Monday, February 2, 1987
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Ho-
Nsina&kan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeff Korbelik, Editor, 472-1766
James Rogers, Editorial Page Editor
Lise Olsen, Associate News Editor
Mike Reilley, Night News Editor
Jean Kezac, 6V Mst Chief
Am act of attoikoM
Senators cynical of ASUN
Like the comedian Rodney
Dangerfield, ASUN Senate
"gets no respect." Both a
cause and effect of this dearth of
widespread respect is the high
attrition rate of people from the
senate. Upwards of 50 percent of
individuals once serving on the
senate this year no longer sit on
the assembly. While Nero fiddled,
Rome burned. However, it's not
obvious that most ASUN sena
tors even have had the time to
learn to play the violin.
Of those who quit or were
forced to resign, some did so as a
result of apathy manifested in
missed meetings. Others were
cynical about the prospects of
: meaningful service in the senate
r"ttdtf ttfnt of bitterness.'.
the struggle over ASUN's iden
tity and respect cannot be solved
overnight. While many of the
sentiments of the quitting and
resigning senators are under
standable by much of the stu
dent population, students are
nonetheless ill served by such
discontinuity in the senate popu
lation. We're not crying over spilt
milk here. A new ASUN election
just around the corner raises the
question: Will next year's senate
have the same problem? Steps
need to be taken to decrease the
possibility of a repeat perfor
mance. First, candidates for execu
tive offices those largely re
sponsible for selecting the party
slates for the lower offices
should redouble efforts to ensure
that those running are willing to
serve the entire term, except in
the case of a major emergency.
Undoubtedly, a slack candidate-selection
process by party
officials has led in some measure
to the massive exodus. Candi
dates (or the senate or election
commission itself) could require,
say, a deposit of $100, returnable
only after a successful year of
service. (Obviously true hard
luck cases would be allowed to
get it returned but none of
this "I have a night class" junk.)
For some reason, when money is
involved in an event espe
cially one's own cash apathy
has a way of evaporating like dew
on grass.
Cynicism represents a differ
ent problem than apathy. The
solution, however, is obvious:
People who are cynical about
ASUN (and that involves a num
ber of us) simply should not be
members of ASUN. Anybody with
enough awareness to seek a seat
on the ASUN Senate has enough
awareness to know the substan
tial constraints on positive ASUN
action there are both institu
tional and attitude factors se
verely limiting the "student
government's" ability to do any
thing resembling real governance.
Even the most surf ace-level under
standing of the context of stu
dent government at UNL should
communicate that grandiose vi
sions of major policy changes
cannot be accomplished through
ASUN.
ASUN is nonetheless a service
organization that is not without
reason for existence. Executive
candidates should ensure that
their fellow party members un
derstand completely what they're
getting into and avoid a repeat of
this year's embarrassment.
Voices finally h
eard
RHA adds meal plan, cable, paper towels
Residence hall voices were
finally heard.
For several years students
residing in the halls have had to
deal with paying for meals they
never ate and wiping their hands
on their pants because rest rooms
didn't have paper towels. Resi
dents also watched television
that only carried the network
stations.
Now, the above complaints
are a part of the 1987-88 budget
approved by the Residence Hall
Association. Specifically, an alternative-meal
plan will give res
idents the choice of 13 or 20
meals a week. The old system
required students to pay for 20
meals whether they ate 20 or not.
Also, paper-towel dispensers are
being added to the halls' bath
rooms, and 34-channel basic-cable
service is being installed.
Friday's Daily Nebraskan stated
that RHA approved the budget
after negotiating last semester
with the Office of University
Housing, and after a survey
showed that residents favored
the changes. Of 382 residents
surveyed, 73 percent favored cable
TV, 78 percent approved of the
alternative-meal plan, and 78
percent wanted paper towels.
The numbers are significant,
and it's a wonder the items
haven't been implemented before.
Each may seem trivial, especially
cable TV, but all of those things;
are an important part of the res
idents' daily routines.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
brief letters to the editor from all
readers and interested others.
Letters will be selected for
publication on the basis of clarity,
originality, timeliness and space
available.
Readers also are welcome to
submit material as guest opinions.
Whether material should run as a
letter or guest opinion, or not run, is
left to the editor's discretion.
Anonymous submissions will not
be considered for publication.
Letters should include the author's
name, year in school, major and
group affiliation, if any. Requests to
withhold names from publication
will not be granted.
Submit material to the Daily Ne
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1 400 R
St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
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concur im
Voters shy away from too-pushy presidential candidates
The decision of White House Com
munications Director Pat Buchanan
not to toss his hat into the ring for the
1988 Republican presidential nomina
tion is greatly to his credit.
