Readers urged to take stand, realize unjust 'excuses’ Students urged to listen, vote during elections Student government at the Uni versity of Nebraska stands in need of fundamental changes. Every year before elections, the embarrassing fact that only roughly 10 percent of eligible student voters actually vote resounds throughout the Daily Nebraskan and campaign party meetings. And here it starts again with this letter. There are two serious implications of this embarrassing fact. First, the drive for a student vote on the Board of Regents is impeded. Second, the studentsat the University of Nebraska are apathetic. I reject the second implication, but the truth of the first must be accepted. ¥ J a jiuuv'iii VUIC 15 Jjiu posed, the board rejects it out of hand, merely citing the figures for the last student election. Why should a per son who only represents 10 percent of the student body have anything to say about the course of education for the other 90 percent? If any of us arc to have a say in the important decisions currently being made for us, this year must be differ ent. Do you know where the money you send each semester to the univer sity goes? The Board of Regents does. The Board of Regents makes those decisions. Yet they listen to you with a half-deaf ear when they make them. The questionable integrity of the board is readily apparent to any who have followed the arbitrary firing of Ronald Roskens. This year must be the year that students take away the easy response the board has given in the past Ronald Reagan was re-elected in 1984 with only 53.3 percent voter participation. As students, we should aim for that number and higher. This year’s campaign promises one of the first serious opportunities to include more students in the deci sion-making process because this year’s campaign promises to pursue serious issues facing students. The second implication of the embarrassing fact of 10 percent stu dent voter participation is that the students on thecampus of the Univer sity of Nebraska just don’t care. They don’t care about where their money goes; they don’t care about political issues; they don’t care about the arbi trary management by the Board of Regents. I reject this analysis. Students do care. The apathetic student is rare. The problem lies not with the stu dents, but with the election process and the common perception of ASUN. Many students simply don’t know what ASUN is. Others feel excluded, as if the members of ASUN are part of some elitist clique of future politi cians and lawyers who are merely filling resumes. ASUN is the Association of Stu dents of the University of Nebraska. By implication, every single student enrolled at the university is part of it, whether they know it or not. The executive and legislative body of the association are the representatives of me rest oi me association, not tne association itself. ASUN is not the president, first vice president, second vice president and assorted senators. These are the people who are elected to do the work of the rest of the association. The time has come for the real ASUN to step forward. It is you and every other student of the University of Nebraska. Voting takes only a few minutes. Considering the potential benefits, giving a few minutes is a bargain. One way to facilitate this may be a fundamental change in the way sena tors are elected. Currently, each col lege is allowed a number of senators proportionate to the total population of the college (arts and sciences, business, engineering, teachers, etc.). While the college each student at tends is one of the most important aspects of his or her life, it is by no means the most important Equally important are housing arrangements. Where you live has at least as a great an importance in your life as what college you attend. This is just a possibility. There are many other ways to capture the important aspects of a student’s life. The time has come for a serious challenge to the NU Board of Re gents. The time has come to clear the misperceptions of what ASUN is. I > ▼ ▼ V ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼TVTVTTTTTTVTT If Say I Love You in a Beary SpeciaLWay!!^ If Send that special someone a loveable huggable Teddy Bear for Valentine's Day. ▼ 'Special Valentine's Day Bears ¥ 'Order early ’Free Balloon Bouquet with local delivery If ’Free delivery in Lincoln V Call 466-6256 V Teddy Bear Express VWVWVVVVVWWVVVVV* THIS YEAR A LOT OF COLLEGE SENIORS MILL BE GRADUATING. INTO DEBT. Being a new graduate with a loan to pay oft can take the fun out of your start in the “real world!’ But here’s an interesting alternative to the burdens of debt: sign up with the Army, and we’ll sign off on your loan. Each year you serve as a soldier, the Army will re duce your college debt by VA or $1,500, whichever amount is greater. So after serving just 3 years, your government loan will he completely paid off. You’re eligiole for this program with a National Direct Student Loan, or a Guaranteed Student Loan, or a Feder ally Insured Student Loan made after October 1, 1975. And the loan can’t be in default. (Effective April 1, 1986, it is not possible for a soldier to participate in both the GI Bill education program and the Loan Repayment Program.) College memories should be fond ones. Keep them that way by taking advantage of the Army’s Loan Repay ment Program. Your local Recruiter can tell you if your loan qualifies. Call today. Rhone 483-2221 or 475-8561 in Lincoln army, be all you can be. appeal to all students: listen to the issues, choose your party and vote. The time has come to take a stand. Chris Potter senior physics and philosophy Health too often used as excuse to justify abortion Once again, we have a terribly misguided member of the pro-abor tion/pro-murder/pro-death community making a feeble attempt to rational ize the senseless slaughter of unborn children. Rebecca de la Moue (DN, Feb. 7), I will try to make this as simple as possible so you can under stand. me emotional risks ol preg nancy have received an unprecedented amount of attention of late. It is ar gued that an unwanted pregnancy can be devastating to a woman in a fragile psychological state. Interesting to note is that pregnant women in general are found to be in healthier emotional form than non-pregnant women. Sui cide rates drop to a level far below normal in women carrying children. Clearly, an unhappily pregnant woman can be distraught over her situation, but if abortion was permit ted only when an actual mental break down threatened, how rarely it would be used! Even then, can we weigh the psychological hardships of a preg nancy against the life of a child? Counseling is available for women in this situation. In the abortion arena,“health ’’ has become an elastic word, stretching easily to meet a diverse assortment of needs. As intimated by the Supreme Court in 1973, the term is construed to encompass a woman’s physical, emotional, even familial and finan cial satisfaction and well-being. Once again, this imprecise handling of language creates a catch-all into which any level of mental discomfort, hard ship or frustration can be deposited. For all intents and purposes, abortion for “health, ” under the court’s work ing definition, is abortion on demand. The conclusion is two-fold. First, the specious argument for abortion to protect the mother has been fervently misused. So much of what passes for concern for maternal safety, particu larly in late pregnancy, is no more than the erection of a safe passage to permissible abortion. A distressingly large number of children are put to death each year under the rubric of “saving the mother’s life.” Secondly, medical statistics and risk factors, with their margins of error and susceptibility to misinter pretation, are non-absolute guidelines and can find no welcome in a moral ity that places a premium on life. For what is absolutely certain is that two lives are involved in a pregnancy -- each deserving consideration, respect and the full advantages of modem medical knowledge and application. Andrew Meyer sophomore pre-med and pro-life f VfVVVWVV