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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1998)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sain McKewon. Jeff Randall / Bret Schulte -" ~1 Our VIEW On the sidelines H f Advertising steals away gameday spirit Adidas, Coca-Cola and Fairbury hot dogs. Amigos, Valentinos and other cafes. Turkeys ride trophies on big screens called Huskervision. Unfinished skyboxes loom over the day. During the past few years, we haven’t known whether we bought tickets to the foot ball game or to its commercials. But we have known the NU Athletic Department is as much a national marketing powerhouse as it is a sports powerhouse. li s annoying ax umes, especially last rail when some fans cheered louder for the Hot Dog Fan of the Game than a touchdown. Yet this solid marketing offense foots die bill for under-appreciated sports programs that can’t sell tickets like football does. It keeps cash floating around for the suc cessful start to teams like women’s soccer - teams we’re not willing to see fall because we're unwilling to sell the rights to our stom achs during a four-hour stint on weekends. But we miss die days before logos on jer seys. We miss the days where you saw the game up close only if you had a seat on the 50 yard line. (We also miss the days when stu dents could sit on the 50 yard line, but that’s another column.) Nationwide, commercialism at college sporting events has skyrocketed, to the point where we can hardly pretend they are college games anymore. On each gameday, w&*a|dra ni»-fQQfe,g ball training match wrapped mil wight arid shining package. We - a captive audience - watch a battle between corporate advertisers. We watch a monster I-beam frame, soon to hold pricey skyboxes sold to corporate interests, go up at a near-mystical pace. ine worn oi me gameaay is corporate. This high-dollar game isn’t for the worka day-Joe fans anymore -the type who attends football games die day his or her baby is due and who: ask to wear a Huskers T-shirt at a child’s wedding. And itls not for die elderly rain-or-snow for-50-years fans, either. Saturday, we watched some elderly west stadium fans struggle up steps because of construction. Instead, it’s played for corporate dollars that finance the cushy level of pro-football training still ruled by NCAA regulations. If the college tradition woe important to the integrity of football, then the sponsorship of collegiate sporting events must be balanced with the intent of the game. That used to be sportsmanship and honor, and die inscrip tions on our Memorial Stadium prbve that Now the purpose of each game seems to be to build a larger pseudo-corporation of athletic marketing. If the Athletic Department couldn’t check this desire for unlimited corporate ties - a desire that soils the spirit of the game - anoth er state entity should. Editorial PtUcy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1996 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessa/iy reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the Unweiky of Nebraska Board of Regents. Acoiumn is solely the opinion of its author. the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editonaJ content of the newspaper Hee solely in the hands of its student employees. LettBrftHcy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the edtor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their pubfcaiion. The Daily Nebraskan retains theifght to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted matortafhecomes property cf the DaMy Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify Ihemselves by name, year in school, major andfor group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Dtety Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: lettors9unNnfo.unl.edu. Mook’s VIEW ■■■m % ■ DN LETTERS Comfort and consequence On August 26, the DN’s lead story sported a multicolored headline that said “Out of the Comfort Zone.” It was about (ASUN President) Sara Russell’s nine-day student govern ment seminar in Israel. In it, Ms. Russell explained that being “ripped out of [her] comfort zone” was part of a “more intense learning than any university course” and talked about how her trip had made her more com mitted to helping people “learn to tol erate others.” 