a
EDITOR
Erin Gibson
*
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
J '•
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
_Quotes
OF THE WEEK
"These flies are the worst I*ve seen
anywhere”
Doris Sargent of Mobile, Ala., about
the insect problem at the state fair this
year
"They gave me a little respect, but I
would rather give up the numbers for
the win.”
Louisiana Tech wide receiver Troy
Edwards, on his treatment during the
Nebraska game
"I’ll put them right up in front of
your eyeball! I’ve got a duck with three
legs, a lizard with two heads and a half
chicken, half turkey that’s alive, man!”
State fair sideshow animal handler
“Lefty,” about his “pets ”
“Ten to 15 years ago everyone would
run and slink away if the police showed
up at a party. Now people refuse to leave,
and conflict results.”
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady,
about their efforts to cut down on underage
drinking
“We don’t live an easy life. We just
live day by day, knowing the sun will rise
the next morning.”
Julie Turner, talking about her life
before she was accepted into the Habitat
for Humanity program
“Until you experience it for the first
time - meeting the family, building the
house - there’s no way to describe the
benefits. There really are no tangible
benefits but rather emotional ties last
ing a lifetime.”
Jason Dubs, president of the UNL
k chapter of Habitat for Humanity, on the
\)dlmf«(mkpf^pragram ni aaloq u» .*>, i
“How many people my age are
putting themselves through college
doing log rolling and just basically hav
ing fun all summer? You can’t beat
that”
J.R. Salzman, 19, of Hayward, Wis.,
about his summer job as a lumberjack
“This is the beginning of the end of
this painful period in the university’s
history.”
i b UNL Chancellor James Moeser, resolv
ing toretum American Indian remains
“The proposal by the Union Board is
blatantly discriminatory. There can be
no way of enforcing how Community
Service Officers will check student IDs.”
ASUN Senator Kara Slaughter, during
the two-hour discussion that led toASUN’s
opposing a piece of legislation that would
exclude non-students from the Nebraska
Union
“If you don’t like what you hear at
any particular moment, wait five min
utes and we usually play something
completely different”
Rhett McClure, senior broadcasting
major, and one of four music directors at
KRNU, about their format and airplay ten
dencies
Editorial Pdcf
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the^ring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Uncoin, its
employees, its student body orthe
UrfcenMy of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A oolumn is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; poficy is set to
the Daily Nebniskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Pioifcations Board, ft«*aHi«hed by
the regents, supervisee the production
of the paper. According to policy set by
ttie regents, reef rensibityfortheedMonai
content of the newspaper bos solely m
the hands of Ms student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their pubScation.
The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
toe Daly Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions will
not be published. Those who submit
tetters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/or group
affHation, if any.
Submit material to: Daly Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400R St Lincoln,
N£. 68588-0448. E-mail:
lettere@unlinfo.uni.edu.
$ Mook’s
VIEW
.
f
“Of ager
On Sept 2, Graham Johnson, a
DN columnist expressed his opinions
about the age law on drinking in the
United States. He said, “Because of
modem prohibition, an important
component of maturization - the
internalization of responsible alcohol
consumption - is dangerously
delayed in this country. Instead of
having youths socialized early with an
. understaiuhngLof alcohol, socializa
tion is postponed, delaying this
process significantly by five to 10
vears”
When I first came to the United
States, I was 20 years old. I went to a
welcome party at UNL. I was excited.
It was my first party in the country of
“the free and the brave.” I was
shocked when I was told there was
no alcohol at the party. I looked
around at the fancy decorations. I
noticed a whole bunch of people
jumping around. No one had alcohol.
It reminded me of my 13 th birthday
party.
I said to my friend, “Let’s get out
of here and go to a bar and a have
drink.” My friend said, “We can’t
’cause you have to be 21 years old to
be able to purchase alcohol.” I felt
deeply insulted.
“What do you mean? I am old
enough to work. I am old enough to
have a kid and a family. I am old
enough to vote. I am old enough to
drive. But I am not old enough to
have a glass of wine? Is this a joke?”
Then how do the underage
American youth spend the most con
fused times of their lives? Well, it did
n’t take me too long to find out Go to
Blockbuster, rent a tape and GET
HIGH!
