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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 1988)
_ ~ .Daily, T Editorial NeSraskan University of Nebraska-Lincoln --p-—, ■-—— ;— Mike Rcilley, Editor, 472-1766 Diana Johnson, Editorial Page Editor Jen Desclms, Managing Editor Curt Wagner, Associate News Editor Chris Anderson, Associate News Editor Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief Joel Carlson, Columnist —v—;—z— -i ; ' __ Don’t pay RHA Dedication, not money, draws excellence The Residence Hall Asso ciation wants to pay its executives. That’s nuts. During last week’s meeting, Sen. Ken Libby proposed that RHA pay its executive officers. His bill suggests that executives should either be helped with housing payments or tuition or be paid cash. Libby’s idea is that a little change in the pocket will help attract quality officers who may be held more accountable for their actions. Then Marlin Bergmann, •'‘resident of Abel Hall, chimed in to suggest that senators should be included in the bill because they deserve some thanks for working three to five hours each week. Under the proposal. RHA executives would pay the presi dent $2(10 per semester, vice I president, $150; treasurer and I committee heads, SI00; and senators, $50. By the way, RHA is financed through student housing fees. In essence, hall residents would pay for the officers they elected. An informal comparative sur vey or other University of Nc , braska-Lincoln student organi zations shows that few, if any, pay or reimburse their officers for tuition or housing. Those funded through student fees in clude the Association of Stu | dents of the University of Ne braska, University Program Council, various advisory board members, Intcrfratcmity Coun cil and the Panhcllcnic Associa tion. Their work is strictly volun teer. The time and energy stu dents contribute to these organi zations is rewarded only by their effort!? and respect among their peers. Although the Daily Nebras kan is funded by student fees, salaries for senior editors and staff members arc allocated only through funding earned through advertising dollars. Employees j are required to apply and inter view for their jobs, as are Cam pus Activities and Programs student employees, according to Tim Moore, CAP program coor dinator. There’s a difference between volunteer work and jobs for hire . . . especially those who are elected to their positions. Although some RHA execu tives and senators contribute an admirable amount of time and effort to their positions, they arc far from deserving a regular sal ary. For example, Russ Johnson recently resigned as RHA presi dent, saying he was “just riding out” his temi. How can RHA even consider paying all of its executives when they’re “just riding out” their terms? To use salaries or reimburse ments as incentives for more qualified officers could also lure i those who are only interested in satisfying their greed. Money isn’t going to draw quality. Only those who arc truly interested in working for their fellow hall residents deserve the positions in the first place. After all, money isn’t every thing. Reader questions new leaders’ longevity 1 want to thank the VOICE and ARF parties for exposing a problem — the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska is an organi zation completely out of touch with a majority of the student body. I’ve read many complaints of stu dent apathy. A more serious problem lies w ith the apathy and arrogance of ASUN members. In the March 3 Daily Nebraskan, John Bcrgmeyer said he believed that ASUN must ignore the opinions of those who voted him in to show that he’s not “running scared.” What has ASUN done in the last three semesters? It has eagerly ap proved any tuition and fee increases that have come its way. What else could it do? ASUN lacks the power or the backbone to stand up to the ad ministration and the Legislature. This is clearly seen when ASUN members resign. They realize the limitations of ASUN. The only useful thing ASUN can do is lobby the Legislature through the Government Liaison Committee. Then why do I pay for this token student government when the only guts it has is to disagree with its own constituents? Because ASUN has done something for me. The petty bickering and hilarious joke bills have often entertained me while I was reading the DN. In conclusion, now that the elec tion is over and a majority of the ACTION party members have some thing that appears impressive on their resumes, how many of them will complete their terms in office? Brad Simmon? sophomore political science Policy to ban smoking ‘alienates’ reader The University of Nebraska’s policy to ban smoking makes me feel discriminated against and alienated. I have every right in the world to smoke. Nowhere in the Magna Charta, Bill of Rights or the Constitution is there any law against smoking. I respect the smoking and non-smoking areas in the classrooms and labs, but that docs not mean I am , , ,**•$**' #*•••*• prohibited from smoking elsewhere. If people dislike the smoke in the halls, the smell of ashtrays and the ominous presence of cigarette bulls, they must simply adjust to the situ ation because I do not plan to slop smoking for anyone. Bryson Bartels first-year law student f I Royko content with