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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1993)
Opinion n Nebraskan Thursday, February 28,1M3 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chris Hopfensperger. Jeremy Fitzpatrick. Alan Phelps. Brian Shellito. Susie Arth. Kim Spurlock. Sam Kepfield.... I- Dl I OKI M ... .Editor. 472-1766 Opinion Page Editor .. .Managing Editor .Cartoonist ... .Senior Reporter ,.. Diversions Editor .Columnist Park it Ban would solve UNL’s parking problems The best solution for the parking problem at UNL is not building a parking palace in the middle of campus. No, the best solution lies on the fringes — of both the campus and current discussion. But the idea, being considered by the Parking Advisory Com mittee, of closing campus to almost all students, faculty and staff deserves more attention for two reasons: It would kill the parking issue and give the campus a chance to grow. The biggest problem with parking at UNL is not that there aren’t enough spots. There are plenty. The problem is that only a . select few of those parking spots are as close to people’s class rooms as they-would like. That would all be changed if the university pushed parking to the edges of campus. If people knew they weren’t going to find that dream spot right outside their classroom, they wouldn’t complain about having to sit in their cars waiting for a stall like hawks and wasting gas and time. If students and faculty understood ahead of time that they weren’t going to be able to park right next to their building, they could plan for that short walk to class instead of making everyone else listen to their long whines about it. And most importantly, if we killed the “parking issue” by moving parking lots to the edges of campus, campus leaders could get on to a discussion of more meaningful issues. The move would also do wonders for the aesthetics of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s campus. Anyone who doesn’t like the massive metal sculpture that the Sheldon parked behind Andrews Hall should look at the traveling show of iron that pulls up every morning in front of Selleck Quadrangle. Those two lots are a blight on this campus. They interrupt a solid swath of green growth on campus with a dirty patch of concrete. The space now being used for parking lots could be used much more effectively for new buildings or open spaces. Closing campus is obviously a long way off, but it would be much cheaper and more attractive than that unachievable dream of all campus commuters — the parking garage. Behind dosed doors Senate’s privacy vote seals off learning Universities are supposed to be centers of openness and learning, where decisions are made in the public eye to be examined by all. A decision by the Academic Senate’s Executive Committee Wednesday flies in the face of that tradition. The executive committee voted to close its meetings to everyone except invited guests. Committee members said they closed the meetings in order to better facilitate free discussion. Deanna Eversoll, division of continuing studies senator, said she noticed members had been more constrained in discussion since the Daily Nebraskan began covering their meetings. The executive committee’s decision is a mistake that should be overturned. It is true that certain items the committee must discuss — personnel discussions, for example — should be kept private. But the majority of the executive committee’s business should be public. If committee members have something to say, they shouldn't be afraid to have it printed. If they are afraid of seeing what they say in print, maybe they shouldn't say it. I 1)1 loKI \| I’ol K \ 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, iu employees, the students or the NU Board of Regenu. Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The regenu publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regenU, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper I ies solely in the hands of iu students. I I I I I U l*ol l< S 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, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject,*!! 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. Requesu to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union. 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. fcCfoSN ' A -cw#*.- lfW,-WFF v W Ife v^Hoo r ^ \ l t>xtaw sw;, -setN MrMEwrttc. HERE CoWfcS SfcWKfoR SQM^OOIEi WH. urn POM PW16M0N W© SWUMP COQCtWtS FOR FOUR. mu \\ \ ()liK \l)()\ 1C Media distorts Serbian action Ijust received a letter from my childhood friend in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, telling me that Serbs there were “celebrating” the ninth month of the blockade. Three more months and it will have been a year since the sanctions were im posed on my country, even though it is not involved in the war and doesn’t have its soldiers onBosnian soil. Yet, the sanction^ are still there. The people are suffering and many are dying because there is not enough money to import medication. Many people have been laid off, including myjriend, because the economy has ptqpiically collapsed. The West has succeeded in that, but Serbian pride remains intact. The media are representing us in an incredibly untruthful manner, con stantly favoring the Moslem Bosnians and never mentioning the deeds of the Croats, who are grabbing more land than anyone in this conflict and por traying the