I\W I koistkk
Regents could use wake-up call
T. he regents have disappointed
me once again.
My first disappointment was
July31,1989, when the regents elected
to fire University of Nebraska Presi
dent Ronald Roskens in a closed meet
ing. Although Roskens was paid his
annual salary of $250,000 until June
30,1991, the public was never given
an explanation for the firing. To this
day we still wonder not only why, but
how the regents got away with throw
ing around the university’s money
like that.
My next major disappointment
came in 1990, when I found that the
university had millions of dollars
wrapped up in companies doing busi
ness in South Africa. Much of the rest
of the world was boycotting those
companies to protest apartheid, but
not our fine institution. Even when
confronted with the issue, divestment
was strongly avoided by the regents.
Although I have made the best of
my education at the university, and I
have had many teachers for whom I
am grateful, this regent-operated
school has disappointed me in many
other ways. In loo many classes, the
emphasis is on getting those grades
and that piece of paper called a de
gree, not on learning and gaining
appreciation of the subject matter.
Through my university education,
I have been repeatedly taught about
global warming,deforestation, waste
reduction and food chain inefficien
cies. Ironically, the university’s ac
tions arc contrary to what it teaches.
Although I was taught about the waste
and pollution caused by modern ani
mal-based agricultural techniques, I
was taught to adapt to the system, not
to fight to change it.
It look years of pushing by envi
ronmentally conscious people to gel
the university to take significant steps
to recycle, a movement it should have
been leading, not just talking about.
Through many majors such as busi
ness, students at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln are taught to make
a lot of money. But we have no envi
The latest disappointment
came this week when I learned
that those $3.5 million video
screens the university plans to
install in Memorial Stadium will
be purchased from the
Mitsubishi corporation.
ronmcnlal education requirement. In
chemistry lab, chemicals ardoist’d I ike
they arc going out of style,\nd the
environmental implications of these
habits arc not addressed. Ju\t last
year, the university was again fined by
the Environmental Protection Agency
for illegal waste storage and disposal
practices.
Even the lives of our fellow crea
tures are treated with total disrespect
at the university. More than 20,000
animals were experimented on in
1993. Most arc simply killed when the
experimenters are done with them.
Imagine the slaughter that will take
place when the Beadle Center for
Genetic and Biochemical Research is
completed.
The latest disappointment came
this week when 1 learned that those
$3.5 million video screens the univer
sity plans to install in Memorial Sta
dium will be purchased from the
Mitsubishi corporation.
Mitsubishi, through its
stockholdings and subsidiaries, is the
second largest destroyer of rain for
ests worldwide and possibly the No. 1
destroyer of all forests. There is a
boycott against Mitsubishi in protest
of its destructive practices.
Four other companies manufac
ture large video screens. The regents
need to pull out of their agreement
with Mitsubishi and practice what
their school preaches. Th is is a perfect
opportunity for our school to make a
big statement. Mitsubishi will feel the
loss of $3.5 million. Action by the
regents might have an effect on the
way the corporation treats the earth
and the peoples and creatures that
depend on the forests. v
Large logging companies do not
care about the rain forests. They go in
with large saws, bulldozers and trac
tors and take what they want. They
leave the barren soil to its own de
mise and give nothing to the indig
enous peoples whose lands they rob.
Not only arc people forced off their
land, but it is not uncommon to hear
about lumbering companies literally
murdering groups of these people.
Large corporations like Mitsubishi
know they can take advantage of fi
nancially strapped nations, so they
do. The regents have supported these
practices with their purchase.
It is in each of our interests to do
our part to protect the world’s forests
by protesting the regents’ purchase.
Forests convert carbon dioxide to oxy
gen and store carbon, keeping it out of
the atmosphere and decreasing the
global warming elTect. Millions of
species depend on these unique habi
tats, and millions of fellow human
beings live there as well. Things will
not change if we as individuals do not
stand up and let our voices be heard.
