Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, February 5, 1986
1
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Page 4
1L,
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Speaking skills honed
UNL's Model United Nations
program is a good example
of a campus activity that
helps prepare students for the
working world.
The program, scheduled to
begin Feb. 12, includes groups of
students who represent countries
in a mock-U.N. General Assembly
session. They discuss real-world
problems, such as the arms race,
in a way that attempts to dupli
cate the actual organization.
In the program, participants
research their respective coun
tries' characters and dispositions
and try to form opinions on the
issues based on that research,
rather than relying on their Ameri
can point of view. This makes the
Model United Nations program a
good instrument for decreasing
students' ethnocentrism: They're
forced to think and contribute
toward a non-American viewpoint.
That's something more federal
level politicians could use.
Speaking in front of a large
group also strengthens students'
Family Feud
Politicians must cool animosities
Opinion polls consistently
show that politicians are
not highly respected by the
public. Although many politicians
have lamented this fact, the pub
lic is right to respond, "Physi
cian, heal thyself."
The public's low opinion of
politicians simply mirrors the
politicians' own opinion of them
selves. Continual feuding and
personal nitpicking demonstrate
a lack of esteem for fellow politi
cians. The ongoing feud between Gov.
Bob Kerrey and state Sen. John
DeCamp of Neligh bears sad tes
timony to how personal acrimony
sours the decision-making pro
cess. Recently the bickering boiled
over into a banking committee
hearing where, after a sharp pol
icy exchange occurred between
DeCamp and Kerrey, a noticea
ble and uncomfortable silence
ensued. DeCamp reportedly
broke the silence by saying to
Kerrey, "But we still like each
other, don't we?"
Kerrey tersely replied, "No."
He then left the hearing room.
Although Kerrey cannot be
held solely responsible for the
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials represent
official policy of the spring 1986
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial
Board. Its members are Vicki
Ruhga, editor, Ad Hudler, edi
torial page editor, Thorn Gabru
kiewicz, managing editor; James
Rogers, editorial associate and
Chris Welsch, copy desk chief.
Editorials do not necessarily
reflect the views of the university,
Vicki Ruhga, Editor, 472,1766
Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor
Ad Hudler, Editorial Page Editor
James Rogers, Editorial Asxxnate
Chris Welsch, Copy Desk Chief
communication skills.
Model United Nations partic
ipants often speak without a
prepared speech. They have to
think and reason on their feet,
convincingly delivering speeches.
Unfortunately, chances to do
this are few and far between on a
campus as large as UNL's. Speak
ing to larger groups increases
speakers' confidence in handling
themselves among crowds of
strangers a trait some em
ployers look for during inter
views. UNL graduates today face tight
competition in job markets. Em
ployers have thousands of grad
uates to choose from, several of
them more than qualified.
Communication skills are im
portant. UNL's Model United Na
tions program is worthwhile be
cause it teaches students those
skills.
Students interested in the
Model United Nations program
can contact Georgia Panos in
Nebraska Union 200 or 237.
public display of acrimony, some
observers have noted that his
public temper has shortened con
siderably since he announced he
would not seek re-election. Not
only has the number of sharp
replies increased in his dealings
with other politicians, but he
has been increasingly short with
the media as well.
There is little excuse for his
behavior, and it serves only to
justify the already significant
cynicism with which the public
views politicians.
The public has a right to
demand that its leaders don't
pursue pettiness. Civility in the
public policy process has marked
off great legislative periods from
poor ones. When politicians man
age, even under the strain of
considerable divergences of
opinion, to rise above personal
grudges, they deservedly are
called statesmen.
Given the crisis facing Nebra
. ska today, the state's citizens
deserve having their problems
come first in the politicians'
minds and having personal dis
putes between our state's politi
cians be put aside at least for
the duration.
its employees, the students or
the NU Board of Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan's pub
lishers are the regents, who
established the UNL Publications
Board to supervise the daily
production of the paper.
According to policy set by the
regents, responsibility for the
editorial content of the news
paper lies solely in the hands of
its student editors.
SHouLp mciss w
MU5C165 A Um
BIT MORE,
Community cure tor aloenaHion
Personal freedom's cost is detachment from society
Tis all in peeces, all coharence
gone; All just supply, and all
Relation: Prince, Subject, Father,
Sonne, are things forgot, For
every man alone thinkes he hath
got To be a Phoenix, and that then
can bee None of that kinde, of
which he is, but hee.
John Donne (1611)
Forty years ago, Karl Polanyi wrote
on The Great Transformation, a
term he applied to the destruc
tion of the Anglo-Saxon social fabric by
the political implementation of the
"self-regulating market" in the begin
ning of the 19th century.
Jim
Rogers
He argued that culture responded
spontaneously to this misguided eco
nomic policy and now "in retrospect
our age will be credited with having
seen the end of the self-regulating
market."
While Polanyi deserves credit for his
insight, ironically, he failed to grasp
the full social depth and breadth of the
transformation that had taken place
as well as the length of time that
culture would need to begin healing
from the wound.
