Opinion
Environmental plan
Statewide recycling should he priority
Gov. Ben Nelson took a five-day, 22-stop tour last week
to gather Nebraskans’ opinions about environmental
issues in the state.
Nelson said he would use that information to formulate an
environmental agenda over the next few months. That agenda
will outline his environmental priorities for the Nebraska
Legislature’s 1992 session. r~-n.ni.nitv
To set the agenda, Nelson sponsored a senes of comm uni y
meetings throughout the state. He asked Nebraskans what en
ronmental issues they thought were importan .
He sought advice from community leaders ana iro
and sixth graders.
He also fished for tr?ul- • Nelson emphasized coop
During the community ^ ^ gmrnents on environmental
eration between state and local g
iSSiHe also highlighted regulation of disposal of out-of-state
/waste as one issue he will raise when the Legislature convenes
next spring.
But Nelson should not overlook other, more important envi
ronmental issues when setting his agenda.
At the top of the list should be a comprehensive, statewide
recycling project.
When Nelson spoke at the University of Nebraska State Mu
seum on Sept. 23, he agreed with an audience member that
state government must lake the lead in recycling efforts.
He suggested that state government demand that products be
delivered in recyclable containers, regardless of added costs.
He also emphasized increased public education to show that in
dividual commitment to recycling is needed.
While those aspects of recycling are important, Nebraska
also should seek to foster the growth of the recycling industry
within the state.
rscDrasKans can concci ana son cans, glass, piasuc anu paper
until tubs overflow, but with few outlets to bring materials for
recycling, collection loses its worth.
One recyclable product suffering from ovcrcollcction is
newsprint. Because recycled newspapers have few uses, paper
companies have accepted more used newsprint than they can
\ handle.
f And now that recycling has attained political significance,
ovcrcollcction could hinder the marketability of other used
products.
Nelson is correct in asserting the need for demand of re
cycled products. Without consumer demand for such products,
recycling itself is ineffectual.
But a state recycling plan could go beyond that.
It could set up projects to develop new recycled products
and recycling centers. It could grant aid to new recycling
companies and to businesses that develop products made of
recycled materials. It could finance the distribution of collec
tion canisters and curbside pick-up of rccyclablcs for programs
within Nebraska cities and towns. It could sponsor incentives
to spur Nebraskans to recycle.
Regardless of Nelson’s insistence that individuals commit
themselves to such efforts, little of that can be accomplished
strictly on a volunteer basis.
Nelson was quick to point out the added costs of leaving en
vironmental programs up to future generations.
On that note, Nelson should be quick to realize the intelli
gence of investing in a comprehensive recycling plan today,
instead of forcing fifth- and sixth-graders to pick up the tab
tomorrow.
— ip
-LETTERS^ EDITOR
/ *
Weather may toughen Huskers
I am writing in response to the
column by Nick Hytrek, (“Unless
demands are met, NU to have 1 fewer
fan,” DN, Sept. 24) concerning his
list of demands before returning to
the ranks of being a Comhusker fan.
The Washington game was one of
a long line of frustrating games for
Nebraska in the last few years. It
seems somewhat strange to me that
Nebraska’s decline seems to have
started right about the lime it started
practicing indoors. I will admit that
Nebraska hasn’t been a team with a
very aggressive passing game, but I
fail to see the logic of practicing in
doors when Nebraska’s weather can
be rather blustery, to say the least. I
do give Keilhen McCant credit. He
can throw the ball with some degree
of accuracy, but it just seems that
when the wind is either against the
Huskers or somewhat blustery, they
really don’t have the confidence to
throw the ball.
Another point concerning the in
door practice facility: It also appears
that Nebraska’s conditioning has
changed upon going indoors. In the
pre-indoor practice era, it seemed as
though Nebraska was tougher when
the temperature dropped than it is
now. Just look at the last few big
home games, for example and 1
don’t mean Utah State. The Colorado
and Oklahoma games last season, foi
instance. The games were following
true to Nebraska standards until late
in the game, when the temperature
began to drop. Then, things just seemed
to fall apart both offensively and
defensively, just like last Saturday’s
game against Washington.
I would like to add one more item
to Hytrek’s list of demands. Let’s gel
back to the good oF days of smash
mouth Nebraska football and prac
tice outside in the elements and tougher
the team up.
