The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, November 15, 1999, Page 4, Image 4
EDITOR Josh Funk OPINION ^ JgpiTOR 'iv:' • .•. '* .. EDITORIAL' -- BOARD- - IjnAmy¥Aw>g ^ Samuel McKewon Kimberly Sweet . • • • • - . - ' - V jp.-?.; H;i Our ,*? VIEW ’ in check Hiring top teachers will improve university The true test of rhetoric is the balance sheet. When people start to put their money behind lofty goals and flowery initiatives, they cease to be rhetorical. Last week, the University of Nebraska Lincoln took an important step toward con verting its dream of a top-notch university into reality. With its approximately $15 million cut of a $125 million «- dollar endow ment, UNL * ^ decided to priori university s tizex^f^jk of decision to the money will be . . . spent on im prioritize provements to faculty is ^ve Library and J * chemical engi crucial to neering facilities. , . Interest becoming income from die endowment will more than an allow UNL t0 average recruit 24 new 0 professors and university. chairs and estab lish stipends for 60 graduate teaching assistantships. This endowment will allow UNL to attract nationally and internationally renowned professors to its campus. For years, UNL languished while its fac ulty salaries remained near the bottom among peers, and die most talented people went elsewhere. ~ Last spring the Legislature finally took note and spent the money to make UNL salaries average again. Average just isn’t good enough. . Every year we hear what a great place this university is and how we are moving ahead. Besides, those second-tier and third tier rankings don’t mean anything, adminis trators say. The university’s decision to prioritize faculty is crucial to becoming a more-than average university. The top faculty conduct die top research projects, which gamer the top grant funding. With these professors bringing in money for . their own projects, the university will have more money to spend elsewhere - maybe administrators will spend it osn more top fac ulty. Thafs how it builds. Professors are at the heart of a college ion. They’re tfteones at the front of The best 'f ^ "* v ■' * studen *■’ team. When students, arc inspired, diey can.v > teachdiemseK<e»tcrthBdtr %; vTbb& art tiM ituderitt: remember. Those are the professors we call mentors. Those are the ones we need more of at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1999 Dally Nebraskan. They do 1 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 soiefy the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by - me Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by .• the regents, supervises the production QHtejjaper. /^rdm|to^po^ setby^ 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 refect 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/br group' affiliation, if any.- ■„ i Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: ietters@.unl.edu. f m, BROWHS-R-US? HI, THIS |S \ / FRAHK...'/6AH...LANCf, kRlS, Ptyfcg \ I m> RALPH AU- worked our r&l * \ dice,.. And that's Sort of u/Hy \ X'M calling-.. J>1 CbM To josH \ eROWLJ NEXT ygAR AND X'A/ v / \ WANTING- -to ORDER WHATEVER / N^yoUVg GtfToM hand... s'A '1 DN LETTERS David vs Goliath My name is Daniel B. Iske, and the Daily Nebraskan recent ly ran a story in the Nov. 10 issue, on the independent film that I directed titled “The Dean’s Boys.” It was a very good article, and I was very appreciative of the story. However, in the caption below the picture, in BOLD print, the most obvious line that people read, my name is printed as DAVID ISKE. I would not have been both ered if it was a misspelling, but the name is not even the same, and there is no David in the story to get my name confused with. In Friday’s “Quotes of the Week,” my name is again por trayed as David Iske. Misspellings happen, but when you are labeled as a totally different person, it is quite frus trating. Daniel B. Iske Jingle all the Way For once, Jessica Flanagain (DN, Thursday) is right. We as a nation need to jecognfte that, commercialized though it may be* Christmas is nevertheless Christian,an# as such it has no place in Capitols, state office buildings or PMVs. ' v; ’ Flanaga&tcallsVon Maur’s :“mean-spirited.” .?■ Mean-spirited is when public school musical programs include songs like “What Month Was My Jesus Born In?”, though not all of the second-graders singing have a Jesus and despite national rulings that construct a separa tion of church and state. As for Von Maur, I, will take Jessica’s suggestion to voice my own Christmas greetings. And for once, I will be able to say “thank you” for at least hav ing the intelligence and courage to imagine that not everyone is Christian. Jessica IntermiU sophomore sociology In the cards Microsoft FreeCell deals up addiction Hi. My name is Marina, and I’m an addict. I’m not addicted to alcohol, licit or illicit drugs, sex or anything near ly that glamorous. I’ve fallen victim to the schemings of the Evil Empire. I’m addicted to Microsoft’s FreeCell solitaire game. You “serious gamers” out there may scoff at my problem. After all, I don’t spend hours and days trying to win that pod race, build a wonder that stands for 400 years or rescue galaxies. But others know the evil that lurks in that seemingly innocuous game. At first, you learn the rules. You lose a few dozen times. You get better. Try to improve your statistics. Then you find yourself firing the game up when your boss calls and tries to involve you in some boring work-related conversation. You sit in front of your computer for hours trying to improve your winning streak. You tell your family, “I’m just doing Someresearch” while you 4 frantically drag and double-click yotar way to the point ofno return, * Youtry.to win ev^y game, in , [ order, fi»m l ib ~ * - actually that far gone yet). Heed my warning: When youJbehold the shin^ . . ing compact disc ofWindows^ do not be tempted to install Games. v, Unless you have NT in which case Space Cadet pinball is a must Then there’s the Internet, ft is a vast place filled writh many wonders, but it is not the path for the weak. And I freely admit to being weak, especially when it comes to e-mail. Other people are addicted to die Web, a fate I’ve avoided partly because of the incredibly slow con nection I have at home, courtesy of ancient wiring, partly because it’s not interactive, partly because I loathe banner ads. In case you were even mildly curious as to the driving force behind the Web, check out www.metaspy. com, a site where one of the search engines lists the recent queries. The top choices are nearly guaranteed to u Heed my warning: when you behold the shining compact disc of Windows, do not be tempted to install Games. be “sex” and “MP3.” Whatever the reason, the World Wide Web just doesn’t do it forme. E-mail does. I check my e-mail at least six to seven times a day. 1 have about adozene-mail addresses and my very own domain name. I sub scribe to at least a dozen various mailing lists, most of diem jokes or Linux-related. I almost sympathize with people who are so addicted to chat rooms that they neglect their families and.. responsibilities, forget to shower and ’edtand occasionally can’t even remember die month or the year. f used to be like dud. I spent all of-inytun»onQlC(InternetRday Chid, die predecessor oflCQ and •* *v * various MU** (Multi-User games,' . text-based and generally oriented ^ toward role playing). But I’ve overcome all that, and now I just crave personal non-spam e-mail. And lots of it. So if you ever feel die need jo drop me a line, feel ■ free to do so. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out my e-mail address (well, at least one or two of the ones this fine University bestowed upon me). And remember: Just because you no longer really need to ever leave your house doesn’t mean you should n’t. Make real friends. And ifyou learn to follow that advice, tell me how. But trust me on the FreeCell. * Marina Gandelsman is a junior mechanical and computer engineering major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.