friday, October 15, 1976
pcg3 4
daily ncbrscksn
I : II ...... x
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letters
7
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Last T.V. debate
topped football
By Arthur Hoppe . ,
Well, David, that wraps up-the historic fifth
Great Television Debate of thi- presidential campaign. I
thought it was the best of the lot by far."
"Right, John. The first three bv Mr. Ford and Mr.
Carter were about as exciting to vatch as elm blight.
And I can't say I was surprised wrjen the fourth one
between Sens. Mondale and Dole was beaten in the
ratings by Celebrity Bowling."
"No wonder the polls show that less than half the
electorate plans to vote. The candidates may have saved
Team defense
innocent
bystander
our democracy by consenting to this unusual fifth de-bate-and
particularly to limiting the topics to sex and
pot."
?WeII, John, those are the subjects our two debaters '
tonight have proved most expert on. And speaking of
them, who do you think won-Mrs. Ford or Mrs. Car
ter?" "I'd call it a toss-up, David. I thought Mrs. Ford '
scored heavily in the sex division when she said she still
wouldn't be surprised if her daughter had-an affair. ,
"That's right, John all poor Mrs. Carter could say is
that she would be surprised if her daughter did. But that '
didn't 'shock anyone. I thought she did better on pot,
though, when she said she was sure all three of her sons
had "smoked it and she wouldn't be surprised if her
mother-in4aw was on hashish."
' "Yes, and all Mrs. Ford had was Jack. That could cost
the Fords a lot of votes. But what did you think of the
two ladies responses to the question, 'Does your husband
wear pajamas?.'"
"It was an interesting question, John, considering the
background. As you know, Mrs. Ford has pledged several
times to continue sleeping in a double bed with Mr. Ford
if he is re-elected." .
"What happens if he's not, David?"
"She hasn't said. But Mrs. Carter has only promised
to sleep in the same room with Mr. Carter, if he goes to
the White House. The polls show her lack of explicitness
on this issue has hurt her husband's chances."
"Then you think the way she replied to the question .
with a mischievous smile and a Yes and no helped?"
"Certainly. If that means sometimes, what times?
Or did she mean just the bottoms or just the . . . Well,
it gets people tiiinking."
"You're right, David. And while we have to admire
the honesty of Mrs. Ford's response, we must also ask
ourselves how many voters still consider a nightshirt
and a nightcap sexy?
"Yes, all in all, it's hard to say who outshocked whom,
but . . Hold it, John. The ratings are in. And," just as
we thought, this debate actually outdrew Thursday -Night
Football!"
"Wow! Who says the public isn't interested in politics?
And wait till next week when Susan and Amy meet face
to face on the question, Who Is the Most Adorable?
(Copyright ChronkJt Pufettshmg Co. 137S)
ffer
Ey L. Kent Vc!?poti
Campaign 76 is the most boring, issueless race in
recent history but it is not the fault of the candidates or
thear campaign staffs. Both Ford and Carter have shown
themselves weH prepared to deal with the issues and will
ing to answer reporters questions about relevant issues.
Cut, the American people have been denied access to
. these issues by our illustrious national media.
In plies of .asking the candidates about issues, the
nctiond media has chosen to concentrate on mistakes
by the two men. Carter has been plagued by the Hay
boy interview, which if read in context is not as damaging
as the press mads it out to be.
Ey his misstatement of median income on tax reform
Fcrd has been pished of kte by his brilliant statement
about Eastern Europe, allegations about misuse of carn
rcign funds, and charges that he was the Nixon admin
idration's chief whipping boy on the House floor. '
It seems to me that most of the national press has '
yoodward and Eemsteinltis, they all want to be the
rjpars&r journalist who uncovers the next Watergate.
The press who cover the candidates from day to day
don't care about the issues or what the candidates say .
about them, they want something which wiH make page
one copy. This holds true for the electronic media, also.
They are not bringing an issue-oriented speech to the
While reading the October 8, Daily Nebraskan, we
became disturbed with Pete Wegman's article Four and
Twenty concerning four varsity sports at UNL-bascball,
tennis swimming, and cross country. The entire article
presented the idea that -these 'less than competent" pro
grams, are' foolishly funded by Nebraska taxpayers'
money. As members of the cross country team, we feel a
response in defense of not only our team, but the others,
too, is necessary so the taxpayers Wegman is so concern
ed about get tht facts.
. The headline of the article indicates that the Nebraska
taxpayers carry the financial burden of these four sports.
This is true only if the said taxpayers attend UNL athletic
events and pay admission. In the ten years cited by Weg
man these varsity programs have been entirely funded by
the UNL Athletic Dept.-a financially independent insti
tution. Not one penny of valuable tax money has been
used for these sports.
The annual budget figures presented-580,000 for base
ball, S45,000 for swimming, and $20,000 for tennis-do
not include a figure for cross country. That's because
there isn't one! The entire amount spent on cross country
in 1975 amounted to approximately $500, which came
out of the track budget. If this program received only a
small fraction of the "hundreds of thousands of dollars"
indicated by Wegman, the Nebraska team might be the
best in the conference.
