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editorial ooonton
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Eco 4:
the city
The ecology of the city of Lincoln is in bad shape.
Currently, the air and water levels in the city are
unacceptable, although some steps have been taken to
correct these problems.
Under governmental air quality guidelines,
Lincoln's atmosphere is substandard. While not
containing excessive amounts of four major
pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, oxidents
and hydrocarbons; the air that the 20,000 UNL
students breathe each day is loaded with another
major pollutant called Suspended Particulant Matter.
This pollution, which consists of dust from grain,
soil, coal smoke and so forth, currently registers 70
micrograms per cubic met of air, while thecal ity
standard is 60.
Also below standard are the Lincoln waterways,
basically because of the apalling state of Salt Creek, a
major dumping place for pollutants. To correct the
I V
m
Sex and the
single-term
president
orthur
hoppe
innocent
""Tferydfi conceded Nixon the election. Yet there is an
'"TrovrTuT force at work on the minds of the voters that has
never been probed, polled or even discussed. It could easily
cost him the presidency.
This all-powerful force is, of course, sex.
With incredible foresight, McGovern recognized the
problem early. Before announcing his candidacy he carefully
grew sideburns, purchased a mod wardrobe and, rumor has it,
got his teeth capped.
In an incredible blunder, the usually astute Nixon ignored
the challenge and blindly plodded on with the same short
haircut, narrow ties and stuffy, if dignified mien.
Now that the problem's at last been bared, it's probably too
late for Nixon to grow sideburns. The problem was bared by a
reporter named Betty Garrett.
When . comes to choosing candidates, Garrett admits in a
New Yoik Times article, "I'm sure sex does influence my
judgment, and that doesn't strike me as terribly wrong, After
all, I wouldn't go to bed with someone I didn't like and
respect, and the same holds true when voting for a man."
Garrett undoubtedly reflects the secret feelings of millions
cf Americans. And it's certainly as good a way to choose a
candidate as any. But when it comes to Nixon, she adds:
"What I can't visualize is Nixon in an intimate situation of
any sort. I confess I bought The Making of the President in the
frail hope that someone had. He'd seem infinitely more
human."
Garrett's difficulty envisioning Nixon in such a situation is
shared by many. I know, I tried.
Scene: The bedroom of the Nixons' San Clemente home.
Ms. Nixon in a quilted bathrobe is standing by the window.
Nixon, wearing a grey suit and tie, enters, humming, "Hail to
The Chief."
Nixon: Good evening, my fellow American. Let me say at the
outset what a deep personal pleasure it is for me to be with
you here on this glorious occasion.
Ms. Nixon: Thank you, dear. Come look at the moon. Isn't it
beautiful? (shyly) Does it make you think of anything?
Nixon: Yes. I say to you with great sincerity that it makes me
think of the greatest day since creation when a brave American
astronaut, during my administration, first set foot on its
surface, thus assuring we would never be No. 2 to the Russians
in outer space.
Mi. Nixon: But the way it shimmers on the water. Doesn't
that thrill you?
Nixon: Yes. It thrills me to realize that because I have
determinedly brought our boys home across that water, I have
prevented the power-mad Communists-not our Communist
friends in China, but our Communist enemies in
Vietnam-from invading our beloved California.
Ms. Nixon: (near tears): Oh, please, dear, to save our marriage,
couldn't you just once perform an act of, forgive me,
intimacy?
Nixon: (frowning): I am for saving the free world. I am for
saving the country. I am for saving our marriage. Close your
creek's sorry state would be expensive, if possible. So,
little is being done to improve the state of the city's
water.
In the same line, the city's sewage treatment plant
doesn't meet state criteria at present. This is basically
because the plant is running well over capacity, which
may be corrected in the near future, by the
construction of a new double-capacity plant.
In the legislative category, Lincoln has within the
past three years enacted ordinances limiting amounts
of sewage, chemical pollutants and air pollutants
legally emissable by industry. Because of these
ordinances, many of the most serious polluters have
cleaned up their operations. But not all.
In zoning for new business, the Lincoln City
Council has made consistent inspection of the
pollution potential of new businesses coming into
Lincoln. But established industries don't always fall
under such strict scrutiny.
Enforcement of existing statutes have forced many
big polluters into line. The Lincon-Lancaster Air
Pollution Agency has made some progress in forcing
two asphalt plants to install filters, three grain
elevators to install dust collectors and persuading a
coal-burning power plant to switch to less-polluting
oil. But many polluters remain undetected and, of
course, uncorrected.
The main problem in Lincoln, as in other areas of
the environment, is that people just don't seem to
give a damn. This eco-apathy simply makes the
problem worse. The lack of pressure on city officials
and, more effectively, consumer pressure on
offending industries makes the ecology efforts mere
echoes in a vacuum.
Currently several city-based agencies exist to
spread ecological concern in Lincoln: Citizens for
Environmental Improvement, Zero Population
Growth, Green Power and Sierra Club, to mention a
few. All can play a major role in correcting our
environment's disastrous state.
But only if public response increases. And the
students at the University are everybit as much
involved in the problem as Mayor Schwartzkopf.
And 20,000 voices could not be ignored.
' Jim Gray
eyes. All rightThere!
Ms. Nixon: "OfiTtfi'ls'is the happlestiyfmy life ! Just think,
I've never seen you without your necktie on before,
(hesitantly) Would you consider going al the way and
unbuttoning your collar?
:'
For the life of me, that's as far as I can envision. It isn't just
Nixon's image. It's that he's our President.
We Americans just can't believe our President, even as you
and I, puts his trousers on one leg at a time. After all, first he'd
have to take them off.
(Copyright Chronic! Publishing Co. 1972)
page 4
daily nebraskan
friday, October 6, 1972
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