Wednesday, March 7, 1934
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Daily Nebraskan
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Senators neglect
duty by ignoring
Douglas' actions
The Legislature's Special Commonwealth Com
mittee neglected its duty this weekend when it
declined to take any action on Attorney General
Paul Douglas' role in the failed industrial savings
and loan institution.
According to The Lincoln Star, the committee met
in a 5-hour session Sunday night at the Lincoln
Hilton. It rejected a resolution that would have impeach
ed Douglas and one that would have censored him
and asked for his resignation. The committee ad
journed without even hearing a third resolution
that would have condemned Douglas but would not
have called for his resignation.
The facts in the Commonwealth case probably
still are too sketchy to call for Douglas' impeach
ment. It might even be inappropriate to ask for his
resignation at this time. But it seems clear that some
of his actions, although perfectly legal, were not
made in the best interest of the state. For that, the
attorney general at least should be officially repri
manded by those who are investigating the matter.
According to a report issued last month, Douglas
and Lincoln attorney Paul Gaiter purchased 78 lots
from Commonwealth Vice President Marvin Copple
and sold them for a profit of $1 18,288. Sixty of the
lots were sold to Copple's personal secretary who
received loans from Commonwealth to make the
purchase. That, and other business dealings with
the Copple family, clearly are serious errors of
judgment. It also makes Douglas' effectiveness as
the state prosecutor questionable.
Fortunately, some senators saw the need for offi
cial action on the matter. Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Omaha, who resigned from the special committee,
introduced a resolution to the full Legislature Mon
day calling for the impeachment of Douglas. Such a
resolution would require 25 votes to pass. If it were
to pass, the attorney general would be prevented,
from carrying out his job until the Nebraska Sup
reme Court tried and judged him.. If convicted, he
would be removed from office.
Eight other senators, all of whom were members
of the Commonwealth committee, introduced a bill
Monday that would condemn Douglas for his act
ions. That bill does not call for his resignation. Those
senators are to be commended for keeping the issue
alive, but that does not excuse their inaction in
committee. ' , '
Some have suggested that the committee concern
itself only with the dilemma of Commonwealth
depositors who lost their savings. That should be a
high priority, of course, but the committee also must
work to see that $uch a disaster does not happen
again. Making state officials accountable for their
actions would be a step in that direction.
Unsigned editorials represent official policy of
the spring 1984 Daily Nebraskan. They are written
by this semesters editor in chief, Larry Sparks.
Other staff members mill write editorials through
out the semester. They mill carry the author 's name
after the final sentence.
Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of
the university, its employees, the students or theNU
Board of Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan 's publishers are the re
gents, who established the UNL Publications Board
to supervise the daily production of the newspaper.
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Stamping out death isn 't worth it
I was just pulling the peanut butter puffs out of
the oven the other evening when the door bell rang.
It was a cheery gentleman in a plaid suit who
announced he was collecting for The National
Committee to Stamp Out Death.
I said that sounded like an intriguing idea and
would he care for a peanut butter puff?
Thank you," he said, accepting one. "In return,
may I remind you that death has been a scourge of
Arthur
Hoppe
mankind ever since the dawn of recorded history?
Today, in America alone, death claims more lives
each year than toxic wastes, sky diving and under
water arc welding combined."
"Incredible," I said. "Why hasn't something been
done about this before?"
He shrugged. "People are apathetic," he said.
"Death has been around so long that they think it's
inevitable. 'Sooner or later,' they say to themselves,
T'm going to have to bite The Big Bullet, and that's
that.'"
"But it's not true'"
"Of course not. With enough research funds we
can lick anything. All we need is one big break
through and you, too, can enjoy eternal life. How
much shall I put you down for?"
When I scratched my nose thoughtfully, he quick
ly continued: "J ust think, you can look forward to an
eternity of sunrises and sunsets, the endless chang
ing of the tides, an infinity of summers, falls, winters
and springs, a limitless..."
"How long?" I asked.
