Opinion
Nebraskan
Thursday, February 18,1883
Neljraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chris Hopfensperger.
Jeremy Fitzpatrick..
Alan Phelps.
Brian Shellito.
Susie Arth.
Kim Spurlock......
Sam Kepfield......
I 1)1 IOKI SI
_Editor, 472-1766
Opinion Page Editor
.. .Managing Editor
.Cartoonist
,.. j .Senior Reporter
... Diversions Editor
.........Columnist
The right moves
Sacrifices will ensure future of America
President Clinton is playing games with the future. He is
making bets that will impact the lives of every American.
And he is doing it because he was forced to.
Wednesday night, President Clinton announced the first wave
of actions the new administration proposes to help the future of
the United States.
These proposals are why Americans elected Clinton. For the
past several years, domestic problems have festered while the
federal government concerned itself with issues around the world.
But problems at home have grown to the point that the United
States can no longer afford to ignore what is going wrong here.
Now, Americans have to stand together and support the pro
posals President Clinton advanced in his State of the Union
address.
Some of them, obviously, weren’t what Americans wanted to
hear. His proposed tax increases and federal cutbacks will defi
nitely have a negative affect on the lives of some Americans. But
what his proposals will do, in the long run, is save the future of
this country. President Clinton made proposals to improve
education, health care and — inevitably — the economy.
President Clinton is asking Americans to sacrifice today in
order to benefit tomorrow. They must decide whether they want
to pay a little now or suffer harshly in the future.
Much of what government docs is a gamble. Presidents,
senators and representatives make their moves based on specula
tion. They plan action by examining massive entities over which
they have no complete control.
But one thing is clear. Something had to be done to protect the
future of Americans. They must have faith that President Clinton
is making the right moves.
O'l HKKS* Vikw
The Motor-Voter Bill will be coming up before Congress
again this session. This bill enables citizens to register to vote
where they receive drivers licenses.U was passed last session but
was vetoed by then-President George Bush. Let’s hope that
Congress will pass it and it will become law with President Bill
Clinton’s signature.
Registering to vote should be one of the simplest activities in
life. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote to every U.S.
citizen over the age of 18 regardless of sex, race or creed. Regis
tration, though necessary, should not be a prohibitive procedure.
The Motor-Voter Bill is meant to alleviate some of the hassle
of registration. It merely expands the number of registration sites.
Citizens will have one less place to visit if they register while
receiving their drivers licenses.
The bill also contains provisions for registering at employment
agencies, welfare offices and other social service agencies. This
portion of the bill is not mentioned frequently. Many feel these
are not appropriate sites for registration.
Registration at various government offices will not require
additional expenditures. With computer technology, costs will
remain the same.
It is our hope President Clinton will follow through on his
campaign promise of seeing the Motor-Voter Bill become law.
The bill will make registration less burdensome for many citi
zens.
—University Daily Kansan
Kansas University
I 1)1 I <>KI M INX l< \
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Pall 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.
I I I I I It l*< >1 l< \
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others.
Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, lime! mess and space
available. The Daily Nebraska) retains the right to edit or rejecLall material submitted. Readers
also are welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material
should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the
property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be
published. Letters should included the author's name, year in school, major and group
affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily
Nebraskan. 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
; \F HOU \MWNK WM, SK QffHKSWfc W wtt_
---- - -
r<)l)l) l»l k(il K
Spanish put to flrst real test
Working as a pizza
deliveryman is a no
brainer. If one has any
extra intelligence, it usually helps to
keep it submerged and out of the way.
Saturday night I was delivering an
order to a room on the fourth floor of
Best Western Airport Inn. When I
knocked on the door, a man in his 30s
opened the door while another man
stood a bit farther back.
The man at the door asked with an
accent, “How much is the pizza?”
I told him $11.60.
Then I heard him convert the price
to Spanish for his friend as they got
the money together. I was pleased
with myself for this was the first, real
situation that I had encountered where
I could use the Spanish that I had
learned in the classroom.
Their Spanish was so good, per
haps because they were obviously
native speakers and not some belea
fucred language student like me, that
easily understood them.
Politely, the man who had opened
the door, explained in English that
they were speaking in “esparto 1.”
Still attempting to come out of my
deliveryman’s fog, I tried to seize the
opportunity, saying in English that I
was trying to learn Spanish.
The man smiled and asked me,
“iC6mo te llamas?”
