Opinion
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chris Hopfensperger.Editor, 472-1766
Jeremy Fitzpatrick...Opinion Page Editor
Alan Phelps.Managing Editor
Brian Shellito.Cartoonist
Susie Arth .*.Senior Reporter
Kim Spurlock.Diversions Editor
Sam Kepfield..Columnist
Overpriced books
Bookstores may be 'stealing from students
Something stinks.
Every semester, students have to fork out big bucks for
their textbooks. But their knowledge of textbook prices goes
nowhere beyond the annual half-hour excursion to buy books, and
there is little they can do about the prices but refuse to buy the
book and risk the consequences in class.
That leaves little opportunity for students to question who sets
the prices or how they arc determined.
This spring, though, University of Nebraska-Lincoln history
professor James Moore was struck by the price the bookstores
were charging for the used copies of a book he helped write.
While holding a student’s copy of the book, “In Our Times:
America After World War II,” Moore noticed the used price was
higher than the book’s original new price. r*
His questions led to new questions that every student and
professor should be interested in.
The list price of the book, according to a recent list of prices
and Moore’s royalty statement, is around $18. But the book,
bought new, is selling at the two bookstores for around $30.
Used, the book costs more than $22. That doesn’t add up.
Whispers of a textbook price conspiracy arc an old joke on
almost every campus, but Moore’s case lends some credibility to
questions about the pricing policies. The culprit, however, is hard
to pinpoint.
Students point at the professors who point at the bookstores
that point at some vague corporate entity. Ultimately, University
Bookstore general manager Larry Behrends said the store used
price lists from individual publishers to set its prices. The current
suggested retail price of “In Our Times” is $25.80.
If those kind of numbers hold true for every book for every
class on this campus, someone is making a lot of money by
legally stealing from students.
Students deserve to know the full extent of this situation and
the whole story surrounding textbook prices. Until they do, no
one will know the truth.
Senseless shootings
Citizens should take a stand, end apathy
On Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., a man walked into an office
building cafe, shouted, “This is what you gel for firing
me!” and opened fire. rv
The man killed three people and wounded two more. He tal^r
apparently took his own life in a nearby park.
What happened in Tampa was a great tragedy. But it will not
stir the nation. It will not be the lead story on the national evchir^
news or in any but the local newspapers.
Why? Because shootings have become so commonplace in the
United Slates that we hardly even notice them anymore.
In Lincoln last year we avoided a similar incident when Arthur
McElroy walked into Ferguson Hall with a loaded gun and the
apparent intention to use it. We dodged a bullet that day, but
countless others around the United States haven’t been so fortu
nate.
What will be done about the Florida shooting? Nothing.
How many people will have to be killed before Americans
decide they have had enough? How long will we sit idly by and
do nothing while people die?
The answer to that question is up to the citizens of this country.
Whether we will have stricter gun legislation to stop these sense
less killings is completely up to us.
Suff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees,the students orthe NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students.
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Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588 0448.
REUtt, JUSTAFEVN KNOB ADJUSTMENTS —_
I _ H
Year brings traditions, changes
We can’t seem to get away
from new things: the new
year, new beginnings, new
hopes for peace in Yugoslavia, new
presidents, new administrations, new
semester, new students, new sched
ules, new classes and new plans to
exercise.
It is always exciting to start with a
fresh slate, with renewed strengths —
planted seeds to be reaped at a later
time. But the new year doesn’t begin
on Jan. 1 for all students at the Univer
sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln. Many in
ternational students I talked to said
their new year’s celebrations were
quite different.
In Serbia, the new year is cel
ebrated according to the Gregorian
calendar — which is older than the
Julian calendar of the western world
— beginning Jan. 14.
My family celebrates New Year’s
Day with a special combrcad baked
with a ducal, a coin, baked some
where inside. My mother divides the
combrcad into areas to representfam
ily members. When the bread is eaten,
whoever finds the ducat in their sec
tion is predicted to have a happy and
prosperous year.
Ycsna Kilibarda, of Montenegro,
says gypsies there go from door to
doo^ wishing happy Serbian new year
and asking for cookies.