The 19th century did not simply
shear the person from the social fabric
only in respect to economic relation
ships, the person was shorn from the
entire weave of the social fabric but
was told that his one bare thread was a
beautiful garment.
Letters
Governments should learn from victims' heroic example
It is a wonder to me how the deaths
of the heroes and heroines aboard the
space shuttle instantly pulled a nation
together.
As the nation mourns, these peoples'
ideals now become the nation's ideals,
which are pure and upright, full-blown
red, white and blue.
Even the hatred for communists is
put aside as Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev gave a message of grief with
more understanding and sentiment
than a Hallmark card.
Irresponsible students 'trash' opportunities for others
Each year, the Women's Law Caucus
sponsors a fund-raising party to cele
brate the birthday of suffragist Susan
B. Anthony.
One of the most difficult tasks
connected with the production of
"Susan B." is finding a hall suitable for
our needs. Last year, we found the ideal
hall the Lincoln Knights of Colum
bus. Unfortunately, neither the WLC nor
t
Well, as anyone knows, one thread
does not a garment make, and now the
emperor of the modern era the Indi
vidual is chagrined to discover that
he has no clothes. Modern society had
proclaimed itself "rich, wealthy and in
need of nothing," while all the time it
was wretched, miserable, poor, blind
and naked.
The modern term applied to this
condition is "alienation." Its signifi
cance and its link to the utilitarian
spirit of the 19th century is now
observed by thinkers irrespective of
ideological boundaries.
Radical philosopher Robert Paul
Wolff articulated this thought in his
provocative essay, "Beyond Tolerance":
"Dialectically opposed to the liberal
philosophy and speaking for the values
of an earlier, preindustrial, age is the
conservative philosophy of community.
"The involvement of each with all,
which to Mill was a threat and an impo
sition, is to such critics of liberalism as
Burke or Durkheim a strength and an
opportunity. It is indeed the greatest
virtue of society, which supports and
enfolds the individual in a warm, affec
tive community stretching backwards
and forwards in time and bearing
within itself the accumulated wisdom
and values of generations of human
experience."
In their 1985 work "Habits of the
Heart," three sociologists, a philosophy
professor and a theology professor doc
ument the Americans' attempts to
create and sustain social commitment
in the face of a powerful "culture of
separation." They also document a
deep yearning on the part of many for
the "meaning and coherence" of "the
The Soviet Union and the United
States love their heroes and heroines.
This is true because heroes and
heroines do not stand for the filth in
national policy and diplomacy. They
stand for what "should be." Both
countries should have internal friend
ship between individuals and between
the government and its citizens.
The United States and the Soviet
Union should be friends with the global
village, and not at odds with any nation
that lives up to the "should be" of
having these internal friendships be
any other student group will ever again
be allowed to use the hall because an
unnamed student group "trashed" it in
an end-of-semester party last spring.
Our complaint is not with the Knights
of Columbus, but with the irresponsible
student group.
The actions of these few have taken
away a wonderful opportunity for many.
I would like' to remind all student
groups that they not only represent
w " I F I WWb'j
f4
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idealized small town."
While they note that the physical
aspect of this ideal is lost, they none
theless argue that it is "worth consid
ering" how the traditions enmeshed in
this ideal can be "reappropriated in
ways that respond to our present need."
Renewed interest in a revitalized
social fabric also can be seen on the
right in the rebirth of Burkean conser
vatism. For example, the right-wing
American Enterprise Institute has
published a number of thoughtful works
on "mediating structures."
As AEI president William Baroody
recently wrote: "There is more to our
society than just government and indi
viduals. There is a range of structures
in between that are meaningful, legit
imate, efficacious, dynamic, and under
the rubric of what we might call the old
politics generally ignored."
The filtering down of this renewed
emphasis into public discussion was
recently seen in the focus upon com
munity and values in the discussion
among black leaders after Bill Movers'
documentary on the disintegration of
the black community.
The 19th and 20th centuries repres
ent a period of overreaction to the
overly authoritarian past. Centuries
from now, I think, our epoch will be
viewed as an ironic and tragic period,
where the human spirit was cruelly
crushed, all in the name of its libera
tion. As Prof. Wolff heralded in 1965:
"There is need for a new philosophy of
community, beyond pluralism and
beyond tolerance."
Rogers Is a UNL graduate student In phi
losophy and a law student and Daily
Nebraskan editorial assistant.
tween individuals and between the
government and its people.
The "should be" of humanism should
be erected that of the arts and
culture, not to mention science.
Lastly, both countries should lead
the other nation in signing a contract
of absolute peace. Seven people died
leaving a legacy of ideals that "should
be."
James Schwaderer
senior
arts and sciences
themselves as individuals or as a
particular group, but represent every
student, student group and college.
To the student group in question: I
hope you were happy with your actions.
Your few moments of pleasure were at
our expense.
Denise Harrell
junior
law
secretary, Women's Law Caucus
