'
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
JeffZeleny.Editor, 472-1766
Jeff Robb. Managing Editor
Matt Woody.?.Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen.Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell...Arts & Entertainment Editor
James Mehsling. .... Cartoonist
Chris Hain. Senior Reporter
Union, yes
Renovation, expansion badly needed
On Wednesday, University of Nebraska-Lincoln students have
a unique opportunity to help future students on this campus.
Voters will be asked on the ASUN ballot if they would be will
ing to spend about $20 a semester for a renovated, expanded Ne
braska Union. The fee would not go into effect until the construc
tion is complete — possibly as soon as 1998.
Most students now in college will graduate before the expan
sion begins. So this isn’t a vote for yourself, but for a younger
brother or sister or your own chil
dren.
Student support for the expansion
is crucial. Without the backing of
students, the NU Board of Regents
could deny the project. And with
out student support, the Coordinat
ing Commission for Postsecondary
Education certainly will veto the
plan.
Parts of the Nebraska Union are
dangerously outdated. The limited
meeting space, lack of popular
stores and the lack of recreational
activities are a few relatively trivial
Amy Schmidt/DN problems facing the union.
Accessibility to the disabled (or lack thereof), asbestos in the
ceiling and limited fire exits are serious concerns that need to be
looked at now.
The Daily Nebraskan agrees with Union Director Daryl
Swanson when he calls the handicap entrance an embarrassment.
It is difficult enough to negotiate the steep ramp during the sum
mer, but that task becomes nearly impossible in the winter months.
It often seems to students that they have to foot the bill for
nearly everything. But the reason for this increased student fee is
justified.
Students have to be partially responsible for the renovation’s
financing because tax dollars appropriated by the Legislature can
only be used on academic buildings.
The Nebraska Union is — and always has been — the center
of the University of Nebraska campus. In 1938 the Nebraska Union
opened. The $400,000 structure was dedicated to the “spirit of
unity and friendship of campus.”
On May 4, 1938, a special edition of The Daily Nebraskan
screamed: “Union Opens Tonight. Eight-Year-0 Id Dream Be
comes Reality at 7:30. $400,000 Structure Testifies to Efforts of
Alumni, Leaders, Students.”
Reviewing that special edition reminds the Daily Nebraskan
of the significant history the Nebraska Union holds in the com
munity. It is much more than a building. It has represented more
than 57 years of “Unions” among students, faculty and the com
munity.
It is this student body’s responsibility to create a union with
the future of UNL and carry the legacy of the Nebraska Union
into the 21 st century. . *
• x • ,.i ?>.?»- * , $ ' *<:f; , v i.
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 1995. Daily
Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editori
al s do not necessarily reflect the views
of the university, its employees, the
studentsortheNUBoandofRegents.
Editorial columns represent the opin
ion of the author. The regentspubiish
the Daily Nebraskan. They establish
the UNL Publications Board to su
pervise the daily production of the
paper. According to policy setby the
regents, responsibility for the edito
rial content of the newspaper lies
solely in the hands of its students.
Latter policy
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 ma
terial 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 pub
lished. Letters should included die author’s name,
year in school, major and group affiliation, if any.
Requests to withhold names will not be granted.
Submitmaterial to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska
Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
I i ■ l i :-j
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Being a right-handed person, I
am constantly struggling between
two feelings, the first of which is
gratitude. I am grateful because I am
right-handed, and therefore I am
what is considered normal to the
great masses that make our society.
The second feeling is guilt. I feel
guilty because as a right-handed '
person, I witness the treatment of
those few who aren’t right-handed,
but I rarely do anything about it.
It is a fact that there are just some
people who are not bom right
handed. These people did not
choose to be left-handed. It’s just
the way they are.
I honestly do not know many left
handed people. Not many come out
and admit that they naturally favor
their left hands. Those who do
publicly announce they are south
paws always claim that they did not
choose to favor their left side, but
that it had always been that way for
them.
I am inclined to believe them.
There is no reason in today’s world
to admit to left-handedness. In fact,
it’s rather a foolish and sometimes
dangerous thing to come out and
admit.
There are people just waiting to
hear the words, “I am left-handed.
Deal with it.”
It is a statement like this that
brings out the worst in some people.
We all know who these people are.
Most of us have been, or are, these
people.
These people argue that it is not
God’s way for a person to be left
handed, that it is not natural and not
intended in the grand scheme of
things. They say that because left
handers are against God, and
therefore sinners, that they should
not be accepted into a religion. If
they are accepted into a religion,
they are told that they must change
their left-handed ways, or God will
not accept them. God personally
talks to a lot of right-handed people,
obviously.
Some right-handed people
believe that being left-handed is
nothing more than a mental disor
Todd Elwood
der. Lefties can be cured of their
ailment through various forms of
treatment and counseling. Lefties
can someday be normal, and favor
their right hands, if a cure can be
achieved.
These people say that left-handed
people should not be allowed to
serve in the military because these
left-handers will most certainly try
to recruit other soldiers to join them.
Left-handed people have no self
control and will most assuredly try
to convince all of the other soldiers
to pull the trigger of their machine
guns with their left index finger,
they argue.
These people say that left-handed
people should not, in any circum
stance, be allowed to raise children.
There is no question that these
southpaws, if given the responsibil
ity of parenthood, will not love the
child, but persuade the child to
become left-handed. Even if the
child is naturally right-handed, as
the majority of people are, the left
handed parent will teach that
favoring the left hand is the only
way to live. They will train the child
to be left-handed.
Some people, even, on the ugliest
of occasions, will group together
and seek out a left-handed person
for the sole purpose of applying
punishment. If left-handed people
can not use the right hand, they say,
then beating them is the only
reasonable alternative.
Finally, many right-handed
people claim that being left-handed
is nothing more than a lifestyle
choice.
It doesn’t seem to matter that, in
every aspect of American life, being
left-handed brings about suffering of
one kind or another; it is still their
choice. If left-handed people
choose, they can be right-handed at
any moment, as easy as flipping a
switch.
As I have said, I witness all of
these things, but rarely do anything
about it. I feel guilty about this, and
l am responsible for my non-action.
I look at history in America and
see the oppression of other people
who are simply bom one way
instead of another. I am referring, of
course, to those who are bom with
brown eyes. Being born with brown
eyes is no one’s choice. It is a fact.
People with brown eyes merely
come into this life as a minority.
People with brown eyes were not
allowed to use lunch counters,
restrooms and certain seats on the
bus. I see the history of all of this
and wonder why no one did any
thing about it for so long. It is not
that oppression against those with
brown eyes is no longer a part of our
world, brut it is not as distinct as it
once was.
I wonder why brown-eyed people
were so openly oppressed by laws
and by people in America for so
long. I wonder this and I suddenly
see the mirror in my face. I see that
leH-handed people are experiencing
the same discrimination, the same
open and hateful injustices that
brown-eyed people experienced in
the ’60s.
I see how ludicrous and simply
wrong all of the arguments were
when people justified the oppression
of krown-eyed people, and I
recognize the same words used
against left-handed people today.
I wonder about my parents’
generation. I wonder why they let it
go on like they did. I wonder what
my children will say about my
generation. I fear that my children
will wonder why left-handed people
were treated the way they are. I fear
I will have to answer those questions
with a shrug of the shoulders.
Etwood Is a senior English and sociol
ogy major, and a Dally Nebraskan colum
nist
P.S. Write Back
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 Nebras
kan, 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.