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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1996)
EDITOR DougKouma OPINION EDITOR Anne Hjersman EDITORIAL BOARD Doug Peters Matt Waite Paula Lavigne Mitch Sherman Anthony Nguyen Out-ranked To be distinguished, UNL mustfindfocus Who says they’re out of our league? Yale, Princeton, Harvard... what do they have that the University ofNebraska-Lincoln lacks? Well, right now they have rankings as the top three national universities in the countiy, according to U.S. News & World Report’s recently released annual guide to “America’s Best Colleges.” UNL sits in the distance, a “third-tier” school ranked somewhere between 116th and 172nd among 229 schools in this class. The rankings are based on reputation, selectiv ity, faculty resources, financial resources, re tention and alumni giving. “Most ranking colleges and universities possess at least one special niche or com parative advantage that can and should be exploited commercially,” the magazine re ports. For Nebraska, that commercial niche has been the university’s stellar football program —and even that had humble beginnings with a noncompetitive team named the “Bugeaters.” Now that Nebraska has established itself as nationally competitive in athletics, it is time to tackle the school’s academic status. Chancellor James Moeser acknowledged this concern at the beginning of the semester during his state of the university address. ‘To be a great university, we must have outstanding faculty and outstanding stu dents,” Moeser said in his address. That’s easier said than done. To attract outstanding faculty and outstanding students, the university must be recognized as great. It is time UNL found its niche in aca demics — whether that be in engineering, education or architecture. Whether it be ge netics, journalism or agriculture. The univer sity needs to hone its resources in further de veloping these and other already thriving pro grams. Rather than spreading itself too thin by trying to do it all, die university needs to earn some national recognition and respect in se lect fields of study. We don’t need the Ivy League to com pete. But we do need focus. And patience. Change doesn’t come eas ily. As U.S. News explains, “If the televi sion industry, for example, had evolved at the same pace as higher education, Howdy Doody would still be a star and the 10-inch black-and-white TV would be a living room fixture.” It’s time for UNL to move away from its Howdy Doody image in the academic world and to set goals — realistic goals — for it self. Even the Ivy League schools had to start somewhere: “Clearly, 360 years after Harvard as sembled the nation’s first college class in a Cambridge, Mass., cow yard,” U.S. News reports, “higher education is reaching a ma jor turning point” UNL would be wise to follow suit Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1996 Daily Nebraskan. They do not neces sarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is soley the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as pub lisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by die Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production ofdie news paper According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper Ikes solely in die hands of its stu dent employees. Letter Policy The Daily Nebraskan wekxnoes brief let ters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains die right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submit ted material becomes the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned Anonymous submissions will not be p«lhH«hl)l< IVwihntiitwiitU^wmiH* identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebras kan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400R St Lin coln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters @ unlinfo.unl.edu! TW&6WSftfcrE1tt , T^TOws'Wsn mwf. GoMV Matthew WAITE As C :zma!s election results tallied, fiiend watches, wonders and worries I have been watching the news a little closer lately. Not for a class, no for any peculiar fetish. It is because 1 am nervous. ■ I am nervous for friends thou sands of miles away from Lincoln. I am nervous for a country that has a piece of my heart. In February, I went to Bosnia, the war-tom land that is merely images on the TV for most I sat down and lived with our troops there, the refugees displaced by war and the youth of a city that was without electricity and phone service for , three years. And I fell in love with a beautiful land and the most generous people I have ever encountered. When I was there, the national elections that took place this Satur day were just whispers. The plans were not completed, the details needed to be worked out. But now I sit and wait for results. Results that will determine the future of Bosnia. Voters went to the polls on Saturday to try and elect a multi ethnic government. That government would be given the task of forming a government that all Bosnians could live with. To make this easier, here’s the breakdown: Everyone in Bosnia is Bosnian—simple enough. But from there you have three groups— Muslims, Serbs and Croats. As it stands now, the Bosnian Serbs control more than 50 percent of Bosnia and are calling their lands Republika Srpska. The remaining lands are Muslim and Croat con trolled. The time I spent in Bosnia was in Tuzla, an area under Muslim control. I traveled with former Daily Nebras kan photographer Staci McKee to Tuzla and lived there for a week, thanks to the good graces of the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communication. When I watch the news, I see places where 1 have been. Every time I read a story by The Associated Press from Tuzla, I think of their office in the Hotel Bristol, a shell ffagment-pocked modem hotel. But who I mostly think about is Mehmed Atic, my friend, guide, translator, miracle worker and adviser. Without Mehmed, Staci and I would have wandered around Tuzla without a friend in the world. We would have starved and never experienced what we experienced. Mehmed got a nickname from us. We called him the Madman, partly because it was easier to say than his name (yes, we were ugly Americans) and partly because he drove like Mario Andretti smoking crack. His car was named the Yellow Bird—a two-door Yugo that spewed black exhaust and, for a sub compact, drove like a truck. I know that the Madman and the Yellow Bird wait to the polls. He was a veteran of the civil war, spending three years on the front lines around his home. Thanks to the international arms embargo, Mehmed spent much ofhis time in the army without a weapon. He carried the dead and wounded away from the fighting. That was his job, and he did it well. He escaped being wounded for three years. He cares deeply about his country and its future. His friends, all college studoits like you and me, also care. I know they voted. I know that others we met did the same. Like Halid Hodzic. Halid sur vived ethnic cleansing. He was blinded and beaten by Serbs. He wept when he told us his story and begged me to tell the world about his ordeal. I kept my promise and wrote about Halid in the Daily Nebraskan in February. I will never forget him. I know he went to the nearest polling area to his home, a small former dorm room in a refugee camp for the elderly and invalid. For so many people, this election is extremely important. For the future of a war-tom nation, this election is key. If the new government fails, war could ensue. I can’t have that. The Muslim refugees I spoke to and touched can’t have that. In just a short time, I fell in love with Bosnia, its people and its culture. I swore to the Madman that I would come back. I have even taken the Koran I received as a gift in Bosnia and prayed to Allah, the way I was instructed. I figure the more help and prayer I can muster, the better. I pray that one day, I can go back to Thzla. I pray that I can take the Madman for dinner at the Albatross. That we can eat Mucklalica and drink Tuzla Pivo and laugh. For me, there are people involved in the news. For me, the elections in Bosnia are not so distant. For me, the elections are the difference between seeing my friend again or seeing war tear apart a beautiful land. Waite is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter. 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 ”R” St, Lincoln, ^liJa phone number for verification^_‘ - .'.i
