X
EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
i—
Our
VIEW
In
activity
Students abolish
apathy in classrooms
We at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln have been saddled with a bad rap.
Nationally, we bear the brunt of some
awfully bad press generated by a few big
name, big-problem athletes in the mid
1990s. In the state, we’re the elitists who look
down on other state colleges and universi
ties. In Lincoln, we’re the folks on the cross
burning, window-diving, snowball-throw
ing campus. And on campus, we get scorned
for some serious, grade-A apathy when
ASUN elections roll around.
But many UNL professors and students
check their apathy and any acknowledgment
of a less-than-stellar reputation at the class
room doors. They’re activists who work to
improve campus by seeking higher learning
and a true intellectual community, and more
university members should follow their lead.
Some clear examples are students who
fight to keep talented teachers and profes
sors who see teaching as an art and a joy.
Last year, more than 1,000 students
signed a petition urging administrators to
hire Bill McLaughlin, a visiting chemistry
instructor and an amazing teacher. Students
protested. After weeks of contract negotia
tions, McLaughlin was hired.
This year, students launched a campaign
to extend the contract of the talented biology
instructor Russ Benedict beyond the fall of
1999. He’ll interview this month for three
out-of-state tenure-track positions. Seniors
Zac Roehrs and Melissa Nootz lead the
effort to keep him teaching and inspiring stu
dents right here at UNL.
Koenrs ana Nootz reject the title politi
cal fighter.” But we think they’re activists of
the best kind, because they’re fighting to sus
tain a higher standard of education.
Meanwhile, three professors recently
were recognized for raising the bar for teach
ing. Two UNL professors won the NU
Outstanding Teacher and Instructional
Creativity Awards: Paul Kelter, associate
professor of chemistry, and Stephen Buhler,
associate professor of English. News-editor
ial Professor Daryl Frazell won the UNL
Outstanding Educator Award.
Each is an active teacher - one that uses
the classroom as an interactive teaching tool,
not as a lecture platform.
Everyone reading today must follow the
lead of the aforementioned students, lectur
ers and professors and must pursue educa
tion actively. On a good campus, activism
isn’t a bad word - it’s the only word. Active
teaching and learning are essential to the
quality of education on campus - especially
on a campus struggling for widespread intel
lectual acknowledgment and with a few
black eyes to heal.
Apathy might be the norm, but it’s as
attractive as the chicken pox. Activism is
healthy and necessary; we laud those who
view it as such.
i __
Editorial Pallcy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1999 Daily Nebraskan. They
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, 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 publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
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.
■ {
Lettar Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee tneir publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions will
not be published. Those who submit
letters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/or group
affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unKnfo.unl.edu.
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DN
LETTERS
King’s words
This letter is a response to the col
umn entitled “Kingly consideration:
Professor questions validity of celebrat
ing leader’s birthday (Jan. 19)” by Gerry
Harbison. He projects Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. as a “serial plagiarist”
who “cut and pasted” his doctoral the
sis. \
Since I am not a scholar, I won’t pre
tend to defend King’s writings except to
point out that the words he wrote influ
enced my thinking. The “works of oth
ers” Harbison says King plagiarized
may not have been easily accessible to
me, nor easily understood by the aver
age citizen. But what is important to me
and millions of other people around the
world is that King’s writings inspired
and challenged us to search for a truth
that liberated our minds from the devas
tating effects of white supremacy and
imperialism.
I recall the long line of German citi
zens holding hands and singing “We
Shall Overcome” as the walls which had
divided their country for decades came
tumbling down. This year, archbishop
Desmond Tutu of South Africa deliv
ered an impassioned speech at the cele
bration of King’s birthday in Atlanta.
Bishop Tutu repeated the many ways in
which King’s leadership, courage and
advice were fundamental to his people’s
determination to dismantle the racist
aoartheid svstem in their countrv.