The cross country program at UNL is not a letter sport
and is designed primarily as a fall conditioning program
for indoor and outdoor track: Unlike other Big 8 schools,
UNL does not recruit athletes for cross country. That
means no scholarships. The team is made up primarily
of middle-distance runners-milers and half-milers. The
main reason for Nebraska competing in Big 8 cross coun
try is to give, these athletes a taste of competition before
the winter track season begins.
The record of the cross country team was given as four
last and one seventh place finish in the past ten years.
What were the finishes the other five years? Not a lovable
"winner", but not a team to be ashamed of. - -
The new fieldhouse recruiting crutch indicated by Weg
man will in no way help either cross country or baseball.
The last paragraph of the article calls for these pro
grams to show drastic improvement or be dropped. Who
is Pete Wegman to say these programs should be cancell
ed; We would ask how much of the students and tax
payers money is being spent to fund a newspaper that
pesents less than competent journalism. Good reporting
includes obtaining all the facts and presenting the com
plete story-not writing an article to suit a particular,
reporter's point of view. Some drastic improvement in
reporting by such personnel of the Daily Nebraskan
onon
should be shown, or the taxpayer's money used to fund
this program be channeled to a more useiui one.
Instead of criticizing UNL's sports, we think encour
agement and support would be more in line with the posi
tion of the Daily Nebraskan. And speaking of supporting
the athletic program; the sale of football programs by
varsity lettermen is a substantial fund-raiser for not only
the Athletic Dept. and lettermen, but also provides a large
contract for a local print shop-taxpayers. The sale of
First Down by obnoxious and inconsiderate peddlers does
not help the sale of the official' programs. We do not
mean to say that all sales-persons are of this nature, but
the rotten few spoil the reputation of the majority.
In the future, we hope the reporting of the Daily
Nebraskan will develop and give its readers something
they can rely on.
With regards,
Matthew Reckmeyer
- Mark Fluitt
Keith Whitaker
Harold Steler
Pat Colburn
And furthermore. . .
Pete Wegman's closing remarks on Big 8 conference
sports at Nebraska seem indicative of that type of think
ing we are far too infected with already:
I, for one, think the role of athletes in the educational
process at UNL receives far too much emphasis already.
Football, in particular, has acquired all the trappings of
a "profession" and is accorded importance and prestige
far in excess of its contribution to the educational pro
cess. Still it seems that what should be given the most con
sideration in evaluating athletic programs at NU should be
the reactions and evaluations of the participants as to the
value of the experiences gained and the contribution to
those experiences by the coaches.
The Athletic Dept. is or is close to being economically
self! sufficient. Because of this it seems reasonable to me
that the football program be able to subsidize other ath
letic programs which, though less profitable financially,
provide equal value to participants. Wegman advocates
that "less than mediocre" programs should be denied
funds unless their records improve. It would interest me
to know what he would recommend as a use for these
funds. Perhaps "salaries" for football players?
It seems to be it would be better for this university
and Mr. Wegman to begin to regard and evaluate athle
tics less as a business venture (with its extensive recruit
ing and emphasis on profits in the form of ticket sales
and "wins") and more as an apsect of learning and recrea
tion. Linda Porter
1 " 'Q8lOrN
A fR$rGiWTg AluST LOVES
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American people, they look for a "47 second confronta
tion" between the candidates. The national media seems
to have forgotten their obligation to inform the populus
about some things more relevant than personal attacks
about the personal lives of the candidates and their fam
ilies.' This is not to say that investitive reporting is not
necessary and that it should not be persued, but it seems
to me that it should not become the entire work of the
journalistic community covering the presidential candi
dates. I dont know what can be done to counteract this
trend but if it is not changed we will lose perhaps the
greatest advantage given .to the people in freedom of the
press. ......
I do think reporters need to be limited to the conven
tional stylized method of political reporting, based on
the mistaken concept of objectivity, a concept which
by its very definition cannot and ioes not exist. If a
reporter abandons this containing, limiting device and
writes, what he sees and what he thinks, then we begin
to find out what actually occurs and can make a choice.
Li 1972, the people of the US. were given this "su?
jective journalism on a national scale in Hunter S.
Thompson's Fear end Loctkmg on the Campan Trail
series published in RoHng Stone.
Thompson and others (John Dean, recently) do not
have to worry about journalistic purity or making front
page headlines. Rather they limit their biases and dont
worry about them, 7fcsa this type of attitude is accepted
grownups
cams
within the journalistic community our newspapers will
improve and become more informative and less superfi
cial. These changes wi2 not take place between now and
- 2 you are interested in the issues and the
candidates stands on them you must get the information
yourself. I know that the Carterondale organization
is more than eager to supply information on the issues to
mterested voters both from the Young Democrats booth
m the Nebraska Union and from the headquarters at 118
2. nth St. The relevant information on Ford and his
running-mate Robert Dole is at the county Republican
Headquarters in the Anderson Eldg.
The national media will continue to exploit the rais
taices of the candidates as major decisive news.