Chris Shipwash
__ sophomore
broadcasting
CHUCK GREEN
Earth has priority over stars
The heavens can wail.
During ihc past several
months, members of Congress
and lobbying groups have pushed to
increase spending on America’s space
program.
One of NASA’s top priorities is a
permanent space station orbiting Earth,
which has become the centerpiece of
the space program for the coming
decade. Another is sending astronauts
to the surface of Mars and reluming
them safely to Earth.
Last week, House-Senate negotia
tors agreed to provide S2 billion for
the proposed space station for the
coming fiscal year, all but guarantee
ing the defeat of efforts to cut the
project’s budget.
Opponents of the $40 billion sta
tion tried to kill the project earlier this
year, citing its tremendous expense
and the need for other scientific ini
tiatives whose funding would suffer
if the space station were approved.
Both projects arc fascinating. It’s
wonderful that human beings have
evolved to such a technological de
gree that traveling to other planets or
living permanently in orbit around
the Earth is possible.
It’s also unbelievable that we’ve
become so ignorant in our quest for
making the future the present.
The space station has been on the
drawing board since 1984, and the
research and development already has
cost $5 billion. And that’s without
any construction.
Instead of spending so much money,
time and creativity trying to get off
this planet, why not try to save it?
After all, our grcat-grcal-grcat-grand
childrcn can always find another world
to ruin.
But only if they have a healthy one
to leave.
Incredibly, we have the ability to
travel around the solar system, plant
ing flags here and there and sending
probes to tell us the surface tempera
ture of Jupiter’s moons, but we still
can’t figure out how to rid this planet
II
Admittedly, the
prospects of saving
whales and trani
sients aren't as capti
vating or romantic as
reaching for the
Sloes,
But when humans
die, so does romance
of territorial disputes that cause wars.
We can spend billions of dollars
sending upcommunicalions satellites
to complete a phone call to the other
side of the world in a few seconds, but
when it comes to working out social
problems, nobody wants to talk.
We can study the sun until our
eyes melt, but no one breaks much of
a sweat to figure out how to derive
enough energy from it to stop raping
the earth of its quickly disappearing
resources.
We try hard to figure out ways to
preserve food for month-long flights
to Mars, but we turn our heads when
the subject of feeding the world’s
starving population emerges. We can
design radiation-proof shelters for
astronauts to live and work on, both in
orbit and on another planet’s surface,
but nobody seems to care about
homeless people living on this coun
try’s streets, facing the cold of winter
with a tom coal and no blanket.
The pricctag of the NASA projects
is enormous. The pricetag of saving
various aspects of human culture is
not so large.
Imagine the prospect of pumping
$40 bjllion or so into AIDS and can
cer research. Or maybe $10 billion
into resurrecting America’s inner
cities, giving their inhabitants much
needed pride to solve existing prob
lems and prevent future ones.
For the same $40 billion, Amer
ica’s education system could become
the finest in the world. Better educa
tion would end most, if not all, of this
country’s social problems,and would
provide the brainpower to make health
hardships a bad memory.
For a fraction of that budget,
America’s homeless millions could
have roofs over their heads and three
meals a day. So could every other
hungry person on earth.
The environment. Solar energy.
Preservation of cultures. The list is as
endless as the farthest reaches of space.
Admittedly, the prospects of sav
ing whales and transients aren't as
captivating or romantic as reaching
for the stars.
But when humans die, so docs
romance.
Our vast library of technological
knowledge will not go away. Neither
will the stars. When we’re ready for
that step, we’ll undoubtedly take it.
But to do so before we’ve accom
plished all we can at home is ridicu
lous and unacceptable.
Children leave home only when
they’re mature enough to handle it.
The “children” of this planet haven’t
grown up yet. Not even close.
When we do, the stars will be
wailing for us. They, like technology,
won’t go away.
But without a healthy starting point,
the stars will remain distant points of
light.
So will the chance for long-term
human success. And survival.
Green is a senior news-editorial major,
the Daily Nebraskan’s assistant sports editor
and a columnist.
-EDITORIAL POLICY
Signed staff editorials represent
the official policy of the Fail 1991
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