T_• _ l . r* i 1_. »®./ '
X WOO SUipiidCU IV XUIU vut uvw
accessible marijuana was, and how ,,r
popular it was around minors. More
surprisingly, most of my minor
friends (American) only had their
principles in place - no drinking until
they are of legal age - because it was
specifically illegal for them to drink.
But the drug law was for every
body. Therefore, it wasn’t specifically
targeting their age group, and they
didn’t carry much guilt when they
were using drugs. Another factor was
that marijuana was easier to find than
alcohol. When the government was
trying to prevent the youth from one
DN
LETTERS
kind of drug, it was pushing diem to
use another kind of a drug.
Well then, how does this work in
other countries which have a younger
age limit for alcohol? Am I more
mature than an average 22-year-old
American girl is? I met with alcohol
when I was 16.1 started going to the
bars when I was 18. By the time I was
19,1 already had enough bad drinking
experiences. I learned how to drink
in moderation at the age of 19. By the
time I was 20,1 learned that the bars
were not the places to find a
boyfriend.
When I was 21,1 was mature
enough to look for onlv good music
and good company in a bar. Drinking
and exposing myself to other sexes
would not satisfy me anymore, and I
searched for different directions to
fulfill my life and satisfy my desires.
Maybe that’s why I am spending a
potential drinking night at home, by
myself, writing this letter to the DN at
the age of 22.
This kind of explains why most
bars in Lincoln (a college town) are
more like dating services. This
explains why most 21-year-olds and
older college students are rolling on
die streets, highly intoxicated and
making fobls out of themselves on the
weekends. They didn’t have enough
time to LEARN how to drink.
If a country is not brave enough to
allow the youth adult responsibilities,
how are they going to produce ^
responsible adults?
AycaAriyoruk
junior
international relations
You’re not in Europe
anymore, Toto •••
I have only been a student here at
UNL for two weeks, but I am quickly
developing a profound distaste for the
Europhile pseudo-urbane columns in
the Daily Nebraskan authored by
Graham Evan Johnson. His column
published in the Sept 2 issue of the
DN is a prime example.
In his column, Johnson takes
issue with the age-based prohibition
of alcohol consumption on this cam
pus, as well as, apparently, anywhere
else in the world. Johnson notes that,
in his opinion, ending age-based pro
hibition of alcohol would encourage
responsible drinking among youth
because it would make them feel that
they were “adults.” He also claimed
that if age-based prohibition were
abolished it would “initiate a much
stronger role of the parent/guardian in
the youth’s life.”
As someone who has worked with
alcoholic children, parents and geri
atrics, as well as someone who hope
fully understands social history
(History Ph.D. student), I can tell Mr.
Johnson that his views are incredibly
naive, to say the least.
Johnson notes that European
nations experience much less in the
way of alcohol-related problems
because of the way their cultures view
alcohol. We have a different culture
than Europe. Simply changing the age
for permissible alcohol consumption- <
will do little more than increase the !
omAiint rtf oIaaIiaI m/lnri/fnolc u4ia
currently fall under this age now con
sume. Instituting campus beer gar
dens, as Johnson suggests, will do
nothing to curtail die problems of
binge drinking, alcoholism and addic
tion.
American culture will have to be
fundamentally changed at many, *
many levels before alcohol is consid
ered blas£ and is no longer a drug of
abuse and addiction.
Eliminating age-based prohibi
tions, before fundamental beliefs
about alcohol are addressed will lead
to disaster. Johnson^ use of European
models to prove his points is also
somewhat tenuous. Switzerland dis
inuuics tree uecuies ui nciuui auuicis,
while the Netherlands legalizes pros
titution, large-scale pornography
operations and certain types of drug
use.
I don’t think it would be advisable ''
to endorse either of these policies in
an effort to reduce VDs on campus or
I.Y drug abuse, but using Johnson’s
reasoning, this would seem to be the
course he would advocate.
In the future, I hope Mr. Johnson
can impress me less with his affinity
for all things European and more with
his editorial ability.
Aaron R. Woodard
first-year PhJ). student
history
n
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