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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1992)
- SEAN GREEN Law, order redeem Legislature Last week, I had to spend a day at the Legislature to cover debate on a bill. Only a small portion of Nebraska’s residents ever get to attend a legisla tive session. With that in mind, here are some observations that might provide some insight into what actu ally goes on in the halls of our state’s power: The general legislative sessions are in the legislative chamber, a room the size of a gymnasium minus the bleachers and cheerleaders. On Tuesday, most of the legisla tors were there, but not all at the same time. They ran in and out of the cham ber all day, as if they were trying to hold down two jobs at once. There were Veterans of Foreign Wars volunteers wearing red jackets and guarding the entrances. They were friendly, elderly men who made sure nobody got onto the floor without a pass, including me. Pages also were there. Pages are young men and women who sit at the front of the room and wait to take messages to the legislators or run errands, or do whatever. Pages all wear blue vests over nice clothing and always seem to be smil ing, the way only young Republicans can smile. Most of the debate Tuesday after noon was about a bill that would have raised the price of vehicle registra tion. At least, I think that’s what the debate was abdlit. The legislators somehow managed to work every topic imaginable into the discussion, and it was surprising to learn how many things are related to cars. For example, there’s the issue of vanity or personalized license plates and how much people should pay for them. Decisions, decisions, decisions. And I should point out that the debate was lukewarm, at best. Com pared to a presidential debate, or a debate over whose turn it is to do the dishes or take out the trash, it wasn’t very interesting at all. In fact, there seemed to be such a strong lack of disagreement that I had trouble telling who was supporting the vehicle registration bill and who was against it. * One senator stood up and talked awhile as the other senators shuffled papers and talked with each other and the pages poured coffee. Then that senator lit his pipe and another senator stood up and began talking. Paees all wear blue vests over nice clothing and always seem to be smiling. the H'flv only young Republicans can smile. There were a few limes when the senators actually exchanged words over the microphones, but they al ways used a very respectable tone and they never raised their voices. Part of the debate was about using the extra registration fees to make driver’s licenses more difficult to falsify. I sat up and paid attention at that point, having some vague recollec tion of once hearing about someone who had been rumored to have a fake driver’s license. About every hour, the legislators stopped debate and took time to intro duce visitors. These visitors were sitting up in the balcony. There was a group of high school students from somewhere, some elementary students from some where else, their teachers and maybe a bus driver or two. The senators all applauded to let the guests know how glad they were to have these students and teachers and bus drivers visiting the legisla tive chamber. Then they went back to debating how much they were going to charge these visitors and the rest of Nebraska’s residents to drive cars. Of course, legislators don’t spend all of their time engaged in floor debate. One other task they have is to attend committee hearings. Some of these hearings arc inter esting and thought-provoking. Oth ers arc often hard to distinguish from a church service. That really isn’t fair to church, because most church services only last an hour and these hearings can last decades, or so it seems. People from all walks of life, in cluding college professors and ad ministrators, come to these commit tee hearings to ask for money or to testify for legislation or to give their expertise. These hearings, while often tedi ous, seem to be the place where most of the the real work gets done in the Legislature. People on both sides of an issue have a chance to talk to the legisla tors, and legislators get to ask ques tions and shuffle papers and smoke pipes. Aside from committee hearings, there are all kinds of other activities going on in the Capitol. Thousands of things, actually. I don’t know what these activities are exactly. I doubt anyone does. But whatever they’re doing involves paperwork by the tons and bureau crats running hither and yon in the dark corridors. I remember going on a tour through those corridors when I was a kid. My fellow fourth-graders and I were amazed and delighted to find naked women painted all over the floor of the Capitol. Democracy in action didn’t really impress most of us, but this state sanctioned celebration of nakedness was even better than our trip to the Sheldon Art Gallery in third grade. I still don’t know who those women on the floor of the Capitol are sup Posed to be. Truth, Justice and Miss ebruary maybe, or, to be more in tune with American politics, Fawn Hall or Gennifer Flowers. If the women are supposed to be Truth, Justice and Liberty, it is ironic that they are on the floor, where sena tors, lobbyists, journalists and other citizens trod all over them each day. Maybe the architect had a sense of irony and planned it that way. Somehow, the stale is run from these floors and boring meetings and unheated debates. Democracy in action, or inaction, isn’t as flashy as MTV or as fun to watch as . . . well, about anything 1 can name. But a little more than 100 years ago, the only laws in this state were made by those who had guns, and I’ll take pipe smoke to gun smoke almost every lime. Green is a senior news-editorial major, a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter and a col umnist Fires show risk, waste of paper towels ..... . . . . . . . . • . .