DAVID REITER
Listener learns rock etiquette
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it certainly was a world more
familiar to him than it was to
me.
Wayne is a fan of the rock group
Rush. Last week he called and
invited me to go to a Rush concert
in Omaha.
I hesitated for a moment. After
all, I had never been to a major
rock concert. I decided to trust
Wayne. He claimed that the group’s
music is intellectually rich, and he
must know what he’s talking about
— he’s got a master’s degree in
classics from Ohio State. Sure, why
not?
Gary went with us. He’s almost
a lawyer.
Outside the doors, Wayne and I
were each given a bumper sticker.
I was disappointed when Wayne
casually tossed his on the floor as
soon as we were inside. But I was
even more disappointed that we
had not been given name tags.
The lights were already down
by the time we got into the audito
rium, and this made it difficult to
find our seats. Actually I’m not
sure we ever did find them. If we
did, they were occupied.
So we improvised, and took the
nearest available three seats. I was
accustomed to “state of nature”
seating from the days when I had a
student ticket for Nebraska foot
ball games.
Later, two guys showed up
wanting the seats Gary and Wayne
were sitting in. Each of our parties
made a small compromise, and we
resolved our problem. I shifted one
scat to the left, and the two guys
shifted one seat to the right.
Although I didn’t talk to him,
the fellow silling to my left seemed
both reasonable and pleasant. He
was in full control of his bodily
functions, except for a phenome
non that occurred each time the
band began to play a song.
At the beginning of each song,
his brain would begin a search proc
ess. After a couple of seconds, this
process would produce an output
consisting of the name of the song
currently being played. When this
output reached some other part of
his brain, he would immediately jump
up with his arms outstretched and
cry out.
Being previously unfamiliar with
the etiquette of rock concerts, I did
my best to Ieam as much as possible
about how I was expected to act. I
had wondered whether I would be
required to dance up and down the
aisles.
I was delighted to find that com
placency was acceptable.
So I generally kept track of what
was happening on stage, and shifted
my legs every so often to facilitate
good blood circulation. Also, I made
it a point to clap after each song was
completed.
After a while, I picked out differ
ent classes of individuals in the
auditorium. The pyromaniacs were
distributed evenly throughout the
crowd. During one song, the stage
lights remained dim and everyone
who could “make fire” did so. Most
of these people made fire with light
ers, but I showed Gary three people
who were waving sparklers.
The darkness spotted with flames
of light reminded me of candlelight
vigils as well as an old Coke com
mercial.
The stage was partitioned off by a
fence kind of like the ones at major
league ballparks.
On one side were the really en
thusiastic crowd members. On the
other side sat large, middle-aged men
who, I assumed, had probably been
sympathetic to the hippie movement.
I noticed that the word “security”
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shirts, so I figured they were re
sponsible for controlling the crowd.
What impressed me most about
these men was their sense of com
mitment. They displayed a degree
of seriousness usually found only
in hard-line Communists.
On the other hand, they also
seemed to have a real sense for the
balance required in life. During the
respite between bands, a few
members of the security crew play
fully bounced a balloon back and
forth with the crowd.
Of course it was easy to identify
the musicians — they were the
ones who had access to the micro
phones.
The microphones were con
nected to gargantuan speakers.
Those speakers emitted sounds loud
enough to collapse the normal dis
tinction between feeling and hear
ing.
If hearing is a matter of sound
waves causing the eardrum to vi
brate, the sheer volume of sound
turned my entire body into an
oversized eardrum. Anyone with
an elementary knowledge of car
toons knows that the entire body
can be caused to vibrate if struck
with something like a sledgeham
mer.
Since I was previously unfamil
iar with the group’s music, I did
not possess the background knowl
edge required for interpreting the
sounds I heard.
Occasionally, I did identify words
or even entire phrases. One song,
which seemed to express a nihilis
tic philosophy, exhorted us to “roll
the bones.” Unfortunately, the song
provided no detailed guidelines
about whose bones should be rolled,
or even how bones are to be rolled
in the first place.
At any rate, my post-concert
checklist is nearly complete. My
cars almost have stopped ringing,
and the clothes 1 wore have been
incinerated. The only thing left is
to figure out what to do with that
stupid bumper sticker.
Reiter is a graduate student in philoso
phy and a Daily Nebraskan columnist
MICHAEL STOCK
Time change changes time
Along with the change in sea
sons from autumn to winter,
from cold to colder, comes a
much more reprehensible change: a
change in time.
