EDITOR
Doug Kmimn
OPINION
EDITOR
Anne hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Dong Peters
Matt Waite
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
r——
Beer ($) chaser
Alcohol advertisers
to drink up opportunity
Just when you thought you had seen ev
erything there was to see on television, along
conies the Distilled Spirits Council of the
United States to bring on a whole new prime
time lineup.
The council recently decided to lift its
50-year-old self-imposed ban on broadcast
advertisements for hard liquor, setting the
I stage for big-money ad battles for consum
ers’ alcohol dollars.
But while TV junkies may look forward
to the Budweiser Frogs going head-to-head
with Wild Turkey’s wild turkeys, not every
one is applauding the council’s action.
In fact, President Clinton has said that
he hopes the council will reverse its deci
sion. Others have followed suit, arguing that
TV time for hard liquor sends the wrong
message to America’s children.
At the same time, it’s doubtful that the
ads will run during Saturday morning car
toon time. What’s more, beer and wine ads,
long allowed and accepted, have become in
creasingly pervasive on the airwaves — yet
they seem not to be an issue in this debate.
Also conveniently left out of the mix is
our old friend the First Amendment, which
the Supreme Court interprets as saying ad-.
vertisements, as long as they are true, are a
protected form of speech.
So whether the ads send an unwelcome
message — to children or to adults — is not
the issue. At issue is a company’s right to
advertise a legal product.
And, of course, the viewing public’s des
perate need for something new to watch.
Time for support
Tracy Jensen has spent more than two
years trying to raise the spirit of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln. Now the students
of this school should try to return the favor.
Jensen, a junior from Lyons, is a UNL
cheerleader. She injured herself during prac
tice last Wednesday when she fell on her neck
while attempting a round-off to a back hand
spring to a single back tuck.
She has been in critical condition at Lin
coln General Hospital since the accident.
The university and students should sup
port Jensen, her family, friends and fellow
members of the UNL Yell Squad during the
athlete’s recovery — especially during the
holiday season.
We hope everyone will keep Jensen in
their thoughts, send flowers and cards to the
hospital and attend the benefit concert that
has been planned by local radio stations and
Jensen’s Delta Delta Delta sorority sisters.
The concert will held at the Royal Grove at
9 p.m. on Thursday.
Jensen’s medical bills could run into the
millions of dollars. Tickets for the 19-and
over show are $5. That’s a small price to pay
for someone who has given her all for her
school.
--— i
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Fall 19% Daily Nebraskan. They do not nec
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T
It’s a matter of respect.
Evidently Klaus Marre (Letters,
Dec. 10, DN) did not read Sonia
Hollimon’s column to completion, or
simply refused to think from the
perspective of another person.
Hollimon’s point seemed clearly
aimed at a “subset” of that group
which borrows or adopts the trends
of another culture. She pointed out
that some have adopted such traits
tlirough actual living proximity to
another culture. Thus many “white”
people listening to rap and using
“black” lingo are respectfully
participating in genuine cultural
borrowing.
Hollimon is focusing on the
subset — that group which trivializes
. another culture by superficially using
the concept of cultural borrowing.
If you are a member of a particu
lar culture (which applies to all of
us!) you can recognize genuineness
and sincerity—you feel the comfort
that comes from respect. You also
can recognize the opposite, the
discomfort that comes from lack of
respect.
Hollimon has obviously encoun
tered both, and chose to express her
frustration with the latter. Let’s not
condemn her for pointing out a most
common experience of people within
her culture. She is a journalist with a
' responsibility to write about that
which she feels is pertinent to her
world. This issue—so closely
related to racism itself, makes us feel
very strongly and deserves intelligent
discussion. I would say that
Hollimon would be perfectly
comfortable with the Waverly boys
had they treated her like*another
person, as opposed to giving her the
“look over” as if she were some
“homegirl” who would automatically
accept them because of their ability
to “act” the way they “believe” she
wants. They are “assuming”!
Klaus simply took the opportunity
to attack and express a few stereo
i..-...—
Matt Haney/DN
types—a common reaction from
majority members who find it
difficult to deal with minority
expression.
Keep it up, Sonia, most of us
know exactly who you’re referring
to, and the same crowd irks us too.
Jon Appleget
freshman
music
“Wannabe” a racist?
I am writing in response to Sonia
Hollimon’s column, “Don’t make me
get ethnic, fool,” (DN, Dec. 9).
I know the type of people that
Sonia is talking about, and I can also
see her point on how silly these
people may appear, but Sonia... can
you get a little more racist? Just
because these two “wannabe... white
boys” were listening to rap music
doesn’t mean that they “wannabe”
African-American. I would think that
you would appreciate them opening
their eyes to a different culture.
Sonia contradicted herself in her
final paragraph. She wrote how she
enjoyed country swinging and
English tea, and how she is not trying
to “be white.” Well, Sonia, quit
flattering yourself. These two
“wannabe... white boys” weren’t
trying to be black. They were
enjoying a different culture, just like
you like to do.
David J. Pedersen
sophomore
broadcasting
Harshness
In response to Sonia Hollimon’s
column, “Don’t make me get ethnic,
fool,” (DN, Dec. 9) I found the
whole commentary extremely harsh.
I didn’t think it was very fair to.
people who quite possibly are just
trying to be themselves.
Sonia, you said yourself that you
didn’t want to be accused of “acting
white,” but you turn around and
accuse whites of “acting black.”
In my own opinion, there are a
slew of social options that people are
trying to fit into as they come of age ‘
in the ’90s. Black or African
American, though admittedly
prevalent, is just one.
Furthermore, in my view, imita
tion is the highest form of flattery.
Obviously,'pretending to “pack” a
weapon is not something most people
admire, but there are things about
black culture that people find “cool”
and want to assimilate into their own
lives—much like words from
foreign languages have been assimi
lated into the English language. Is
that so wrong?
You were right to be upset about a
couple of guys who assumed you
were “hot to trot.” But you know
what? They’ve probably done it to
other girls/women who weren’t
black. Likewise, it’s not appropriate
fbr them to assume anything about a
person exclusively by the color of
their skin, whether black, white or
whatever. If there’s anything we’ve
learned over the past decade of
political correctness, I hoped it was
that.
Rachael Seravalli
Lincoln