In Tamil Nadu, in southern India,
T. Sethupathy says that the cycle of
years usexl there is 60 years long and
each year has a name. Jan. 14 is their
New Year’s Day also,called “Pongal”
—a four-day vacation. Everyone cel
ebrates the fact that rice was har
vested and sold, money was received
and a feast eaten. Manish Dcvgan,
from Punjab in northern India, says
that they call it “Baisakhi,’’or harvest
of wheat.
Moses Mwale, of Zambia, says
that they celebrate with traditional
dances signifying the safe passage
into another year. Women and men
arc painted with different colors of
clay. Inacio Mapossc.of Mozambique,
says people sacrifice a goat in his
I am hopeful that
in this new year
some positive
changes will be
made in the United
States with the
new adminstration.
Gaza Province, and they drink beer
made out of cashew fruit called
“shikanju” in his native language
Shangan.
Peng He and Shaolin Bi says their
aunt Ping Lu of China told them the
Chinese lunar New Year began this
past weekend on Jan. 23, but that it
changes every year depending on the
observation of the moon. This year is
the year of the rooster. There are 12
animals in a cycle. The new year is
also called Spring Festival.
Corina Calvo of Argentina says
that it was summer there on New
Year’s Day and everyone is on vaca
tion at the seaside.
Aiman Alaraj of Palestine says
that the new year is a reminder of
another year of occupation and hope
for independence. Palestinians cel
ebrate on a spiritual level, although
they have turkey stuffed with rice,
meat, pine nuts, walnuts and salad,
plus baklava for sweets.
Ofer Asif of Israel says that the
new year is called Rosh Hashanah —
or the head of the year — blessing for
the year. It was observed on Sept. 28
last year. They cal apples with honey
so the year will be sweet. The rabbi
blows a special reindeer horn signify
ing the beginning of the new year.
Susanne Robert and Michael Grant
tell me that in Ireland and Scotland,
people drink a lot to celebrate and 1
they sing the old Scottish song “Auld I
Lang Syne” written by Robert Bums 1
in the old dialect of Ayrshire. It is
good luck if, on the first day of the
year, a dark man is the first person to
cross the threshold of your house with
a lump of coal. In London, people get
drunk on Picadilly Circus and fall in
the fountain of Eros.
Kanichi Saito, of Japan, tells me
that they cal a special kind of bread
called ozoni or mochi. They write
their new resolutions in calligraphy.
I am hopeful that in this new year
some positive changes will be made
in the United States with the new
administration. The U.S. Congress
has been considering a bill that would
make graduate-student stipends ex
empt from federal taxes. The bill
would be retroactive — those stu
dents who have been paying taxes
since 1986 could file to have the
money returned.
The bill, HR4418, has been intro
duced by Tom Lewis of Florida. I do
not have the right to vote in this
country. I cannot help make it into
law.
My country, Yugoslavia, has been
split into so many separate entities.
Our elections were in December. I
wish that I could have voted, but there
were no absentee votes.
I have never been able to vote. I
came to the United Stales four and a
half years ago to become a writer, to
freely express my views. Four years
ago a fellow graduate student found
out I had never voted and she took me
to the polling place and showed me
the process of American democracy.
It was one of the greatest moments in
my life. I watched her do it.
Obradovic is a graduate student in cre
ative writing-poetry and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
uwmmmsm
Prayers
I don't think that Judaism is supe
rior to Christianity, that Hinduism is
superior to Christianity or that athe
ism is superior to Christianity, All
rcligionsor non-religions arc equal. If
AS UN wants prayer at graduation,
that’s line. But to make it fair, they
must make lime for every religion. Of
course, given the time frame of gradu
ation, this is impossible.
So what can we do? The answer is
simple: have no benediction at all.
AS UN and others have suggested al
lowing students to decide whether or
not to have benediction, but there is a
Haw in their suggestion: The Chris
tian majority will easily get its way in
any kind of a vote. But hey, Ronald
Schmidt says that offending a few
people for the happiness of the major
ity isn't wrong. But he’s dead wrong.
America is based on allowing every
one the freedom to be. That doesn’t
mean letting me do whatever 1 want at
home, but then force me to become
part of the majority elsewhere. It
means that I must be respected wher
ever 1 am for being who I am.
I think that members of AS UN and
others who support prayer at gradua
tion should get off their high horses
and realize how wrong they arc for
trying to impose the Christian reli
gion onto others.
Gurvinder K. Deogun
freshman
pre-med