EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Anne Hjersman
Paula Lavigne
Joshua GiUin
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Our
VIEW
Shuttle spittle
Higher-ups should test
student parking woes
If there’s room in die university budget
for two pair of earmufis, the administration
ought to invest in some.
We want administrators to take a test of
the university’s shuttle bus system.
The Daily Nebraskan offers a challenge
to both Chancellor James Moeser and Park
ing Services Manager Tad McDowell.
For one week, we ask that you give up
. your current parking space, park in a perim
eter lot and take the shuttle bus to work.
This is the only fair way for administra
tors to make a decision on parking solutions.
They will have first-hand experience and first
hand student input Maybe then, they’ll un
derstand the frigid wait the sometimes 45
minute delay and the anger. Here’s what they
might find:
Huddled in a cramped shelter while wind
chill temperatures sank below freezing, the
waiting lines saw no hope in sight.
They weren’t homeless people; they were
students—waiting 25 minutes for a shuttle
bus in a perimeter lot on a freezing Wednes
day morning last week.
The students sighed as apacked bus drove
by — too full to take on any more students.
The lines grew longer and so did the wait.
Ten minutes later, with still no shuttle bus in
sight, the railroad crossing arms went down
and the group groaned and started walking in
the wind.
They reached the second stop. Another
packed bus stopped, and only half the stu
dents were able to squeeze on.
n rr^ The situation only worsened at night Stu
dent who parked in the perimeter lots were
not able to take the shuttle to some of the most
remote areas because the university buses
were not allowed to drive near the Devaney
Center because of the basketball game crowd.
Their option was to walk at night in the
cold. By now, the university should have
learned its lesson about parking lot safety at
night.
This system does not work. And it will
not work if the decisions keep being made by
people who can park outside their office doors.
Some of the suggestions offered by those
administrators include banning students who
live within one mile of campus from parking
on campus—bad for students who arrive at
8 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m. — and suggest
ing residence hall students park outside their
residence hall lots.
Rightnow, those ideas are just that: ideas.
However, unless the students decide to by
pass ASUN—which started its year with a
whopping 11-minute meeting in which the
biggest issue was poor attendance—we will
end up parking in Waverly.
What students can do is attend the Park
ing Advisory Committee meeting today at
3:30 p.m. in the Nebraska East Union and
offer better solutions.
Or maybe you’ll catch Moeser or
McDowell along for the ride.
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 sdey 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 ofthepapet 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 tet
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 submitted. Sub
mitted material becomes the property of
die 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:
letten@unlinfo.unl.edu.
«
Mehsling’s
VIEW
( TA^ONWCAC THl^i V
WX^rUKB- AWT I
smm t\jes£ feDiis I
GMAES.... I
Holy Month
The Islamic Holy month of
fasting for Muslims started on Jan.
10. It is the month of Ramadan in
the Islamic lunar calendar. Fasting
during this month is obligatory for
Muslims. It is the third pillar of
Islam, first and second being faith
(belief in oneness of Allah) and
daily prayers.
During this month, from dawn to
sunset, all Muslims abstain from
food, drink and sexual intercourse.
No matter how hungry or thirsty
they may feel, Muslims do not eat a
grain of food or drink a drop of
water. What is it that makes Mus
lims voluntarily undergo such
rigors?
It is nothing but faith in Allah
(God) and the fear of him on the
Day of Judgment. Rigor and
discipline during this month bring
Muslims face to face with the
realities of life and help Muslims to
make their life, during the rest of the
year, a life of true subservience to
the will of Allah, the creator and
sustainer of the whole universe.
Fasting has an immense impact
on the society, for all Muslims
irrespective of their status must fast
during this month. This emphasizes
the essential equality of Muslims
and thus goes a long way towards
creating sentiments of love and
brotherhood. Muslims also try to
protect others from the disobedience
of Allah.
During this month, the gates of
paradise are opened, the gates of
hell are locked and the devils are
chained. During this month Mus
lims are enjoined upon to give more
charity and alms to the needy and
the poor. The end of January is a
great occasion for die Muslim
community, as Muslims celebrate
Eid-ul-fitr (Muslim festival).
All activities this month, fasting,
feeding poor, etc. are done as a form
of worship for the pleasure of Allah.
Altai Husain Pital
graduate student
electrical engineering
Call of the Wild
I realize Steve Willey’s column
DN
LETTERS
Matt Haney/DN
“Animal Magnetism” (last Friday)
was written tongue-in-cheek (ahem),
as most of his columns are.
But, Fd like to respond to a few
assertions and assumptions anyway,
in the unfortunate event that some
poor reader out there didn’t realize
his column was (hopefully) mostly
in jest. (Statistically, it’s possible!)
First of all, a person doesn’t
“change their sexual orientation,” at
least not very easily. They may
change whether they “come out”
with the truth about their sexual
orientation to others, but not the
fundamental orientation itself.
Heterosexuals will be attracted to
members of the opposite sex, gay
men and lesbians will be attracted to
members of their own sex, and you,
Mr. Willey, will be attracted to boa
constrictors and cattle. (I think I’ll
forgo any Freudian analyses of this
particular attraction.)
I also find it disturbing that
bestiality is considered to be “not
straight,” lumping it in with a wide
array of sexual orientations that
involve consenting adults.
Who defines what is straight?
Who defines what is queer? What
part of having a straight orientation
precludes bestiality, thereby making
it a nonstraight orientation?
Lastly, just because you’re terrible .
at picking up women doesn’t mean
you should give up on your sexual
orientation. Sexual orientation is
about your own sexual attractions,
not your sexual attractiveness.
So, just because you’re terrible at
it doesn’t mean you should attempt
to find other objects of desire. But, if
you are truly as awful as you say you
are, perhaps it would be in the
public’s best interest if you consid
ered living as a hermit.
Robert W. Anderson
graduate student
unclassified
Yfellow journalism
I was appalled by the sensational
ized report appearing on the front
page of Monday’s Daily Nebraskan,
“Man suffers brutal attack on
Saturday.”
When reporting a rape on
campus, would “staff reports”
include information such as the
victim was “extremely intoxicated”?
I would hope not.
So why does it get mentioned
when a Hispanic male is the victim?
Why is the description of the
victim’s activities prior to his^
discovery in the alley relevant to his
assault?
It’s sad that while the city anch
university can attempt to settle out
of court over the previous racist
behavior of their police officers—
as the case of Francisco Renteria
draws to a sad, unresolved close—
racist attitudes still persist in the
officers’ interaction With the press.
For all the self-righteous breast
beating in {Mint when white people
are the victims of violence in
Lincoln, it is disturbing to see this
sort of reporting go unchecked by
the editorial staff of the Daily
Nebraskan.
James A. Zaik
seuior
English
' ' ^
