Monday, December 8, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
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toria
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Jeff Korbclik, Editor, 472,1766
James Rogers, Editorial Page Editor
Gene Gentrup, Managing Editor
Tammy Kaup, Associate News Editor
Todd von Kampen, Editorial Page Assistant
.... tf
NebraMcan
University cf Nebraska-Lincoln
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Sheldon work
needed.
Lied benefits
The Omaha World-Herald re
ported Sunday that the Shel
don Memorial Art Gallery is
planning a 35,700-square-foot un
derground expansion at a cost of
$5.5 million from outside funds.
Sheldon will benefit greatly
from the expansion an archi
tectural study showed the mu
seum's exhibition space will
nearly double and storage space
will quadruple. But the much
needed expansion had to wait
until now because of the Lied
Center for the Performing Arts.
Sheldon Director George Neu
bert said in the article that the
expansion "had been, on the
back burner since the Lied be
came a top priority for the (Uni
versity of Nebraska) Foundation."
That's too bad. It seems as if
projects such as Sheldon or a
new campus recreation facility
are being put on back burners
until sufficient funds are raised
for the arts center.
Neubert said he was anxious
to move ahead and felt "very
'Quite simply, it's bad9
Students have pour righting skils
Talk to any professor who
regularly assigns essay ques
tions on exams or papers in
undergraduate classes and you'll
hear reports of widespread writ
ing inadequacies. Talk to stu
dents, and a large number will
tell you that they hate, essay,
questions and paper assignments.
Students all too often are not
bringing to college writingskills
sufficient to let them focus on
the assignment itself. When stu
dents face writing assignments
they often feel that the burden of
expressing themselves in writ
ing is almost as heavy, if not
heavier, than the burden of the
substantive portion of the as
signment. The National Assessment of
Education Progress recently is
sued a report that outlines the
reason so many college students
can't write well they aren't
taught those skills in elementary
school or high school. Archie
Lapointe, director of the group
that did the study, is direct
about the product of the nation's
schools: "Performance in writing
in our schools is, quite simply,
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials represent
official policy of the fall 1986 Daily
Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its mem
bers are Jeff Korbelik , editor, James
Rogers, editorial page editor, Gene
Gentrup, managing editor, Todd Von
Kampen, editorial page assistant
and Tammy Kaup, associate news
editor.
Editorials do not necessarily re
flect the views of the university, its
questionable
responsible by stepping aside"
to allow construction of the Lied
Center. Neubert should not have
to be responsible.
We have noted time and time
again that more attention should
be paid to facilities already here
or those that will benefit the
university community more di
rectly. The expansion at Sheldon
is just another example.
Also noteworthy . . . Sheldon
has suffered from last year's
budget reductions. Cuts from
operating budgets have decreased
the availability of films and ex
hibits at Sheldon.
The NU Foundation and the
Nebraska Art Association will
assist Sheldon in raising funds
for expansion. It would be nice
to see if these organizations
could raise money for Operating .
purposes as well. There's no
sense in having a new and im
proved building if people will
not have the opportunity to enjoy
it fully.
bad." .
Writing skills cannot be mean
ingfully separated from oral com
munication and thinking skills.
The reasons that writing appears
to be more burdensome than oral
communication are: (1) writing
takes more physical energy; (2)
writing requires more attention
to the technical details and the
logic of the language; "and (3)
written communication, because
it is more permanent than oral
communication, exposes error in
analysis more readily than does
verbal communication. Conse
quently, people generally feel
that they need to think out the
substance of a written work more
than a similar statement given
orally.
At this point universities can
do little to remedy the problem
wholesale. Small steps can be
taken by requiring students to
engage in frequent composition
for all classes. The adage "prac
tice makes perfect" could per
haps be amended in this context
to "practice at least makes tol
erable." employees, the students or the NU
Board of Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan's publishers
are the regents, who established the
UNL Publications Board to super
vise the daily production of the
paper.
According to policy set by the
regents, responsibility for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies
solely in the hands of its student
editors.
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Students today prefer playing inside political game
I have less than two weeks left now
before graduation, which means
I'm about to embark on what Dr.
Johnny Fever once called a "slow fade
and segue to senility." You know how it
is: Once college is over, there's not
much left to do but get older (although
I plan much more than that).
Since I'm an almost-alumnus, some
might say, I probably could afford to
forget about this university. But even if
I wanted to forget, which I don't, I can't
now not with Dead Week and yet
another midyear budget cut hitting us
at the same time. So, with one eye on
this latest NU crisis,' I'd like to offer a
piece of advice to those "who have ears
to hear."
Don't assume that student
silencemeans students don't care.
For one thing, students don't have
time right now to make a lot of noise.
Whoever planned this special session
was a genius it hits NU and the state
and community colleges at their busi
est time of the year. Students rushing
to finish class projects and study for
finals aren't going to rush to the State
Capitol en masse to try to stop this cut.