The change from Daylight Sav
ings to Standard time was Oct. 27,
leaving several questions:
How did this happen?
Which time is the real time?
How am I supposed to know which
time my watch should say?
And most importantly, how do these
constant changes in time affect the
frame of my existence?
To gain an accurate consideration
of how the time change has affected
us, we must begin, appropriately, at
the beginning.
The time change was introduced
around World War II. No one really
knows whether it was before, during
or after, because with all of that time
changing, history becomes a lot less
clear.
The great American tradition of
being imprecise and vague, and of
lacking any strong sense of history,
became permanently instilled in eve
ryday life. It is seen in the following
phrases:
“The Civil War was in the 1800s.”
“You arc a product of the ’60s.”
“I prefer ’30s films.”
“He must be in his 50s."
Originally, the time change was
created with an honorable purpose in
mind. Apparently, the move was in
tended to save energy. Daylight Sav
ings Time was intended to leave “more
light at night,” allowing supporters of
a more active work ethic to put in a
few more hours of overtime.
However, not everyone was work
ing. With “more light at night,” there
were more things to be seen.
Many people, in fact, were at home
enjoying the luxuries of the after
effects of a war economy. Lovers
The time chanee
was introduced
around World War
IL No am really
knows whether it was
before, durine or
after, because with
all of that time
chanfin?. history be
comes a lot less
clear.
wen once again allowed lo look al
each other. Men were not soldiers
anymore, and they did not have to
wear green. Suddenly, with olive drab
ceasing to exist, the world became a
much more attractive place. Sex was
bom in the cinema, and made popular
at home. The clitoris was discovered
and the Baby Boom was bom.
Subsequently, so were my father
and mother.
The confusion that has ensued,
however, barely justifies the birth of
billions of babies. Consider the grow
ing threat of overpopulation. If the
United States had not changed the
time, Baby Boomers would not have
enjoyed the literal overnight realiza
tion of an enjoyable sexuality. We
could be eating a whole lot more.
Then the world would only be popu
lated by a lesser number of a lot fatter
people.
Everything surrounding the ridicu
lous changing of time is negative.
The rhetoric, in particular.
The most often-used phrase, “get
ting used to the new time,” is nega
tive. The words “getting used to”
imply that the change requires a cer
tain sacrifice as a response to the
change.
There is no such thing as “new
time.”
Average questions asked to the
average passers-by in the streets and
gutters of the cities could no longer be
answered neatly and succinctly, once
time was changed.
In the new post-World War II,
devil-may-care world, time became
less important. The phrase, “give an
hour, take an hour,” has become
American gospel. Even Christian
dogmatists eventually abandoned their
“only He who gives an hour can take
away an hour” picketing campaign.
Examples such as these point out
the confusion that surrounded the time
change from its installment as an
institution in this country. As precise
dates became less accurate through
50 years of time changes, holidays
suddenly lost their historical identity.
Presidents Lincoln and Washing
ton no longer have birthdays. They
have a Monday allotted to them, and
we show our respect for them by
closing the banks and leaving our
mail at the post office.
Richard Nixon was a champion of
Daylight Savings Time.
There could be no belter reason for
ridicule.
Stock Is a senior English major and a
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
LINDA KAY MORGAN
Historical stereotypes
ignore female qualities
An advertisement in the news
paper seeks someone with
architecture skills to work for
a prestigious company. One woman
has all the qualifications, so she goes
to apply. But when she gets there, the
employer assumes that she is apply
ing for a secretarial position, which
has already been filled. When the
woman corrects the employer and
says she is there for the architecture
job, his face shows utter disbelief.
Evidently, he has ignored the fact
that women are moving up.
Does sheget the job? Let’s just say
she leaves to the tunc of “don’t call
us; we’ll call you.”
For centuries, women have been
known as the better half of men. “She”
does not stand with an identity of her
own, but only as the backbone of the
dominant male. “She” has learned to
overcome the struggles of the past
and work to correct the misfortunes
of her future.
What truly stands behind the male
is a very powerful individual.
From the home to the corporate
world, the woman has proved her
endurance and drive to provide in
what seems to be an unfair world.
Women often have been victims
of a drive to invade their private space:
rape and the ensuing argument over
whether they have the option to have
an abortion. Women also have toler
ated sexual comments and perver
sions throughout their lives.
Still, women continue to rise above
these intolerable incidents to provide
a comfortable environment for those
they love.
As a woman of color, I have learned
to overcome many barriers, barriers
that have at first glance limited me by
my dark pigmentation and by the skirt
that rises above my knees, represent
ing my femininity and possible weak
ness.
Yet I am not weak. As a woman l
have learned to be strong, to endure
the pain that society often inflicts on
me and to combat those barriers that
have posed a challenge for me to
climb. Thus, I fall, rise up and brush
myself off, only to try once more.
My duty as a woman is to protect
myself from the world that appears to
be so cruel. To many I may seem too
aggressive or too pushy, when in fact
it is a characteristic of the strength I
have received from the women of
yesteryear. People have a tendency to
confuse this strength and my intui
liveness as a woman with my endur
I-T-1
ance to succeed or my outspoken voice
to see that justice prevails.
When will people take the time to
appreciate and understand the back
ground of women as much as they
take the time to become judgmental
of them?
Women don ’ t choose to walk over
the male dominance in the world, but
they do choose to walk beside it. Not
for the competition, but for a chance
to show that together we can make it.
Every Wednesday for the remain
der of the semester, the Women’s
Resource Center is sponsoring speak
ers as part of the “Women in Perspec
tive” series. The informal program
will give an opportunity for the cam
pus to experience, learn and enjoy
some of the information shared about
women.
On Wednesday, Gargi Sodowski,
a UNL assistant professor in the edu
cational psychology department, will
speak on the department’s Ethnic
Minority Affairs Committee. Eunice
Ngumba, a counselor at the UNL
Counseling Center, will speak Nov.
20 on “African Women and Health
Issues.” Linda Cooms and Ramona
Peters, Waumpanoag Indians from
the East Coast, will speak on “Thanks
giving, a Nation’s Day of Mourning:
The Untold Story,” on Nov. 21.
Become aware of what the the
women in your life face. Learn to
understand and appreciate the struggles
and triumphs of your mother, grand
mother, sister, niece, cousin or sweet
heart.
You may learn that there is more
to a woman than a high skirt and
slender legs — endurance, dedica
tion, strength and love. If people learned
to understand and appreciate one
another, respect would not be so slow
in following.
Morgan is a sophomore broadcasting
and advertising major and a Daily Nebras
kan columnist
---1
JNuclear power not worm
expense, long-term risks
The financial woes of the nu
clear industry have continued de
spite billions of dollars in subsidies
from the federal government.
Happily, there is a way around the
energy crisis. It’s called renewable
energy. Despite enormous advances
in renewable energy technology
since the 1980s, the largest ob
stacle to renewable energy devel
opment has been a government
policy that intentionally disfavors
renewable energy to the benefit of
the nuclear industry.
Let’s examine nuclear power in
the United Slates. In recent dec
ades, we’ve seen the costs of nu
clear power skyrocket. According
to both the Union of Concerned
Scientists and the Department of
Energy, nuclear capital costs have
increased tenfold since 1974.
Construction costs of new plants
run upwards of S5 billion. Further
more, the average output of nu
clear plants is at only about 60
percent of designated capacity,
because many plants arc forced to
shut down frequently for repairs
and maintenance.
Although regulatory delays and
intervention by citizens’ groups arc
often blamed for frequent delays
and shutdowns, the real root of the
problem lies in faulty and incom
plete design work, inadequate
quality control during construction,
an industry’s lack of credibility in
the eyes of the media and the pub
lic (despite the millions spent on
pro-nuclcar propaganda).
Another huge cost of nuclear
power is risk itself. “Psychic costs”
take their loll through fear and
mistrust. Much of this fear is rea
sonable — just ask the neighbors
of Three Mile Island or Chernobyl.
Radioactive waste storage entails a
huge ongoing risk. It is arrogant of
our engineers to assume that the
storage facilities that we arc build
ing today will remain safe for a
thousand years.
There arc simply loo many un
foreseeable possibilities, and the
stakes arc very high. Magnitude of
risk,as well as probability, must be
taken into account. Any compari
son of the risks associated with
lightning strikes and plane crashes
versus a major nuclear accident is
ridiculous. Note too that in a worst
case scenario, we might not be able
to contain a nuclear accident. Think
about lOth-gcncration genetic
mutations when you compare the
risks of lightning strikes to those of
nuclear accidents.
k
Jeff Riggcrt
senior
biology
Eric Voecks
sophomore
chemical engineering
Dave Regan
senior
environmental law
