Lrive it a chance: New honors hall brings
added diversity and benefits to campus
MATTHEW EICKMAN is a senior
finance and economics major and
a Daily Nebraskan columnist
Equality is a funny thing.
Equality has come to describe an inconsis
tent relationship between two people. Because
of society’s desire for “equality” we wish for
others to be treated equally.
That is, as long as we are treated as individ
uals.
We recognize that we have special abilities,
talents, desires, sex drives and intellectual abili
ties. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize that oth
ers should be rewarded for their differences.
The differences between people make
American society unique.
They also compose and shape this micro
cosm of American society that we call the
University of Nebraska.
Think about the people you know, hang out
with and read about Our university calls for
people to fill the same roles as we will fill as
citizens.
We have a government athletes, entertain
ers, students with two jobs and socialites.
People also live different lifestyles.
Students choose to live in sorority houses or
sleep in the caves of fraternities. You may live
in a spacious mansion off campus, or you may
call die residence halls “home.”
The wide spectrum in roles and lifestyles
exists in our world because of individual differ
ences.
So, to treat people equally, we must respect
their roles. We must allow people to live in dif
ferent places. Students must be able to receive
the advantages earned with their talents.
Honors students should be able to enjoy
honors housing.
As many may have read, a new honors resi
dence hall will be built on campus. This hall
isn’t another union. We won’t have to pay for it
as it is slowly constructed for the next 15 years.
The hall will be financed by a generous $32
million donation from UNL alumni Carole and
C. Edward McVaney. UNL gave to them as stu
dents, and they are, in turn, giving back to
UNL.
Point blank - we pay nothing.
So, why are people bitching?
People think honors students will receive
more funding than the other halls
Yeah, just like honors students in Neihardt
Residence Center receive a better deal than
anyone living in Cather or Pound residence
halls
Is anyone else in Cather or Pound frustrated
that all Neihardt residents drink Mountain „
Dew and eat steaks and ribs at every meal / ■
while normal Cather and Pound people
drink Whoopty Do and have a healthy C
supply of 8-year old soybuigers? Sure, \
they really receive more funding.
When the new halls affect students,
chances are it will be positive.
First, it will bring better students to UNL.
Why are you here? Is Lincoln close to Jk,
home? Do you like die football team?
Does your college offer a great degree A
program? Is it the low cost? m
As you think about your reason for
attending UNL, realize that die people
on each side of you probably would
respond differently.
But, you are here because UNL ^k
offered you at least one specific advan- ^k
tage. Something stood out that brought A
you here. ^
That’s what the Esther L. Kauffman
Residential Academic Center and the J.D.
Edwards Honors Program will do.,
It won’t hurt you. It won’t spit on you.
It will attract different people to UNL. The
university won’t drop 110 current students so
die new honors students can attend. Rather, it
will just add to die spectrum we compose.
The new hall will also give us a nice-look
ing state-of-the-art building on campus. In
2010, when the union finally is completed, the
middle of campus will be beautiful.
The honors students will also add flavor to
the campus. They won’t just hide out in their
rooms and develop magic potions that will
destroy the world.
Honors students may be among the
smartest in your classes. They may be the
dumbest Who knows?
The smartest students or not, the Honors
Program brings potential to UNL.
The university will benefit in the long run
with excellent students. A better educational
reputation will bring better professors to cam
pus. The better instructors will give EVERY
ONE a better education.
Upon entering the “real world,” UNL stu
dents will be more marketable and prepared.
So, while all UNL students may eventually
see benefits from the increased emphasis on
honors recruitment, why should we want the
honors housing now?
I respond simply - why not?
I figure honors students will have a choice
to live in the new hall, just as they have a
choice to live in Neihardt now.
My sister is an honors student, but she lives
in Smith Residence Hall. Does this mean she
gets no benefits from the Honors Program?
No, she is rewarded because of her academ
ic success and not because of where she lives.
Smith provides her with an opportunity to live
in a different location within our micro-world.
The Honors Program realizes that students
must have real-world experiences while in
school. The emphasis is on learning, but not
just in the classroom.
We must realize that people find pros and
cons surrounding any situation. If we want to
treat people with equality, we must give them
the equal opportunity to live where they want to
live, and meet the type of people they wish to
meet.
The new hall will bring more great students
to UNL, but it has greater importance.
It will add to the UNL community. It will
allow different people to meet a greater number
of different people.
As we go through life, some may be
smarter, have more money or have more fun. I
congratulate others as they reap the rewards
from their advantages.
This is America, and that’s how it works. I
can only worry about myself.
