EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
I
Quotes
OF THE WEEK
“I’m extremely disappointed. I still
maintain laws were broken. The investi
gation was not very thorough.”
Pemina Yellow Bird, a NGPRA repre
sentative for the Three Affiliated Tribes in
Kansas, on the report that found no state
law broken regarding the actions of the
UNL anthropology department
“I’m pleased to learn that there’s no
violation of state law.”
Chancellor James Moeser, on the same
report
“I will never attack the integrity of
my opponent”
Mike Johanns, during the final guber
natorial debate with Bill Hoppner on
Tiiesday
“A candidate should focus on reasons
why he should be elected and not why the
other guy shouldn’t be.”
Duane Winkler, a junior psychology
major, on political campaigning this year
“Books are becoming increasingly
usurped by the dematerialized world of
electronic data, which threatens to
replace books as conveyors of informa
tion. It is precisely the materiality of
books that defenders point to when argu
ing for their importance in our lives.”
Carla Hanzal, who lectured on tour
with the “LegibleForms”exhibit
“We’re here to give them hell.”
Jim Wrenholt, who organized the
protest against the change in P Street traffic
“We thought we could come in here
and at least make it a game. I think that’s
was such a
, on the
“We’re not your typical lazy college
students. We really do care. We want to
make a difference.”
ASUN President Sara Russell, on the
“Blue to MU”protest against Initiative 413
“He never has to lay a Anger on her,
but those threats will tear apart her soul
ats surely;as if she’d been beaten to
j-dejitb.”
Lee KJgve, program coordinator for the \
Friendship Home, speaking about emotion
al abuse during the annual Take Back the
Night vigil
“A lot of people want to focus on that
one play. I have been coaching long
enough to know those things happen. You
don’t forget them, but you can’t dwell on
them.”
MU Coach Larry Smith, on the play last
year that NU fans called uThe Immaculate
Reception, Part II”
“It’s not about Uncle Sam. It’s not
about normalness. It’s about enjoying
what you have.”
John Elsener, who plays #7 in “Tales of
the Lost Formicans,” which opened last
night at the Studio Theatre
Editorial Policy
Unsigned ecfitoriais are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They
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Aoolumn is solely the opinion of is author.
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m
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i Mook s
VIEW
^ ■ ■
Lay it on the line
Application essays should be nothing but the bare truth
i .in ffsa&raras_i
AARON COOPER is a
senior English major and
a Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
Deadlines are inching closer.
Appointments for this and applica
tions for that are piling up faster than
my dirty laundry.
The finish line is somewhere far
off in the distance, although I’m not
exactly sure what it is that I am rac
ing against.
Allegedly, I will walk out of here
in May with a degree that says I have
served my time and hopefully soaked
up enough knowledge and insight in
four years to send me along the road
of life and uncertainty.
Barring a few misguided social
outings, recurring nightmares of
drowning in a sea of books about
Shakespeare and black holes, an
injured temporal lobe, and the wrath
of the computer gods, I. will continue
my journey through higher education
at a graduate school to be named.
On those applications, you fill
out tons of forms and answer stan
dard questions for die 1,375th time,
such as “name, date of birth,” etc.
Then you try to figure out if that
award you got for the loudest belch
at Woody’s or the worst paper written
in the history of American universi
ties are actually “academic honors.”
Then, after all that is done and
you see the big blank space toward
die end of the application, you think
you are home free.
Wrong.
You have to write a statement of
purpose or something to that effect
It doesn’t matter how it’s worded,
they all want to know the same thing:
Why do you want to pursue graduate
study, and what are your plans for
the fiiture?
I’ve maxed out my intellectual
BS card. I have written more essays,
r~—;
journals and papers in the past four
years than scribes who once copied
the Bible. I have learned the finite
principle of “you can’t please every
body.” What else is there to draw
from?
I know. How about the truth?
It’s time to lay it on the line. You
can call this a statement of purpose,
a record of goals, or you can call it a
mission statement for all l care. It’s
been put off for far too long.
Cooper’s Law: Don’t tell them
what you think they want to hear. Tell
them what you want to say.
Bottom line - NO GUTS, NO
GLORY.
Here goes nothing.
Dear Graduate Admissions
Committee:
I am a writer. That’s the most
truthful description of someone
aspiring to a profession or career that
accurately describes me.
Since third grade, I have wanted
to be a professional creator of
unknown worlds and characters and
to be able to work literary magic
with a pencil, paper and a whole lot
of words.
I know this pursuit is one that
causes great skepticism among peo
ple who determine the course of *
their lives merely by reason and
logic. I also know that if that both
ered me or if either of those things .
were overwhelmingly important to
me, then 1 wouldn’t be where I am
today.
It’s crazy if you think about it “I
want to tell stories for a living.”
Aspiring to such a professional
world meets with much the same
skepticism as he or she who wants to
paint pictures or sing songs for a liv
ing.
The critics often add the, “Well,
aren’t you going to do something
else, too?” bit or the “That’s a nice
dream, but seriously, what do you
really want to do with the rest of
your life?” routine.
Thankfully, I have had to deal
with few people who thought my
fiitiue goals were less than realistic
or about as feasible as expecting to
get struck by lightning. I hope other
aspiring artists meet with the same
good fortune or have the sense not to
listen to those who express their
doubts rather than their support
I want to “pursue graduate study”
because I don’t think this undergrad
uate gig will give me everything I
need, and I doubt that four years is
enough for me to learn how to break
into a profession that boasts previous
employees like Ernest Hemingway,
Jane Austen and Mark Twain.
J wapt to take my gapae to the
next level. Most of die time I feel I
can handle the ball pretty well and
have the fundamentals down, but 1
want to learn how to slam dunk my
words onto the page and not just
hope they fall into place on then
own.
I want to learn about how to see
people better, how to listen to the
voices inside my head so that I know
what to pay attention to and what to
disregard.
Some days, I think my writing
flows like tire green fungus on top of
a pond. Other days, my words jump
off the page in a way that makes me
feel as if I just slammed a 545-foot
home run in the bottom of the ninth
inning to win the World Series.
_ 1 /» .1 « i. t
i nave enougn ot tnese latter days
to inspire me and to keep me going.
I will do everything humanly
possible to make it as a professional.
If that means retaining hope after
rejection slip No. 749, so be it If that
means staying up all night to finish
“The Grapes of Wrath” and figure
out how the great ones harness die
ebb and flow of natural language, so
be it I have learned to creatively
rearrange the human tendencies of
sleep.
I hope, in some way or another,
to be able to pass along what I have
learned. I hope to share my beliefs
about this ancient art form with oth
ers and pass along the things that
have carried me over some pretty
rough terrain.
Whether that will involve teach
ing as I try to break into the world of
fiction, so be it I will not complain.
Rather, I will embrace every oppor
tunity as a challenge.
Whatever doesn’t bring me down
will make me stronger.
Of that I have no doubt
Sincerely yours, Aaron M.
Cooper.
