Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Amy Iidwards, Editor, 472-1766
Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor
Ryan Sleeves, Managing Editor
Eric Planner, Associate News Editor
Lisa Donovan, Associate News Editor
Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor
Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor
Opinion alarming
i Students need a voice in governing UNL j
OK, boys and girls, it’s time for “Sen. Langford’s
Neighborhood. ”
Can you say “Out of touch?’’
I thought you could.
In debate over the inclusion of a student regent or
j student trustee vote in the proposed higher education
restructuring in Nebraska, state Sen. Lorraine Langford of
Kearney had some interesting insights about college
students.
Langford said she doesn’t think students belong on the
1 board of trustees because they aren’t interested in policy
1 decisions. Student worries only include how much books
j cost and when the library or union opens, she said.
“They are not worried about the courses taught and
I how much those courses cost,’’ she said. “Decisions like
that have to come from more mature minds.”
Langford also said senators who favor the student vote
are young and obviously haven’t raised children. Because
| of this, she said, those senators don’t realize that students
between the ages of 18 and 20 “make the worst decisions
in the world.”
Iln other words, students don’t care, and if they did care,
they are too stupid to care correctly. And, if any senators
believe otherwise, they haven’t raised children.
It seems Langford doesn’t realize that many 18- to 20
year-olds on this campus already are supporting them
selves. They already are making the decisions of adults.
Along with making adult decisions, these “children”
also are bright enough and motivated enough to live and
succeed at a large university. Passing calculus or chemis
try takes more than an interest in library schedules.
And what about the 26th Amendment to the
1 Constitution that allows 18-year-olds to vote? Maybe
Langford should lecture Congress about “mature minds.’’
All this discussion seems to forget that 50 percent of
| the 22,065 UNL students are 21 or older. Many of those
students are holding down more than one job and support
ing families of their own while going to school.
It’s frightening that even one state senator has such a
I twisted perception of college students. What is more
frightening is that Langford may be voicing the beliefs of
other state senators.
One of Langford’s not so “mature minds,” Sen. David
Bemard-Stevens of North Platte, said students have been
responsible for some major revolutionary changes in the
world because they’re young and willing to take risks to
get things done.
“Part of the problem we have as adults is that we fail to
give our children enough credit,” Bernard-Stevens said.
“If we ask and expect responsibility and maturity, we ll
get it.”
Bemard-Stevens realizes that what Langford considers
to be “the worst decisions in the world” often are deci
sions that have led to a much better world.
A truly “mature mind” knows that substantial thinking
begins long before middle age.
Students need a voice in governing their school.
Langford’s ludicrous and offensive arguments have made
that fact even clearer.
- Bob Nelson
for the Daily Nebraska*
letter ,
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Readers also are welcome to sub
mit material as guest opinions.
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-editomU
Signed staff editorials represent
the official policy of the spring 1990
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the
Daily NebraskaaEdilorial Board. Its
members arc Amy Edwards, editor;
Bob Nelson, editorial page editor;
Ryan Sleeves, managing editor.Eric
Pfanner, associate news editor;Lisa
Donovan, associate news editor;
Brandon Loomis, wire editor; Jana
Pedersen, night news editor.
Editorials do not necessarily re
flect the views of the university, its
employees, the students or the NU
Board of Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan s publishers
are the regents, who established the
UNL Publications Board to supervise
the daily production of the paper.
r~
STUDENTS 18 TD 10 MAKE
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Students must combat racism
Racist distinctions flourish in society despite good intentions
1 learned all about revolutions of
rising expectations in freshman
Western Civilization. Revolt or
rapid progress - like the French
Revolution or the climax of the Civil
Rights Movement - comes on the
heels of developments that make
conditions seem favorable to change.
1 believe this theory completely.
But I also learned, in freshman as
tronomy, about Newton’s equal and
opposite reactions. That is, I think
that when change seems to be going
our way, we forget that anything can
go wrong. We therefore ignore or
belittle problems in society, thinking
that they can’t possibly be as bad as
they arc. I’ll call this the stagnation of
rising expectations.
Such is the current state of our
world. Communism seems to be dying,
and better yet, relations between
communists and the Western democ
racies have improved.
