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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1994)
OPINION Nebraskan Thursday, February 17,1994 i Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick Rainbow Rowell. .. Adeana Left in. ... Todd Cooper JeffZeleny. Sarah Duey. Willian Lauer.... .Editor, 472-1766 .Opinion Page Editor .Managing Editor .. Sports Editor .Associate News Editor Arts & Entertainment Editor .Senior Photographer I m i< mi \i Think teamwork UNO, UNL can cooperate on engineering As debate continues over whether UNO should have its own engineering college, construction is being completed on a project that shows UNL and UNO can work together on this issue. Some Omaha regents, business leaders and University of Nebraska at Omaha administrators have advocated the creation of a separate engineering college at UNO. Currently, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln administers the engineering college, while UNO plays host to some faculty, students and programs. The problem with the creation of a separate college at UNO is the drain of resources from UNL. Having two engineering schools within an hour’s drive of each other would dilute the quality of both. UNL has also showed why it is unnecessary for UNO to have its own college. When UNO needed money to pay for a $345,000 addition to its engineering building, UNL helped pay for the construction. UNL provided $140,000 from its operating budget for the project and another $145,000 from private gifts. UNL was not required to help fund UNO’s project. But Stan Liberty, dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at UNL, said the money was provided because research was being slowed at UNO’s Center for Infrastructure Research. UNO does not need a separate engineering college. Both UNO and UNL do need more teamwork and joint projects to best use the limited funding available for higher education. Even-steven Japan should open market to U.S. goods The United States has long had a large trade deficit with Japan. Year after year, Japanese products sell extremely well in the United States, while American products fight just to get on Japanese shelves. Year after year, U.S. spokespeople ask Japan to please, please, let us in. This year, the United States seems to have a different message: We’re not going to take it anymore. In 1989, Japan agreed to give Motorola Inc. access to the Japanese cellular phone market. U.S. trade representatives say Japan has not lived up to this promise. Within 30 days, the United States will publish a list of Japanese products that could be subject to punitive tariffs of up to 100 percent if this dispute isn’t resolved. Although part of the trade deficit between the two countries can be explained by superior Japanese products, Japan has tried hard to keep its markets closed, placing tariffs and limits on U.S. products. Letting U.S. products compete fairly will level the playing field between the two countries. Both would gain from healthy competi tion. A trade war should be avoided, but the United States should stand behind its decision. Trade between countries should be mutually helpful. It should not be a relationship where one party always gives more and receives less. I i>1 ioki \i I’m i< \ Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1994 Daily Nebrackao. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the 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 m i u l*m i< \ 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 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, ifany. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448 p£ ; TIME. TO SWWWK WtSTVNE^ ro wfawsrav mi w// *sA',St wwwtuaswfe h wivwa ■; I.H 11 l<> l<> I HI KlH I ' >l< Regent Allen It’s obviously time for Regent Rob ert Allen of Hastings to step down from his position. His words in the Feb. 14 DN illustrate how out of touch he is with what he refers to as the “needs of students.” As a student, I’d like to know ex actly what he means by eliminating abortion, the concerns of gay and les bian students, commencement prayer, the engineering debate and controver sy overbuilding projects as issues not affecting student needs. If he were in touch with his popu lation, he’d realize over half of stu dents at the University of Nebraska Lincoln are female. If heterosexually active, these young women are at risk for pregnancy. Abortion certainly would be a concern to some. He should alsoexamine that at least lOpercentof students are gay, lesbian or bisexual, and that our needs are often ignored. Certainly Allen would agree the university’s direction is a student con cern. Where, how and why our money is spent matters. A commencement prayer matters to those of us forced by the Judeo Christian ethic to pray or worship or acknowledge a god we don't believe in. It is obvious to me, and I am hoping his constituents realize, that Allen hasn’t a faint notion of students’ needs because he doesn’t know the students on this campus. What I propose, though it will be ignored as most student requests are, is to abolish the regent system. Turn the direction and mission over to the students. Allen’s perspective is outdated, dishonorable and, above all, out of touch. Who will he answer to? C. Douglas-Ybarra graduate student sociology Trial by jury In response to the recent article and editorial