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
