Letters, 5/12: What's in a name?

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Last year, the University of Nebraska Foundation provided $89.5 million to the University of Nebraska; we expect to transfer more than $100 million this year.

Such a large transfer from the foundation to the university is only possible because of the generosity of donors, who give the gifts and, in overwhelming numbers, choose a specific area to support, rather than leaving it up to the foundation’s discretion.

In the past year, donors have directed gifts benefiting all four campuses of the University of Nebraska System, creating scholarships to help students, helping recruit and retain faculty and furthering research in cancer, heart disease, transportation, agriculture and many other areas.

In addition, donors have made possible, in full or in part, the construction of the Ken Morrison Life Science Center, the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, the International Quilt Study Center, the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center and the Schorr Center for Computer Science and Engineering, among other buildings at UNL, as well as several buildings at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, UNO and UNK.

If the University of Nebraska Foundation is “in the shadows,” as Vaughn D. Hackstadt stated in his May 6 letter to the editor, it is because we give the naming opportunities and the recognition where it belongs — to the donors who make all gifts possible. Our annual reports and audited financial statements are available at nufoundation.org.

Dorothy Endacott,  director of communications, University of Nebraska Foundation

Foreign policy

Eminent statesman Sen. Chuck Hagel recently suggested to middle school students that the United States needs broad international support and planning for the aftermath to fight a war. He should explain how fortunate we are to have most of our NATO allies running for the weeds in Afghanistan, and how Canada has threatened to withdraw unless other NATO allies commit greater forces there.

Next time the Journal Star gives Hagel the stage to pose as a serious foreign policy expert, he should explain why Gen. Douglas MacArthur liked to quote Napoleon: “Give me allies as an enemy, so that I can defeat them one by one.”

Stanford L. Sipple, Lincoln

Misleading headline

There is an article on Page 6A of the May 5 Journal Star with a headline reading “Study: Insulin pumps linked to injuries, deaths.” This is an extremely misleading title, especially given the content of the article.

The article focuses on irresponsible teenagers who don’t properly use their insulin pumps and suffer the consequences. Such phrases as: “Parents should be vigilant in watching their children’s use of the pumps,” “Teens were careless or took risks,” and “Some teens didn’t know how to use the pumps correctly,” clearly indicate that the people using the insulin pumps aren’t being responsible. The pumps most of the time are not to blame, as the headline would have you believe.

Next time, please use a headline that more accurately reflects the content of the article and won’t mislead the casual reader into thinking that insulin pumps are dangerous, possibly even fatal.

Phil Ringsmuth, LincolnKeep our water safe

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mayor Chris Beutler for his decision to remove bottled water from our city offices. Every dollar saved adds up.

The plastic alone (a petroleum derivative) in bottled water is totally unnecessary when we have some of the best water in the world. Get a nice reusable bottle and take care of your own water.

I hope we take the matter further. The fertilizer and pesticides we use all across the country for farming, lawns and other applications are ruining our most precious resource: water. The number of deoxygenated “dead zones” is growing all around the country. This means less clean drinking water and less fish on the dinner table.

I cringe a little every day when I see my neighbor’s young children playing on the grass he treats with harmful chemicals! They even post signs: “Lawn treatment: Keep children and pets off.” When it rains, the chemicals get carried down the sewers and into our water system.

We have to use safer methods to provide food and water and to have lawns that don’t pollute the same food and water sources we depend on.

There are alternatives. Rain gardens, chemical-free lawn treatments and hardier grasses are all available. You can get an artificial turf lawn similar to that of Memorial Stadium. Often made from recycled tires and bottles (how ironic is that?), these don’t use any water and require no mowing, fertilizer or pesticides. They look and feel like grass.

Lincoln is currently offering a Rain Garden Water Quality Project. You can apply for a Nebraska Environmental Trust grant for 80 percent of a rain garden.

Personally, I can’t see much difference between my fertilizer-free lawn and the ones treated with chemicals. I have more money in my pocket, and my toddler can roll around as much as he wants.Chris McMasters, Lincoln

Change election laws

This presidential election has gone on too long, been too expensive, and has been wearying to the candidates and to the voters.

We need to set some limits on the amount of time and money consumed in the election process. Say three months for the primary and three months for the general election.

No candidate should be able to declare for office sooner than a date set shortly before the primary. The primary candidates should be nominated by their respective parties, with two of the most viable candidates going on to the primary ballot. Primary election dates should be the same in every state.

Qualified voters should be allowed to vote by mail in both the primary and general election, with the qualifications and safeguards for voting to be established by a nonpartisan federal elections board. The elections should be scheduled for the same date in every state. The primary ballot should be nonpartisan with two candidates for each party listed.

Candidates should be funded through public funds, and each candidate should be allowed to spend only that amount for his or her campaign. Media outlets should be required to offer equal time and space to all candidates but would be able to sell advertising in conjunction with campaign appearances. There should be few or no debates. 

This year’s election has been exciting and unique because of the diversity of the candidates, but it is beginning to become a bit of a bore. I have already voted by mail, and I hope that someday all qualified voters will be able to do the same.

Robert D. Thomson, Lincoln

The ‘right speed’

My heart bleeds for Jeff Richardson (“Terrible drivers in Lincoln,” letter, May 2), who has missed a couple of stoplights in Lincoln because of other people on the road and arrived at his destination 3 minutes later than if he had had the road all to himself. Boo hoo.

The speed limit is the maximum speed at which drivers should be traveling. If conditions do not permit, however (and often they do not), there is no law stating that drivers can’t slow down to less than what the speed limit allows.

Doesn’t every driving course begin with the premise that the speed limit is not always what Richardson calls the “right speed?”

Moreover, even in the best of conditions, the surface streets of Lincoln — or any of the other cities in which he has lived —  are not meant to be traveled like the interstate.

If Richardson’s time is such a valuable commodity that a 10-second delay is enough to ruin his life … well, I don’t know what to tell him.

Eric T. Foster, Lincoln