While I find Harbison’s opinions
racist, sexist and offensive, I appreciate
the writer’s honesty. It helps to dispel
stereotypes about racism in the United
States. King addresses this issue in his
book, “Where Do We Go From Here:
Chaos or Community?” In Chapter III,
entitled “Racism and the White
Backlash,” he wrote:
“Generally we think of white
supremacist views as having their ori
gins with the unlettered, underprivi
leged, poorer-class whites. But the
social obstetricians who presided at the
birth of racist views in our country were
from the aristocracy: rich merchants,
influential clergymen, men of medical
science, historians and political scien
tists from some of the leading universi
ties of the nation. With such a distin
guished company of the elite working
so assiduously to disseminate racist
views, what was there to inspire poor,
illiterate, unskilled farmers to think oth
erwise?
“Soon the doctrine of white
supremacy was imbedded in every text
book and preached in practically every
pulpit It became a structured part of the
culture. And men embraced this philos
ophy, not as the rationalization of a lie,
but as the expression of a final truth.”
The professor speaks about truth at
the beginning of his column. He states:
“A university like UNL does two main
things: scholarship and education.
Scholarship is, in essence, the discovery
of new facts and truths about the world
Education is passing on these truths,
and the methods of their discovery, to
students, so that they can make use of
them in the real world or themselves to
contribute to the process of discovery in
the future.”
as an Amcan-American, a memoer
of the underrepresented group he men
tions, I would ponder what new facts
and truths Harbison is passing on to his
students and how they can make use of
them in the real world of diverse cul
tures: at UNL, in their communities, in
their country and internationally?
It is obvious that UNL is making an
effort to confront diverse racial issues
and to help educate both students and
personnel. Officially celebrating the
King holiday for die first time this year
is a step forward for Nebraska. It might
be instructive to consider some of
King’s ideas about scholarship, truth
and discovery, presented in his
September 1967 speech in Washington,
D.C. He began his speech, tided “The
Role of the Behavioral Scientist in die
Civil Rights movement,” by referring to
the preface of the book “Applied
Sociology” (1965):
... ajm. Miner ana Aivrn uouianer
state: ‘It is the historic mission of the
social sciences to enable mankind to
take possession of society.’ It follows
that for Negroes who substantially are
excluded from society this science is
needed even more desperately than any
other group in die population.”
Finally, Dr. King said,
“The function of education... is to
teach one to think intensively and to
think critically. But education which
stops with efficiency may prove the
greatest menace to society. The most
dangerous criminal may be the man
gifted with reason, but with no morals.”
Leola J. Bullock
Lincoln
Represent whom?
ASUN elections should not exist at
all.
First of all, they waste the time and
money of all involved during campaign
ing.
No matter what anybody says, this
method for developing a student body
senate excludes individuals. How many
times have we heard “ASUN is run by a
small portion of the student body” or “I
don’t care what ASUN does, because
they haven’t made any attempt to focus
on my issues.”
Pitting the students against each
other in that manner forces them to
work in opposition to one another,
rather than work together for the collec
tive good of the student body. Previous
experiences with certain representatives
also show through with glaring clarity
as the “Us vs. Them” mentality is per
petuated.
So what is the answer/
The ASUN student senate should be
chosen each year by a randomly gener
ated list, the executive body could be
chosen by the existing senate at the end
of die term to carry on to the following
year. New senators and committees
would be randomly selected using
departmental lists.
Starting at the top of the randomly
generated list, individuals would be
contacted by previous senators or com
mittee members to explain the time
commitments and duties of these posi
tions. If interested, the selected become
involved; if not, the next randomly
selected person is contacted.
This method would accomplish sev
eral things.
ino ume or money wouia oe wasiea
on a campaign that nobody, except
those involved and their peers, really
cares about. The wall around ASUN
would crumble and individuals would
feel more comfortable discussing issues
with members not elected through affil
iation.
The composition of ASUN would
also be dramatically equalized. No
more clinging biases, no more concen
tration on one area of the student body.
Equal chances, random selection.
Random selection would allow individ
uals the equal opportunity to partici
pate, when otherwise they may be too
intimidated to do so.
Most importantly, the antagonism
of an election would be eliminated.
Everybody has a equal chance, every
body would be new, everybody would
try to work together without the prob
lem of previous biases.
Then we might see the invigoration
of the student body and opening up of
student liberties, rather than the banal
operation of a semi-democratic election
that no student has extra time or money
for, and only 3,000 of the 20,000 stu
dents care about
Graham Johnson
graduate student
German, environmental studies
and social studies