Last year, only Nostradamus’ kin
would have expected the Berlin Wall
to come down during our lifetime,
yet, now we expect a unified and
peaceful Germany — soon. America
is in the middle of an incredible revo
lution of rising expectations. As un
believable and wonderful things keep
happening, we’ll keep pushing for
more. And in the process, we’ll brush
aside the bad stuff, allowing it to
fester.
Some scary things are happening
in this country, and, believe it or not, *
in this city and even on this campus.
I’m talking about racism, a word that
seems so outdated and moot to most
white Americans that most white
Americans probably slop reading with
this paragraph. I’m going tq say it
anyway.
On Thursday, someone hung fliers
around campus advertising a meeting
today -- at 3:30 p.m. outside of An
drews Hhll - for a group called the
“White Organization of Concerned
Students.” The fliers asked for “while
Caucasians only.”
Wow. Last year, I would have bet
lots of money that I wouldn’t live to
see the Berlin Wall open. But I also
would have bet that no flier such as
this could ever hang on the wall in the
Nebraska Union. I was naive, and so
is much of this campus and this coun
try. We can ignore this. We can treat
it as a joke. We can try to hide it by
denying rights to free speech and
assembly.
But instead, we should be outside
Andrews Hall at 3:30. This is some
thing we need to hear.
The DN reported Friday that cam
pus groups like Early Warning! will
attend the meeting to combat racism.
The editorial said that many student
leaders arc looking for a confronta
Brandon
Loomis
lion, and lhal confrontation is not the
answer. The more I think about it, the
more I question whether we were
right.
Violence, at least in my mind, is
not the answer. But often, while pon
dering racial problems, I forget that I
am a while man with a while man's
views. I hardly feel qualified to pre
scribe the best remedy for the evil.
Perhaps what the White Organization
of Concerned Students needs is a good
thrashing. I hope not. I don’t know.
In any ease, I hardly think the
confrontation student leaders arc
looking for has anything to do with
violence. They recognize that it is
important to confront their enemies
simply by being present and showing
that racist behavior, while tolerated,
will not be accepted. We can and
should allow groups like this to exist.
Only they can shock us out of our
naivete.
But we also can and should work
to eliminate conditions in our society
which arc conducive to the existence
of such groups. I changed my mind
over the weekend. Confrontation
probably is the answer. Every student
on campus had better have a pretty
good excuse for not being outside
Andrews Hall at 3:30. I’ll be a few
minutes late because of class, but I
hope I won’t miss much.
It has been suggested that, with the
publicity, it is likely that the only
people to show up for the meeting
will be those who oppose it. That
makes sense lo me, but it shouldn’t
stop us from attending.
I hope no one will take this column
as an attempt on my part lo portray
myself as an entirely enlightened,
altruistic liberal. I rarely even pre
tend to be intelligent. I will acknow l
edge that 1 am indeed a product of
America: A society which claims and
wanes to be integrated and egalitar
ian, but is in fact divided.
I was raised by white American
parents in white America, and I went
to white schools with white friends
and while teachers. Under these con
ditions, it is virtually impossible for
me and, I believe, most Americans ol
any race to completely ignore color.
When I walk down the street and pass
a black man, my mind tells me that
the man is black. I don’t think any
connotation goes along with that
neurological message, but I am made
aware of the fact.
When I passa white man, my mind
tells me that the man is a man. He is
like me and the environment to which
I am accustomed, so there is no need
for my mind to make any further
distinction.
Next year, if I come up with lots ol
financial aid, 1 will begin work on an
advanced degree at a “black’’ uni
versity. That is, 80 percent of the
school’s population is black or mi
nority. Twenty percent is white. By
that standard, the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln, which is much more
than 80 percent white, should be la
beled a ‘ white’’ school. The fact that
it isn’t shows the double standards
and distinctions that flourish even in
our well-intentioned society. These
distinctions are what must be fought
if equality ever is to become reality.
We make unconscious distinctions
even if we don't want to. If our expec
tations for race relations -- and every
thing else ~ have gotten so high that
we can’t even see that, then we’re
experiencing a stagnation of rising
expectations. We need to expect less
from society and more from ourselves.
Then, maybe, we or our children can
continue the revolution that has been
stagnating through 20 years of high
hopes.
Loomis is a senior news-editorial major,
the Dally Nebraskan wire editor and an edi
torial columnist.