Daily Ncbraskan
MondayJanuary 23, 1934
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.In light of the special report issued Friday on the
collapse of Commonwealth Savings Co., the Legis
lature would be wise to give special attention to
LBS23.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln,
would increase the state attorney general's salary
and prohibit him and hh staff attorneys from pri
vate law practice while in office.
The Commonwealth report was prepared by John
Miller, special assistant banking director, and David
Domina, special assistant attorney general. Although
it contained little new information, it came down
hard on the current attorney general, Paul Douglas,
and pointed to the need for revision of state law.
According to the report, Douglas and Lincoln
attorney Paul Gaiter purchased 78 lots from Com
monwealth Vice President Marvin Copple and sold
them for a profit of $118,288. Sixty of the lots were
sold to Copple's personal secretary Judy DriscolV
who received loans from Commonwealth to make
the purchase.
The report also reached the following conclusions:
Allen chides unpatriotic fans,
salutes favorite tops 'n' quips
As occasionally happens when you're
a columnist, I've found I have a few bits
and pieces I've wanted to write, yet
none of them are really enough to fill a
whole column. So, in order to clear out
a few notebooks, 111 jot them down for
you today.
It's a shame that nowadays sporting
events seem to be the only places you
can hear our national anthem, "The
Star-Spangled Banner." I've always
That the land transactions apparently were
payment for consultation Douglas and Gaiter gave
to Coppfe.
That it appeared Douglas and Gaiter had a
client-attorrey relationship with Copple.
That Douglas should have acted immediately
when he was informed in the spring of 19S3 that
Copple might have committed theft from the failed
industrial institution.
The Sunday Journal and Star reported that
Douglas rejects the criticism in the report, and will
issue his own report around Feb. 6.
'Whether Douglas committed any wrong acts is
not for us to decide. The courts will, if necessary,
make that decision. But it is clear that current state
law allows for the attorney general to become
involved in questionable activities. The state must
act to eliminate that possibility.
The attorney general is required by state statute
to investigate matters affecting the Banking Depart
ment as well as other executive departments. But by
allowing him to also be involved in private practice,
the state is risking the development of a conflict of
interest. .
Under our present system, the possibility always
exists that the attorney general could be doing bus
iness with the same people, he is supposed to be
investigating and prosecuting. In such a case, it is
questionable what would be put first the attorney
general's private interests or those of the state's
citizens.
No one has proven that Douas committed any
illegal or unethical acts, but his private dealings
with Marvin Copple have caused many people to
question his role in the whole situation. Unfortu
nately, this likely will make it difficult for him to be
effective in his role as attorney general
Regardless of the outcome of the Commonwealth
case, the Legislature should act to prevent a similar
situation from happening in the future. The state
does not have a responsibility to bail out private
institutions such as Commonwealth but it docs have
an obligation to see that a complete investigation of
any suspected criminal activity is carried cut.
It can best do that by assuring that those involved
in any such investigations and prosecutions will not
have conflicts of interest.
f Bill
V, Allen
taken the song seriously, especially
when I attend an event personally,
rather than watching it on television.
At games, I notice many people are
fidgety and seem anxious for the
anthem to end so they can go back to
talking. I'm not really political or any-
thing, but it does bother me when peo
ple can't give three minutes of their
time to respect their country.
Between the holiday bowl games
and Christmas specials, our household
almost always watched the local and
national news. There is one thing I am
now pretty sure of I could care less
what Nancy Reagan got Ronald for
Christmas.
Ten times I, must have seen the news
clip telling the world that she got him a
sweater. In the first place, aren't there
grain or pork belly markets out there
just waiting to be reported? Didn't the
president sfen something or meet with
someone? was there nothing more sig
nificant than the fact that he got a
sweater?
In the second place, I'm wondering if
this is supposed to be some kind of
propaganda. The Reagans are obviously
wealthy. Is Nancy trying to come down
to the level of us common folks by get
ting Ronnie a mere sweater? Isn't this
the same Nancy who spent tens of
thousands of dollars for new White'
House china?
I also found some quotes I'd like to
show you:
"Never give a compliment as if you
expect a receipt " anonymous.
It sometimes seems that's the only
reason people give compliments. 16
day, give someone you don't know a
compliment. It feels great, really.
