David Nilsen pre-business freshman

You could be next!

Freshman hates paying high gas prices here, might have to endure them abroad

Wildcat: My name is Kylee and you're on the spot. So tell me, how badly has your wallet been raped by gas prices this semester?

Nilsen: Well, I don't work, so I stay on campus so it really hasn't been hurtin' that much; just when I go back down to Phoenix to see my parents. That's about it.

Wildcat: This is a dumb question, but are you upset about the high prices?

Nilsen: Very.

Wildcat: Why?

Nilsen: Well, I can't take as many road trips. Like, I go to Mexico a few times with my frat brothers and everything, but we can't go as often. You know, it costs more money. And we just can't take regular road trips; I mean, go to San Diego or anything like that.

Wildcat: Do you know what they call gasoline in England?

Nilsen: No?

Wildcat: Petrol! But do you know how much they pay for it? A gallon?

Nilsen: I believe they do it in liters and it's like 3 or 4 dollars just for a liter, so it's like, real expensive.

Wildcat: Yeah, it's like five bucks a gallon! So, do you think we have it made by only paying, like, 2 1/2 dollars?

Nilsen: Compared to the rest of the world, yeah. At least for now.

Wildcat: So now, here's the news I'm getting at: Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is in talks with President Bush about fixing these gasoline prices. Do you think that's more important than trying to solve issues with terrorism?

Nilsen: No.

Wildcat: Why not?

Nilsen: Well, if we solved the problem with terrorism, I think that the gas prices would go down ... and that way we'd have a better understanding or better relations with other countries. It wouldn't have to be as high.

Wildcat: Do you think if there were a fuel alternative, the U.S. government would do something about implementing it?

Nilsen: What do you ... what alternatives?

Wildcat: Well, my daddy put it to me like this: If a man, tonight, invented a car that could run on water, he'd be dead by tomorrow morning. Now, what do you think that means?

Nilsen: Well, my dad put it as in a way of, "Well, if someone did that, he probably would be because, if someone did that, then millions of people would lose their jobs and we would lose a lot of money, so it'd be devastating."

Wildcat: Do you plan to do a lot of driving this summer?

Nilsen: No, I'm actually going overseas, so no.

Wildcat: Going overseas for what?

Nilsen: Europe for a month. I'm doing kind of like a study abroad over there.

Wildcat: So, whatever you do, don't try to drive in England then, I guess, huh?

Nilsen: Exactly.

- Interview and photo by Kylee Dawson.