Serbs as people-eating monsters. All this, even though Serbians owned 70 percent of the land * in Bosnia and Herzegovina before this war and are simply trying to retain it Yes, simply keep it; call it what you will, but Serbs did not vote for secession from Yugoslavia — they were forced to remain in the Repub lic. We have Tito, out late leader, to thank; he drew borders of republics artificially. Why the world commu nity feels so strongly about them is beyond my understanding. They were internal borders within a larger coun try — which didn’t count for much. And then the crime tribunal.... Comparing it to those of the Nazi Germany Nuremberg Trials is so ri diculous. Again the world has turned on the Serbs, as if the Moslems who killed all those people waiting in the bread line didn’t “commit a crime,” or as if the Moslems who shot the people at the Moslem funeral — all staged to look as if Serbs were killing Moslems — didn’t commit a crime. Three more months and it will have been a year since the sanctions were imposed on my country, even though it is not involved in the war and doesn’t have its soldiers on Bosnian soil. And so on and so on. The endless misunderstandings and misrepresen tations of the media never seem to s years of ethnic cleansing of the Serbs from the province of Kosovo, which I have personally observed, now show that it has been cleansed and is 90 percent Albanian Moslem. Most Serbian and Montenegran people who lived there moved to other parts of Serbia. My own grandfather’s vil lage in Serbia has grown from a mere 1300citizens to more than4,000 with the refugees who have been fleeing Kosovo in the last decade. And now Serbs are the aggressors—the cleans ers! These thoughts go through my mind from day to day as the situation keep unfolding. I try to exercise at the Campus Rec Center to release some of this tension, but it doesn’t have weights for lifting smaller than five pounds so that someone not as strong could lut also, i try to go tnere on tne weekends when I have more time to play some basketball or volleyball, and I can’t because all the courts are being used for intramural tournaments. At least I know next week I can have some fun. On Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the lounge at the Nebraska Union in the lounge, a Montenegrin friend and I—aSerb— will participate in the International Rayflflr sponsored by the International Student Organization, of which I am president. It is the time when we show our American peers how proud we are of our countries. We are our coun tries’ ambassadors at UNL. We will display different arts and crafts, souvenirs and foods unique to our countries, which our American and international friends can sample for a small price. Bargaining is en couraged, as is the custom at all ba zaars. If you have never bargained for a price, this is your chance. This year, other than the Yugosla vian booth, we will have booths rep resented by Guam, China, Japan, Jor dan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, France, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Palestine, Turkey, Venezuela and booths representing International Women, UPC’s International Com mittee and International Affairs. You are welcomed to stop by and chat with us about our countries, our cultures, our languages. There are more than 100 countries represented by students at UNL, and many of those people will be among the ones who will mingle around the bazaar. This experience should also release some of your tensions — unless like myself, you get a call from your dad who says hecouldn’t find any breadto buy today, and you just can’t helphim from here. Obradovic la a graduate student In cre ative writing-poetry and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Response In response to those who make claims that those of us who believe that homosexuality is a choice are ignorant. I’d like to give you the fol lowing information. You claim that it’s a scientific fact that sexual preference is predeter mined. Not so. It’s true that there’s growing evidence leaning toward this conclusion, but it is nowhere near a fact. A closer account would be to call ita theory. Now, do you know who the main person behind this theory and the one person credited with it is? It’s a researcher who is a known and admitted homosexual. My! What a coincidence! The very person who claims it’s scientific fact that homosexuals have no choice is himself a homosexual. Could it be that possibly most of his findings were inconclusive but announced by him as fact in a publicity snow-job in order to have an excuse for his abnormal behavior? Think about it. It’s all a little too perfect for me. Dallas Beshaler freshman broadcasting ‘Tough’ In the article about parking ap peals (Feb. 19, 1993), Susan Oxley says too few appeals are granted. She says students still don’t know the rules. She says she hasn’t read the whole parking regulation book. She says it’s not a test She is right, it isn’t a test, but the reason the university spends thou sands of dollars to publish these books is so people are informed. Everyone who gets a permit gets a book. If the students don’t read the bode provided to them — tough! Don’t say you cannot read it or understand it. To be enrolled, you have to be able to read, write and understand the English lan guage. Ignorance is not an excuse to win an appeal. Stephen E. Goodrich U Colonel, U.S. Army professor of millitary science
