Readers sound off on several issues
UNL and Reunion
need to cooperate
Brian Svoboda’s editorial (DN,
Oct. 5) on Hunter vs. UNL was right
on target. However, I don’t think
Brian realized there is even a larger
dispute going on this very minute
between the two. That dispute is what
to do with the seven-foot-tall weeds
growing west of the Reunion between
their parking lot and the UNL com
muter parking lot.
I’ve walked by these weeds for a
few weeks wondering why nobody
has removed them. UNL has a good
ground crew that can be frequently
seen in the area. The Reunion has
always kept its property in a present
able manner. So, why are these weeds
left to grow?
I figured it out this morning. The
weeds grow in a narrow strip of dirt
between the Reunion’s parking lot
and the UNL commuter lot. Obvi
ously, these weeds must grow right
on top of the property line. The UNL
grounds crew probably drives by and
says the weeds are on the Reunion’s
property. David Hunter probably
looks out the west door of the Reun
ion and says the weeds are on UNL
property. It just becomes another
standoff between Hunter and UNL.
The Reunion’s business is primar
ily from faculty, students and em
ployees of UNL. The Reunion pro
vides valuable services to these
people that the university doesn’t
provide near the northeast part of the
campus. You both need each other,
whether you want to admit it or not.
So, why not work together in the
future.
Gregg Holtmeier
graduate student
mechanical engineering
UNL has problems
The 1989 Student Health Survey
found parking to be the most serious
problem at UNL? Yet sexism, racism
and homophobia are alive and well
on ,our campus, thank you. Women
joggers get attacked in Antelope
Park. Nancy Hoch is running amok
and should be recalled. Roe vs. Wade
got modified, and we all lost our
constitutional right to privacy, men
and women alike. Would 200 stu
dents turn out for a rally to protest the
exploitation of women by Greek
“contests?”
Michael Kane
sophomore
horticulture
Give band credit
This letter is in response to Mark
Lage’s article “Journeying Through
Known City Sounds.” Although the
article presented some interesting
points, we feel that including an un
solicited editorial comment (be it
good or bad) in the middle of an
informative news article is an ex
ample of very poor journalism.
The “James Bond Show” this
Saturday was one of the eight shows
that the marching band has planned
for the 1989 season. This is quite a
goal, seeing how literally hundreds of
collegiate marching bands put all of
their energies into two or three shows
per season. Not once during a half
time show does the band “face four
general directions,” and hopefully,
for all of our sakes, this university
wouldn’t fund an organization that
“sounds like little more than a toilet
flushing.”
Granted, our shows aren’t perfect
- but in the future, please don’t speak
out for the other 76,000 people in the
stadium.
Paul Piskorski and
Stuart O’Neil
music education
Rates ‘disgraceful’
The University of Nebraska has
sunk to a new low. In the Oct. 4
edition of the DN, UNL Assistant
Athletic Director A1 Papik bragged
about UNL student athletes having a
graduation rate (38.1 percent) that is
comparable to all UNL students.
Never mind the fact that it is compa
rable to all NU students, that fact
remains that it is a disgracefully low
number. University officials should
be frightfully worried about gradu
ation rates among both athletes and
non-athletes. Action to change would
be much more admirable than ex
cuses as to why things are as bad as
they are.
Lewis Coulter
senior
finance
Reader questions parking budget problem
Once again I am writing about the
parking situation, but this time in
response to a Sept 27 article by
Emily Rosenbaum. I want to know
where this university gets its price
quotes. From the same place that the
U.S. government buys their hammers
and nails?
How can our parking budget be
“bursting at the seams” when the
annual revenue for these so-called
parking facilities is well over
5300,000? McVicker said, “The
money has got to come from some
where.” How about using some of
that to build the parking garage?
He said that they would have to
raise parking fees to $40 a month just
to implement the funding.
Horsepuckies! Why don’t they come
up with an alternative method, like
putting meters in these stalls too, or
maybe a set fee per day. For example,
a dollar a day.
