Opinion Monday, March 4,1996 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln J. Christopher Haiti Doug Kourna. Doug Peters. Sarah Scalet. Matt Waite. Michelle Garner... Jennifer Mapes .... .Editor, 472-1766 .Managing Editor . Opinion Page Editor Associate Nev>s Editor Associate News Editor .Wire Editor .Columnist Hockey monopoly Stars join the Lincoln sports scene Friday's announcement that the United States Hockey League will be expanding to Lincoln was long overdue. Lincoln has been ready to take this step for at least five years. ; The Lincoln Stars — who will J begin play next fall at the State ] Fair Coliseum — will provide the i city’s growing population with an : other team to back. I For years, the community has provided enthusiasm and support for the city’s high school and col lege teams. Nebraska’s football : team has sold out Memorial Sta '■ dium for more than 30 years. The Cornhusker volleyball team con sistently receives sonic of the best fan support in the nation. Thou i sands of fans pack the Bob Dcvancy Sports Center for Nc S braska basketball on a weekly i basis. ,-r—T — The entire sMe congregates iii Lincoln every spring to celebrate the high school state wrestling, swimming and basketball championships. But hockey has been miss ing. The Lincoln Stars will fill that gap. Amateur hockey in Omaha already has proved to be exciting. The Omaha Lancers, who arc the most successful team in the USHL, consistently outdraw the Racers and Royals, both of whom arc pro fessional teams and play their sports at a much higher level than USHL hockey. But the Lancers and the Stars have a monopoly over the state’s hockey Ians, and the two teams should develop an intense rivalry over the next tew years. But don't expect the Stars to compete right away. In the Lancers’ first season, they didn't win a single game. The fans kept coming back, however, and eventually the team moved from Hitchcock lee Arena to AKsarben, where they now draw more than 6,000 fans for every game. A scat at a Lancers’ game is the toughest ticket in town, and second only to Husker football in the entire state. The Lincoln-Omaha rivalry is a natural. Star fans should pack the coliseum every time the Lancers travel to town. We know the same will be true when the Stars journey to Omaha. Because the engineering debate between UNL and UNO appears to be cleared up, the two cities arc in need of a reason to fight. Hockey can give them a reason, a healthy reason. With the exception of the week-long Nebraska State Fair, the fairgrounds arc nearly devoid of life. The Stars have a chance to pump some excitement into the fairgrounds from October to April. Lincoln has the ability to rally around the Stars just as Omaha has rallied around the Lancers. As Lincoln has expanded to the north and south, the city has been in need of something extra. Next fall, it will finally arrive. Editorial policy Stall" editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1995 Daily Nebras kan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras kan 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. 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 Dally 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 runasa 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. fM iimi ii ) I'ttVJDT m m.' r in wWiO> \V\» WtCMOWl. \NUfe VMO IN AlAlM Vtt^UKS ? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR No respect The Nebraska fool ball team still has not reeeived the respect they deserve. What is it? Every day 1 drive down Avery Avenue and look up at the scoreboard in the north stadium. This is the scoreboard that has the National Championship years on it. There is still no 1995 sign on the scoreboard. What’s the problem? Money? HA HA. Not a chance. The university makes millions from their football team. 1 am willing to volunteer my time to put up the sign, that is if the athletic department can afford it! Gel me a ladder, and I’m there. Jason Lemon senior communication Rabid Congress endangers wilderness Last summer. President Clinton, pushed by a rabid, anti-environment Congress, signed into law the so called “salvage” rider. Hidden in a government belt-tightening bill that included aid to Oklahoma City bombing and California fire victims, the pro-timber amendment has unleashed an all-out war on America’s wildlife and forests. Clinton, and some members of Congress, claim they reluctantly endorsed the proposal because they supported “salvage” logging of dead and dying trees. But such forest management practices ignore the significant value of dead trees, which help replenish the soil and provide vital habitat for cavity nesting species such as woodpeck ers. Aptly called the “logging without laws” rider because it closed the courts to citizens and suspended all environmental laws, the rider defined salvage so broadly that any tree made of wood could be cut. As a result, some of our last ancient forests arc being put on the chopping block. According to a report issued by the Congressional Research Service in early February, the rider has cost taxpayers more than S50 million in subsidies to the timber industry. Surely Rep. Bereutcr and Sens. Exon and Kerrey cannot justify robbing Americans of their hard-earned money and the destruction of our national forests. They should support efforts to repeal this disastrous law and save what little wilderness remains. Kathleen Marvis Lincoln Eat your veggies Responding to the topic of vegetarianism could cover this entire page. While Ms. Johnson’s idea (Feb. 29) that people should become vegetarians may be impractical at present, Mr. Paulson’s attack (March 1) was very short-sighted. Setting aside the problems with changing people’s livelihoods (ranching vs. farming), the idea of feeding the earth with fruits, veg etables and grains is very feasible. The question is not of the amount of food that cattle provide but rather one of land use and water availabil ity. Cattle as well as sheep and hogs eat feed grain and hay, forage on pasture, etc. To produce the feed, water and land are used. To maintain the animal, more water and land are used. Basically by eating a vegetar ian diet, people bypass the animals’ consumpt ion of vegetal ion? By eating a vegetarian diet, the global population would more efficiently use land and water. When speaking about the problems with feeding the world, population increases hamper the sustainability of providing food. There are too many circumstances surrounding the world’s religions to make religion an issue associated with vegetarianism. During the time of Lent, as an Orthodox Christian, 1 practice a diet of no dairy, no meat, no egg. This is private and personal and is certainly not an issue regard ing my stance with meat vs. veggies one way or the other. EFFICIENCY IS THE ISSUE! Polly Ann Najarian graduate student agricultural meteorology via e-mail ...to the Daily Nebraskan Send your brief letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588, or Fax to (402) 472-1761, or email Letters must be signed and include a phone number for verification.