AS UN, Langford, protesters come under fire of readers
Reader shocked
by Langford’s
negative talk
Stale Senator Langford, it is atti
tudes like yours which help to per
petuate the negativism toward the youth
of today. I was shocked by your
comments concerning your opposi
tion to the proposed student trustee
vote on the basis of “immaturity”
and apathy of college students. I am
surprised that you arc not carrying
your backward attitude and stereotypes
one step further by sitting at home
cooking and cleaning for a living.
A Daily Nebraskan article March
9, the day before your comments were
printed, reported the following:
• About 500 students at Arizona
Stale University in Tempo demon
strated last month after regents voted
to raise yearly tuition by $116 for in
state students to $1,47«, and $1,000
for out-of-state students to $6,464 at
ASU.
• In Oklahoma, 10,000 students
attending public colleges and univer
sities presented regents a petition
protesting proposed tuition increases
ranging up to 12.5 percent.
These figures show that college
students arc “worried about the courses
taught and how much those courses
cost.” I am certain that, should tui
tion increases of similar magnitude
be proposed in Nebraska, students
would not just stand by and let things
happen.
In addition, if students between
the ages of 18 and 20 “make the
worst decisions in the world,” why
do 18-ycar-olds have the right to vote?
When U.S. Senator Jennings Ran
dolph was fighting to give 18-year
olds this right in the early ’70s, he
obviously felt that they were mature
enough then, as they arc now. I would
only question the maturity and ability
to make political decisions of those
18- to 20-year-olds in Kearney who
voted to elect you to the State Legis
lature.
Amy R. Lee
senior
meteorology
Park protesters
discredit image
of ecology work
To James Zank and the others who
opposed the “environmental tragedy”
at Cooper Park, pull your heads out of
the grass. Cooper Park was a South
Salt Creek Neighborhood concern,
but not a legitimate environmental
issue. In your March 19 letter, you
wonder how we can explain to our
children that it is wrong to destroy
rain forests in Brazil, yet OK to rip
out trees for a soccer field. Don’t
expect children to understand com
plex issues like this, it’s out of their
grasp, and apparently out of yours
also. To compare Cooper Park to the
problems facing the world’s rain for
ests is insane.
It is also insane to call Checvcr
Construction an assortment of mur
derers. Trees can’t be murdered. Trees
don’t have rights. The sole purpose of
environmental awareness is to realize
where humans fit into the ecosystem,
and act accordingly. Refusing to har
vest a natural resource because you
believe it is murder, immoral or un
civilized is just as damaging as over
exploitation. The environmental
movement has worked hard to lose its
hippie image and gain a more profes
sional one. Climbing trees and scream
ing words like fascist and murderer
has done much to discredit *L
There arc very important issues in
Nebraska that need our attention, such
as the future of the Platte River, our
vanishing rainwater basias and ground
water contamination. The current
environmental movement sweeping
the world now will probably last no
more than 10 years, and its success
will be determined by how effec
tively it addressed legitimate prob
lems.
Lastly, when you urge the ecology
majors whose letter you answered to
spend their time better in joining the
fight for the ecosystems preservation,
it becomes obvious that you have
chosen to ignore the truly knowl
edgeable and go your own ignorant
way. These men, as myself, arc in the
process of devoting their entire life to
the fight. In 10 years, will you be able
to say the same?
Steve Winter
sophomore
natural resources
Student displays
dissatisfaction
with dirty politics
Wednesday, I went to the ASUN
runoff elections at the Nebraska Un
ion. I picked up my ballot, went to
one of the voting booths, folded the
ballot and turned it in to the lady at the
ballot box.
I was fairly surprise j and puzzled
when she unfolded my ballot and told
me that I hadn’t blackened in any of
the spaces. She said that my vote
would consequently not count.
Of course I knew that! By leaving
my ballot blank I followed a gener
ally accepted democratic convention
to express my dissatisfaction about
the selfish and dirty campaigning of
all parties. This inappropriate behav
ior devalues their credibility. How
could these parties adequately repre
sent students’ interests at the Univer
sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln?
However, I am more concerned
about the voting procedure itself. I
thought it was the nature of a ballot
that Sic vote was secret and thus the
voter protected.
This seems not to hold true for
ASUN elections. I am deeply dis
mayed that this could happen in a
country which prides itself on a long
and proud democratic tradition.
Harlmut Mauritz
business administration
exchange student from West Ger
many
Fighting racism
more than words,
rally on campus
Yes, this is another letter concern
ing the racial attitudes of our beloved
campus. A little more or less than a
week ago on a sunny Monday after
noon, an undetermined number of
students look a short stroll around the
campus. Their original intention was
supposed to be striking a blow against
racism. For a while, it seemed they
were unified by their collective out
rage, fear and sense of decency. They
marched and sang and then, at the
entrance of the Nebraska Union, under
the shade of a pine tree, they began to
speak.
