EDITOR Paula Lavigne OPINION EDITOR Kasey Kerber EDITORIAL BOARD Brad Davis Erin Gibson Shannon Heffelfinger Chad Lorenz Jeff Randall i Our VIEW Voices carry Successjul pleas prove administration listens UNL students learned this week that when they speak up, people listen. More than 1,000 students signed peti tions sponsored by the Residence Hall Association urging administrators to hire Bill McLaughlin as a permanent employ ee. McLaughlin, winner of this year’s Outstanding Educator Award and a visit ing instructor from St. Joseph, Mo., taught chemistry and chemistry education class es that were well-liked by many students. Some students said McLaughlin was the best teacher they had ever encountered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Even with strong student support, administrators said there would be no money to hire the instructor when his one year term expired this August. They said even if money were avail able, it was necessary to conduct a search to find the best possible candidate and to fulfill affirmative action requirements. But student opinion should count more than the opinion of a search committee because students in the classroom are bet ter prepared to evaluate teaching than a committee in a boardroom. The ratings students gave McLaughlin - illustrated his commitment to the class room - he secured the highest student Despite tins student support, adminis trators initially said no. But students wouldn’t take no for an answer. Through protest, the support of student government and media attention, administrators realized that if their com mitment to undergraduate education was real, they had to act. Administrators finally listened to the students. They should be commended for this because it puts our education back into our own hands. We were trusted to know a good teacher when we saw one. Can't keep your opinions to yourself? Be a Columnist! Apply this week to be a fall Daily Nebraskan columnist. Applications are available at the newspaper office. 34 Nebraska Union, and are due Friday at 5 p.m. -—i Editorial Ptllcy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its erraioyees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as pubfisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Tne UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. __.au