•_ _ *■ i I m writing mis letter in response to the article on recent residence hall fires (“Police suspect arson in Resi dence Hall fires,” DN, April 10). According to the article, several of the fires were bathroom trash-can fires. Not to excuse the alleged arsonist(s), but paper towels arc the real culprit here. As a student who has lived in the residence halls for four years, I have seen the unnecessary risk of fire and waste that paper towels represent. Bathroom trash containers overflow ing with paper towels and other squan dered resources of the planet arc a daily sight in every bathroom of the residence halls. If the paper towels would not nave ocen preseni, u s a safe bet that several of these fires could have been prevented. Not only arc paper towels an un necessary risk, but in tight budgci times, they are like fat that needs trimming. $30,000 is wasted annu ally in the residence halls on papci towels. The residence hall students know this and that is why, in the recent RHA elections, students voted favorably on a survey that asked il they would be willing to give up pap)er towels. The survey statcmcni went on to say that the money saved would be used in the development ol an expanded recycling effort and tc keep housing rates down. I hope the aUlIllllIMJailUII Will UlM* Uiia account when deciding whether or not to allocate money for paper tow els in the 1992/93 fiscal housing budget. Students want lower housing rates and they want a full-scale recycling effort. Is giving up paper towels so high a price? Before 1985, residence hall students used cloth towels. More over, paper towels arc non-recyclablc. Let’s conserve financial and natural resources and use cloth towels as we i once did. Support recycling and re duce waste in the university budget! Jeff Riggcrt , senior biological sciences Hunting is unjustified killing This Idler is sent oul lo Arnold Remington and to anyone else who seems to care. However, it was Ar nold Remington who seemed confi dent enough to think that what he was saying in his Friday DN letter (“Hunting not ‘subliminal hatred,’” April 10) had any points of relevancy to it. 1 am not an animal rights activist, at least not a radical one. and I am also not a hunter. Hunting may not be a result of “subliminal haired,” but I think it is rather obvious to the rest of the world that it is cold-blooded kiO ig. No matter how wrong i s to cal meat, or for medical tests u j forced upon unsuspecting anima or for farmers and slaughterers t kill and process pigs and cows, ct certain aspects of our present soci require that these things happen. For one species to si ivc and prosper, another must die. You said that, Arnold Remington, not me. I think that if the human race can create video phones, heat-seeking missiles, nuclear bombs and send humans into outer space, then we could also figure out a way to survive without hunting. Only a primitive man would be able to support that argument. You said in your article that if you were just mean and evil why wouldn’t you just massacre a bunch of mice in the comfort of your own home? I don’t know. I assume you said that because you arc inferring that when you hunt you arc suddenly a sports man. That seems to be the second most-popular argument for hunters these days. I don’t sec any sport in shooting a defenseless animal from a blind side, or any side for that matter. Let me see you go out into the woods naked with a knife and try to chase down a prairie dog, or bow-hunting after a frightened whitctail, not one asleep by a forest brook. The most popular excuse for hunt ing is that it controls the population explosion. You said that the informa tion in your letter came from “scien tific wildlife population dynamics equations.” I was blind to any scien tific evidence in that article. I am not trying to change your views, only challenge your opinion. Killing is simply not moral if it isn’t justified, and it is very difficult to justify! Pardon me, Arnold, but I’m going to kill a hunter, I hear they make a good jerky. Kevin Eubanks junior English and German Put 4 Saule! With one of the world’s most collectible t-shirts. Call for free color catalog 1-800-256-JOES« or write to: Joe’s Clothes P.O. Box 729 • Stillwater, OK 74076__ ’ 5 1 4. ^ . $ PC - 5541 Laptop _ •80286-12MHz processing power 1 •40Mb Hard Drive, 640 k Ram •31/2" 1.44 Mb Floppy Drive •VGA 'Paper White' Display(640x480) •Parallel, Serial, CRT Card, DOS Rechargeable Battery& AC adaptor PC - 4C41 Laptop $749 •8088 -10MHz processor •40 Mb Hard Drive, 640 k Ram •31/2" 1.44 Mb Floppy Drive •640x400'Paper White' display .. (Better than EGA) comueshajipwtooucfs Parallel, Serial, DOS, Battery, AC adaptor Many other items at greatly reduced prices. Sharp Electronics/Midwest HighTech Campus Representative: Steve Jorgensen Call Now 467-2617 UNL Residence Halls are expanding their desk hours and responsibilities. We need reliable students to staff these positions. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: •Provide information and resources to students •Monitor access to building •Enforce escort policy •Register guests •Assist with appropriate responses to emergency situations •Notify other staff of situations which require their attention •Maintain log oi prooicms ana unusual situations •Answer office phones •Perform administrative duties •Attend regularly scheduled meetings •Participate in pre-service training sessions •Perform other duties as assigned BENEFITS: •$4.50 per hour •No uniforms •Meet lots of people •Gain valuable work experience •Refine your leadership skills •Work around your class schedule •Be part of a progressive team •Provide a valuable student service Positions available for summer and fall of 1992 TO APPLY: Pick up an application at any Residence Hall Desk Application Deadline: April 22,1992
