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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1995)
Opinion Monday, August 21,1995 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln J. Christopher Haiti.... .Editor, 472-1766 Rainbow Rowell..Managing Editor Mark Baldridge....Opinion Page Editor DeDra Janssen.V.Associate News Editor Doug Kouma ....Art/Graphics Director JeffZeleny.... *.Senior Reporter Matt Woody.*..... .Senior Reporter James Mehsling.Cartoonist IMPACTWatch Keeping an eye on student government Last year IMPACT claimed the executive positions in the As sociation of Students of the University of Nebraska. The election crowned a long line of such victories for the party that has held sway in student government for years. Led by Shawntell Hurtgen, IMPACT represents the status quo — chosen by a minority (87% of the student body couldn’t be __ bothered to vote) to repre Throughout the next year, the Daily Nebraskan will compare the party’s accomplishments to their platform through IMPACltoatch. The IMPACT party, led by Shawntell Hurtgen, pledged to do the following if elected: ■ More student input on dean renewals ■ More efficient advising process ■ More core class availability, especially on East Campus ■ Better interaction among all students ■ Better handicapped accessibility ■ Improved communication between ASUN and students ■ Better parking policies ■ More 24-hour computer labs ■ Opposing appointed regents ■ Standardized teachers' evaluations ■ Enhanced academic experience for students ■ Maintaining student and lab fees at or below inflation rate sents an apathetic constitu ency. Many promises were made at that time — and among them was one of our own: to watch. Well, we have been watching and will continue to watch. To ask and seek out the results of that elec tion —it’s effect on the stu dent body at large. IMPACT will have some hard questions to answer in these pages as we strive to hold them to their promised agenda. We will measure their actual impact against their excellent stated goals: -Better interaction be tween students, student ad visory groups, minority or ganizations and senators. -Better handicap accessi bility to all university buildings, especially those not up to code. -Enhanced academic experience for students. -Better parking policies on campus and more metered spaces on East Campus. -More 24 hour computer labs. -Maintaining student fees at a rate not greater than the increase of inflation. -Greater class availability on East Campus. IMPACTjvill be asked to demonstrate what it has done and will do toward these goals in concrete terms. No simple evasions will appease us. Because ASUN has a lot to answer for. Its mis-management in the past must be reversed in the future. ASUN must be held accountable for its actions - and its failure to act. Success as well as failure will be reported with a cool and criti cal eye. If the student body is ever to escape the numbing bonds of apa thy let it be now. And let it begin with us. We are here, IMPACT. And we are still watching. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of die Fall 1995 Daily Nebras kan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras kan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect die views of the university, its employees, die 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. Accord ing to policy set by the regents, respon sibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. Letter 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 mate rial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should ran as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re turned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub lished. Letters should include the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Re quests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. AfeswKM Moving ahead Daily Nebraskan should be better than ever Come here kid, let me tell you a story. I grew up as a small-town boy from Wahoo, with the notion lodged in my head that there was no way I would go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I thought highly of myself, and figured I was better than UNL so I enrolled at the University of Kansas. I decided to take up chemical engineering and business because someone told me it was the highest paid double major. But money isn’t everything. And calculus is a killer. Don’t get me wrong, I finished with an A the second time around, but it just wasn’t for me. I still wanted to be part of something big, even if the money wouldn’t be rolling in. I was interested in everything, not just mathematical formulas and chemical composition. I figured journalism would be the best way for a small town boy to rub up against the world’s players. Leaving Kansas for the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln my sophomore year, 1 was lured down to the Daily Nebraskan as a sports writer. I always flipped to the sports page first whenever I read the newspaper so sports seemed a natural fit. When I received my first assignment, I went to the sanctity of my home to make the calls on the story. I carefully tape-recorded the phone conversation because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to write down everything I needed. I wrote the story lying on my couch. I wrote by hand on notebook paper and then came into the Daily Nebraskan to J. Christopher Halo “In the year ahead, the Daily Nebraskan staff ivill be involved in preparing the paper for the 21st century. ” type it into the computers. Shyness wasn’t my problem, but I was intimidated by all the talented journalists who were covering real events and putting out a real newspaper — in addition to taking a full load of classes. Sports was fun, interviewing Tom Osborne and writing about the Huskers. But it’s always the same— the same games with different faces, and different scores. I wanted to be involved in real stories. I wanted to be on the front page. Since I began writing news stories, I’ve covered things like the Nebraska Legislature and former Chancellor Graham Spanier’s departure — the type of stories I read as a kid and hoped to be a part of. In the last year, the Daily Nebraskan has gone beyond covering those stores to breaking them. The paper has furthered its reputation as a legitimate news source. Now, as editor, I hope to con tinue putting out a newspaper that gives its readers everything they need. We know that the Daily Nebraskan is the only newspaper read by many students. For that reason, we will try to give you the best coverage possible of issues facing university students. You can count on the Daily Nebras kan to keep watch on the UNL administration, student government and the NU Board of Regents. We have a tremendously talented and experienced staff. Of the 21 members on our senior staff, 14 had journalism internships. They worked at places like the Boston Globe, the Des Moines Register and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In the year ahead, the Daily Nebraskan staff will be involved in preparing the paper for the 21st century. We are working on updating the look of the paper. And later in the semester we hope to have a version of the Daily Nebras kan on the world wide web with even more information than the printed version. Later this week, readers will be able to e-mail letters to the editor. This year, the readers of the Daily Nebraskan should expect more than ever. Hals is a senior news-editorial and po litical science major and the Daily Nebras kan editor. / Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you voice your opinion about an article that in the newspaper, let us know. Just write a ter to the editor and sign it (don’t forget your ID number) and mail it to the Daily Nebras 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.