So please, write some letters or
come to the protest following the re
gents’ meeting this Saturday between
11 a.m. and noon. It will be at Varner
Hall, and demonstrators will speak at
the meeting around 10 a.m. Mark
those calendars.
Kocstcr it a senior soil science major and
a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
P u i a Lamc;ne
Labels don’t give ‘Total’ picture
Welcome lo an environmen
tally safe, fat-free, liberal,
vitamin-packed, alterna
tive and emission-checked message
from a member of Generation X.
In this cozy, capitalistic democ
racy we like to call America, we arc
obsessed with labeling. No longer can
we accept anything for what it is. It is
our solemn. God-fearing duty to slick
everything into a category.
For those of you who have been too
disillusioned and “Iabelficd” to real
ize this is a communist takeoverofour
free will, we’ll focus on an elementary
ideal —breakfast cereals.
There arc O’s, stacks, flakes, puffs,
gravel and cartoon characters. It’s not
just stuff you put in a bowl with milk
every morning. Your individual break
fast cereal is partofa great breakdown
of shapes, sizes and television pro
grams.
You can ’ t just go buy any breakfast
cereal without being drawn to the
label that tells you how much fat, iron,
calcium, sugar, calorics and rodent
parts arc in your bowl of milk either.
Beyond the issue of breakfast cere
als is music. An innocent singer gath
ers a few of his buddies together to
form a band, and then Mr. Industry
swoops down and whisks them off to
a record deal, and they are immedi
ately thrown into a big bin of musi
cians labeled “alternative.” Alterna
tive to what?
When all these new musicians
started popping up in the early ’90s,
people were just bewildered and con
fused. It was complete lyrical anar
chy, ahd listeners wouldn’t stand for
it. How dare music be free of form and
function. No, the great musical gods
must give it a name — alternative.
Actually. J.here is no more music.
~ — music store is like shop
and a mold. It’s either rap, rock, clas
sical. New Age, gospel, techno-dance,
country, jazz, blues or the dreaded
alternative.
In America, radio stations all have
formats adhering to one of the afore
1-0. Everything has a color
Supposedly, if labels truly
expressed the contents of their
packages, every liberal
Democrat would house spotted
owls, and every conservative
Republican would be a member
of the National Rifle
Association.
mentioned musical labels because we
think we have to pledge allegiance to
one musical genre and one only or be
forced to listen to William Shatncr
sing his version of “Mr. Tambourine
Man” on high speed for the rest ofour
lives.
Our friends overseas have not fallen
into this marketable music trap. A
format-free radio station, such as those
that exist in France, could play Pearl
Jam’s “Even Flow,” follow it with
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and then
play “Love Shack” by the B-52’s. It’s
all one big amorphous blob of pure,
unfiltcrcd sound.
Of course, France only has three
cereals — puffed rice, cornflakes and
bran.
' The greatest label crime we com
mitas Americans occurs in that feared
institution of politics. Supposedly, if
labels truly expressed the contents of
their packages, every liberal Demo
crat would house spotted owls, and
every conservative Republican would
be a member of the National Rifle
Association.
The liberal and conservative labels
have been proven to fail, but never
fear. We have New and Improved
labels such as ncoliberal, radical con
servative and neonoodlc
blecdinghcart-Christianconscrvative.
Bill Clinton couldn’t be labeled as
“liberal,” so all his little press aides
went into a think tank and came out
with “middle-of-the-road” liberal.
It’s not possible to just vote for the
best woman or man for the job. You
vote for the best label or the best hair,
whichever it happens to be.
People do not exist as people. We
exist as labels. We’re white, black,
M idwestern. Southern, feminist, chau
vinist, nerd, jock, tree hugger or anar
chist.
If this fixation continues, we’ll
become a walking society ofChiquita
bananas with labels affixed to our
tummies.
Now, peel this, if the rebellious
types say they don ’ t w an t to be catego
rized because they’re their own per
son, they arc immediately called devi
ant or “Generation X”—yet another
label.
Labels create stereotypes, gener
alizations and general misconceptions
i n every aspec t of ou r 1 i ves. Bi 11 Cl in ton
and Bob Kerrey arc both Democrats,
but they’re not prototypes.
Pearl Jam and the Cranberries are
both alternative, but God help us if
Eddie Vcddcr sings in Irish brogue.
And, in the early morning hours,
an eagerly awaiting bowl of milk
knows there is a difference between
Total and Frosted Flakes.
In order to move to highcr entropy,
we must start from the bottom up.
Take a big bowl. Buy a few boxes of
Lucky Charms, Grape Nuts, Shred
ded Wheat and Special K. Dump them
into the same bowl, grab a spoon and
start a revolution.
Lavigne ii a freshman news-editorial ma
jor and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter.
CAMPUS RECREATION
SUMMER MEMBERSHIPS
Did You Know?
Students who were enrolled
Spring Semester or students
enrolled in any of the summer
sessions are eligible to purchase
Summer Memberships for the
Campus Recreation Center.
The following is the Summer
Fee Schedule for Students:
- V*
|3wks 5wks 8wks lOwks 13wks
Students $7.31 $12.18 $19.49 $24.36 $31.67
For Spouse, Dependent, and Family fee
information, please call the Office of Campus
Recreation at 472-3467.
n
For mose information, call 472-3467.
1 out of 3
Every third resident is coming back to live in
the residence halls next year.
Join your friends, earn higher grades, and take advantage
of the conveniences on-campus housing offers. You can
receive a $150 discount for next year.
University Housing
1100 Seaton Hail
472-3561
NEW! UNL
I.D. Gets You
Money Back.
Bring your student I.D.
to the following places
& receive the following specials.
•CHESTERFIELD'S: 1/2 price appetizer or $1 oft any regularly priced pitcher of beer or pop
•BARBERETTES; 10 Tans-$19.95, complete set of nails-$29.95 (next to Ken s Kegs)
•GOLDEN CUTTERS: 15% off any haircare product -201 Capitol Beach Blvd #2
•MAX TAN: 10% off any tanning package 201 Capitol Beach Blvd #2
•NORTHRIDGE PHOTO CENTER FREE second set of 3x5 prints -14th 4 Superior
•ARBYS: 1 Regular Roast Beef Sandwich. Bag of Fries, 4 16 oz. Soft Drink only $1 99
•DOMINO'S: Large one topping pizza $5 99, Medium $4.99, Two small one toppings $7 99
•DA VINCI'S: $2 Mini, $4 Medium. $6 Large Cheese Pizza. Four 6' Hoagies for $8 -13th 40
•RECYCLED SOUNDS: 25% off all used cassettes -824 P St.
•CHARTROOSE CABOOSE: Buy 8” steak sandwich, get 2nd for 1/2 pnce (save $1.75)
•METROPOLITAN BANK Open a student checking account, receive a $10 deposit
•T.O. HAAS: $12.95 for lube, oil, filter change 24th 4 0.13th 4 South, 3 others
•SUITE 9: $1 off pitcher of beer Mon Fri., 9pm to midnight -2137 Comhusker Highway
•RESUMES BY ANN: Second cover letter FREE with resume packet ($15 value)
•DESERT FLAIR: 10% off unique southwestern apparel for women -56th 4 Highway 2
•D.J.'S SUNTANNING: One month unlimited for $37 or 10% off any packet (call for appt.)
•PARTY MAKERS: 10% off entire stock -233 N 48th - Eastview Plaza
•JAZZERCISE: 12 sessions for $25 - 5500 Old Cheney Road
•HARMAN'S CAMERA: 15% Off for students -1422 O St. 474-2402 -70th 4 A 489-5533
•INTERNATIONAL BEAD TRADER: 10% off purchase - 16th 4 W in the Reunion Building
•SARTOR HAMANN: 20% off any jewelry - Gateway, Downtown at 12th 4 O
•DULINQ OPTICAL: 20% off contacts, 50% full-prescription frames - the Atrium, 12th 4 N
Offers expire July 15, 1994
