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
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb 68588 0448
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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