Having trouble with Linked Lists

Question

I'm making a JApplet with buttons from a Linked List, and the buttons should be unique but they're all returning the same icon and string. Also my refreshImages method and deleteStudents method aren't working except for the very last button. This seems like it's just because of how Linked Lists operate, but I can't wrap my head around it.
public class FacebookApplet extends JApplet implements ActionListener{
     private Scanner input;
     protected RefSortedList studentsList;
     protected RefUnsortedList buttonList;
     Student studentVar;
     private JButton b, refreshButton, deleteButton;
     private JPanel buttonPanel, etcPanel;
      * Calls:     readStudentNames, setUpImages
     public void init(){
          readStudentNames();
          setUpImages();
          setLayout(new BorderLayout());
          setSize(500,670);
          etcPanel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
          refreshButton = new JButton("Refresh");
          deleteButton = new JButton("Delete");
          buttonList.reset();
          etcPanel.add("West", refreshButton);
          etcPanel.add("East", deleteButton);
          add("North", buttonPanel);
          add("South", etcPanel);
          refreshButton.addActionListener(this);
          deleteButton.addActionListener(this);
      * Pre:          students.dat in current directory
      *                studentList instantiated
      * Post:     studentList has Student objects with names, not images(yet)
      * Purpose:     to set up studentList with student names
     private void readStudentNames(){
          try {
               FileReader dataInput = new FileReader("students.dat");
               input = new Scanner(dataInput);
          } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
               System.err.println("ERROR:Students.dat file not found");
               e.printStackTrace();
          studentsList = new RefSortedList();
          while(input.hasNextLine()){
               String studentName = input.nextLine();
              studentVar = new Student(studentName);
               studentsList.add(studentVar);
          System.out.println(studentsList + "");
     }//readStudentNames()
      * Pre:          studentList set up with names
      *                .jpg files are in current directory
      * Post:     buttons set up with images in buttonList and buttonPanel
      * Purpose:     to set up buttons with Student names and images
     private void setUpImages(){
          ImageIcon studentPic;
          Student studentStringPic;
          studentsList.reset();
          buttonList =  new RefUnsortedList();
          buttonPanel = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5,3));
          for (int k = 0; k < studentsList.size(); k++) {
               studentPic = new ImageIcon(studentVar.toString() + ".jpg");
               studentStringPic = new Student(studentVar.toString(), studentPic);
               b = new JButton(studentStringPic.toString(), studentStringPic.getIcon());
               b.setVerticalTextPosition(AbstractButton.BOTTOM);
              b.setHorizontalTextPosition(AbstractButton.CENTER);
               b.addActionListener(this);
               buttonList.add(b);
              buttonPanel.add(b);
               studentsList.getNext();
      * Pre:          buttonList set up
      * Post:     All buttons enabled
      * Purpose:     To enable all buttons in buttonList
     public void refreshImages(){
          for(int i=0;i<buttonList.size();i++){
               b.setEnabled(true);
               buttonList.getNext();
     * Pre:     buttonPanel, buttonList set up
     * Post:    disabled buttons removed from buttonPanel
     * Purpose: To delete those students whose buttons are disabled
    private void deleteStudents(){
         for(int k=0; k<buttonList.size();k++){
              if(!b.isEnabled())
                   buttonPanel.remove(b);
              buttonList.getNext();
         this.repaint();
     public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
          JButton b = (JButton) e.getSource();
          if(e.getSource() == deleteButton){
               deleteStudents();
          else if(e.getSource() == refreshButton){
               refreshImages();
          else{
               b.setEnabled(false);
}Student Class:
public class Student implements Comparable{
     private String name;
     private Icon icon;
     public Student(String nameT){
          name = nameT;
     public Student(String nameT, Icon iconT){
          name = nameT;
          icon = iconT;
     public int compareTo(Object arg0) {
          if(this.equals(name))
               return 1;
          else
               return -1;
     }//compareTo()
     public boolean equals(){
          boolean equalTo = false;
          if(this.equals(name))
               equalTo = true;
          return equalTo;
     }//equals()
      * Pre: LL is instantiated and filled
      * Post: none
      * Purpose: return the name of the student
     public String toString(){
          return name;
     }//toString()
     public Icon getIcon(){
          return icon;
}

Answer 1

I fixed the other things, I just need to fix two more problems and then clean up my code so it looks more professional.
First problem: When I add the Student variables to the studentsList, they aren't sorted. I think this is because they aren't being read as Strings and so there's no way to compare them. I could just do studentVar.toString(), but then studentsList would be full of Strings and not Students. Any ideas?
      * Pre:          students.dat in current directory
      *                studentList instantiated
      * Post:     studentList has Student objects with names, not images(yet)
      * Purpose:     to set up studentList with student names
     private void readStudentNames(){
          try {
               FileReader dataInput = new FileReader("students.dat");
               input = new Scanner(dataInput);
          } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
               System.err.println("ERROR:Students.dat file not found");
               e.printStackTrace();
          studentsList = new RefSortedList();
          while(input.hasNextLine()){
               String studentName = input.nextLine();
              studentVar = new Student(studentName);
               studentsList.add(studentVar);
          System.out.println(studentsList + "");
     }//readStudentNames()Here's the add() method of RefSortedList:
public void add(Comparable element)
  // Adds element to this list.
    LLObjectNode prevLoc;     // trailing reference
    LLObjectNode location;    // traveling reference
    Comparable listElement;   // current list element being compared     
    boolean moreToSearch;            
    // Set up search for insertion point.
    location = list;
    prevLoc = null;
    moreToSearch = (location != null);
    // Find insertion point.
    while (moreToSearch)
      listElement = (Comparable)location.getInfo();
      if (listElement.compareTo(element) < 0)  // list element < add element
         prevLoc = location;
         location = location.getLink();
         moreToSearch = (location != null);   // stop looking at end of list
      else
        moreToSearch = false;     // list element >= add element
    // Prepare node for insertion.
    LLObjectNode newNode = new LLObjectNode(element);
    // Insert node into list.
    if (prevLoc == null)        
      // Insert as first node.
      newNode.setLink(list);
      list = newNode;
    else
      // Insert elsewhere.
      newNode.setLink(location);
      prevLoc.setLink(newNode);
    numElements++;
  }