Monday, April 4, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Other Voices
Nebraska football players shouldn't get pay for play
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha has missed the mark with his bill to pay Nebraska football players, but he has unearthed some problems that college athletes face today.
Chambers' bill, LB1226, would treat scholarship football players at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as employees of the university and allow them to be paid for their efforts on the field. An amendment was added to the bill requiring four of the other five Big Eight schools' states to enact similar legislation for the bill to take effect.
for the bib to take effect.
Chambers argues that football players are being "exploited" because they generate big bucks for the university, while receiving no compensation. But Chambers needs to remember that these players aren't being forced to play football. No one held a gun to their heads and made them sign that letter of intent to play football at Nebraska. They're here because they want to be.
Granted, the university rakes in thousands of dollars from TV contracts, ticket sales and other revenue generated from football. That money finances UNL's "non-revenue" sports such as volleyball, track, and women's basketball. Football and men's basketball are the only money-making sports at UNL.
If the football revenue were to be reinvested in the football program to pay players, the other sports would suffer. Programs would eventually be cut, and UNL would lose quality student-athletes to other universities.
student athletes to the club and the Nebraska Athletic Director Bob Devaney also brought up an interesting point. If UNL were to pay its players and other universities didn't, UNL would have no one to play. Nebraska's players would be considered professionals and would be ineligible for NCAA-sanctioned games.
And it's not as if college football players are starving. They already have two sources of income.
Although they can't work during the school year, they can hold summer jobs. Scholarship players also can qualify for up to $1,400 a year in Pell Grants. The NCAA raised the Pell Grant amount for athletes from $900 to $1,400 last January.
Over the years Chambers has had good intentions with his legislation concerning UNL athletics. A few years ago he pushed a bill to guarantee scholarships to athletes who were priured.
And Chambers is again looking out for the interests of college athletes with his "pay the players" bill. Unfortunately, the proposal, if passed, would sack UNL and its athletic department for a big loss.
The Daily Nebraskan University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Buying research papers misses the point of school
A lack of time or motivation doesn't necessarily have to be a factor for students faced with writing term papers, provided they have the funds to seek out alternatives to the necessary work.
Students can legally purchase papers under the pretense of using the information for research from companies like Research Assistance in Los Angeles. This company employs writers to produce all kinds of essays for students who find themselves in the awkward position of having to do the work required by the courses they signed up and paid for.
One data processor for the company says, "We figure there are a lot of students out there who work full-time and go to school full-time, so there isn't any time for homework. We're here to help them with that."
How kind.
Beginning in elementary school, students are assigned homework to help them learn the material. Simply put one cannot learn by submitting material written and researched by someone else. Buying a paper prevents students from acquiring skills in research methods, data collection and material analysis.
an analysis.
Bart Lowe, president of Research Assistance, said the response to his company has been very good. He added that, "I'm sure cheating must have happened, but so what? We're just providing information."
Pitiful, but even more pitiful is that students are actively seeking service from companies such as this.
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Shorter hours fade into fewer days
Rainbows, falling stars and clouds begin to disappear as the years go by
Scientists now think there used to be more air in the air. That is, they have found in prehistoric air bubbles 50 percent more oxygen than the atmosphere today contains. This revelation came after cracking open bits of amber 80 million years old and analyzing the air trapped inside.
Although I have no bits of prehistoric amber as proof, I do have a few theories of my own about other things that might be less than they used to be. I figure that if something as basic as the air we breathe can be shortchanged without our realizing it, imagine the possibilities.
To begin with, I, along with most adults, suspect there are fewer hours in a day than there used to be. Remember the big round clock on the wall in grade school that used to ground out the endless hours of the school day? Compare that with the keeping of today's digital wristwatch as it reminds you of the the things you didn't have time to do.
I used to be able to play three softball games and a round of tag in one evening after school. Now I'm lucky if I get the laundry done.
Terri Stines
Guest Columnist
On an even larger scale, I think it's possible we're even beating out of entire days of the year. You hear people asking about it all the time. Where do the days go? Maybe the earth has found a shorter route around the sun and it now only takes 280 days to complete the journey, whereas it once took 365 days. Who knows? Maybe next year it'll only take 279 days.
Perhaps it's all cosmic and possibly even related to the decreased oxygen. Other evidence can be found in the heavens. For instance, I'm sure there are fewer rainbows than there used to be, though I've long since stopped running outside after every rainfall to look for them. Falling stars are also doing a disappearing act, although it's true I haven't passed many summer nights lying on my back in the grass watching for them lately. And I can't remember when last I saw a really
good likeness of Abraham Lincoln in the clouds. Maybe all of these things are leaking out with the ozone layer.
ozone layer.
