Opinion
Thursday, March 7,1996
Page 4
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Haiti
Doug Kouma..
Doug Peters.
Sarah Scalet.
Matt Waite.
Michelle Garner...
Jennifer Mapes....
.Editor, 472-1766
.Managing Editor
.. Opinion Page Editor
Associate News Editor
Associate News Editor
---Wire Editor
.Columnist
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Take action
Give students a reason to care
Wednesday’s victory by the ACTION party was hardly a surprise;
it was simply the latest step in a long progression of ASUN election
wins by parties that, to the average student, are looking more and
more the same...
And less and less interesting.
ACTION won in a landslide — 70 percent of the vote went to
president-elect Eric Marintzcr.
But ASUN continues to lose.
This is not to say Marintzcr will not do a capable job—just that
fewer students than ever will care.
Marintzer’sjob, the job of all ASUN election-day winners, is not
to get better seats in Memorial Stadium or eliminate parking prob
lems, although both would be nice. The new administration has one
job and one job only. That is: to bring legitimacy to ASUN. To do
that, they have to get people to care.
Seventy percent is a huge win, but the accomplishment fades a bit
when looked at under the voter-turnout microscope.
Fewer than one out of 10 students, a total Marlene Beyke, ASUN’s
director of development, called the lowest in memory, took time to
vote in this year’s election.
To be exact turnout was 8.4 percent.
Of that 8.4 percent, 70 percent voted for ACTION.
You do the math.
ACTION, instead of scoring the apparent landslide, had the
support of 5.8 percent of the student body. Even Lamar Alexander did
better than that in the GOP presidential race, and he just dropped out.
Simply put, 5.8 is not a mandate from the masses.
Marintzcr and the rest of the ACTION party must dedicate
themselves to the little things—the things that students who are not
involved in ASUN will notice. Get the library to stay open weekend
nights (and later on weekdays). Not all of us spend our Saturdays at
the Rail. Don’t request money for projects, raise it. Live up to your
name — take action instead of writing resolutions.
Maybe then more of us will care enough to vote.
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent die official
policy of the Spring 1996 Daily Ne
braskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials
do not necessarily reflect the views of
the university, its employees, the stu
dents or the NU Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the opin
ion of the author. The regents publish
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vise the daily production of the paper.
According to policy set by the regents,
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hands of its students.
Letter policy
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editor from all readers and interested others. Letters
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material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union,
1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
i i/m us ro i in; i duor
Black and white
The comment of Kristi Kohl
(March 5) that South Africa took its
first step toward desegregation when
a judge ruled that five black children
must be allowed to go to a white
school fails to represent the factual
truth of what is happening in the
New South Africa.'
All cultural groups have an equal
legal right to attend their school of
choice. These changes are by no
means new or “first steps.” The
country went through a process of
change toward racial integration in
the last decade and specifically in
the past five years.
I am an Afrikaner (we arc not
from Dutch descent only as is often
mistakenly stated, but represent
British, Dutch and French descent)
and strongly feel that this group is
often mistakenly blamed for
apartheid. A minority far right group
out of the Afrikaner population,
known as the Afrikaner Weerstands
Beweging, (AWB or Afrikaner
Resistance Movement) is extremely
racist, but by no means do they
represent the sympathy of most
Afrikaners. We do not think that
mixing racial groups is a sin and that
allowing blacks to attend the school
would erode the Afrikaner culture.
The black population forms an
integral part of the Afrikaner culture.
Although I grew up under the
Apartheid era, I cannot recall my
parents ever supporting it, but I do
recall their efforts and encourage
ment toward building a better future
for all. If we concentrate more on
what unites us, namely that we are
all creations of God, uniquely, and
less on what divides us, the world
may be a better place.
Ena van Zyl
graduate student
animal breeding and genetics
iuumnmnimns!
BretGottschall/DN
Rear View
In response to Mr. Willey’s
“Fighting Mad” article (March 6), 1
would like to express my opinion
why we need the parking service
officers.
The most obvious reason happens
to be you and others like you. If
parking services did not patrol the
campus, then individuals who lived
in residence halls could not park
near their dorms, which obviously
would increase assaults of our
fellow students. Also, commuter
students could not park in lots on
campus to make it to their classes on
time because “individuals” who
hang toilet paper on their rear view
mirrors, such as yourself, are
parking in the commuters’ lots.
If all that was to be given for
citations were warnings, I believe
you would continue to hang your
T.P. on your rear view, and our
parking problems would be worse
than they presently are. Your
I
reference to Parking Service
Officers as “the lowest form of
vermin” was completely uncalled
for considering that these individo*
als are the one and the same college
students who go to this university
with the most ungratifying job on
campus. It’s our job, not what we
like to do with our spare time.
Dustin Donner
senior
Spanish
Parking Service Officer
Priorities
The disregard for accountability
by industrial giants has infected state
and local communities. Lincoln is
under siege by the Burlington
Northern Railroad Co. They
currently are looking to expand the
Hobsen Yards. Unfortunately, that
expansion would fill in about 66
acres of wetlands in Lincoln,
including 44 acres of rare saline
wetlands, which are nearly impos
sible to replace when destroyed. The
railroad would lead you to believe
otherwise. I would think that no one
could buy into the bizarre idea that
the perfect ecosystem of a wetland
could be duplicated. I’m sure
Mother Nature would be appalled.
We should not sacrifice a very
integral part of our ecosystem to the
Railroad. The consequences would
be devastating. We would be
replacing a gift of nature that aids in
flood attenuation, aquatic wildlife
and breeding grounds for heavy,
metal cars carrying coal, for
instance, that would pollute our air
and make our water toxic.
Which should be more important
to us?
Chris Miller
Lincoln
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