a
while, just to keep life fresh and
challenging. So I don't think I'm asking
too much to request that the few
pleasant traditions I seek to uphold go
uninterrupted by the whims and fancies
of those totally unaware of my existence.
James
Sennett
One of the pleasures my family and I
have enjoyed in recent years is our tra
dition known as SNEPITLRAWTRM
DOTV (Sunday night eating pizza in the
living room and watching "Trapper
John, M.D." on television). Now, I
admit this isn't quite on a par with
family vacations in August or putting
the tree top ornament on at Christmas
time. But it does have its way of
reminding my wife, daughter, and me
that some things remain the same. No
matter how hectic things get and no
matter how our schedules may pull us
apart during the week, we can count on
one thing. Come Sunday night, we will
all be gathered around the sausage and
mushroom, laughing at Stanley River
side and sympathizing with the latest
turns in Gonzo's love life.
But, it happened again this week. We
settled down for our weekly rendevous
with stability only to discover that, for
the umpteenth time in as many months,
our family tradition was being preemp
ted by that dreaded intruder, the mini
series. We turned on the telly expect
ing San Francisco Memorial and got
the Smut and Slut Hilton.
I don't mind giving way in my private
enjoyment for important news bullet
ins, or even surrendering one week a
season to a special of historic or artis
tic import (a heading under which the
recent "North and South" did not, alas,
fall) But "Kane and Abel?" Give me a
break.
However, the disruption of our sacred
family gathering is not the real issue
here (luckily, Shirley Temple was on
another channel, and we devoured our
Domino's delivery while cheering "The
Little Princess" on in her unrelenting
quest for her father). The whole mini
series phenomenon is a real thorn in
my side.
In the first place, I don't like what it
says about our willingness to be totally
absorbed in the television escape hatch.
A nice thing about regular program
ming is that you can miss a week or four
as your schedule demands and still
enjoy your favorite programs when you
have the chance to take a break. Also,
you can take a week to get productive
things done before your favorite flight
into fantasy returns.
But the miniseries is there every
night. If you are to enjoy it, you must
put your life on hold for three or four
consecutive evenings, drowning in eight
to twelve hours of vapidness. What
really disturbs me is that there are
enough of us out there willing to do
precisely that, so that the networks
find it well worth their while to keep
putting this trash on the air.
And it's not just the beer-guzzling,
lower-middle-class working stiff who is
endulging. I've been through the dorms
and seen all those students with so
much homework and so many impor
tant things to do just hanging on every
new turn in the latest Harold Bobbins
psycho-sexual melodrama, I guess we
can make time for what is really impor
tant. Eight years ago I took time out from
my graduate studies to watch one of
the first miniseries, a three-night docu
drama on the life of Martin Luther
King. I was enlightened, educated,
inspired and uplifted. I did not even
mind that it preempted "Chips" and
"James at Fifteen."
But this week I had to give up a
special ritual to let fifteen million
financially and sexually frustrated
Americans bask in the voyeurism of yet
another sordid tale about the exploits
and adventures of fictional power
brokers. So this is where those original
experiments in quality television have
led. As Dr. Frankenstein said to Igor
after throwing the third switch, "I
think we've created a monster." Anyb
ody want to buy a Panasonic portable
cheap?
Sennett Is a UNL graduate student in
philosophy and a campus minister of the
College Career Christian Fellowship.
Avital Scharansky won't let East
or West forget oppressed dissidents
jhe day started with a reading of
the papers and the daily search
for a column tonic. There was
much to choose from, lots of truly
important events like the Geneva sum
mit and even less cosmic stories like
the suit brought by Rock Hudson's self
proclaimed last lover. I read it all, took
notes, made some phone calls and then
satisfied with the cornucopia of topics
facing me, I set off for lunch. That's
when I saw her.
Richard
Cohen
First I noticed people staring in the
direction of the Soviet Embassy. When
I got closer, I saw a camera crew and
then, across the street, three people
sitting on chairs before an office build
ing. The person in the middle was Avi
tal Scharansky.
It has been years since I had seen
her last, but she seemed no different
a face constantly updated by news
paper photos and television news and
therefore, like family, too familiar to
notice any change. Her head was cover
ed in the style of ultra-Orthodox Jewish
women, no hair showing, and her dress
was extremely modest and plain. For
all of that, she is the fiercest of accus
ers, a finger pointing always at a Soviet
government that holds her husband,
Anatoly, in a labor camp. On the most
glorious of Indian summer days, she
was a reminder that winter had come
once again to Siberia.
Often there is a demonstration before
the Soviet Embassy. Often, the reason
is the refusal of the Soviet government
to allow Jews to emigrate. Sometimes
rabbis come to pray and sometimes
people just come to stand on the street
and stare at the embassy, which is old
and crusty and all shut up like a closed
mind. You may wonder if the people
inside pay any heed. There is no way to
tell for sure, but I think they do.
Once, I was in the South African
Embassy, waiting in the foyer for a visa,
when five demonstrators came to pro
test apartheid. They rang the bell and
stared straight at the mirrored door,
not knowing they could be seen and
heard through it. They were nervous
about being arrested. They giggled and
made weak jokes, and then the police
came to take them away. They linked
arms and sang "We Shall Overcome,"
and all the time some people inside the
Embassy watched, listened and, of
course, said nothing to one another.
The demonstrators thought no one was
watching, but someone was.
I crossed 16th Street, hesitated for a
moment and then walked over to Avital
Scharansky. I introduced myself be
cause it has been a long time since we
last met. "I think of you a lot," I said. I
do, because she is often in the news,
Please see COHEN on 5