Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1994)
Opinion Nebraskan Monday, January 17,1994 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick Rainbow Rowell Adeana Left in . . . Todd Cooper. . Jeff Zeleny. Sarah Duey. Staci McKee. ..Editor. 472-1766 .Opinion Page Editor .Managing Editor . . ..Sports Editor ...... Associate News Editor Arts & Entertainment Editor .Photo Chief Km ioki \i University unity NUs fragmented structure needs fixing One university with a strong president. As NU Board of Regents chairman, Charles Wilson said this would be his goal. If Wilson continues to seek this goal, the University of Nebraska may finally begin to move forward. In the past, the roles of the president and the Board of Regents have been blurred. It has been unclear whether the president has the authority to get things done. Wilson said he wanted to realign the existing structure. The board should function through the president, he said, not indepen dently or directly with the chancellors. Now, NU’s governing structure sometimes functions like a poorly built machine. Its different parts — the board, the presi dent, the chancellors and the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education — act out of time. They grind against each other and waste energy. When something goes wrong or nothing happens at all, it’s difficult to pinpoint which part has failed — which part needs replacing. By clearly defining the roles of the board and the president, and the relationship between the two, NU’s administrative machine may work more efficiently. The president would be better able to do his job — to take responsibility for the direction NU takes and to be held account able for his actions. NU could stand strong and united before the legislature and the state of Nebraska as an institution worthy of Nebraskans' pride and respect. One university with a strong president. Primary target Reducing arms should still be top priority President Clinton promised $50 million in aid to Belarus Saturday. The assistance includes $25 million to help the country carry out its pledge to surrender all 81 of its old Soviet SS-25 nuclear missiles. The money could have been spent on many unsolved problems in the United States. But it is a good investment in the security of the United States. In fact. Clinton should spend even more money if it would result in nuclear weapons being dismantled anywhere. Ukraine has also agreed to dismantle its missiles, but Russia is still fully armed. Agreements have been negotiated to disarm the United States and the former Soviet Union, but they are not enough. The political instability in Russia has made that country vulnerable toa takeover by right-wing former communists. And those communists are hostile to the United States. During Clinton’s visit to Belarus, for example, the Associated Press reported that communists marched around a statue of the founder of the KGB and waved banners, one which read: “Yankee Go Home.” The Cold War is over, but its weapons remain. The possibility that the world — or more likely, a major city — could be destroyed by those weapons still exists. The United States needs to make a stronger effort toeliminate the threat of a nuclear exchange between nations. Such an exchange is extremely unlikely between Russia and the United States now. But governments change. President Clinton needs to make significant arms reduction his primary foreign policy goal. I IH Inkl \l I'OI K \ Staff editorials represent the ofTicial policy of the Spring 1994 Daily Nebraskan Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan liditorial Board. liditorial* do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regent s Liditorial 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. ’ ._ III 11 It I’ni K \ The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to t he 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 all 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 THt LEAL DEPARTMENT CUTOUT TiCTwwAMwiaiwErats wo Wilt TO WERE AT IT,TttEY DECIDED It CHEESE AND PEPPERONK IfEREU'T S,I)CUA<aOOD'DE& EVTWER. ’ / IWl L KOI Sll K Overpopulation choking world Do you know what the No. 1 problem is in society today? Well, it’s not crime. It’s not guns or drugs. It’s not even a lack of family values. No, it’s a much more subtle problem, a problem that affects all 5.3 billion people who inhabit this small planet. Overpopulation — a problem so large that it was given six syllables. Count them. Six. That’s also how many bill ions of people this earth will soon have. Of the earth’s water resources, only 1 percent is fit or available for human consumption, and that 1 percent is being increasingly polluted by agri culture, industry and human waste. For each of the 5.3 billion humans that exist today there isonly about one acre of land with the right climate and soil suitable to grow crops for human consumption. In addition to this there are only two acres of permanent pasturcland per person to raise live stock. Two acres isn’t much, consid ering it takes more than ten times the amount of land to raise a pound of animal protein than a pound of plant protein. Not to rain on anybody’s parade, but the earth’s population is predicted to double over the next 50 years. With today’s population, 40,000 people starve to death daily, and one billion arc starving or significantly under nourished. Unequal food distribution is the problem now, but in 30 or 40 years, it is