Tuesday, April 28, 1937
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
JEditorial
nT n Daily
Nsbrasxan
University ol Nebraska-Lincoln
Positive measures needed
"Of 24 black students
polled, 78 percent said they
have experienced some sort
of racism at UNL. "
Daily Nebraskan, April
27, 19S7
The numbers are frighten
ing and not encouraging.
Some may say 24 students
isn't a good enough sample of
the black population at UNL, but
when you consider that in 1986
only 341 black undergraduates
attended the university, the
numbers indicate differently.
Black students make up only 2.2
percent of the student population.
The comments made by those
interviewed were ear-opening:
O "A girl accused me of
stealing something. I didn't, but
because I was black, she assumed
it was me," said Tina Holley, a
sophomore political science
major.
O "Nebraska perceives black
people as Doug DuBose and Bill
Cosby. I want you to treat me as a
person who happens to be black,"
said Stevie Wilson, a junior UPC
member.
O "The only minority stand
at UNL is the football team. Is
that the only reason we're allowed
here?" said James Morris, a
freshman on the track team.
The statements above may seem
sensational, but they're not. The
students are voicing their feel
ings. Voicing a problem that is
not always evident, at least to
white students, but probably
wj Mmsw thsy
Letter
-
i .---i
Notes aren't substitute for attendance
This letter is in response to the Daily
Halfaskan (DN, April 24). I realize that
this paper was made only as a joke and
wasn't intended to do any damage, but
it did contain a contradictory an
nouncement about Jon's Notes in the
classified section. The announcement
implied that if you were tired of going
to class you could buy Jeffs Notes and
"skip like a madman."
I would like to set the record straight
and apologize to anybody who might be
misinformed about Jon's Notes. The
notes ie not intended to be used as a
substitute for class attendance, but are
to be used &lon3 with the student's own
notes taken in class. In fact, a study
JdT Koilx-lik, Editor, 472-1760
James Uotfers, Editorial Paye Editor
Use Olson, Associate Ncirs Editor
Mike Keilley, Siyht News Editor
.loan Rezac, Copt Desk Chief
should be. Racism should be
recognized, and efforts made to
alleviate the problem. That re
quires the cooperation of white
and black students as well as the
administration.
Some steps have been taken,
but few and far between. Pro
grams created to help black stu
dents adjust include the Minor
ity Assistance Program that offers
counseling to help minority stu
dents adjust to college life. The
Culture Center was set up for
racial minorities.
There are so few programs
because of a low number of
minority students on campus,
especially black students. Lisa
Schmidt, coordinator of the Pre
admissions Activities Office,
acknowledged the low percen
tage, but said there should be a
larger minority population and
more support services provided
for them. She's absolutely right.
She said the university offers
scholarships to recruit minority
students. But again, not enough.
According to the DN article, a
preliminary survey indicated that
more than money, scholarships
and amenities are needed to
improve the situation at UNL.
Deep and lasting changes in
attitudes and mutual acceptance
are needed. The survey is part of
preliminary research for a pro
ject on the problems black stu
dents have at UNL.
What the survey notes is nearly
impossible to attain. It's diffi
cult to change one's attitudes
and that's what is so frightening.
m'x& ciose high "
was done, and it was found that the
notes do not help very much if the
students uses them in place of class.
Jon's Notes are of great benefit to the
student when used as a supplement.
Jon Donlan
Jon's Notes
Letter Policy
Letters will be selected for publica
tion on the basis of clarity, originality,
timeliness and space available. The
Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit all material submitted.
Anonymous submissions will not be
considered for publication.
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.temative format, needled.
KRNU could replace
W
hen I got this job last January,
I promised to keep my columns
substantive, about relevant and
important political or social trends.
I've tried to be good all semester, but
this is my last column until next fall,
and there's something I want to talk
about.
It's not earth-shakingly important,
but it bugs me.
KRNU plays awful music.
If you don't have any friends in the
broadcasting department, you've prob
ably never even heard of KRNU, UNL's
radio station. KRNU is run by the Col
lege of Journalism's broadcasting de
partment. As a lab experience, KRNU works
well and is quite valuable. But KRNU
has a twofold purpose. It's supposed to
provide a resource for the broadcasting
department and provide programming
not otherwise available in Lincoln.
Right now, that second goal is just a
joke. Oh, it broadcasts Nebraska sport
ing events and the New York Metropoli
tan Opera, and it showcases different
musical styles from 10 p.m. to mid
night. But KRNU could be doing so
much more so easily.
My beef with KRNU is the music it
airs. The bulk of its programming time
is devoted to tightly-formatted, middle-of-the-road,
top-40 radio like the stuff
you hear on KFRX and on every com
mercial radio station in town.
