The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, September 20, 1999, Page 4, Image 4
CO W EDITOR Josh Funk OPINION EDITOR Mark Baldridge EDITORIAL BOARD Lindsay Young Jessica Fargen Samuel McKewon Cliff Hicks Our VIEW Less than convenient Bookstore must offer better organization As part of its renovations to the 14 year-old design of the University Bookstore, the Follett Company promised convenience, service and ease of shopping. We’re still waiting. This fall’s changes to the bookstore may be welcome and even overdue, but they have yet to improve the store. On any given day, students may experience a 20-minute wait to pur chase a small item. If the store is at all crowded, register lines extend toward the opposite regis ter, breeding confusion, not conve nience. When these lines are full, the book store entrance is blocked, forcing stu dents to either run the register gamut or wind their way through the less-than convenient convenience store. The NU Market is a prime example of the problems inherent in the book store. Half of the people in line at the NU Market register are there to buy note books and pens from the supply area, which only clogs the two poorly manned registers there. £>ut rinding your way back to a proper register requires a global posi tioning satellite system and only means more lines. When NU Market opened, it was billed as the cure-all to late-night stu dent woes, with hours that extended to 11 p.m. every day of the week. Viann Schroeder, then acting man ager of the University Bookstore, said last spring that these late hours were designed for students studying late and those with night classes. This year both the Market and the bookstore have cut back on hours. Last year’s normal bookstore clos ing time of 6 p.m. has crept down to 5:30 p.m., and NU Market’s heralded 11 p.m. closing has dropped to 8 p.m. Don’t even bother trying to shop on Sundays. They’re not there at all then. They cannot even stick to these shortened hours. On occasion this semester, we have been at the NU Market well within their posted hours only to find a locked door and a clerk inside feigning innocence. But if you are fortunate enough to make it inside the store, it doesn’t get much better. The bookstore’s idea of a convenient shopping center is warped at best. Follett should work to live up to its con tract with the university and strive to meet the needs of the students it serves. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1999 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. The 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 the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. Obermeyer’s VIEW IN me OFFiC£ OF me hSW wm(MiNfrRMfcV{CMmTT££... WOW, WE G-oT So rtl/wy^N. M-&R5EK5 MPty/no- For \ RoMEcorwwe- Covrt this Year' \ WHo WOULD HAVE HNoWbJ THAT all it would take was Posting / Advertisements /a/ Wales / other /'TSath/S / ^6-Keek (,*<'' \)houses?^/ —t «• -* DN LETTERS Flanagain Perhaps Ms. Flanagain (DN, Thursday) is making an annual event out of bashing the women’s studies department, as her column seems to be a sad regurgitation of last year’s puerile diatribe. I won’t attack this columnist’s personal character because I don’t know her, nor do I care to. However, I find it highly irresponsible of her to “warn” us, the student body, about a very valuable department on this campus. The fact is that lesbians are women, so some of the material cov ered in women’s studies will be les bian-related. Other subcultures stud ied include African Americans, Chicanas, Native Americans, women writers, women activists and the list goes on. But for some reason, Ms. Flanagain chooses to focus on les bians, and you have to wonder why. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that she is the spawn of the devil, but she clearly has a rabid streak of hoTnophobia flowing through her conservative Christian veins. And that’s what this is really about. It isn’t about the women’s studies curriculum, and it isn’t about righteous feminists or maniacal les bians secretly infiltrating the univer sity to convert each and every woman to the “other” side. It’s about Ms. Flanagain’s narrow minded attitudes, her discomfort and condescension toward diversity and a seemingly endless personal grudge match with,the women’s studies department. She’s entitled to her opinions, but is it really necessary to beat us over the head with them? I suppose the good news is that she’s a senior, and next year, she won’t be here to “shed light” ... err, darkness, on the women’s studies program. Roxane Gay graduate student English Flanagain Again Ms. Flanagain’s column reveals far more about her own insecurities PS. Wr Back than it does about the women’s stud ies program. This is particularly true in regard to her indignation that her previous column, and the rebuttals of students and faculty in the program, appear on the women’s studies Web page. Why shouldn’t they be there? The Web page material is more than fair, and it gives Ms. Flanagain’s words a second chance to be heard. But since her words are held up alongside those of others in the pro gram, their factual inaccuracies, ludi crous homophobic misinformation and simpering self-pity don’t seem quite so credible. I’m quite bewildered about Ms. Flanagain’s insistence that the pro gram is all about “the study of les bians.” What is the criteria for this assertion? One of the professors she criti cizes demonstrated conclusively that the books by lesbian writers in the very course Ms. Flanagain took were the undeniable minority, hardly justi fication for the absurd claims Ms. Flanagain makes. But it seems that any contrary opinion to those of Ms. Flanagain is an automatic attack on her, and that she is free to be as nasty as she desires, since she’s right and every body else is wrong. She claims that women’s studies faculty and students “hailed (her) as the spawn of evil.” Those are her words, not theirs. If anything, while holding her accountable for the misinformation of her columns, the faculty and stu dents demonstrated surprising con sideration in their responses - a cour tesy not reciprocated by Ms. Flanagain. I’m not in women’s studies, but I’m a non-Christian, liberal, gay Cherokee in English, so I guess I’d be right up there with the rest of those who are infecting the world with the evil blights of equality, respect, social conscience and responsibility. A final piece of advice: To paraphrase my favorite con temporary philosopher, Dolly Parton, I give you this, generously and with love: Get off the cross, Jessica - |; Send letters tkj: titoity Nebraskan, 34 Is | NE 68538, or fax to (402) 472-1761, or s' Letters must be signed and include a j somebody needs the wood. Daniel Justice graduate student English And Again To all lesbians: What the hell are you thinking? Has the thought ever crossed your mind that if it were not for heterosexu als (read: normal people) that you would not be alive? Procreation is not just a good idea, it’s necessary for the survival of our species. Now don’t give me this crap about how your condition comes from genet ics ... how is this going to happen? Did your two lesbian mothers pass this gene on to you? It should be evident to everyone that homosexuality is completely ludi crous. Likewise, to do any in-depth study of the subject is a waste of time. This is why I would urge all members of the women’s studies program to consider a real major. I’d hate to see you end up saying “would you like fries with that?” for the rest of your life. I thank Jessica Flanagain for her insightful article, along with the Web link to the joke of the day page. Oops, I guess that was a link to the women’s studies program. Harold Williams junior engineering And Yet Again The vicious attacks by women’s studies on Jessica Flanagain come as no surprise to the College Republicans, who last year had the campus police sicked on us by the director of women’s studies for posting an announcement she didn’t approve Of. Clearly, no dissent will be tolerated by UNL’s Stalinist Sisterhood. Congratulations to Ms. Flanagain for her courage in speaking out. fi Gerard Harbison faculty advisor College Republicans ____' ....... - -■ ' K febraska Union, 1400 "R" St., Lincoln, e-mail <letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. ihone number for verification