In announcing it, Buchanan rightly
stressed the main point, which was
that his candidacy would unnecessar
ily split consiTvatiu- Republican ranks
and thereby diminish the chances of
some likelier conservative prospect
such as Rep. Jack Kemp. But that
factor, though central, wasn't the only
one that played a part in Buchanan's
decision not to run.
What made the idea tempting in the
first place was the indisputable fact
that there are a lot of outraged and
frustrated conservatives around the
country who have been waiting for
somebody to say what they believe:
namely, that the whole Irancontras
controversy is a case of much ado about
very little, and is being diligently
puffed up by the Democrats and their
media cronies in a squalid and thus far
totally unsuccessful effort to destroy
Ronald Reagan and his presidency.
That effort deserves to be nailed as the
dingy little smear job it is, and Bucha
nan has made a couple of speeches
around the country doing precisely
that. His audiences conservative to
a man were ecstatic, and the Buch
anan presidential boomlet was under
way.
The trouble is that while such hard-
shelled conservatives constitute a re
spectable fraction of the national elec
torate, and are probably even numerous
enough to win or materially influence
many Republican presidential primar
ies, there aren't enough of them to win
a general election all by themselves or
(probably) even capture the Republi
can presidential nomination.
William
A.
Rusher
When it comes to choosing a man for
the presidency, most voters shy away
from candidates, whether left or right,
who have a passionate gleam in their
eye. Even to have a reputation (as Tom
Dewey did, for example) for wanting
the job badly is enough to scare off
many people. To be suspected of being
dedicated, heart and soul, to some
ideology, or even to a "rigid" set of
principles, turns the average voter off
almost automatically. It was the feat
that Ronald Reagan was of this danger
ous breed that kept so many voters
undecided until late in the 1980 cam
paign; and it was his debate with Car
ter, which showed 60 million viewers a
warm, relaxed and totally non-threat
ening Reagan, that resulted in his
landslide victory.
So it is written in the stars that, with
rare exceptions, such impassioned pil
lars of principle as Pat Buchanan
and, for that matters, Jesse Helms
are not destined to occupy the White
House.
Up through the nomination, the fan
tasy was shared and almost equally
enjoyed by many on the left. They
longed for Buchanan's nomination by
the Republicans the way many conser
vatives long for Ted Kennedy's or Mario
Cuomo's nomination by the Democrats
anticipating the rich delights of
administering an historic drubbing to a
veteran opponent in the general
election.
Buchanan's decision returns the Re
publican presidential contest to ap
proximately its prior shape, with Bush
ahead, Dole second and (apparently)
gaining, and Kemp still well behind.
But the time is now near when Kemp
must start moving toward open can
didacy, and upward in the polls if he
is ever going to do so. And, thanks to
Pat Buchanan's demonstration, he must
now know that there are a great many
Republicans out there who are ready to
respond to a calmly principled defense
of Ronald Reagan.
1987, NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE
ASSN.
Rusher is the publisher of the National
Review.
Letters
Gaylesbian needs can be met
without university's money
I see no need for the gaylesbian group to get even one
penny from the IPC's 1987-88 budget. If this group got the
money it is asking for, the university would not be helped in
any way.
According to the Jan. 29 front-page article in the DN,
Angela Swantek, UPC-City president, said, "The university
is not meeting the informational and cultural needs of
homosexuals on campus." Does this mean they have differ
ent informational and cultural needs than heterosexuals on
campus? Swantek was also quoted as saying, "Gays are not
one-dimensional; they have talents and need a way to
express them." What talents do they have that they can't
express? What would a way to express their talents be?
Besides these two questions, why would they need the
university's money to do so?
It appears to me that the gaylesbian group just wants to
be totally segregated from the rest of the students. It
doesn't bother me to be in the same university with gays and
lesbians, but it looks like it bothers the gaylesbian group
to be in the same university with heterosexuals:
Mike Graff
senior
marketing
Rogers' column misrepresents
conservatives, reader says
Jim Rogers is doing a great disservice to conservatives.
His editorial rhetoric is confusing, lengthy and (worst of all)
boring.
Example: (excerpt Jan. 29) "Yet while always asserting
the presuppositions of this nihilism, the modern era
insanely denies the reality of the abyss." Huh?! As George
Orwell noted of similar writings in "Politics and the English
Language," "This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompe
tence is the most marked characteristic of modern English
prose, and especially of any kind of political writing."
A writer's foremost goal is to relate to his audience. On
this count, Rogers fails miserablv. Few DN readers have a
Ph.D.inb.s.
Why do I say he is doing a disservice to conservatives?
Simply, because he is a poor representative of conserva
tives. Most conservatives don't dress up simple statements
with pretentious diction.
I could be in the minority, but I doubt it. I don't question
Rogers' intelligence or integrity, only his methods. People
should be persuaded by clear and accurate logic and rea
son, not fancy words and inflated phrases.
James Feyerherm
sophomore
political sciencehistory