"Forever " he said firmly. "Something wrong with
that?" -
"I was thinking of my back exercises," I explained.
"Every morning I have to do these back exercises,
and if I thought I had to do them forever..."
"Instead, think of your loved ones," he suggested.
"Them, too," I said. "I know I promised to love,
honor and cherish my dear wife, Glynda. But the
contract has a time limit. I'm not sure she could put
up with my forgetting to turn the closet light off for
the next million years."
"Look," he said, "imagine having a boundless
expanse of time in which to accomplish all you'd
ever dreamed."
"I suppose I'd finally have to paint the gazebo," I
agreed reluctantly. "And read Marcel Proust's Remem
brance of Tilings Past, which I have been putting off
because I didnt want to read it. You know, it's
amazing the things you can't find time to do that you
dont want to do. Then there's Aunt Gretchen, who
gives me a subscription to Outdoor Pishing for my
birthday every year."
"You don't like Outdoor Fishing?"
"I don't fish. And when I think of writing a million
more thank-you notes to Aunt Gretchen...weil, frank
ly, I think I work better under a deadline."
In the end, I told him I gave at the office. But that
wasn't true. The fact is that while I am certainly in
no hurry to get there, I agree with those who feel
that death is what makes life worth living.
Besides, I can't think of any other way of per
manently deferring taxes.
1 SS4, Chronica Publishing Co.
Allow prayer (oops! meditation) in schools
The bandwagon for a constitutional amendment
allowing time for school prayer (oops! my mistake, I
mean private meditation) is steadily gaining momen
tum. Although the current attempt in Congress
probably won't receive approval from the House' of
Representatives this time, it is likely that before too
1
Mike
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long, prayer (eek! it happened aain, I mean medita
tion) will become a regular part of the academic
day, wedged between recess and sex education
(egad! I mean reproductive science).
Much of the impetus for the current drive to bring
back prayer (gadzooks! What's the matter with me,
meditation) is a basic misconception about what
the current law meansT
Many claim the 1952 Supreme Court decision
makes prayer (cops! I mean medino, I guess I mean
Draver this time") illegal. Nothing rmifH ho f.irfhor
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from the truth; only organized prayer, conducted en
masse during class time, is prohibited. Individual
meditation (woops! I mean prayer) is perfectly
permissable.
Contrary to popular belief, then, this scene has
never and will never occur:
The setting: A typical fifth grade classroom, nestled
away in suburban Midviile, U.SA
Teacher: All right class, it's time to take a pop quiz
over today's mathematics assignment.
G Johnny (whispering): Jeez, I didn't do today's
assignment.
Billy. Boy Johnny, you havent got a prayer (I
mean oh never mind).
Johnny: What am I going to do? Please Lord just
let me pass this test.
The door bursts open.
Cop: Hold it right there, theist scum. You were
praying! You better come with me.
EiHy. You cant arrest him just for praying.
Cop: Shut up, punk. Why arent you reading your
. version of U12 CcviTxunist llanifezio.
, Teacher: We're studying multiplication first.
Cop: The opiate of the maths, eh? Ill deal with you
later. Come on kid, there's a guillotine with your
name on it waiting for you.
Individual prayer (aarrgh, I mean . . . let's just say
prayer) is allowed and is used in public schools,
regardless of the Supreme Court ruling. The original
decision came about because of potential abuses
within the context of organized prayer time. Some
of the so-called prayers dramatically infringed on
the rights of various minorities (gee, I guess I mean
individuals).
The decision was meant to set the matter straight
once and for all: In order to preserve everyone's
rights, organized prayer time would be prohibited.
The individual could still seize the initiative and
pray to his or her God in the personal, heartfelt
and spontaneous manner in which prayer was
meant to be conducted.
Maybe that was too confusing llsiybe, in the spirit
of simplifying the matter, we should 3 ahead and
allow prayer (woopsy-doopsyrI men meditation
or is that prayer no I think thij tkr.e it's medita
tion, but well, let's just szy introspection) back in
the schools.