EDITOR ; ;
DougKouma
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OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD.
AnneHjersman
Paula Lavigne
Joshua GiHfar
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
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Our
VIEW
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Money talks
Students should voice
full-funding support
The University of Nebraska budget fig
ures, while perhaps not as exciting as the score
of a Husker basketball game or the outcome
of a wrestling dual, represent something that
affects us all.
For fiscal year 1997-98, the university
has requested a budget increase of $18.39
million, for a budget of $350 million.
In turn, Gov. Ben Nelson recommended
the university receive a $9.18 million increase,
for a total budget of $341.5 million.
Nelson’s recommendation represents a
2.77 percent change over fiscal year 1996
97.
But such a minor increase does not ad
equately cover the potential effects UNL stu
dents might experience. Although the request
is for the whole university system, UNL would
not be immune to any impacts from a budget
shortfall.
NU President Dennis smith has said he
will still seek full funding from the Legisla
ture. We support Smith’s decision to continue
pursuit for the requested amount.
As we adapt to new sleep cycles, struggle
with our class schedules and try to balance a
social life with work, we should realize that
if we don't voice our opinions, the shortfall
in the budget will come from somewhere.
Our pockets, probably.
University budget problems cannot be
solved simply by administrative downsizing
or increased efficiency. The $9 million dif
ference may be made up with increased tu
ition.
And although UNL is still an affordable
institution of higher learning, it will become
increasingly difficult to justify tuition in
creases above and beyond the cost of infla
tion.
But it’s not just a tuition increase that we
should be fearful of—rather, it's the poten
tial loss of programs and other privileges here
at the university we take for granted.
Smaller departments such as those in the
College of Fine and Performing Arts are, and
would be, in danger ofbecoming extinct
It wouldn t be fair tor someone who chose
a major in that college to get a third of the
way through his or her career and then find
out that the university had decided to elimi
nate the program.
The shortfall in funding would affect
these departments as larger ones, such as bio
logical sciences, have funding not solely based
on the current proposed budget It could rely
on grants and other means offundmg to stay
afloat But that wouldn’t address the concerns
of the smaller departments.
Spend a few minutes to take the time to
talk to a state senator. Tell him or her that, as
students, we do care. And make sure our
voices are heard when the university testifies
before the Legislature’s Appropriations Com
mittee March 11.
Silence is a vote for indifference.
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 sotey the
opinion ofits author The Board of Regents
• servesas publisher of tbeDaily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board The UNI, Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
production of the pqwr According topolky
set by the regents, responsibility for fee edi
torial content of the-newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
Mehs ling’s
VIEW
111 m(TRoosaiep)aiTOM
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DN
LETTERS
UNL-off-line^
As of Feb. 1, the university will
no longer offer e-mail dial-up
services to students who live off
campus.
Sane foolish “reasons” have been
offered for this change in policy. The
university would have to invest in
technology, we’re told—as if we
had no business involving ourselves
in the information age.
But the truth is that the fate of
the university as an institution lies
in the very technology we’re backing
away from now.
Remote learning is the future of
the American university, no more so
than here, in a land-grant institution
with a mandate to bring educational
opportunities to all Nebraskans.
Answer me this, e-boys and girls: \
Will there be more electronic contact
between students and faculty, more
programs offered in e-format, more
reason to dial up the university in
the 21st century or will there be
less?
And it s not some vague, science
fiction future that will see more
non traditional students, more
working students, more students
with homes and families of their
own —- already among GenXers
everywhere the question “are you
taking classes this semester?” has
replaced “what do you do for a
living?”
Why must this growing group of
students take a back seat to teen
agers whose parents are footing the
bill for everything?
The university system pioneered
the Internet. If has been at the
forefront of the digital revolution. Is
it now to abandon this resource to
commercial enterprise?
Only a strong virtual presence
can guarantee a vital academic
future—the same people who want
to exclude us know this.
Investments in technology will
continue at the University of -
Nebraska—it is only the off
campus students who will suffer.
Mark Baldridge
senior
English
Jim Mehsung/DN
Three Count
Disappointed doesn’t even begin
to describe how I felt Monday
morning when I opened the DN to
the sports page and found a large
color picture of Husker wrestler
Darin Giese in a compromising
position.
Kli admit that in the four years
that 1 have attended this university
and have been associated with
Nebraska wrestling, there have been
many times when I’ve felt that the
DN should have given wrestling
more press.
ror example, two years ago wnen
Tolly Thompson won his national
championship in the heavyweight
division, or last year when the team
placed fifth in the nation, or even
this weekend when Nebraska hosted
the Cliff Keen NWCA National
Dual Team Championships for the
fifth year in a row.
Certainly, however, this was
never the type of press that l had hi
mind. The DN would never have
shown a touchdown being scored by
Arizona State,,would they?
This incident is comparable to ;
such a picture being printed.
I only hope that the 15 visiting
teams that competed here this
... . r kS* . ..
weexena, or wmcn are presenuy
ranked in the top 20 in their
respective divisions, were well on
their way home before the paper
, came out Monday morning.
I also hope that when they
returned home, the stories of their
wins or losses of the weekend were
: treated with more respect than the
DN had chosen to show our own
nationally ranked Nebraska wres
... tling team.
Amanda Greenwood
senior
psychology
Co-captain of Nebraska Wrestling
Spirit Leaders
Dis-ska-pointed
~ When Patrick Miner entered the
Goldfinger show on Sunday, he
obviously had his mind set on what
the show was going to be like.
He doesn’t seem to enjoy ska
music. So why is he an “expert” on
it? The crowds at Ranch Bowl have
never heard of die term “skank,”
which is the style of dance seen at
most ska shows, so I don’t know
why he was surprised by the
excessive moshing.
Another thing, most people at the
show were there to see die bands
(mainly Goldfinger) not a video
about Sublime. The wily person
who noticed it was Patrick Miner.
But he thought it was so important
to the show that he had to waste a
whole paragraph that could have
been used to cover more important
things like Reel Big Fish’s set.
Miner also should realize that
Goldfinger played more ska tunes
than punk. So in actuality, the show
was composed of three ska-punk
bands riot just two. Goldfinger
covered classic ska tunes like “Nite
Club” by the Specials and “Smiling”
by Operation Ivy, proving in feet
that they are a ska/punk band.
This isn’t the first article that I have
been disappointed with regarding
Patrick and his reviews.
Filip Landsberg
* freshman
computer science
H