"The paranoia of stupidity is al
ways the worst, since its fear of des
truction by intelligence is reasona
ble. " Arthur Miller.
You can apply that to so many
things that I think IH just let you think
about it.
I found (I can't remember where) a
great slogan for dieters. "Join the fight
against hazardous waists." - -
You should thank Matt Wallace, your
ASUN president. IVe always asked that
people with human interest column
ideas tell me about them.
Last month, Matt came over with a
newspaper clipping from a Lincoln
paper that asked for "guides for visiting
business executives." Matt was afraid
" this might be some kind of front for a
prostitution ring, and asked me to
check into it.
I won't go into details, because there
aren't many and I'm not sure of them.
Anyway, I think the police were called,
and I don't see' the ads anymore. Ill
probably never know for sure if there
was anything to the whole deal
The point is, it showed a real con
cern on Matt's part for the students on
this campus. He didn't want anyone (I
don't exclude males) to get involved in
a potentially hazardous and illegal
situation.
I personally don't think ASUN has
become more substantial in the minds
of students during his term in office,
but incidents like this show me hat
you, the students, elected someone
who does have your best interests in
mind.
I finally did something I've always
wanted to do.
I'm sure most of you have read those
little statements on the sides of candy
bars and potato chips that say, "If not
completely satisfied return for full re
fund and postage."
Well, awhile back I bought a half
pound bag of Lay's potato chips, my
favorite kind. There were an unusually
large number of dark, over-fried chips
in this bag. So, I took advantage of
their refund offer and wrote them a
ktter asking for my money back.
In my letter I explained that I usu
ally enjoy their product, but that this
particular bag was unsatisfactory.
Three, weeks latr I received a check
for $1.59 and a letter thanking me..
Here's an excerpt from that letter
from Gayla Thamason, manager of
consumer affairs:
"We sincerely regret the concerns
you have expressed, but appreciate
your bringing this matter to our atten
tion." They promised to look into the
situation and said they "strive to satisfy"
all their customers.
That's for all of you who have won
dered what would happen if you did
take the time to ask for a refund.
If you wonder why I always wanted
to do that, but never did . .;. well, to be
honest, everything has been OK until
now.
I hope the rest of the week goes okay
for you.
. M Ml
"ia Letters.
Facts lacking
on alcoJwlism
I would like to address two excerpts
from the recent article, "Alcohol intake
moderation lends ammunition to battle
of the bottle" (Daily Nebraskan, Jan.
18). In the article, the Daily Nebraskan
reporter draws from her source, Rayf
Daugherty, two statements which are
very broad and misleading.
. The first statement was that college
freshmen and fraternity members
drink more than any other college stu
dents, and secondly, that "Drunkeness
has become a part of the lifestyle in
fraternities."
It seems to me that if Mr. Daugherty
intends to make statements such as
these and the Daily Nebraskan intends
to publish them, they should provide
some form of statistics to validate
them. If such references are to be
made about fraternities in general, we
would like to see it in black and white
figures. Statements such these are
misleading and do not lend themselves
to the integrity of the Daily Nebraskan.
James Willett
President
Interfraternity Council
Allen critics
uninformed
Regarding Jerry Muir's letter (Daily
Nebraskan, Jan. 10) and his uncom
plimentary remarks toward Bill Allen;
Pick up any newspaper in the coun
try any day of the week and I'm sure
youll find a controversial editorial
column or at least something more
worthwhile to respond to. It seems
that ever since Bill's excellent column
on sorority racism appeared in print
(Daily Nebraskan, Sept 26), every Greek
on campus has become a Bill Allen
attacker. '
Perhaps Bill's Jan. 16 column wasn't
his best work. Perhaps it was. It appears
Jerry Muir has attempted to answer
that question himself. Who h to speak
of someone's "little, if any, intelligence"
unless they're insecure about their
own?
If f V o &rfr vv-ws TK11 A 11
would figure out that these columns
are written primarily to poke fun at
everyday life, then they wouldn't keep
tnemselves awake mr.ts dre
UP
rude, base and uncalled-for responses
to Bill's columns. ,
Grow up, people D3.9 percent of
what Bill writes is 100 percent true.
Laura Erommer
senior
advertising
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braskan, 84 Nebraska Union, 1400 R
St., Lincoln, Neb. 6S583-QM8.