Of course, my nine- soon-to-be ten-year-old niece says I'm crazy. She saw a really nice rainbow just the other day. She and a friend think they saw two falling stars when they slept out last summer. And although she's never seen Abraham Lincoln in the clouds, she has seen Hulk Hogan and My Little Pony.
As for my theory of lessening time, again the verdict from my niece is early senility. When asked how long *lil* her upcoming birthday, she replied that it was "forever" or "at least too long of time to make a paper chain for yet." And next year hasn't even been invented.
1nen again, my niece might be the little piece of amber proof that I need to back up my theories. In 30 years, perhaps, I'll crack open her memory to see if the days really are as long or the rainbows as plentiful.
Terri Stines is a Kansas City, Kan., senior majoring in journalism.
Campus dogs are a joy
We're not writing in regard to AIDS, education of athletes, the GLSOK, or any other opinion-begging issues. We are writing instead about the KU Canine Community.
about the rear door.
For those of us who are deprived the privilege of owning dogs of our own, we welcome the opportunity to pet any one of the numerous dogs that roam our campus. The campus is full of big, lovable and even comical dogs. On any given day, they can be seen engaged in many antics. For example, they can be seen sunbathing, retrieving Frisbees, frolicking in the grass, sniffing out rabbits in bushes, soliciting affection from an occasional passer-by, stealing sandwiches from hungry lunches or even catching a girl in a short skirt off guard with a cold nose.
Watching these Dalmatians, Labradors and retrievers adds a special element to the campus atmosphere. Give those dogs a bone!
Paul Moylan
Roeland Park senior
Betsy North Kansas City, Mo., senior
Research candidates
I was an engineering senator for 1986-1987. I am not running for re-election, but I thought that I would point out some inconsistencies that occurred in the articles about the coalitions that appeared in the Kansan on March 29.
Third, I fail to see the relationship between a McDonald's in Wescoe and the lowering of textbook prices and opening of classes, since the budgets for each are separate and the Union's budget is in no way related to open or closed classes.
First, it will not take Union Square 100 years to turn a profit, as Frank Partany and Brian Kramer, the leaders of the Integrity coalition would have you believe. It will take only six months. In fact, philosophically, they are a non-profit corporation. They make only enough profit in the bookstore and Union Square to maintain the structures that they have now.
indicate the association's business. Second, a McDonald's restaurant in Wescoe is not feasible because private corporations are not allowed in state buildings under state law.
Fourth, the Integrity coalition wants to expand the size of Senate. Senate used to be twice the size it is now, and it was cut in size because Senate could not accomplish anything because it was far too large. The fact that Integrity has more than 70 candidates running for the five off-campus seats and more than 40 candidates running for the one resident-at-large seat means that Frank and Brian don't care enough about their own candidates to attempt to get them elected. In fact, those people are running against each other. This is a way that Frank and Brian are trying to get themselves but not the members of the coalition elected.
So, before you blindly believe what you read,
I strongly urge you to research the candidates
and the issues. It is important that you make
the right choice.
Lori Nobert Ames, Kan., junior
Students must prepare
In a letter to the Kansas on March 30, M. Sean Rodman criticized his adviser assignment for the current enrollment period. He
quoted the letter as stating that his major field of study was pre-journalism and that he had been assigned to the department of biological sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This is correct, as far as it went. What Rodman failed to mention was the paragraph in the letter instructing him how to meet with an adviser in the School of Journalism.
The college seems to be in a damned if we do, damned if we don't situation with regard to pre-professional school students. Many of these students, and Rodman appears to be one of them, are absolutely sure they will be accepted into the professional school and that they will remain there. These students don't want to be bothered with college requirements. They don't want to be bothered, that is, until they aren't accepted into the professional school or until they decide they want to change majors. Then they are upset because no one (they say) ever told them about this or that college requirement, and they ask what we mean when we say it will take them an extra semester (or longer) to graduate.
We in the college think pre-professional students should be familiar with both the requirements of the college and of the professional school. By understanding and comparing the two sets of requirements, they can choose courses that satisfy both. Later, should they change their major (and many do), they can begin work on their new major, rather than having to go back and complete college general-education requirements.
As a side point, I hope that when Rodman enters the School of Journalism, he learns that a good journalist reports all the story rather than misleading readers by omitting important
Pam Houston
Pam Houston Assistant to the Dean Undergraduate Services College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed