Hiring based on race, gender
When you decided to attend this !
university, you expected a few things.
You expected to meet new people,
leant new things, get drunk and have
fun. But most of all, you expected to
get an education. The best possible.
Well, unfortunately, the adminis
trators of this facility, i.e. Graham
Spanier, are not interested in offering
the best possible. They expect you,
the student body and lifeblood of this
— and any — university, to get by
with mediocre.
This is evident in the poor manage
ment of school funds, the raising of
student athletic ticket prices (without
fair warning, I might add), and most
recently, the “green space” debacle.
But none of these equal in magni
tude the effect of hiring less-than
qualified faculty to guide and instruct
us through four-plus years of
academia.
A friend and a prominent faculty
member have brought it to my atten
tion that hiring substandard profes
sors has become commonplace in the
land of Graham — all in the name of
equality and diversification. Let me
explain.
Since his first day inoffice, Spanier
has said affirmative action would be
one of his biggest priorities. The fac
ulty member to whom I spoke be
lieves Spanier’s policy is to continue
hiring women and minority faculty
until more of these said groups are
Cresent than white male faculty mem
ers. The idea is to have a reflective
ratio of faculty in relation to the stu
dent body. More female students,
more female professors.
Of course, this silliness has noth
ing to do with education.
Let me give you an example of
what I mean. Recently, a University
of Nebraska-Lincoln department was
in search of a new professor to fill a
vacated spot. An “advisory commit
tee” was formed to choose the best
possible candidate. This committee,
which did all the research and back
ground work, had no actual power but
was under the impression that whom
A friend and a prominent faculty
member have brought it to my
attention that hiring substandard
professors has become commonplace
in the land of Graham — all in the
name of equality and diversification.
ever they chose would be offered the
position.
As with most committees, their
opinion and findings were disre
garded. (As you go through life, you’ll
find that committees are simply a way
for bureaucrats to appease the public
until we forget about the whole thing.
I believe nothing will come of the
committees that are investigating the
death of Francisco Renteria and the
handouts and gifts received by former
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Just
as nothing came of the Iran-Contra
affair.)
The “advisory committee” began
by subm itting a I ist of 30 names to the
Affirmative Action and Diversity
Office. Before this, however, they had
to attend an orientation, held by the
office, in which they were told to do
their best to hire a minority. Once
again, nothing to do with education.
The committee then narrowed their
list down to 10 candidates. This list
was given to the head of the depart
ment, who reviewed it with the dean
of the college. This list contained six
men and four women when submit
ted. After the review, the committee
got the list back for its final input and
decision. The list contained one man
and four women.
The committee then ranked the fi
nalists, deciding that the male candi
date was the best qualified for the job.
The women then were slotted accord
ingly, under the assumption that it
was a moot point, because the male
candidate would get the job. The best
candidate was chosen unanimously.
What you must understand is that
this committee was comprisedof four |
women and one man. These respected
and long-standing faculty members
were not interested in race, color or
sex. Their sole responsibility was to
choose the BEST person for the job,
not the most politically correct one.
As professors, their main function is
to give students the BEST possible
education.
Needless to say, the best candidate
was not offered the position. That
decision came from the top.
Please understand that I’m all for
equal opportunity, but not when it
comes at the expense of my educa
tion. 1 have friends who are black,
Asian and Polish, but most of them
are Jewish. Hell, I’m the only “goy” I
know.
A lot oftime, money and resources
are spent in public relations at this
school. “Come lookat our green space,
our diversity.” Not enough is spent on
repairing our crumbling buildings and
equipment. These issues affect stu
dents more than grass.
But Spanier isn’t interested in im
proving this university. Just his im
age. He has a social agenda, and we
are suffering from it, though it should
not come as a surprise that personal
politics and ego are preventing
progress. Specifically, the best pos
sible education.
He’s trying to leave his mark and
then leave town. It can’t come too
soon.
.Instter Is ■ junior news-editorial and
broadcasting major and a Dally Nebraskan
columnist.
Open up your closets, minds
The status of my closet is the
story of my life.
As a child, my closet was a
warm, cozy place where I could
elude my little brother in a game of
hide-and-seek. Sometimes I would
spend hours in my closet with a
flashlight and a comic book, tucked
away in my own private little
library with the Amazing Spider
Man or the Green Lantern.
Then came adolescence, and my
reading nook became a place where
I could toss all my junk when Mom
made me clean my room.
If 1 could see the floor, I figured
I’d done my job. My mother, who
in a past life was a drill instructor in
the Prussian army, had higher
standards.
She took one look at my orga
nized shelves, the hospital corners
on the bed and the carpet — with
vacuum tracks still visible — and
headed straight for the closet like a
police dog with a bead on a baggy
of dope. When she opened the door,
assorted junk piled around her
ankles.
“Look at this mess! You call this
clean?”
“Um ... well, yeah... I mean,
how many people are going to look
in my closet?”
Remember being a teen-ager?
Remember sassing your parents?
Remember how your mother’s head
would spin around when your
mouth got smarter than your brain?
“Dammit, do you want ME to
clean this up?!” she would ask,
which really meant: “Dammit, do
you want me to throw all this junk
in the trash and bum it?”
So I would sift slowly through
the avalanche of junk on my floor.
Every magazine was perused. Every
piece of paper was judged before
going into the trash sack. Every
piece of clothing was held up to see
whether it was actually dirty or just
thrown in the closet after being tried
on for 30 seconds.
On Tuesday, many gays and lesbians
around the country will clean out the
closets that society has filled with guilt
and shame. They will risk being
ridiculed, fired from their jobs,
assaulted or even killed, because they
are tired of living behind closed doors.
At first, my procrastination came
from being miffed at Mom. But
pouting wears thin pretty quickly,
and 1 would become absoroed by
the task at hand.
One by one, 1 unearthed old
games, toys or books that I had
cherished once. My childhood
memoirs had been forgotten, buried
under layers of Young Miss
magazines and V-neck sweaters.
By the time I was done, I still
had a pile of junk in my closet, but
as a good archeologist, I carefully
filed my artifacts.
Nowadays, the Spider-Man
comics, the Etch-A-Sketch and the
construction paper Thanksgiving
turkey are boxed up in a closet in
my parents’ house.
With most of my junk elsewhere,
my closet now is empty with the
exception of a few clothes. It’s so
big I could rent it out to someone as
another room.
I could even live without a closet
if I didn’t need a place to put my
skeletons.
While my house closet is sparse,
my mental closet is packed to the
rafters with things I need to hide
from most people, including my
own mother. It she knew what was 1
storing in my attic, her head would
spin around.
Most of us hide things in our
heads. Many are skeletons that no
one else needs or wants to see.
Others need to be let out, but we
don’t know how to do it without
scaring people.
Homosexuality scares a lot of
kiss, I was shocked. But I was also
shocked the first time 1 saw hetero
sexual sex. Everything is shocking
if you’ve never seen it before. Just
because something seems strange at
first doesn’t make it unnatural or
wrong.
Too many people can’t get over
that shock. They lash out against
gay men and women who open up
their closets and say: “See? I’m a
human being just like you, except
that you want me to stay locked
away from the world, because my
choice of companionship makes you
uncomfortable.’’
On Tuesday, many gays and
lesbians around the country will
clean out the closets that society has
filled with guilt and shame. They
will risk being ridiculed, fired from
their jobs, assaulted or even killed,
because they are tired of living
behind closed doors.
They shouldn’t have to be in a
closet in the first place. No one
should.
To those who can come out, let
me give you my respect and
admiration.
To those who can’t, let me give
you a little bit of light in a dark,
cold world.
You can even borrow my Spider
Man comics if you want.
Paulnuut la a senior news editorial and
history major and a Dally Nebraskan
columnist.
Free Computer
Classes!
The Computing Resource Center is offering free
microcomputer classes to UNL students. The classes will
feature an introduction to Microsoft Word for the
Macintosh. No reservations are required. Seats are
available on a first come, first served basis.
Introduction to Microsoft Word for Macintosh
Wednesday, October 6 11:00 - 11:50 a.m. Andrews 17
Interested in an
International
Assignment?
Mennonite Central Committee, the social concerns
organization for North American Mennonite and
Brethren in Christ Churches, seeks committed Christian
Volunteers.
Needed: health workers, agriculturists, teachers,
community services workers and others.
Meet MCC representative Dana Neff at the Ag Career Day,
Thurs., Oct 6, 9:30-3:00 in the East Campus Union.
Writers helping writers at the 1
Writing Assistance Center
offering...
Free writing assistance
From experienced
writing teachers
For all UNL students *
Weekly or walk-in
appointments
For an appointment, call or stop by ...
Andrews 129,472-8803
Open Tuesday through Friday
(Some Evenings Too!)
UHL CLUB
•resents a
Wild 'n Western Weekend
Saturday, October 8 8pm • 1am
Benefit Dance
Featuring
Steel-n-Hearts
Airport Rama da Inn - Lincoln
$9 per person $4 with Student I.D.
minors welcome
Sunday, October 9 11:30am
Intramural* Rodeo
33rd & Leighton, East of Audio Visual
Events include:
Calf Tying*Dummy Roping*Steer Wrestling
Human Barrel Race*Goat Tying*Steer Riding
Wild Cow Race
no experience necessary
9 people per team - 3 guys A 2 gals
$9 per person
event prises A overall awards
$1 admission fee for non-contestants
Goat Roping directly following
$3 a man
Belt buckle to high money winner