Editorial
I-~~
■ TT2>l1l7 Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
^ Lee Rood, Editorial Page Editor
\T^ Jane Hirt,Managing Editor
I ^1 fr* II | ^ 1C 3 11 Brandon Loomis, Associate News Editor
*■“ Bnan Svoboda, Columnist
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bob Nelson, Columnist
Jeff Petersen, Columnist
Students disgruntled
ASUN voices constituents* concern to board
WJith a 22-0-2 vote Wednesday, the Association of
YY Students of the University of Nebraska showed
T T students they are concerned about their constitu
ents.
ASUN passed Senate Resolution 5, telling the NU
Board of Regents that students are displeased with the
board's decision to withhold information on the ousting of
President Ronald Roskens.
Their vote, however, did not go unopposed.
UNL Faculty Senate President James McShane told the
ASUN Senate he was concerned about the resolution,
because it demanded the regents disclose information for
which thev could he leeallv liable.
McShane said Nebraskans should drop the subject, and
: look toward the future proceedings of the board.
“I’m rather proud that our board has the sense to keep
£ their collective mouth shut despite all the grief it has
brought them again and again ...” McShane said.
But the issue is not dead, nor should it be.
Sen. Steve Thomlison, sponsor of the resolution, added
amendments to the legislation ~ at McShane’$ suggestion
— requesting that the regents disclose information if and
when it is legally viable.
That makes sense. ASUN is not trying to prod the
regents into a lawsuit with their request. Senators are
merely letting the regents know that students are dis
gruntled with their secrecy.
ASUN President Bryan Hill added strength to that
complaint with a bill urging the regents to uphold “the
academic principles of open debate and public accounta
bility.”
Sen. Marc Shkolnick also made a good point. He said
rumors surrounding R os ken s’ ousting could be more
Im damaging than the reasons for the board’s action.
The NU Board of Regents may never disclose those
reasons. Even with pressure from the Nebraska Legisla
ture, they may keep their silence on personnel relations.
But regents still should be aware of how students feel.
Thomlison’s resolution on the matter — coupled with
Hill's legislation — tells the regents that students won’t
forget the problem.
The NU Board of Regents may pay no mind to stu
dents’ concerns. So far, their lawyers say regents are
legally bound to keep their mouths shut.
Regardless of the board’s concern, ASUN senators
have taken a good step. They have shown that — at least
on this issue - they are concerned about and capable of
listening to their constituents.
Hopefully, the NU Board of Regents will follow suit.
•• Amy Edwards
for the Daily Nebraskan
Student gives his solutions
for UNL’s parking problem
I want a place to park my car! Ever
since the bureaucrats gave part of my
parking lot (I am in Area 1) to the rich
kids who can afford to pay $ 150 for a
preferred parking spot, I and many
others in Area 1 have not had nearly
enough room to park. While I will be
racking up hundreds of dollars in
parking tickets, the new preferred
parking lot (Area G) remains only 10
percent full! Here’s a list of possible
answers:
1.1 can live with a few guys having
their own personal parking spaces,
but why not let the rest of us peons use
the remaining spaces in Area G?
2. Give us a new lot, even if it is
farther away than the other Area 1
lots.
3. Abolish parking by area. We
should be able to park in any area we
want, other than the faculty and pre
ferred lots.
4. Loosen parking restrictions. Let
us park along the sides of the road,
etc.
5. Invest a bit of the school’s vast
cash reserves in a multi-floor parking
garage.
. Mike Gleason
freshman
cor ter science
P.S. Keep Jim’s Joum
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II
Apathy won’t resolve anything
Needed ASUN restructuring is impossible without student help
Like Pinocchio, the puppet who
desperately wanted to be a real
boy, the Association of Stu
dents of the University of Nebraska is
a group that desperately wants to be a
real student government.
For years, though, the problem has
been the same. An overwhelming
majority of students simply don't
care about student government. Not
even 12 percent of eligible voters
turned out last year for ASUN’s elec
tions. The year before it was 13 per
cent.
And most of those who do care
about student government don’t like
what they sec. A survey conducted
last year by ASUN itself revealed that
53 percent of the UNL students sur
veyed rated student government as
“poor/fair.”