versatility Readers label columnist as racist, bloodthirsty and corrupting A journalism student re cently asked me what I liked best about my job. That was easy. I told him the paycheck. “No,” he said, “what gives you the most professional satisfaction?” That was harder, since I seldom think about professional satisfaction. Mostly, 1 think about getting the job done, turning off the office light and grabbing a beer. But now that I’ve given it some thought, I suppose the most satisfy ing part of my job is that I can be more than one person. If I may boast, I’m sometimes ama/ed at my own versa tility. For example, lately I have been an agent of the devil, a corrupter of American values. I've been told this by countless people from all over the country who arc angry because I don’t share their admiration for Pat Robertson, the preacher turned politician. They not only write or phone me, but they send letters to many of the newspapers that publish my column. In Paducah, for example, one of the letters was printed below a headline that said: “Royko Just Adds to Moral Decay.” The writer of the letter had said: “Royko and others like him contrib ute to the spiritual and moral deca dence of America." From his letter, I couldn’t tell what the writer’s favorite brand of decadence is, so I don’t know if I can take any credit for his private antics. In fact, I can’t remember ever encouraging decadence. 1 assume that those who want to get a little depraved can manage without my help. Take Jimmy Swaggart. I didn’t introduce him to that loose young lady, If he had asked me, I would have told him to at least wear fake whiskers. Or Jimmy Bakkcr. If the impulsive little fellow sought my advice, I would have told him: “Never, ever fool around with the secretary.” Another example of my versatil ity came w hen the late Harold Wash ington became the first black mayor of Chicago. During his campaign, I suggested that he fully explain some of the problems he once had with the Inter nal Revenue Service. I would have asked it of any candidate, white, black or from Mars. There was an immediate outcry that 1 was a racist. After he was elected, I wrote that it was no reason for whiles to gel into a dither, that he’d probably do no worse than previous mayors and should be given a fair chance. I was immediately deluged with phone callsand letters dcscribingme as a “nigger lover.” As time passed, I found reason to criticize some aspects of Washington’s adminisirauon. So 1 was again bombarded with callsand letters cal ling mca “racist.” It later occurred to me that I had missed a chance to conduct a useful social experiment. I should have saved all of those letters, invited the writers to a big party and stood off at a safe distance and watched the fun. Over the years. I’ve also found myself in the role of “kike” or “shecnic” or “hebe.” These are words used by some decent, God tearing Americans to describe those who don’t worship the way they do Some thought l was Jew ish. which I’m not, because I have a number ol views that some readers thought were too liberal. For example. I’ve always been against lynching. But one man found another due. He said he knew I was Jewish because I have a prominent nose. I dropped him a note saying that Jimmy Du rante also had a heroic nose, but he wasn’t Jewish. And the man sent another letter saying: “So you re a lousy dago.’’ You just can't please some people. Yet, things have a way of balanc- j ing out. And from time to lime, w hen I’ve done less than lawn over some of Israel’s policies, 1’vc been accused of being an anti-Semite. That made me so upset that I thought about getting a nose job. During the Vietnam War, I wrote that we should get out. I was cal led a commie dupe. When I said that I thought people like Abbic Hoi I man and Jerry Rubin were kind of grxily, I was called a running dog of capital ist imperialism. That really made me nervous. No matter who won, I’d be pul against the wall. I believe in capital punishment, so I’m sometimes called bloodthirsty and insensitive. When I’ve written about police brutality, I vc been called a criminal-coddling wimp. Can a wimp be bloodthirsty? Some shrink should study that. Anyway, to paraphrase that old saying: You can enrage some of the people all of the time, and all ol the people some of the time, but you can’t enrage all of the people all ol the lime. Maybe. But I’m not going to stop trying. I ©19** Chicago Tribune § Koyko is a PuliUer Prize-winning colum | nist with the Chicago Tribune. 1 Unsigned editorials represent of ficial policy of the spring 1988 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is setby the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its mem bers arc Mike Rcillcy, editor; Diana Johnson, editorial page editor; Joan Rczac, copy desk editor; Jen Dc selms, managing editor; Curl Wag ner, associate news editor; Scott Har rah, night news editor and Joel Carlson, columnist. Editorials do not necessarily re lied the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. The Daily Nebraskan’s publishers arc the regents, who established the U N L Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper According to policy set by 1 regents, responsibility for the cdito rial content of the newspaper li • solely in the hands of its student e 1 tors.