And as the new hall is being completed,
may then ex-President Clinton be on hand to
distribute victory cig
ars to everyone. f
MattHaney/DN
Specialty residences will keep students
from experiencing each other’s differences
A.L. FORKNER is a senior
news-editorial major and a
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Equality is a funny thing. Everyone
thinks everyone else should be treated as
equals.
Well, everyone except for themselves, of
course.
Everyone thinks they should be treated
better than everyone else.
But we’re better than that, right? After
all, we’re college students. We’re supposed
to be more tolerant towards others and be
more willing to meet a more diverse crowd.
Ha.
As we’ve all heard (or would’ve if you
would read the paper instead of skipping
ahead to the crossword) the university is
planning on building a new hall for honor
students.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s donated money,
it’s not going to cost me anything. I also
know the money was donated for that pur
pose specifically.
It’s not the money, it’s the principle.
Honest, I’m not biased against honor
students. In fact, believe it or not, I once
was a pinhead myself.
I know all about Neihardt Hall being the
honors hall right now. I still think it’s
wrong.
least they have to deal with the same
housing problems the rest of the residence
hall members deal with.
They pay a lot of rent for a tiny one-bed
room apartment with no private bathroom.
At least they’re catered.
But with a new building specifically for
the honor students, with their own dining
hall, the students will never interact with
other students.
Not that that’s all bad.
What kind of image does that portray to
the rest of the students? That it’s OK to
^cclude people that aren’t like them?
^ n What kind of crap is
~ that?
I thought college was
a place to expand hori
zons and become
more diversified.
Instead, now
f we are mov
ing towards
separate
(but
equal)
hous
ing and
facili
ties.
This
sounds
/ awfully
familiar to
me. Maybe I
was the only
/ one paying
attention dur
\ ing political sci
ence class.
To me, it
sounds like the
beginning of a
[ ’90s Jim Crow
law for smart
people.
A Stephen
Hawking law?
! If we start
down that road,
where do we
stop? What’s
next?
We could build
an athletic dorm
for each individ
ual sport with an
on-site gym and a
coaches residence.
Then we could work on an engineers
hall with a supervised playroom for the
Chem E’s.
Personally, I’m waiting for the journal
ist’s dorm with its own wet bar.
However, when the militia dorm goes
up, I’m outta here.
Actually, this might not be that bad of
an idea. If it’s done right.
I propose a dorm for all the single girls
on campus. It would solve that embarrass
ing situation of asking a girl out only to
meet her boyfriend.
It’s a simple idea. Get a boyfriend,
move. Dating, of course, will be totally
legal. v
Another idea - why should we try to
help the honor students out so much?
Obviously, they’re doing pretty well
already.
I think we need a dorm for the students
that are failing.
I don’t know how much it will help
those students, but man, will that be a
bitchin’ place to hang out.
Oh, I’ve just been told that Abel Hall
already has that distinction. Well then, I just
wanna make it official.
If the rooms were constructed with con
crete walls, concrete floors and drains, it
would seriously lower the maintenance
costs.
What the heck, let’s just turn all of the
classroom buildings into residence halls.
All the English majors could live in
Andrews. All the business majors would
live in the CBA.
Whoops, whoa, wait a minute. That’s not
going to work.
That would mean that my Avery Hall
roommates would be the chemical engi
neering department.
I already live with one Chem E, I don’t
think I can take any more of them.
Besides, I think all the smart people
should be required to live with some people
“less” intelligent. In other words, a member
of the Baywatch fan club.
Why?
Honor students need to realize that not
every one knows x=em\23.6754 is the
punch line to a joke.
I also think it would benefit them fur
ther down the road.
When the honor students work in middle
management, they will have a better under
standing of their manual laborers who
weren’t A+ students.
Plus, they’d have a special understand
ing of the physical effects jogging has on
breast implants.
I’m serious. By segregating themselves
from the rest of the university these stu
dents will be missing out on many college
expenences.
Without a slack-jawed failure as a room
mate, who will be there to coerce these
honor students to sneak beer into their
rooms?
And without beer, where will these
underage brains get drunk for the first
time? rr?ii
And if they’re not drunk, when will they
hug a person, someone they really don’t
like, and say those bonding words - “I love
you, man”?
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Do we
really want all those smart people holed up
in their own building?
We all know what happens when one
pinhead gets his own building and fills it
with specialized equipment.
They turn into mad scientists.
Or they create nuclear weapons.
Either way, it’s not a good thing.
We’ve all seen Bond films. And there
really isn’t much difference between a pri
vate island and a special hall.
See, smart people need stupid people
around to act as control rods.
It’s been tested.
However, I don’t wanna be the first
moron that gets to move into the honors
hall.
No way.
“You don’t expect me to talk, do you
GoldHusker?”
“Ha ha ha. No, Mr. Forkner, we expect
you to die!”