The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 17, 1997, Page 4, Image 4

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EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Anne Hjersman
Paula Lavigne
Joshua Gillin
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its
student body or the University of Nebraska
Board of Regents. A column is soley the
opinion of its author The Board of Regents
serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board The UNL Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
production of the paper According to policy
set by the regents, responsibility for the edi
torial 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 the right to edit
or reject any material submined. Sub
mined material becomes the property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned. Anonymous submissions will not
be published. Those who submit letters
must identify themselves by name, year
in school, major and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R
St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail:
leners@unlinfo.unl.edu.
I
'
DN Quotes
OF THE WEEK
“I've made a deliberate effort not to get
involved with computers.”
— State Sen. Roger Wehrbein of
Plattsmouth on the recent purchase of
laptop computers for the Legislature
“At times, this almost felt like a non
game in terms of intensity and in terms
of interest I'm sorry for that.”
—NU Coach Tom Osborne on the lack
of interest at the Orange Bowl
“If you check your gut, something says,
‘Hey, it's time.' I think the campus will
benefit from a new infusion of leader
ship.”
— University of Nebraska at Omaha
Chancellor Del Weber on his decision to
retire
“It's the best for the taxpayers. It's a
business decision, not a legal decision.”
— Lincoln City Council Chairwoman
Cindy Johnson on the Francisco Renteria
Civil-suit settlement
“With my heart, I always wanted to come
back.”
— NU rush end Grant Wistrom on his
decision to stay for his senior year
“We must talk openly about race rela
tions in this country and try to leave the
angry rhetoric behind.”
— Attorney General Janet Reno in a
speech observing the birthday of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.
“In the garage-rock cult world, we sound
overproduced. We’re low-fi junkie—we
get dissed from zines because we don’t
sound crappy enough.”
— Doug Roberson, lead guitarist, Bent
Scepters
“If we were in any other city in the
league, the fans would’ve been booing us
off the ice. It’s kind of nice to not be
struggling and come into your own barn
with the fans behind you.”
—Marc Suderman, starting center Lin
coln Stars, on fan support
“I’ll miss it like crazy. But everything
happens for a reason. I guess God just
has another plan for me.”
— Stacie Maser, a middle blocker for
the Nebraska volleyball team, after her ca
reer ended with a chronic knee injury
“Right now, chemistry-wise, we’re still
working on it. Believe it or not, even
though we’re 11-1,1 can’t say we have
played our best basketball yet.”
— Husker Coach Angela Beck
“Hit him! Stab him with your hockey
cleat!”
— Fan at Stars game
“The Tickle Me Elmo people are scram
bling to get new versions of their giggling
Muppet on the market, because the Cab
bage Patch Snack Time Kid debacle took
a bite (Ouch! now that’s a bad pun) out
of their post-holiday orders.”
— Daily Nebraskan columnist Brent
Pope
Mehs line’s
VIEW
ABSOLUT TAX BREAK
J.J.
HARDER
Stay between the lines
Proceed with caution; don’t let safety take back seat
When I was looking at colleges, it
did not seem too hard to become a
UNL student. I encountered a fairly
flat, relatively compact campus, a
major city with family values and
friendly people all nestled cozily in
the heartland of America.
Awwwwww. Don’t you just have that
squishy feeling inside?
Before you get out your lighters
and start singing “Kumbayah”—
take a lode around. After you finally
master the one-way streets and get
past the massive construction sites,
you are hit with a rash arctic chill
that turns the campus into a veritable
frozen tundra.
Realistically though, these things
all take a back seat to one of the
biggest problems at the university:
Traffic! The constant war that pits
automobile against pedestrian. Half '
of the campus might be closed to
cars, but the other half has more than
its fair share.
Every day, students coming from
and going to the dorms and parking
lots are forced to deftly maneuver
through inpatient drivers, semi-truck
deliveries and monstrous buses just
to receive their daily serving of
academia. That’s not to say students
are all following the state’s pedes
trian regulations to a T, but some
thing has to change.
In the first half of 1996 alone,
there were nine traffic accidents on
campus that were recorded with the
University Police and the Lincoln
Police Department. That doesn’t
include the infinite number of close
encounters and whatever goes on in
the wonderful farming community of
East Campus.
The statistics from the latter half
of the year have yet to be compiled,
I-- -
it
The driving around
here is worse than
the acting on ‘Saved
By the Belir
but I am sure some of us might
remember two instances during fall
semester that brought about a broken
windshield and a few thrown bodies.
In the absence of abolishing
vehicles inside the city limits or the
unveiling of an expansive campus
walkway system, everyone needs to
do his or her own little part to cut
down on the existing conditions and
future massive head wounds. These
simple guidelines might be of some
assistance:
1. WHEN THE SIGN READS
DON’T WALK — DON’T WALK! I
know you are all in a hurry and can
see that the cross traffic has a red
light, but if you wait a minute, the
other cars can turn right and will not
get backed up to 1-80.
2. RED MEANS STOP! I am also
well-aware that this one is not as easy
to follow because the instructions are
not actually written out for you, but
unless you are colorblind there
should not be a problem. (And even
then the red one is usually on top.)
3. USE THE CROSSWALKS!
People are supposed to walk through
the designated crossing areas, hence
the name, not just anywhere they feel
like. There is no doubt in my mind
that some of you do have world
renowned cat-like speed and re
flexes, but my bet is on the two-ton
piece of metal.
4. HAVE COMMON COUR
TESY! The nicest people in the
world live here, but when a few of
them get into their cars, a priest
needs to be called to exorcise some
demons! And if it is not just plain
viciousness that inhabits the local
drivers, it is the absence of driving
ability.
The driving around here is worse
than the acting on “Saved By the
Bell!” So just try to be nice and let
cars and students alike get where
they need to go as quickly as they
can without dismembering any
people or disfiguring any small
imports.
There are enough things to fear in
this world besides getting run over
walking to class, so take some
Vivarin to keep alert, a little — insert
item of choice — to keep your
temper down and some good old
fashioned Nebraska friendliness with
you, and let’s hope everyone can
keep his or her windshields, limbs
and minds intact.
Harder is a sophomore broad
casting major and a Daily Nebras
kan columnist
in,
—--■ ■. '-: