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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1998)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks - ■ • EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte ... . ; . . *3 . • • ■ - * '• ' -'V -- Our VIEW Street smarts Bike lanes would wreak havoc downtown Last Friday, a ragtag mob of cyclists descended on downtown Lincoln at 4:30 p.m. to demonstrate to motorists why we need bicy cle lanes. Not only was the rolling obstacle in poor judgment, but so was the cause it supported. Obviously, riding in busy traffic can be dangerous, but so would the effects of expand mg downtown streets to include bike lanes. “Bike lanes and intersections don’t mix,” remarked Rick Dockhorn, an Effective Cycling trainer certified by the American League of Bicyclists. He offered an example: You’re riding north on 17th Street, and the bike lane is on the right hand side. You want to go straight when you encounter an intersection. The car next to you wants to go right. A collision is likely. Or, you want to turn left, which would require you to veer across lanes of traffic from the bike lane on the far right side. This would be in addition to the utter chaos the installation of bike lanes would wreak upon downtown streets. The proposal is far from realistic in a downtown comprised solely of one-block units. Bike lanes would push back sidewalks, confuse on-street parking and pose complica tions with every intersection - which means every single block. The answer Be a better cyclist. In this case, it means behaving like you belong on die road. “If you act like you are in a car, you will more than likely be treated like it,” testified Dockhorn, who says he rides through down town nearly every day. Dockhorn says courtesy and confidence go a long way when riding through traffic. Among other things, he said, don’t ride through red lights, stay in the appropriate lane of traffic and don’t ride in between lanes. Still, most people fear riding alongside speeding traffic, which is why classes such as the one Dockhorn teaches exist. He educates people on simple rules and tips that can make cycling on busy streets safe and comfortable. bxactly a year ago today, The Daily Nebraskan ran an editorial espousing the need for bicycle lanes as a reaction to a city ordi nance banning bicycles from certain down town sidewalks. Now, we recognize the necessity of cyclists acting responsibly. Bicycles are vehicles, which usually require three feet to each side of its two-foot handlebars for safety. It is simply unrealistic to have them flying through crowded downtown sidewalks and speeds of up to 25 mph. Mobs of young renegades on bicycles holding up rush hour traffic make only one point: It’s us against you. And that attitude may be the most danger ous aspect of all when you ride down a busy citystreet A column ie solely the opinion of its author. The Boaid of Regents serves as ptAfeher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by (he Daly Nebraskan Editorial Board. Trie UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by tne regents, responsoHiry tor ine eanonai content of the newspaper les solely in ino nanos or its siuosni ofupioyooG. - Lettor Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their pubication. The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to act or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannpt be returned. Anonymous submissions wiH not be published. Those who submit leesrs must xtenny tnemseives oy name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daiy Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400RSI Uncoto, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: * letters©unHnfo.unLedu. Mook’s VIEW \Mkaiiy Wf 5rflM)teht£ Hporm;nisveaije "1 Mflfc ToWdUr mlnKT»(WKfw W M£ Irf %>i\Wm I fte Atof? i © 3 * £ DN LETTERS Punt the bums Your editorial staff seems to think “the homeless pose no threat. ... ” Having spent countless hours study ing and working in the Nebraska Union since 1991,1 offer evidence to the contrary, with the observation it has gotten worse since then. I have seen the following occur in the union and surrounding areas: bums conning or accosting students for money or favors; a vagrant verbal ly abusing and intimidating students by the big-screen television; the same vagrant suddenly and without provo cation beating a much smaller inof fensive transient. Couldn’t it just as easily have been a student? I person ally had to stop this attack. I have seen 9 Inw.tifp inciiltinfr 9 Phinoco rrirl oo she walked by; transients gratuitously yelling die “N-word” and threatening to shoot people. When I looked their way, one postured to beat me, and then he tried to hit me with a large rock. He later beat up a Lincoln teen ager. I have seen a vagrant continu ously uttering threats in the general direction of students; riffraff smoking in non-smoking areas; bums sprawled out in choke points of the union; vagrants littering lawns and burglar izing my house (on university proper ty); an illegal alien stealing cell phones from cars in UNL parking lots (he was apprehended); bums using loud and vulgar language around stu dents; a woman loudly and frequently abusing her caregiver; incredibly filthy and smelly bums rolling around on the same furniture students use; people who drift in and out of sanity ranting and raving to the point where students can’t study