doubtful we will be able to raise enough food to feed the masses, especially with the effects of global warming. Is it ethical to give birth to more children in this country when mill ions are starving at our doorsteps, espe cially when there are thousands of children just across the oceans wait ing for adoptive homes? I shudder when I see people fighting to elimi nate sex education and contraceptive distribution here and abroad. Mahatma Gandhi once said that if the nation of India were to live the same lifestyle as those in the United States, they would strip the land bare like locusts. You may not think overpopulation is a problem because you can leave the city and see nothing but large expanses of virtually people-free farmland with groves of trees every here and there, or go to the desert and go miles without seeing anybody. Sure, people may not be smashed against each other, but because humans need basic resources such as productive farmland for their survival, people need much more than elbow room. Worldwide, most remaining ara ble land is marginally productive, and this small amount is under increasing pressure to be used for urban projects such as housing or landfills. Althoughournation is less densely populated than many others, virtually all our land is being used, mostly to raise environmentally exhaustive live stock. Our population is experiencing a positive growth rate, and immigra tion pressures are increasing. Unfor tunately, we haven’t even learned to take care of our own people yet. How can we say we are not over populated when we consume 30 per cent of the world’s energy and pro duce massive amounts of pollution and waste? All humans need basic resources for their survival. Humans need clean water, air, metals, trees, energy and fertile land for producing food and fiber. More people mean a greater environmental impact, especially if each of these people consumes a large amount of resources or produce a large amount of pollution. For exam ple, it is estimated that one American has the same environmental impact of 40 Eastern Indians. These Eastern Indians are mostly vegetarian, con sume less than 2 percent as much electricity per person, and don’t drive cars everywhere. Mahatma Gandhi once said that if the nation of India were to live the same lifestyle as those in the United States, they would strip the land bare like locusts. We in the United States are living it up while we can with little concern for future generations. If Bill Clinton’s new world economy suc ceeds, Gandhi’s statement will soon be put to the test. Even now the ill effects of over population are evident. Poverty and racism are on the rise, and people are fighting over land and jobs all over the globe. Indigenous peoples are rapidly losing what’s left of their lands, and deforestation and extinction of spe cies arc rampant. Planet earth is rapidly losing its ability to give people a 1 ife with elbow room and security for all. As an old Chinese proverb says: if we don’t change the direction we are heading, we may end up where we are heading. Koester is a senior soil science mnjor and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Ill I ll<s IO I III I.DI I OK Bike proposals I would like to voice my opposi tion to the no ride zone and bicycle registration that has been proposed by the Parking Advisory Committee and will next be considered by the Asso ciation of Students of the University of Nebraska on Jan. 19. If college students arc required to pay $5 to ride their bike to campus it W1LL discourage from rid ing to cam pus. This, in turn, will encourage peo ple to drive to campus and add to the current parking problem. Also, I fail to see how putting a sticker on my bike is going to do anything to reduce the chance that my bike will be stolen. I see this as just another chance for the government to attempt to control something that is inherently free of constraints. If my bike is stolen, that little sticker on the frame will do nothing to stop the thief from pulling all the parts and selling mem. The idea that a sticker will aid the police in returning the bike to me is moot at best considering the small number of stolen bikes that arc recov ered. A better solution would be to em power the current bike police to allow them to slap a fine on those few maniacs who arc a menace on a bike. The vast majority of those riding across campus are not a problem and should not be penalized for the ac tions of the few. Jim Brill UNL employee Orange Bowl I know everyone is tired of hearing about the Orange Bowl, but I have one last thing to say. Sending a tape in to the officials makes Nebraska look 1 ike a big baby to the rest of the nation. I realize Bill Byrne did what he inougm was rigni, ana i m ceriamiy not suggesting that we weren’t wronged. But haven’t we suffered enough? Let’s just focus on the posi tive. Our Cornhuskers played a fan tastic game to the bitter end. 1 agree with Tom Osborne when he said we did win, because we won respect. Let’s not ruin our new-found respect by crying about what could have happened. I can admit I’ve done my share of “what ifs,” but now that I’ve settled down and wiped the tears from my eyes, I’ve realized something. It doesn’t matter if we won because we looked like a team worthy to be called one of the best in the nation. That, my friends, is the respect we deserve and shall demand... no matter how lousy the Orange Bowl officials were. Jennifer Nyp junior human development