0 Rigbt'uader-this story was one on it new Nebraska Union policy to exclude non-students (apparently a euphemism for homeless people) from much of the Union after 6 p.m. “Union Board members said the pres ence of transients made them uncom fortable. ...” One even said he “felt awkward” when “several transients were present” According to the story, “wiping out transients in study areas will make the union more study friendly.” Did anyone else see a conflict between these two stories? Why is it a ■terrific educational experience to go to Israel and lose one’s “comfort zone,” but intolerable to have to study in the presence of homeless people in the Nebraska Union? Instead of bar ring transients from study areas, why don’t people who are uncomfortable talk to “transients” one-on-one? If you know individuals’ names and maybe a little of what they do, they won't be a mass of scary transients, but interesting and unusual acquain tances or even friends. Tolerance at home is even more important than tolerance abroad. /. •' ; , . J ^ 2 ... -v Frances W. Kaye professor of English Out of sight, out of mind? It is understandable that the Nebraska Union wishes to provide a safe environment for students in which to study. However, try making certain areas off limits to “transient persons,” don’t we promulgate the idea that people who make us feel uncomfortable should be kept out of sight/out of mind? How does this teach us, as stu dents, to deal with issues of major concern? Should we bar admission to the Nebraska Union, and UNL for that matter, to persons who dye their hair blue, or wear strong cologne or hum off-key while they do their homework? And, if Tom Cardwell’s point is taken, what is to happen to die tran sient persons in our society if we restrict their entry to any public places that will make us feel uncom fortable in their presence? The very nature of being a student implies we wish to make a meaningful contribu tion, and what better way to start than in facing the issues that we will one day inherit? But what can we do about this sit uation when we are already overbur dened with studies^&nd limited finan cially in how we can help? Discussion is easy, it is die doing that is difficult I suggest an “adopt a homeless per son” plan. Groups of students could “adopt” a homeless person. The upkeep wouldn’t be much: A smile and recognition of a fellow human being could do wonders for that per son. We might even find that “they” are as human as “we” are and our pol icy of self-perpetuating fear based on supposition might even have to be replaced with genuine concern for our species. Jill Mulligan senior anthropology The Greek’s Greek I couldn’t help laughing at Tom Butler’s editorial letter. With the beginning of the school year, the debate over the utility of die greek system has fired up once again. I just got back from an enlivening semester abroad, and boy, was it ever refreshing that I lived in a country where they had no greek system and just couldn’t quite grasp its concept, no matter how carefully I tried to describe it to them! The greek system is completely Greek to them.... Mr. Buder, I, too, am in a fraterni ty. Alpha Phi Omega is a coed frat that rushes the same as you, but our main objective is community service. We pick up highways, work with many charitable organizations and have events of our own, but have you ever seen our name in the paper? I doubt it. I’m sure more people on campus would recognize Phi Delta Theta than APO. Our collective GPA is higher than the campus average, and we don’t have die test banks the greeks do to uphold that. Every time a house holds a philanthropic event, does the whole world have to know about it? And since you are so proud to sign yourself with your fraternity’s name, so will I. Ann Kontor junior French and European studies Alpha Phi Omega Go greek in glory Everyone has the right to their opinion, Mr. Johnson included. However, he makes some profound statements about the greek system in general, and specific to NU’s cam pus. We have one of the strongest greek systems in the country right here in Nebraska, something to be proud of, not something to abolish. The greek system on our campus raised more than $60,000 for local organizations through philanthropic activities. Fraternities and sororities have the highest GPAs on campus , even when compared to the all female, all-male and all-university averages. Mr. Johnson makes the compari son of joining a greek house similar to that of the “possession of hand guns.” I have lived in the residence halls before joining a greek house, and I am very happy with my house. I never once have felt like I am con-, forming to a system of popularity. After all, if the popular dung to do is live in a greek house, don’t you think more people would do it? On our campus of about 23,000 undergraduates, around 3,600 live in greek houses. This does not seem that elite to me. My parents are not rich, nor am I. My car is not all that new or great, it was used and currently is sit ting in the parking lot and won’t start Did Mr. Johnson fail to see that one of the two new greek houses added to our system last year was pri marily, but not limited to, people of Latin American decent? I am sorry if Mr. Johnson had a bad experience in a greek house at another campus, but we are different Before you go bashing our greek sys tem here, take a step back, and look at the good aspects of the system. They far out-weigh the bad. Michael L. Consbruck senior agronomy and horticulture 71 .president Alpha Gamma NU i : s-t,.->-— . - • ■ ..... i—■ i