anymore. I could continue. Some of these incidents are logged in with the cam pus police. I’d also like to note I’ve heard dozens of students say they avoid the union because the non-stu dents there make them feel unsafe. This is why Daryl Swanson and the Union Board are trying to make the “Husker Flophouse” a better place. What kind of an impression does the union now make on visitors? Would you want your kids going to a school that has such a collection of human flotsam /1 wouldnt. I’d send them to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where the union is immacu late and where there are no bums, just nice students like the ones at UNL, who your insulting cartoonist puts in the same category as the people just described. By the way, you also owe those “bloated” (that’s not politically correct) Husker fans an apology for your insulting comparison of them to die UNL bums. I hope the Association of Students at the University ofNebraska is ready to rethink its position on die issue as well. Otherwise, the student body should recommend that most resign, as they are not looking out for the stu dents’ interests. By the way, “home less” is a term that properly describes those who have lost their home in a catastrophe, and should not be used for those who are too damn lazy to perform honest work and contribute to society. But if such people wish to use the union, they might, as long as they behave properly like the students. Dr. A1 Koenig history department UNLandUNO Greek chorus Last week in the DN, fevers flur nea over me vaiue oi me greeK sys tem. Some were prepared to condemn based on what appeared to be false implications of profiled misde meanors. The greeks were quick to supplant these rebellious hostilities with a more reasonable, holistic assessment of greek life. However, neither pro- nor anti-greek colum nists were able to mount a reasonable argument for their cause. Fever and fervor have placed both greek and non-greek in arch opposition, but nei ther have a substantial, logical back ing to be so dogmatic. Here’s one critique of this greek “system” that is difficult to refute. The average greek at UNL is a white, Christian, middle-upper class, mid westerner. Within the greek system, socialization, dating, obtaining friends, group studying and partying almost wholly occur with other greek affiliates. This is common sense. Most people know this to be true. The implications elude us. As a campus with perhaps 100 nationali ties and thousands of ethnicities with uncountable different cultural world views, the greek “system” is an isolat ed island of closed network American life. By planning the majority of their social events with other greeks who ora far oil infoan+o an/1 mlmacac i/Ian deal to themselves, they systematical ly discriminate against die remaining 99.9 percent of the other human types on campus. This practice further enforces the rigid group mentality that is so prevalent and racist on the American college scene. As leaders of the community (which they will no doubt profess to be) with their powerful backing of the great American mass, they are ulti mately responsible for breaking down die American profile of the foreigner; the same profiling system that por trays greeks to be amass of rude lush es. They can begin breaking these barriers down by simply planning to socialize more often with any of the thousands of human types at.UNL regularly. Integration removes preju dices of greeks, non-greeks and all foreigners; separation produces them. Until they take this initial baby step forward, they deserve to be criticized. David Baker senior sociology Union matters Well Mr. Eickman, you certainly got one thing right in your article: “Eickman needs to quit whining * Maybe you could at least yell about something that matters. You say we have shelled out $20 for a hazard. Would you rather have the union clos er to the schedule or asbestos removed? Hmm, what is the bigger hazard? Perhaps you can control the weather also. I know, when I worked as an electrician I didn’t like to be standing in or have water running near me. Construction sites are hazards, that is why OSHA mandated those fences around the union. They are there to keep people from sneaking into a place that may contain hazards that could injure them. We all know what happens then. They sue. I would rather pay for that fencing than for the lawsuit that could follow. You say you could pay for beer and pizza with the $20. That really shows where your priorities are. When I first started college, I was attending the University of Missouri Rolla on a partial academic scholar ship. Soon after I arrived, a tuition increase was announced. It was only 60 to 90 percent over the next five years. It was then cheaper for me to return to Nebraska on no financial aid than to pay $ 17,000 (this year’s costs) a year for school. You see, we have it good here. Ask people from California why they are here. You also don’t want to pay for your brother’s or sister’s education. That means vnu are advncatincr a return to the Dark Ages. Besides, I assume you own a car. Go look at the registration. You will notice you pay property tax. That means you are pay ing for someone’s education. If all else fails, go to atech school and become a licensed construction worker. They probably are making more than we will straight out of school. Greg McFarland junior mechanical engineering . UNL Faculties Management