Meanwhile, all across the country,
student-run college radio stations are
known for playing new, adventurous,
experimental rock'n'roll alternatives,
as well as significant, new, non-rock
genres like experimental jazz, reggae,
industrial music and progressive coun
try. KRNU could easily switch to an
Band has tendency to pass blame;
image should stay with views
After reading the Daily Nebraskan
article concerning the band Sui
cidal Tendencies, I felt confused
about the band's purpose. Is it just out
to earn some bucks or grab some fame?
Guest Opinion
Mike Muir, the band's lead vocalist,
denies stories of violence accompanying
the shows but recognizes that the
band's manager encourages the non
truths because they increase record
sales. The article presents Muir as an
individual who claims to assume
responsibility for his life, and yet Muir
passes blame for the continuance of
these "horror stories" to his employee.
Come on, Mike, who's working for
whom here?
But I will give the benefit cf the
doubt. Suicidal Tendencies is not a
'phantom ' audience
alternative format, but it chooses not
to.
Why should it? Who would listen to
that weird stuff anyway?
But who listens to KRNU now? Who
wants to listen to students and ama
teurs play music that can be heard
played by a slick professional disc
jockey on state-of-the-art equipment?
Who wants to hear KRNU play Madon
na's "La Isla Bonita," when over a cou
ple of megahertz, they can hear a com
mercial station offering an all-expense-paid
trip to San Pedro to the 73rd
caller?
Chris
McCubbin
Plenty of people in Lincoln are
hungry for new, different, quality con
temporary music programming. And
these people would listen to such pro
gramming no matter who was playing
it.
It's not impossible to find alterna
tive rock in Lincoln. A couple of the
commercial stations do weekly spe
cials, and the culturally invaluable
KZUM plays many hours a week of
alternative rock, mostly late at night.
But wouldn't it be nice to have a
station here in town that you could
tune in any time and know you'd hear
something new and challenging?
When I did a story last year on KRNU,
they gave me several reason for their
format. I didn't think the reasons held
band Intent on catering to the "dark
side" of impressionable young people
to build a financial and fame-filled
empire. Instead, the band's intent is to
provide a vehicle for the poetry, musical
composition and subsequent perfor
mance of its members. Its intent is to
express reactions to real-life exper
iences in an attempt to find others who
understand. You know, share the
moment. Sounds kind of tender, sen
sitive. But, alas, the band has been given
the shaft by a whole mess of narrow
minded skeptics. The press is picking
on it for no apparent reason; people
meeting band members are surprised
at how "nice" they really are. This
frustrates Muir.
I find the frustration ironic in light
of his interpretive revelations concern
ing the band's song "Prisoner." The DN
reported that this song is "about some
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with loyal listeners
much water.
The best excuse the broadcasting
department has for not changing KRNU'S
format is money. In these hard times,
any radical shift in policy must be
weighed carefully for cost-effectiveness.
Alternative records generally are some
what more expensive than mainstream
music. On the other hand, independent
record companies often consider alter
native stations their most valuable
promotional resource, and they ship a
lot of freebies to such stations. A smart
program director who's not afraid to
write letters might actually save money
with a progressive format.
The worst argument against making
the switch is that broadcasting stu
dents at KRNU are playing the same
thing they'll be playing when they have
a job so they're getting better profes
sional experience. This is so silly. Mojo
Nixon and Glass Tiger play on the same
machines. If KRNU really wants to pro
vide a simulation of a commercial radio
station, why aren't they taking chances
and trying new things to carve out a
loyal and appreciative .share of the
radio listenership instead of playing
lets-pretend games in the studio,
broadcasting boring pap to a phantom
audience.
The broadcasting faculty that runs
KRNU does a good job for the depart
ment, but it's asleep to the needs of the
rest of the university. If you think UNL
needs a real college radio station, drop
a line to KRNU. If enough of us make
ourselves heard, even the professors
will have to listen.
McCubbin is a senior English and philo
sophy major and Daily Nebraskan Div
ersions editor.
high-school punks who dress or act so
that they will be condenscendingly
stereotyped and then use it as an
excuse for failure."
"Prisoner" sounds like a revamping
of the adage, "you made your bed, now
sleep in it," combined with the philo
sophy recently capitalized on in the
best-seller "Dress for Success" that
people will perceive you as you present
yourselt
Perhaps the philosophies in the
song "Prisoner" hold true for bands, for
example, Suicidal Tendencies. If band
members wish to be held in a higher
regard, they must project that image.
But until they can project an image
consistent with their personal philo
sophies, give me the Boss.
Amy Ball
senior
business