Still a bit out of sorts at having to
use the academic part of my brain on
the job, I went on unsteadily: “Me
llamo Todd.”
With both men now smiling be
neficently at their struggling pupH,
they went on to give their names. The
one I remember is Carlos.
Then I made a dumb observation
about how the two men were buying
a pizza from me. Seeing what an
amateur I was, the two men gave me
$13 and bid me goodbye.
I went away satisfied that I had at
Connectivity
between academia
and pizza delivery
occurs but rarely.
least established basic cross-cultural
communication. I was presenting
myself in good faith as a citizen of the
world if I may be so cosmopolitan as
a humble pizza deliveryman. With
my sincere effort, I was able to help
bridge the language gap between us.
„ And yet, I was also struck with the
sinking feeling at how much more 1
should have communicated with the
men “en cspaflol.” Even though part
of the reason it was such a short
conversation was that I was on the job
and in a deliberate and compelled
rush, I thought I could have easily
asked where they were from and other
basic questions in Spanish.
My minimal performance did not
make me proud, but I was glad I was
able to put my hard-won, foreign
language ability to work for me. We
could have had a very pleasant five
minute conversation if I actually could
have gotten over my deliveryman's
haze and my shock of actually having
to use my Spanish for real.
I'm not going to kid anyone. I
started on my path to learning Spanish
because two years of foreign lan
guage are required for graduation. I
courageously decided to forge ahead
and lake Spanish, which I assumed
would be useful, as far as foreign
languages go.
Ana now, in my second semester
of struggle, I have a $1.40 Up. More to
the point, I have earned a positive
impression from a couple of Spanish
speakers in the real world — that is,
outside the artificial, contrived air of
the university.
Obviously, this was a mere, humble
beginning to the point of being em
barrassing now that I tell it, but it has
illustrated that I must continue to
keep up the struggle. It should pay off
in more enriching cross-cultural en
counters. Perhaps one day I will be
able to parlay my hard-learned Span
ish and my hard-earned money and
live for a semester in a foreign land.
With all the struggle of learning a
language, I certainly don’t want the
obligatory two years merely just to fill
a graduation requirement; I don’t want
to forget it all after all that.
Perhaps one day the cultural cli
mate will be more enlightened to the
point where we can turn around the
derogatory siatement“Hecan’tspcak
the language.” Shouldn’t we feci some
remorse if we can’t speak his lan
guage?
As I was driving back to the store
to pick up another order, I thought, I
know the room number. Couldn’t I
call the hotel, try to build a belter
conversation and make up for my
first, rather-faltering attempt? But I
decided it was too late. First impres
sions and first encounters are what
count when you’re a pizza man.
Besides, it was really too late; it
was almost midnight. I’ll just have to
wait for another lime in the random
flow of life.
Connectivity between academia
and pizza delivery occurs but rarely.
Burger is a junior philosophy major and
a Daily Nebraskan columnist
u: ri i us to i hi Km i ok
Cuts
This letter is in response to the
interview of Nebraska State Sen. Scott
Moore on Channel 3 news. This inter
view angered me to such a level that
I had to write.
Andrew Sigerson, president of
ASUN, was at the state Capitol to
request slimmer budget cuts for the
university. Moore staled that it was
arrogant for Sigerson to even make
such a request and further added that
it was immature.
Who is Scott Moore? Why is this
32 year old passing judgment on
people who are only five to 10 years
younger than he is?
Scott says that we are immature to
request less severe budget cuts. He is
concerned that it will cost our parents
more in taxes.
He doesn't realize that a large part
of the student body works hard to pay
for school and pay taxes, and they
aren’t assisted by their parents at all.
I am 23 and will pay almost $900 in
taxes this year. I have paid for college
entirely independent from my par
ents. Most people would not consider
this to be immature.
Aside from this, how is it arrogant
to think that education should be
spared as much as possible from bud
get cuts? How can our productivity
grow without increased educational
spending?
I truly think that Moore does not
have any idea what it is like for a large
B)rtion of college students today.
udget and aid cuts are forcing more
and more of us to work. Therefore, we
have to stay in school even longer
because of lessened class loads. In
addition, we have to pay additional
taxes and receive less in return, just
like the rest of the people in this
country. Don’t ever call me immature
again, Mr. Moore. You are an elected
official, you know.
Michael D. Johnson
senior
accounting
