EDITOR
DougKouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anne Hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
Matt Waite
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
Short
circuit
Modem pool's demise
spells death to YIT
It’s a good thing the university is expand
ing Nebraska Union. There will be more
room for the long lines to the computer room
when throngs of students have to come to
campus to check their e-mail.
Next spring, Information Services will
get rid of the dial-in modem system that off
campus students now use to connect to the
Internet. This means students will have to
use computers on campus or in residence
halls. If they want to use their home comput
ers, they have to pay for a private provider.
The worst consequence of limiting
Internet use to a select few will mean the de
struction of NU’s goal to be a “virtual uni
versity.”
The university should not be able to re
quire those students who take classes through
e-mail to pay the cost of using a private pro
vider to access the Internet — in addition to
regular tuition and fees.
It will be impossible for all the students
in “virtual classes” to find enough comput
ers available on campus for their work.
The virtual university concept is one in
which the NU Board of Regents has ex
pressed great interest. The board is pushing
for the concept at all four NU campuses and
has established a partnership with other uni
versities to have an Internet link.
Eliminating the dial-in modem pool will
break a link in the virtual university chain.
For Information Services to suddenly move
from a proposal to.a decision behind closed
doors shows a lack of protocol among Infor
mation Services, UNL and their governing
board.
bven tnougn mtormation services man
aged to make a tangled web of the modem
pool at UNL, we hope the NU Board of Re
gents will find it in its interest to make the
virtual university a reality and dictate a bet
ter alternative.
If the university is concerned with stu
dents not being able to dial in, chucking the
modem pool altogether will not improve the
situation.
The computer labs are already full. Lim
iting e-mail use to campus will mean that a
student working on a 10-page term paper may
have to wait hours for other students to stop
checking their e-mail, chatting with their
friends or surfing the World Wide Web.
And students at the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln should not have to foot the
bill for a private provider when their fellow
students at other universities use the Internet
at home for free.
When Information Services decided to
eliminate the dial-in modem system, it went
against the foundation of the Internet itself.
The proliferation of Internet use started
with free access at universities. It shouldn’t
end at this one.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of die
Fall 19% Daily Nebraskan. They do not nec
essarily reflect the views of die University
ofNebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its stu
dent body or die University of Nebraska
Board of Regents. A column is soley die
opinion of its author: The Board of Regents
serves as publisher of die Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. UkUNL Publications Board, es
tablished by the regents, supervises the pro
duction of die newspaper. According to
policy set by the regents, responsibility for
the editorial content of the newspaper lies
solely in the hands of its student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let
ters to the editor and guest columns, but
does not guarantee their publication. The
Daily Nebraskan retains die right to edit
or reject any material submitted. Submit
ted material becomes the property of the
Daly Nebraskan and cannot be returned.
Anonymous submissions will not be
published. Those who submit letters
must identify themselves by name, yea
in school, major and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily Ne
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400RSL
Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters0unliiifb.unl.edu.
$oo* sowimre,
KUWAIT-FIESTA
BOWL'TICKETS- NO,
N0„$I6H„HM AW
SWE am' W
, HCJcttb.
TREND TRASHERS
What would you say if I told you
that I am bewildered and annoyed
that my African-American professor
wears a suit and tie every day? I
mean, give me a break, is he trying to
be white? Obviously he tries to copy
Caucasian professors, and behavior
like that has no place in today’s
society.
Sounds racist? To me, it sounds
like Sonia Hollimon’s column from
Monday. Sonia, do you want to know
why ethnicity is still such a big factor
in society and overshadows personal
ity? It is because of published
opinions such as yours, from both
black and white people.
Are you saying that only blacks
can follow a trend for young people
that was started by African-American
artists? Now here is a good message
for our young folks:Don’t be racist
...just stay within your own ethnic
group.
Are you saying that certain trends
are only for blacks and others for
whites? That is probably the last way
to close the race gap, but I am sure
you thought this through. Therefore I
am going to join you in the struggle
for equality. Oh wait, I can’t! The
color of my skin is white and I don’t
want to be accused of “acting black.”
I guess I don’t wanna be a wannabe.
One last thing... can I still play
basketball or would that be another
one of those things that I can’t do?
Klaus Marre
sophomore
broadcasting
Road block
I would like to thank the Daily
Nebraskan for informing the student
population about the “road closed”
sign which the university has put on
my off-campus “on-ramp” to the
information superhighway.
I find it humorous that (Hie day
after the DN published the story
about restricted Internet usage, the
system manager for the UNL Internet
network released an announcement
about the restriction. The announce
ment strikes me as too little, too late.
Matt Haney/DN
Furthermore, am I correct in
assuming that even though I pay the
same (if not more — being a
graduate student) fees as an on
campus student, I will not have equal
access to UNL servers? Why not ask
students to fund upgrades by
requiring all students who desire
Internet access to pay a semester fee?
It seems unfair that one portion of
the student population is having to
pay more for a service that other
students have for free (after student
fees).
Again, I applaud the DN for
covering this issue and informing the
student body in a timely manner.
John Perlich
graduate student
Rue rights
I’m pleased that a Hawaii judge
has ruled that gay people have as
much right to marry each other as the
rest ofiis. It’s a small but important
step toward civil equality.
It is ridiculously unfair that gays
and lesbians in committed 30-year
relationships receive less legal
protection than heterosexuals who
meet in the morning and marry by
sundown. A gay couple may have
lived together for three decades in
the same home, cared for each other
through illness, comforted each other
through life’s ups and downs and
shared their entire lives together, and
yet they are denied the rights and
protections that come with a mar
riage license. They remain legal
strangers.
The faithful partner of 30 years
has no legal right to make important
medical decisions fa- an incapaci
tated partner. He gets no help from
laws that would protect his job in the
event he must care for his sick
partner. Insurance companies can
deny them the opportunity to obtain
joint policies for car, health and
home insurance. When one of them
dies, the other may have no legal
right to continue living in his own
house. The deceased’s family can
contest a will and leave the survivor
bankrupt and without a home.
Society bene tits when we encour
age stable, monogamous relation
ships between adults—heterosexual
and homosexual. Allowing gay
people to marry would encourage
monogamy, with the obvious health
benefits that accompany monoga
mous relationships. It would lower
the social pressure on closeted gays
to many heterosexual partners,
resulting in lower divorce rates and
fewer broken homes when the gay
partner comes out of the closet.
People who are married buy
houses and save money. They are
good neighbors. They tend to be
more helpful and quieter than singles.
They have a reason to work and stay
out of trouble: responsibility to their
spouses. Finally, the sheer joy and
comfort of having their relationship
publicly acknowledged makes for
happier people, and happy people
cause less grief to others. Any two
people who fall in love and want to
share life's ups and downs should be
encouraged to do so. In this day and
age people who want committed,
monogamous relationships deserve
all the help we can provide.
Charles Godwin
Davenport, Iowa
Union, 1400 "R" St., Uncoln,.
letters^alinfomihedtl..
mber for verification
PIMP I
*
? 4