So it’s fair to ask some questions:
Whv, on an apathetic campus, arc
students especially apathetic about
ASUN? And why do a vast majority
of students have little or no confi
dence in their student government?
The problem has nothing to do
with the people who serve in ASUN
now. No, ASUN’s problem lies in
itself. The threat it faces is what
Robert Kennedy described as “the
violence of institutions: indifference,
inaction and slow decay.”
lMMuuuunb sucn as our govern
ments, our churches and our bridge
clubs represent our values as a culture
and reflect our diversity as a society.
When an institution fails to do cither
of these things, it begins to break
down. And when this happens,
people become alienated. They stop
respecting the institution, and the
institution becomes meaningless.
This is precisely what is happen
ing to AS UN. The role and function
of ASUN as it has evolved over the
past several years is inconsistent with
the values, attitudes and beliefs of
students.
Students see themselves at odds
with the university’s administration
and the NU Board of Regents.
Whether they’re looking for a park
ing space, waiting in line for their
financial aid check, or watching their
residence hall student assistant kick
their date out of their room at 2 a.m.,
students see the university as their
enemy.
It's not fair, but it’s a fact.
Student government, on the other
hand, is seen as an ally of the admini
stration and the regents. ASUN ex
ecutives, senators and subcommit
tees such as the Parking Advisory
Board and the Committee for Fees
Allocation work conscientiously
with administrators and, in the end,
usually accept the decisions they
make.
This isn’t totally fair, either. There
indeed are times when the student
government openly takes on the
administration and the regents. But
for the average student, these limes
seem to be loo few and far between.
While students see their relationship
with the university as basically ad
versarial, ASUN’s relationship with
the university is seen as basically
cooperative.
And just as ASUN fails to repre
sent student beliefs and auitudes, it
also fails to reflect the diversity of the
student population. The argument
has been made many times in many
ways, but here it is again: on a campus
where fhe overwhelming majority of
students have never joined the greek
system, a similar majority of ASUN’s
leaders are members of fraternities
and sororities. Those who doubt this,
ask yourselves the following ques
tion: when was the last time an ASUN
president was a non-greek?
At least current ASUN leaders
realize this is a problem. The execu
tives have spoken fervently and often
about the need to create a more di
verse student government through
use of the appointments system.
But their ideas are short-term,
cosmetic solutions to what is a long
term, structural problem. The reason
fraternity and sorority members
make up such an excessively large
portion of AS UN’s leadership is that
their houses encourage and some
times even require them to seek lead
ership positions.
Off-campus and residence hall
students have no such advantage. It’s
not that they lack the talent or the
ability to serve. They lack an organi
zation which makes them serve.
So what can be done?
Like the Soviets, what ASUN
needs is perestroika, a psychological
and physical restructuring. Regents
and administrators should not be
appeased now for the sake of larger
gains later. Instead, student leaders
should champion student interests
openly and forthrightly, case-by
case. AS UN’s priority now should be
to restore student confidence in stu
dent government. If this can be done,
even the administrators and regents
will share in the benefits.
And ASUN should make struc
tural changes requiring a more di
verse student government. Divide the
ASUN Senate into two houses, one
elected by college and one by living
unit. Change the method for selecting
executives and making appoint
ments. You can recruit all the off
campus and residence hall students
you want for appointments this year.
But unless there is structural change,
the fraternity and sorority dominance
of ASUN will be back again next
year. ,
ASUN’s problem isn’t anybody s
fault. It was here before the current
ASUN executives were elected, ana
odds are it’ll be here when they leave.
But ASUN must begin to reBec
the values and diversity of the student
body. If not, then year after year the
election turnout will be a little lower,
the students will be a little angrier and
the ASUN president will like his or
hC
nutfor, and a Daily NebraAan editorial co!
urnntsL
Signed staff editorials represent
the official policy of the fall 1988
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the
Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its
members are Amy Edwards, editor;
Lee Rood, editorial page editor; Jane
Hirt, managing editor; Brandon
Loomis, associate news editor; Bob
Nelson, columnist; Jeff Petersen, col
umnist; Brian Svoboda, columnist.
Editorials do not necessarily re
fleet the views of the university,
employees, the students or the
Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the
opinion of the author.