But that practical excuse probably
won't be enough to shake assumptions
of student apathy. The truth is that
many campuses are quieter these days.
And the standard line is that students
must therefore be indifferent to the
fcrld around them or the one under
their noses. When you've seen ugly
campus demonstrations like Kent State
during your lifetime, it's easy to reach
that conclusion.
Maybe it's apathy that explains why
some state leaders think that, as one
UNL student leader said he was told
once, "students don't bring that much
to the table." Some veterans of 1960s
activism, according to a recent Omaha
World-Herald story on the subject, blame
the apathy on 1980s selfishness and
conformity.
"(Students) are so well domesti
cated," one source in that story said,
"they've been told li's not nice to cany
placards . . . it's not nice to make
Video shopping a new phenomenon
The time is 10 pjn. and thejelevi
sion announcer, speaking in the
excited decibels of a carnival
emcee, urges me: "Stay tuned, we have
some kind of a show coming up to
night!" I pause in my remote control
travels through the cable options.
What kind of show precisely is com
ing up on my set? Who are the televi
sion stars of the evening? I watch the
talent as it passes before me. First a
calculator, then a coffee maker, a
clock, a gold chain. Strutting their
stuff. Each demanding that I grab my
credit card, dial the toll free number
and buy quickly before time is up.
On the next channel, a different
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1 - Mmfa';
waves." Another said, "As people be
come more me-oriented, they forget
about the world around them. They
don't care as much."
And what of today's "hot" issues?
One source complained in the article
that, at his school, "there is no concern
about divestment (from South Africa),
no concern about homosexual activi-
ties, no racial anything here. On a scale
of one to 10, consciousness here is a
one."
Apparently, students care only if
they're burning books and occupying
buildings regarding the right "issues."
Talk about conformity.
Such people aren't looking in the
right places for signs of 1980s activism.
For one thing, massive student demon
strations never really caught on in this
part of the country but that's not to
say they don't happen.
It was just a year ago that more than
a few so-called apathetics set up shop
at Broyhill Fountain for a rather loud
protest against apartheid. While I was
covering the Legislature's Appropria
tions Committee hearing on the 1985
midyear budget cuts, I seem to recall a
few hundred students were making
noise on the Capitol steps. And what of
all the blue balloons at Memorial Sta
dium? Further, student issues here aren't
limited to the liberal agenda Although
Lincoln may be further to the left than
the rest of Nebraska, it doesn't appear
that liberal when compared to Cal
Berkeley or the Ivy League. We'll share
some issues with the rest of the country
apartheid being one of them but
announcer-oozes his enthusiasm into
the air, compelling me: "Look at that
face!" The camera pans lovingly down a
Santa Claus cap to the nose of a stuffed
f - v
Ellen
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Goodman
GEORGE
BUSH
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Kampen
teddy bear and lingers there for a
moment before exposing the bargain
prize tag.
Soon it is 11:30, and I have finessed
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when more students are on the center
or right, you're going to have othei
issues.
There's one place where 1980s acti
vists on both sides may be found that
1960s veterans overlooked. That's in
side the "Establishment" the verj
thing many of the earlier activists
worked against. Instead of camping
outside the halls of power and yelling
and screaming, students today often
can be found inside those halls playing
the political game. They can argue as,
well as their predecessors; they just do"
it in more traditional ways. ;
Here's a couple of examples of what
I mean. During the recent governor's
campaign, students turned out to work
for Helen Boosalis or Kay Orr in about
equal numbers a few hundred in
both cases. Remember the student
leader I mentioned before whose power
was ridiculed? He was at Orr's victory
party enjoying the spoils of success.
Those who pooh-pooh student activ
ity today are underestimating their
own legacy. Young conservatives anu
liberals alike grew up in the shadow of
the previous generation's protests. They
know it's all right to get involved. Every
generation has its apathetic crowd, but
more young people care deeply about
"the issues" than you might think. But
the issues are different and cover a
wider spectrum and we often prefer
working on the inside.
This special session isn't likely to
feature an avalanche of angry students
battering down the Capitol door over
the latest budget cuts. More likely,
senators will find smartly dressed stu
dents coming up to them in the Capitol
rotunda to plead their case quietly.
Those students are just as dedicated to
their "issue" as the anti-Vietnam pro
testers were to theirs and these
students represent thousands of others
who aren't indifferent to their schools'
future. We're young, we're still out
there and we still care.
Von Kampen is a senior news-editorial
and music major and is DN editorial
page assistant.
the evening newsr I have missed the
latest Cabinet member's performance
at the national microphone. I have
instead been hooked into the viewing
stands of the video sales parade. The
hits keep coming: diamond earrings
and leather luggage, fluted champagne
glasses and answering machines.
"What you are going to see, there are
no adequate words to describe!" "We
are going to cut the price right to the
basement!" "Yes, the phones are start
ing to ring!"
By the time I accidently discover
video shopping, it is more than six
See GOODMAN on 5