Richard Allen
senior
life studies
Rape not just a form of sex |
On Oct. 5, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.,
a jury ruled a rapist not guilty because
of what the victim was wearing. The
jury decided that because she was
wearing a mini-skirt, skimpy tank top
and no underwear, the victim was
“asking for sex,” and therefore de
served to be raped
1 don’t know the details of the
case, but this points out a serious error
when evaluating the crime of rape,
and that is mistaking “wanting sex ’ ’
and “asking for rape.”
The most dangerous assumption
people have is that rape is just another
form of sex. This is WRONG. Rape is
a violent, excruciatingly painful and
often disfiguring cnme. Often, a
women’s sexual organs are perma
nently damaged. A woman who was
once raped said it was like being
stabbed in the most sensitive part of
her body for 15 minutes. And when
the physical scars have healed, the
victim carries the emotional scars for
life. It is simply impossible for any
one to “want” to be raped.
As distasteful as some may feel it
is, going to bars or parlies looking for
“one-night stands” is very common
everywhere — even at this university.
A woman or a man usually deliber
ately tries to look attractive or sexy in
order to attract the person they’d be
interested in having sex with. This |
woman in the mini-skirt was just like |
any of the bar crowd here -- sher |
wanted to look attractive. However, §
she ended up attracting someone she |
didn’t want to have sex with.
Haven’t most of us been in that I
awkward position of having someone |
after us wnen we aren’t the least inter
ested? Most women are probably
familiar with the creepy feeling you
get when some strange man just j
won’t leave you alone. Usually we j
are able to avoid these kinds of people
by sticking with people we know, but
some women aren’t so lucky.
Is the solution to always wear tur
tlenecks and never show our knees in
public? Or course not. Women as j
well as men have the right to dress or j
look anyway we want without fear of
our rights being violated, nor with the
idea we can violate others’ rights
based on how they are dressed. A
person’s body is just that: her or his
own body, and s/he has the right to
control what happens to it.
When someone else infringes
upon that right, it is a crime no matter
how one is dressed.
Ginger Dzerk
junior
English/communications
Parking also ails bikers
I’m on East Campus. It’s 8:20 a.m.
when I put my tires on the road. I’m a
biker. I leave a streak of fire on the
pavement as I pedal with an unending
will, my confederate flag flapping in
the wind.
My beautiful, carefree ride is sud
denly obstructed with the morning’s
first hazard, Harper-Schramm
Smith. I just try to forget that every
one in the world is going to their 8:30
a.m. classes, and most of them live in
these dorms.
Nevertheless, reality overtakes
me as I weave impatiently behind a
group of 15 people who are walking
so closely together you would think
that they were all in the same family.
I realize that their goal in life is to
make my morning ride to class as
unpleasant as possible, so I take a
deep breath and scream “Kow
abunga” and bulldoze my way
through the crowd.
As I look back and see the victims
rolling by the wayside I let out a
victory grunt anchoress on to the next
obstacle, the DMZ. This of course is
the narrow passage separating north
and south campus at the Momll Hall
construction site. Anyone who rides
knows that there is room for only two
or three people abreast for at least 50
yards, with chain link on one side and
bushes and cars on the other.
Luckily, there is only one person
there, she’s a freshman (I’m sure),
and she’s got a stack of books up to
her chin. I ride by at a mild pace and
am scared half to death as she shrieks
in horror because she is daydreaming
and the click-click-click of the card
clothes-pinned to my from wheel
startles her. I can’t help but chuckle,
and as I glance back all I see are books
defying gravity as they fly through
the air.
I am almost to my destination, but
first I have to maneuver around the
congestion capital ol campus, not
Broyhill, but CBA. 1 wipe the sweat
from my brow and discover a moun
tain of mountain bikes where I am
supposed to be able to park my „
weapon. I settle for a tree. Its no bed
of roses for us either.
Keelan Kaiser
junior
architecture
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