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.
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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
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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
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I NOTICE TO STUDENTS
Ail st udent* are eligible to apply for a refund of their “A” portion of student fees during a period
beginning January 15,1990 and ending February 16,1990. Students claiming a refhnd will lose benefit*
provided by Fund “A" users during the Spring Semester 1989-90.
Application forms are available at the Student Activities Financial Service Office, City Union; ASUN
Office, 115 Nebraska Union; or the East CAP Office, Nebraska East Union and should be returned by
the applicant in person to 222 Nebraska Union or 300 Nebraska East Union. Students must bring their
student I.D. cards at the time of application. Students who are unable to personally return their
application to the Student Activities Financial Services Offices should contact Kim Underdahl, Room
222 (phone 472-5667) before February 9, 1990 to make arrangements.
Student* who have completed a refhnd application and returned it on or before Febraury 16,1990 will
be mailed a check for the amount of the refund claimed. Refund checks will be mailed between the
dates of February 19 and March 2, 1990.
Fund “A” refund amounts are as follows:
A.S.U.N.$2.59
Daily Nebraskan.84
University Program Council ... 3.80
Student* claiming a refhnd will lose certain benefits provided by the above listed Fund “A" users. For
|H details on which benefits may be lost, please refer to the cover :*heet on the refhnd application.
