Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
Lee Rood, Editorial Page Editor
Jane Hirt, Managing Editor
Brandon Loomis, Associate News Editor
Victoria Ayotte, Wire Page Editor
Deaime Nelson, Copy Desk Chief
Curt Wagner, Columnist
The alliance’s new support group is an excellent way to reach gay
men and lesbians who may needhelp and understanding but djHKjtwisJi
ing a social, academic and emotional support group serves to reach
more people and address other important needs tor gay men and
lesbians. . ^ further
A .stronger internal siruc tore Ou lor-made for the interest of individu*
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Pennsylvania State University
• Awwww Naaaaah. Really? Naaaah...
An asbestos czar charged with overseeing asbestos removal at the
university? While that’s a positive step, the appointment still leaves
many questions about the asbestos affair unanswered.
The appointment of a “czar” is dubiously progressive. To make a
special appointment of someone to oversee asbestos removal seems to
be an admission by the administration of one of two things: that no one
was overseeing the removal to begin with, or that those who were were
incompetent
cotikf be a good one. Ilut workers shoultfkaep a careful watch over that
implementation. Given past honor stories, they’ve got no reason at all
to trust the administration with their health. In the end, the only czar
who will protect workers is one who’s accountable to them.
- Tttt Tara
• National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle made the
proper move when he issued a four-game suspension to Cleveland
Browns' running bock Kevin Mack last week. Inis action by the NFL
is common practice for first-time thug offenders.
The entire affair is unfortunate for the Browns, for their fans and for
young people who look up to a player with Mack’s status. And it points
to a larger problem - athletes as role models.
Professional athletes have attained a near-hero status in American
society. Many are paid enormous amounts <£ money for playing a kid's
game, while basking in the national spotlight
While it is tempting to hold athletes op to a higher ethical standard,
it is unrealistic to expect model behavior from diem.
Athletic ability has little or notiiing to do with an individual’s moral
character or sense of social responsibility.
■ - TIm D*ij XmK Sinter
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Former addict offers solutions
Prevention requires more than slogans and drug testing
President George Bush’s war
on drugs wouldn’t have done
a lot for me at 15. My world
didn’t include newspapers that re
ported on drug lords in Colombia and
suffer penalties for illegal drug use in
the United States.
I was fighting my own war and
survival at any cost was my goal.
Teenagers tend to be dramatic, and I
was no exception. But teenagers do
face many problems and are given
little control oyer the solutions.
Drugs and alcohol were my way of
taking control.
Back then, I was a teenage addict.
Today, at age 24,1 know how to face
problems without blacking them out.
Last week, as Bush announced his
drug plan, I celebrated my eighth
drug-and-alcohol-free year. As oth
ers debated how effective his plan
would be on drug-dependent Amer
ica, I remembered being 15, my own
addiction and the mindset that ac
companied my abuse.
The possibility of getting caught
with drugs made no impact on me or
my friends. The consequences in
cluded lime in juvenile hall or hu
miliation from authority figures.
Most of us wanted to be somewhere
other than home, and whether it was
chemicals that took us there or a po
lice officer . . . well, it just didn’t
matter. Everyone knew we did drugs,
we were the burnouts who partied on
the school steps, and we felt the dis
approval daily.
However, even those ot us bent on
living in a cloud had aspirations.
Mine was acting.
I emerged as something of a class
leader, but later fell from the theater
instructor’s good graces. One day I
came toclass stoned and. while trying
to impersonate a giraffe, broke into
hysterical laughter.
I remember feeling my face grow
hot, the shame hitting me as my class
mates whispered that I must be high.
That in itself was bad enough, but the
instructor took the incident a step
beyond humiliation.
He said it toas obvious that I didn't
want to change; that I should stay
away from my other drug buddies
because they were “salvageable.”
Today I realize this teacher knew
little about drug addiction and was
obviously a little angry. At the time,
however, his pessimistic evaluation
sounded about right.