about student shootings and handgun possessions (DN, Feb. IS): 1 agree that the alleged attack by Tyrone Williams was probably a pre meditated action that should be pur sued according to law, not tried in the media. My opinion is not the issue here; rather it is Williams’ ability to be fairly tried by a jury of peers. He must be presumed innocent until the legal process finds him guilty of the crimes for which he is accused. By hyping his case, you do not allow him this oppor tunity. In regard to Ryan Crumlv and Ryan Tomaschtik, this is a problem of im proper usage and maintenance of fire arms. Nocriminal intent was charged. It was merely accidental. Do not asso ciate this incident with criminal con duct. You only fuel the arguments of firearm dangers and give the public a perception that handguns have no rea son to be owned by law-abiding citi zens. Seth Davis’ case is a legal problem dealing with a terroristic threat. Until judicial action is taken, the people do not know if this was premeditated or a heat-of-passion crime. Until a jury decides this issue, it was only a matter of improper usage of the power a firearm represents. Amy Schmtdt/DN As for Sen. Eric Will’s proposed law that would limit handgun pur chases to those over 21, federal law already prohibits the sale of any fire arm to someone under that age. It’s about time Nebraska complied with the federal statutes. However, this docs not ease the problems associated with ownership, because federal law allows those over 18 to own weapons. Maybe, if there is a problem here, we should ask our senators and congressmen to propose federal legislation to prohibit owner ship to those under 21 as well. For those students on campus who own firearms, the incidents that have happened arc tragic, but they only serve to exemplify that there should be efficient education in the proper use and handling of firearms for those who desire to own them. II you cannot learn the proper and safe methods, you should not own the weapon. You are a danger not only to yourself, but to others as well. To create legislation based on the misguided and accidental misuse of a few docs nothing except damage the privilege of those of us who are re sponsible firearms owners. Gun control will not reduce crime; it will only create an atmosphere where law-abiding citizens will continue to fear because one of their means of security has been removed. Firearms ownership is a privilege, not a right as some of you might want to believe. Anyone who violates the trust of the Constitution can have those “rights” removed. If citizens want to retain their rights and privileges, they must take proper steps to ensure them, not to destroy them. John W. Copeland freshman criminal justice and political science Greek reference After spending the last three weeks taking in the DN’s slant on the grcck system and its troubles, we are com pelled to speak up and voice some concerns. In general, we understand some of the apprehension and criti cism in our student paper’s examina tion of the greeks on this campus. It’s not as though some of our recent irre sponsible actions haven’t brought this criticism upon us, leaving no one to blame but ourselves. We may not to tally agree with the slant the DN tends to take, but with most of the coverage, we were, at least, able to see the point the articles were trying to make. But in the article on the accidental shooting (DN, Feb. 10), we believe the DN has again shown its outright con tempt for greek organizations here oa campus. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student was accidentally shot by his roommate. This occurred off campus in an apartment both men shared. At one point, the article states, “Tomaschtik, a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity.” Now note that the accident oc curred off campus and not at an event. In other words, the fraternity was not involved in any capacity. Labeling this person in this case was unnecessary and represents a form of irresponsible journalism. It’s iron ic, considering the bad press the greek system has recently received, that a fraternity’s name was linked to this accident when the fraternity wasn’t involved. Would the DN write,“Calvin Jones, an African American, rushed the ball for 200 yards?” No. Why not? Be cause, simply, the fact that Jones is an African American has nothing to do with the story at hand. The reference to the fraternity is there because of the DN’s negative view of the greek system. Mistakes have been made in the greek system, and some of us freely admit changes need to be made (al though we never seem to get inter viewed when the issues come up). Many of the chapters here on cam pus provide valuable experiences for the individuals who are members. The DN usually chooses to ignore this fact. For example, the only mention ol Delta Delta Delta Sorority’s donation of $1,100 to the Omaha Cancer Med ical Center was on the back page, in the greek announcements, which are submitted to the DN by the chapters themselves. So come on, DN columnists and reporters. Start taking more responsi ble actions and report things fairly and honestly. If it’s true and newswor thy, no matter how damaging, then print it. The part on the shooting was fine, but the reference was very off color. Jody Burke junior secondary education Brian Hayden junior pre-physical therapy