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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1998)
. EDITOR Paula Lavigne OPINION EDITOR Joshua Gillin EDITORIAL BOARD Brad Davis Erin Gibson Shannon Heffelfmger Chad Lorenz Jeff Randall Our VIEW A job well done ADVANCE successful in student government Last year at this time, we really want ed a full KEG. Our Association of Students of the University of Nebraska endorsement edi torial stated that we would have backed the renegade KEG party if it had only had a few more senatorial candidates. Instead, we grudgingly endorsed Curt Ruwe’s ADVANCE party. T 1 ! f A A A_ 1 A TMfAlTr'P xu uwiug lgiuviam iu uat/fk. rviy our weak endorsement stated “ADVANCE is about as likely to ‘advance’ students’ interests as ACTION was to take any action in 1996, as IMPACT was to have any impact in 1995 ... well, you get the idea.” Eventually, we did. Much to our surprise, ASUN President Curt Ruwe, First Vice President Amy Rager and Second Vice President Malcolm Kass did advance stu dent interests - perhaps better than any other recent ASUN executives And they have something to show for it. While ASUN can never be all-power ful, Ruwe did represent our interests regarding the Pepsi contract, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, fall break, campus street safety, student fees, student involvement, diversity and other issues that came before the senate or were sought by ASUN. The changes we may see in the upcoming years, in part because of his administration, include: a King holiday in February, lower speed limits and traf fic-pattern changes on campus, Internet registratk>nvbetter professor evaluations, a parki'ag-fcdudation clasis and greater chances for student involvement. He was a powerful voice for students on the NU Board of Regents and with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln adminis irauon. liven mougn ne worxea wnn me higher-ups, he never forgot who voted him into office. This also was true for Rager, Kass, Speaker of the Senate Viet Hoang and the other ASUN senators. Ruwe was void Of pretension and the ego that can come with having “presi dent” affixed to one’s name. He also kept in touch with the Daily Nebraskan through our ASUN meeting coverage, including our weekly ASUN Watch to keep track of Ruwe’s progress on ASUN’s goals. He was available and cooperative when we needed to talk to him, whether he was upstairs in his office or on a Colorado ski slope. For the first time in many years, it seemed that both organizations worked together to promote student interests and bring some cohesion to the university environment. We can only hope this trend continues with whoever replaces Ruwe and his crew. While it is highly unlikely a newspa per will ever concede to reversing its opinion about the local governance, the Daily Nebraskan commends Ruwe and the other members of his ADVANCE party ticket for bringing some truth and accountability back to student govern ment. Have a little KEG on us. Editarial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University 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 Editorial Board. Tne UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. 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 letters 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. Submitted material becomes property of Nebraskan and cannot be Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identity themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: - letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. Haney’s i VIEW DN I LETTERS I Snow much for safety I am not sure exactly what the administration was trying to prove by holding classes on Monday - a day Mien every other school and half of the businesses statewide had the common sense to cancel activities. The benefit of one day of classes is not worth risking the well-being of the student body. The decision to hold class es is especially hard on the majority of students who do not live on campus. While on-campus students may be able to walk to class, commuter students do not have that option. I spent Sunday and early Monday snowed into my house, only to learn that I was expected to make it to class Mien travel was still consid ered “inadvisable.” Despite my efforts, I was still unable to make it to class, but I did get to spend an enjoyable morning getting my car out of a snow drift. Even if I had made it to campus on time for class, the campus streets and parking lots were not even slightly cleared. Perhaps this is what “academic rigor” realty is all about. Jason Langenfeld junior psychology Snow laughing matter I have one simple question to ask with regard to attending class on this Nebraska winter day: Why? It’s admirable that (administrators) are putting forth the educational interests of the students of the university, but at the same time, (they) have endangered (stu dents’) general safety and well-being. For example, one of my professors this morning is from Omaha. In order for her to get to class today she had to rent a 4x4 and drive down Interstate 80 illegally. If that story doesn’t make you wonder, perhaps this one will. One of my friends witnessed a blind student using a walking stick going to class today. Because the sidewalks weren’t adequately cleaned off, he wound up falling face-first into a snow bank. As a student living on campus, I don’t have to experience the difficulty of driving against the conditions each day just to get to class. I feel sorry for any commuter students who made the trek to campus only to find that there were no parking lots cleared. Even as I write this at 2 p.m. I can look out my dorm window and see cars stuck in the middle of die parking lots because they haven’t been cleaned out If the best interests of this university are to keep its students safe, it seems this only applies if you live on campus and are not physically handicapped. Sorry professors, I don’t know where you fit into the picture. In case you weren’t aware, most professors just give out bonus points to those who brave the ele ments to make it to class. There’s educa tion at its finest! Stop arguing over petty things like whether or not we should sell cigarettes on campus and do something that actu ally will promote the health of the entire university: Keep us at home and off the mads. Brian Vance senior secondary English education Dirty dancing Hmmm. I pick up a Daily Nebraskan to see their coverage of the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and what do I see? The men are men tioned in a frontpage headline and story, with a little box telling people where to find die story on the women’s team. The second story about the men tells where to get tickets if you want to follow them to the Dance, but there is no such information provided for those who would want to follow the women. This seems odd, considering that the women have been ranked higher, had a better record, were given a higher seed and, in general, have outperformed the men all year. If balanced coverage is too much to hope for and you find yourselves unable to celebrate both teams’ invitations equally, you might at least give the pref erence to the team that has earned it on the court Brad Pardee university libraries Seeing the light Malcolm Kass’s Friday editorial and support of COMMIT (“Party time”) bring about a necessary request: Practice what you preach. Malcolm, who was perhaps a prod uct of the party system himself, has held tiie powerful position of Association of Students of the University of Nebraska second vice president for nearly a year. Unfortunately, instead of using his ASUN position to take action, he waits until March to make his statement. Malcolm’s failure to act, and merely provide idealistic suggestions, provides die actual connection between him and the idealistic COMMIT party. Malcolm asks us: Do you want the old or the new? By attending Monday’s debate, VISION gave new steps of action, while COMMIT chose to pro vide us with its old ideas. We, as stu dents, should look for leadership and representation hum other students who will listen to us. COMMIT thinks its thoughts need to be buried in concrete, while VISION has already shown that it will respond to students’ wishes. COMMIT presidential candidate Sara Russell tells us she wants to keep fees low. Maybe each student should ask her why she voted FOR a $9,000 increase over the Committee for Fees Allocation’s original recommendation. That’s right, she actually went out of her way to add to the financial burden of students. t^UMMi i wants to oetter represent student organizations and diversity. Maybe each student should ask her how productive this room of300 people will allow all students to be represented. By looking at the Campus Coalition, COMMIT would realize the benefit of VISION’s realistic President’s Cabinet So, Mr. Kass, if you are looking for a political party that will speak rhetori cally, then stay with your COMMIT party. Then you can see a tongue-in cheek year in ASUN. They speak against the party system, yet they point to their party as the source of all of their power. I’m sorry, but simply being a mem ber of a party is not what determines one’s dedication. VISION’s support of the party system is refreshing because we know they are practicing what they preach. The existence of two strong par ties this year makes the election interest ing and something actually deserving of attention. VISION has grabbed my attention because they respond to stu dents’ concerns, they offer solid ideas to better represent students and they tell students the truth. Matthew Eickman junior economics and finance --u PS. Write ^ai ' Pocfc^^BB iiiiiW Kj&vUi i