Within a year, a social worker
managed to help me start dealing
with what was causing my drug usage
rather than the behaviors stemming
from it. I could admit to her that drugs
made my day seem more like every
one else’s. They were something
worth getting up for, and without
them, a black cloud of depression
hung over me.
After that admission, I was admit
ted into a drug and alcohol treatment
program. The 30 days I spent there
dried out me and my fellow addicts.
The real challenge, however, began
when we got out. We had to find a
way to deal with the black clouds or
we would use again.
This is what society must offer
today’s drug abuser ~ an appropriate
way to deal with black clouds. That
cloud is poverty for many inner-city
youths. For others, the cloud is lack of
attention, discipline or love. The list
varies and attempts to place blame
accomplish nothing. Drug and alco
hol abusers must deal with their own
addictions. The help from out under
that cloud, however, comes from the
outside.
Bush is asking Americans to pro
vide that way out. Unfortunately, his
approach to this country’s drug prob
lem sometimes misses the mark.
Two points in his proposed drug
plan could work, however, if imple
mented properly.
One requires the adoption of drug
prevention programs in schools, col
leges and universities. The other asks
for drug treatment coverage in insur
ance policies.
Effective prevention programs
must offer more than slogans, such as
“just say no” or mandatory drug
testing, which only can identify us
ers.
' Prevention is a lost cause for many
children soon after they enter school.
My cousin told me several years ago
that her fifth-grade classmate had
been busted for selling angel dust. A
school convocation on the perils of
drug abuse wouldn't have done much
for that student.
Professionals capable ot bom
identifying and listening to students
who use drugs are needed. These
adults can’t be hung up on judging
youngsters who have the audacity to
try something their parents told them
is harmful. Teenagers who develop
serious drug problems usually have
other problems that have needed at
tention for years. These profession
als, rather than acting as trained
narcs, must be available to sort
through conflicts students encounter
at home, school or with their peers.
Some young addicts who want to
recover need time away from their
peers and home life. Many reputable
youth-rehabilitation programs exist,
but all come with a $3,000-or-more
price tag. In the past five years many
insurance companies have moved
away from providing inpatient bene
fits. The trend needs to go the other
way, with all insurance companies
making effective treatment finan
cially feasible.
some skeptics say no matter wmi
we do, the drug problem won’t get
better. They view young drug addicts
as rebels without a cause.
Think again.
These youth only reflect back to
society what they have been taught:
inebriation is the next best thing to
handling your problems.
Chris Carroll is a senior news-editorial ma
jor and supplements editor for the Daily Ne
bra* an.
Legendary band performs
simple, superior production
I was very impressed with Sun
day night’s Crosby, Stills and Nash
concert at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center. Despite playing before a
less-than-capacity crowd, the
group demonstrated true profes
sionalism by giving the audience a
top-rate performance. They
proved to me that rock ‘n’ roll does
not have to use loud music, a driv
ing drumbeat and flashing lights to
achieve a superior production.
They demonstrated that music is
best when it utilizes the most
powerful instrument ever in
vented, the human voice.
The sophisticated style of
Crosby, Stills and Nash has cer
tainly made them masters of their
particular genre of music, the kind
who will be respected for decades
to come. During the concert, it
didn’t hit me that I was watching a
performance by true legends until I
noticed a man holding a newborn,
and realized that he had brought
his baby so that the child could
grow up to say that he or she had
attended a concert such as this one.
Nathan Strong
graduate
geography
editorial
Signed staff editorials represent
the official.policy of the fall 1988
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the
Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its
members are Amy Edwards, editor;
Lee Rood, editorial page editor; Jane
Hirt, managing editor; Brandon
Loomis, associate news editor. Bob
Nelson, columnist; Jeff Petersen, col
umnist; Brian Svoboda, columnist.
Editorials do not necessarily re
flect the views of the university, its
employees, the students or the NU
Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the
opinion of the author.
fa
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
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Letters will be selected for publi
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The Daily Nebraskan retains the right
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