T hey repeated over and over how
something should be done to drive the
dark shadows of prejudice from the
sacred halls of “our” university. They
talked about how we had to be to
gether as one to win this battle.
Then something funny happened
on the way to wherever. It seems
something got lost on the way. Less
than a week later, a friend saw a racist
threat scrawled on a blackboard in
Andrews Hall, the starting point of
that now seemingly forgotten day of
unity.
What people seemed to forget is
that those who preach the doctrine of
racism arc already unified and doing
something about getting their goals
achieved. The people of that rally
have scattered to the four winds and
sought refuge among their very sepa
rate groups and seem ingly forgotten a
lot of the promises made. There was a
rather popular song in my parent’s
day that still holds water, “United
We Stand, Divided We Fall.” Folks,
if you really want to be helpful, wake
up and crawl out of the protection of
your little cliques that you call spe
cial interest groups. The only group
that requires your membership and
patronage is the one known as the
human race. Contrary to popular opin
ion, we’re all the same Homo Sapicn
(with the exception of the few re
maining Neanderthals preaching the
need for racial purity). I hope if noth
ing else, all llic people wandering this
little campus of ours learn that.
Marty King
freshman
undeclared
Teacher disputes
senator’s ideas
about students
1 would be unfaithful to the many
fine students I have worked with over
the years if I did not write to take
exception to State Sen. Lorraine
Langford’s condemnation of people
from the age of 18 to 20. I have no
idea what or whom she is basing her
generalization upon, but I can tell her
that 18- to 20-ycar-old studciUs at the
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln have
written wise papers for my classes,
have been responsible in balancing
their academic requirements and
personal and community commit
ments, have been thoughtful, compe
tent and hard-working on commit
tees, and have shown understanding
and concern for every aspect of the
university and the university commu
nity.
Her comments about 18- to 20
ycar-olds arc not only at odds with
my experience with young people but
also reflect a somewhat unclear view
of who “the student” is. Many UNL
students take five or six years to fin
ish a degree, and classrooms increas
ingly hold returning students. Thus,
even if people under 21 were irre
sponsible, many students, particularly
the juniors and seniors who are likely
to assume Icadcrsh ip roles, arc 21 and
over.
When 1 consider how often stu
dent members have been among the
most thoughtful and diligent mem
bers of committees at every level of
importance at this university as well
as at others I have known, 1 can only
conclude that both higher education
and the state at large would be best
served by having students as voting
members of every governing board
for higher education in Nebraska.
Frances W. Kaye
associate professor
English
Baseball fan:
Nebraska team
lacks leadership
As a baseball buff, I hate to think
that the embarrassment suffered by
the Comhusker baseball team in 1987,
1988 and 1989 promises to be re
peated in 1990. Last year, for in
stance, it was sad to see the once
mighty Nebraska team losing to the
likes of Kansas, Missouri and other
teams which once were no match for
our school.
Something is radically wrong with
the program: Either the recruiting job
is frightful or the morale of the team
is way low.
The second item bears watching
for. Two years ago, we lost players of
the caliber of Borgogno, Elfhand (now
at Arizona State), and others, at the
end of the school year. At the time,
those players made no bones about
blaming the leadership of the team.
As one of them put it: “It is not the
winn ing or losing record that make us
move on. Someone has to win and
someone has to lose.’ ’ Then he added:
“It is the constant downgrading of
our efforts that makes it tough on all
of us. We are not being inspired by
the leaders, the coaches.” He could
not have phrased it any better. The
baseball program at Nebraska lacks
leadership.
Joe Schneider
Omaha
Join us for breakfast
anytime on Thursday!!
Sertoma Clubs of Lincoln
presents their 29th annual
Pancake Feed.
March 22nd
7:OOa.m.-7:30p.m.
Pershing Auditorium
$2.50 per person
Includes: Juice, sausage,
coffee, milk, and all you can
eat pancakes
.Majority of proceeds go to
fund programs of
Lincoln Council on
Alcoholism & Drugs.
•SKIS
•BOOTS
•BINDINGS
•POLES
•WINTER CLOTHING
•SKI PARKAS
•T-NECKS
•LONG UNDERWEAR
•GLOVES
•GOGGLES
INSULATED CLOTHING AT LINCOLN GATEWAY LOCATION ONLY! *SKI ACCESSORIES
PLUS MUCH. MUCH MORE!
We re Great Sports!
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