EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Paula Lavigne
Joshua Gillin
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Erin Gibson
Our
VIEW
Bounced message
University shouldn't
wait on using system
The Lotus Notes initiative on the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln campus has a
lack of initiative.
The students of the so-called “flagship”
University of Nebraska will likely be the last
students in the NU system to board the Lo
tus Notes cruise liner.
We’ve had our modem pool eliminated
and our technology fees subsequently raised.
We are still identified by a long series of num
bers on accounts on the archaic bigred e-mail
system.
For many of us, Lotus Notes would be a
Welcome change. Lotus Notes supports ap
plications for learning and advanced class
room-type dialogue that bigred cannot facili
tate. It could be a boon for distance educa
tion and for on-campus, student-teacher com
munication.
Also, the Lotus Notes program supports
a directory, which would appear as a series
of folders on an e-mail screen. Organized by
campus, the directory would contain an e
mail address for everyone on Lotus Notes in
the NU system.
Students could easily look up and write
administrators and faculty. Administrators
and faculty could easily write students.
It seems communication campuswide
would be a thousand times easier. After all,
when Lotus Notes was first proposed, that
was the plan.
Central administration and the NU Board
of Regents talk constantly of technology ini
tiatives, upgrades and infrastructure. It seems
regents and administrators should be embar
rassed the premier institution of higher learn
ing in the state will lag behind other cam
puses.
Kent Hendrickson, UNL associate vice
chancellor for information services, said stu
dents would have to show critical demand to
be considered for the Lotus Notes system.
ASUN showed ample enthusiasm for
Lotus Notes when it was presented this
spring. ASUN members said they felt their
demand for the new e-mail system clearly
represented the demand of UNL students.
How long must the university wait for
the situation to become critical? Why is UNL
waiting?
It seems logical to avoid an anticipated
crisis, not to wait until it arises.
Some faculty members have said Lotus
Notes is an unnecessary expenditure when
some e-mail software is available free on the
World Wide Web.
Some have said it is not a helpful e-mail
system, and some protested the approval of
Lotus Notes in front of the Board of Regents.
They claimed there’s a better answer, but no
one publicly came up with a well-thought
out counter-plan to Lotus Notes.
Lotus Notes, at about $2 per user, seems
to be a good deal for students stuck in the e
mail pre-Cambrian period with bigred.
In a university setting striving to put stu
dents and learning first, administrators and
regents should be ashamed if they allow stu
dents get shoved to dead last.
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 solely 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.
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The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let
ters to the editor and guest columns, but
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mitted material becomes the property of
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Mehsling’s
VIEW
DN
LETTERS
Selective Memory
I would like to thank the Daily
Nebraskan for totally destroying any
interest that I had left in the opinion
pages. What has possessed the
columnists to write such pointless
columns? And why does the editor
let these things be printed?
Over the last few days, I have read
four columns filled with inane babble
and drinking stories that have no
place on an opinion page.
J.J. Harder’s column about
cartoon nudity “Shake your booty”
(DN, April 9) has got to be the
stupidest piece of journalism I have
ever read. Are you serious, Mr.
Harder? Was your column a joke?
“Encouragement of Bestiality”?
Come on now. You’re talking about
CHILDREN’S cartoons like “Yogi
Bear” and “Looney Times.” Next
time, write about something that
could happen to kids in this dimen
sion.
Steve Willey and Brent Pope are
no better. Mr. Willey’s column “King
of the outdoors” (DN, Thursday)
about getting drunk and spending a
night alone in the woods was almost
entertaining and served no purpose at
all. How many people do you think
actually care about your little
adventure?
I see Mr. Pope likes to drink, too,
and in his column “In the N-A-V-Y”
(DN, Monday) tries to put in that
cheesy column humor that nobody
laughs at. Guys, I have drinking
stories too, by why print them on an
opinion page?
Last of all, Anne Hjersman’s
column “Small pint” (DN, Friday)
about alcoholism left me staring at
the wall with drool running down my
chin. (I can play the cheesy column
humor game, too, Mr. Pope) Is the
girl in the story supposed to be the
author? Are you trying to tell us that
alcohol can cause family problems?
Wow, I didn’t know that. You’ve got
to be joking, Ms. Hjersman.
The word “alcohol” is not even
used in the story. The only way you
know it’s alcohol is by the title and
the reference to “bottles scattered
[on] the floor.” You know, if I want
to read a short story I’ll go to Barnes
and Noble. Next time, try to support
the story with a thought out opinion
and, God forbid, — FACTS.
I would have liked to respond to a
column with a subject and had an
intellectual discussion about it, but it
seems the lack of subject has forced
me to skip the opinion section every
time I pick up a DN. Thank you, DN
columnists!
Jeff Bumgardner
junior
biochemistry
Shares for All
In response to the article that was
written, “Regents OK student fee
increase for next fall,” (DN, April 7)
I would like to speak out for some of
the students, particularly the students
on East Campus. Every year it seems
like there is always a drastic increase
in our student fees, but when it
cones to the areas where spending is
to be extended it seems like there are
hardly any changes made.
As a student from East Campus, it
is very hard to see some of these
improvements that are being made,
especially when it comes to techno
logical improvements. I understand
that the overall population on East
Campus is a lot smaller than that on
City Campus, but I feel that we
should also see some of these new
improvements.
in response to tne increase in
spending for technology at UNL, I
feel that maybe they should start a
little lower in the overall amount. I
do understand that when it comes to
an improvement such as the ones that
are requested for technology you
must spend a fairly large amount of
money.
Maybe the choice should be made
to extend it over a longer period of
time, instead of hitting us with such a
large amount all at once. Then, the
next step must be to place the overall
improvements equally over the entire
university and not just in a few areas
such as the ones on City Campus.
The University of Nebraska, as
everyone knows is a wonderful
institution and should be taken care
of. Are all of the different fee
changes going to go to all the
students? I understand that the
improvements are for the benefit of
the students, but when it comes to
some of the changes there are many
students who never see them.
Maybe if we are spending more
money in student fees there should be
some other areas that should be
looked at. For instance how about the
East Campus recreation building?
There are a large number of people
who use this facility every night.
Personally, if I am going to pay
for an improvement on City Campus
— for instance, toward its recreation
building—then I feel that the
university should do the same for me.
There needs to be sane percent
age of improvements being made to
this university that every student
uses. There should be some magic
number that lets all the students,
from East and City campuses,
eventually see these changes.
Overall I think that the increase in
spending in these areas should be
looked at a little harder before
making the large decision to have
students pay more.
In conclusion, I also agree with
Regent Drew Miller when he said
that “We’re spending too much at the
University of Nebraska. We should
be looking at ways to cut back.”
Carrie Lynn Ortegren
junior
agribusiness
Solid Job
This is in response to Michael
Donley’s “Privileged Demographics”
(DN, Wednesday). When I read the
first line “Yes, I admit it, (crime of
all crimes) I am a white male.” I
thought I would raise a ton of
objections to his column. However,
his information from Peggy McIn
tosh was very solid.
Something I learned from being in
the Diversity Council at UNL is that
we’re more of a mixture than an
absolute — in regards to being a
majority or minority. For instance, I
am a majority for being white and
upper-middle class, but a minority
for having a mental illness.
Also on thinking “Wow, she is
gorgeous!” about a classmate during
their response isn’t sexist—it’s just
a natural response. As long as your
focus is on what she is saying, you’re
doing all right.
I also feel it is unfair and false to
place the blame of all racism and
injustice upon white males to the
point where they’re having to defend
themselves constantly.
Overall, I think your column was
on the ball.
Alison Hays
senior
studio art
