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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1994)
Opinion Netlraskan Thursday, Juna 9,1994 Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Malt Woody Martha Dunn Deborah D. McAdams Editor. 472-1766 . Features Editor Copy Desk Chief Derek Samson Brian Sharp. Staff Reporter Sta ff Reporter Shallow pockets You get what you pay for in education Most agree education is important, but few agree on who should pay for it. When it comes to appropriating state tax revenue, legislators look at the university and sec a bureaucratic maze of administrators who cam substantial salaries. They sec parking lots turned into lawns and small businesses turned into parking lots. They sCc a massive research facility rising in the dust of what used to be a neighborhood. By all appearances on UNL campuses, there seems to be plenty of money, somewhere, and more will be coming — from a tuition increase. What few legislators and fewer taxpayers — those reluctant to invest in higher education — do sec. arc the students who work nearly full-time to pay for school. Many people have had to work their way through school, but the numbers arc increasing. Accord ing to the Astin Overview of 1991 Freshman Norms, 4.8 percent of those surveyed expected to work full-time during college, compared to 3.5 percent in 198S. Astin suggests these figures indicate that financial aid, as well as personal and family resources, arc out paced by the cost of going to college. Tuition increases amount to added hardship for poor students and those from poor families. That added hardship may have contributed to a dramatic drop in enrollment in the California State University and community college systems, where enrollment fell 7.8 percent between the fall of 1992 and the fall of 1993. according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. California’s public college systems arc educating 159,000 fewer people at a time when education is being cited as the answer for everything from violence to teen pregnancy — afflictions associated with poverty. Even though tuition rates at UNL arc the second-lowest among its peer group, substantial increases will inevitably affect enroll ment, which has been stagnant for more than a decade. University officials need to convince legislators and taxpayers to invest in higher education before they continue to lean on those who may be least able to pay tuition increases. The Daily Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you want to voice your opinion about an article that appears in the newspaper, let us know. Just write a brief letter to the editor and sign it (don’t forget your student ID number) and mail it to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R Street. Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, or stop by the office in the basement of the Nebraska Union and visit with us. We’re all ears. Km tout \t I'm h \ StalTeditorials represent the official policy of the Summer 1994 Daily Nebraskan Policy isset by the Daily Nebraskan Hditorial Board Hditorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Hditorial 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 I I I It 1*01 l< \ 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, 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 <So WUKT YOO'RE SAV/MG? } \S TUAT....\ ?AY A Vi ' L ObTRKG^OoS P(VRKlMG> FEP\ So THAT O-TAER, STUteHTSl CAVi R\v>e TAE BoS FOR 7 v.FREH^---§~,>«r pwW SieBKA^KAH <E) \<\<=\lf Z.5M<3? / /d SuIevT1 P/VRKIU6> - Qo^5iuGj ?Uk| ¥ 4* PROBLEM S0tVEC>. amanda Griffith Lake should remain recreational t an ever increasing rate hu mans and nature arc colliding with controversy and seeking control of one another. A man-made lake which has served nature and hu mans equally for 78 years is being challenged by the National Audubon Society. A lawsuit brought against federal officials by the National Audubon Society argued that Lake Minatare’s wildlife habitats were not being protected from destructive rec reational activities. Lake Minatarc was built in 1915 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and was Nebraska’s first federal irrigation impoundment. Located six miles cast, and eight miles north of Scottsbluff, Lake M matarc has become one of the most popular recreational areas in Nebraska’s Panhandle. In 1916 the lake became part of the North Platte Wildlife Refuge by Executive Order 241C, along with Lake Alice and Winters Creek Lake, as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds. In 1960 the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission was contracted by the Bureau to administer the recre ational resources at Minatarc. What this all boils down to is a lawsuit settled by the Audubon Society forc ing federal officials to reconsider their policies concerning the use of Lake Minatarc. The Audubon Society’s law suit argued that destructive recreation al activities have inhibited or harmed the wildlife habitat and that changes must be made. In order lo comply with the law suit, Larry Malone, refuge manager, had suggested closing off certain ar eas of the lake to the publ ic to allow the wildlife to move in. However this suggestion had already been confront ed in 1985 when officials complied with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice. Officials had to close off the entire area to public use from October 1 through January 15 allowing mi grating waterfowl safe access to the area for nesting. Lake Minatare has become the central point of entertainment for people in the Panhandle and if it were to be taken away now the surrounding could lose revenue from visiting lake goers. The proposed plan would require all cabin areas, boat ramps and beach es to be turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for pub lic use. This would exclude the ability of residents or cabin owners to lease privately owned land for their person al use. Many of the cabin owners rent land from the original owner and pay rent to remain on the private beach fronts. Others have bought the land and built $80,000 to $ 100,000 homes near the shore. These homeowners will have no choice but to leave be cause much of the building was done while state and federal officialslookcd the other way. It is because oi this type of negli gence that Lake Minatare faces such an ordeal. Officials also suggested that limit ing the types of motor crafts on the lake would decrease the hazards to the wildlife habitat. This is another costly side effect concerning area residents and water-goers. By limiting the the use of certain types of motor crafts, namely jet skis and power-motor boats, the public would be required to travel to lakes farther away, such as Lake McConaughy near Ogallala. Lake Minatare has become the cen tral point of entertainment for people in the Panhandle and if it were to be taken away now the surrounding ar eas could lose revenue from visiting lake-goers. Instead of being used distinctly for its purpose as a recreational area, irrigation water storage and migrato ry habitat Lake M inatarc, is becoming a slave to the habitat. There are not too many more uses that can be put to wards the lake, it already serves too many. There arc complaints about water levels during irrigation, too many boaters, unlicensed hunters and pollution. Present complaints should be tackled before trying to comply with the Audubon Society’s lawsuit. A compromise could be suggested to use Lake Alice or Winters Creek Lake as part of the refuge where there isminimal traffic and public use. These lakes do not have the problems that Minatarc already has and would be easier to adapt for the wildlife. it is a snamc to sec a lake tnat nas served its residents for so many years be taken away without any concern for those who use it. Many residents that have been there since 1960 arc en raged and feel that the lake is being stolen out from under them. Why should these people have to pay for bureaucrat ic mistakes when it is not necessary? With any luck at all, a compromise will be found, as the other lakes in the refuge have not been considered in the same light and must be taken into consideration. Ultimately Congress will make the decision as to approve the plan or not, and it will undoubted ly be more than a fifty-fifty compro mise if members of the public do not voice their opinions to their congres sional representatives. Amanda Griffith Is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist
