J I
Law's sscond p
should, be vetoad
Nebraska voters should be aware that pro
posed amendment six is really two proposals and
that one can be added to the constitution without
the other. It is important that voters make this
distinction because, while part one should be
passed, part two should be turned down.
Part two of amendment six would allow the
Legislature to provide loans or grants to students
attending non-public postsecondary schools with
the stipulation that the money be spent for
non-sectarian purposes only.
The difference between this proposal and part
one of the amendment is that the latter provides
reimbursement for a specific use (special training
for the handicapped) which the state has deter
mined is every handicapped person's right. Part
two would provide 'an unspecified amount to be
used for anything bat religious education.
It would not be difficult to monitor the use of
reimbursement funds for special education pro
grams for the handicapped but it would be almost
impossible to. assure that money given to a stu
dent in the form of a loan or grant is spent only
for non-religious pursuits. Optimists need only
look at the abuse of federally insured loans and
other aid programs for college students.
The recipient attending a private college could
not be prevented from using the money to buy
his theology textbook anymore than the grant
recipient at UNL can be prevented from spending
the grant money on a winter wardrobe.
Absolute nonsectarian use, of the funds would
be improbable because, as anyone who has
attended a parochial school knows, religious
training does not end in theology class.
Any effective monitoring system would of
necessity be so stringent it could cause some
schools to compromise their religious policy or
curtail some requirements in order to be eligible
for the money.
. II : . '
''l) . p
Precautions wnlws could ia!
4W
"f avoid
nomse
al sentences
By Theodore M. Bernstein
Always read it over. Silly things sometimes turn up in
print simply because the writer has not taken the trouble
to read over what he has written. Take a look at this
sentence: "Dr. Lawrence M. Lichtenstein . . . views the
new test as the first step in providing proper treatment for
those people who experience severe hives, asthma, shock
and even death from the bites of such insects as bees . .
bsrnstein on words
The Dairy Nebraskan welcomes letters to the editor
and guest opinions. Choices of material published will
be based on timeliness and originality. Letters must be
accompanied by the writer's name, but may be
published under a pen name if requested.
Guest opinions should be typed, triple-spaced, on
nonerasable paper. They should be accompanied by the
author's name, class standing and major, or occupation.
All material submitted to these pages is subject to edit
ing and condensation, and cannot be returned to the
writer.
Wendy L. Patterson of Wilmington, DeL, who sent in the
clipping, asks, "what is the proper treatement for a person
who has experienced death?'
Here is another example sent in by BiH M. of Wayne,
Pa.: "In addition Sue has prepared and frozen a stew and
Tony's wife, Nancy, manager of CBS Radio Spot Sales, a
noodle casserole called mother's mess." Poor Nancy, first
frozen and then called a casserole. Of course editors are
supposed to catch ridiculous wordings, but writers should
not count on them, capable as most of them are.
A couple of up When a commentator says that John
Soandso heads up a committee, Alice Van Roekel of
Alton, Iowa, is annoyed and she has every right to be.
What does the up add to the phrase? On the other hand,
she is also annoyed if someone says that Mr. Soandso
turned up missing, but that should not be a cause of
annoyance because there we have an accepted idiomatic
phrase. How can he turn up if he is missing? she asks. She
is taking the phrase too literally. What it means is to prove
to be or turn out to be. Webster's New Collegiate Diction
ary gives us as an example of its use almost exactly the
sentence that is paraphrased above: "He turned up missing
at roll call "
Spelling. Orthography means spelling as a subject for
study and heaven knows it is a subject that needs
attention these days. Grant 0. Gale of GrinneH, Iowa, in a
letter on this topic says, "In the 8 th grade in a rural one
room school in Michigan I had a course in orthography.
There were 54 kids and one teacher and we had a lot of
fun with words. Kids today are missing a lot; the sad part
is that they don't realize it." Not only are today's kids
missing the fun, but in addition they are missing the edu
cation. It might be a good idea to give them a course in
grammar in the 7th grade, then a course in orthography
in the 8th grade. That would give them the schooling that
is lacking in so many places.
Perfectly good. Paul Wenograd of Philadelphia writes to
BoY-wow to ask wait a minute, I (or we) had better
explain what BoW-wow means. We (or I) never know
what pronoun or noun to use when this rectangle wants to
refer to itself, so your host decided to make it, for today
at least, BoW-wow. The official title of the column is
Bernstein on Words and that title produces the acronym
BoW. Adding wow! to it is too obvious to require
explanation. Therefore today you are reading BoW-wow.
Getting back to "perfectly good. Paul Wenograd sent
BoW-wow a clipping containing this sentence: "Although
perfectly healthy, he was given a battery of tests and told
to return for visits with specialists." The question raised is
whether perfectly is correctfy used in that context. Pre
sumably what the questioner has in mind is that a person
is either partly healthy or is healthy and that perfectly
healthy contains a superfluous word. It isjtrue that per
fectly means completely or fully so that in the strictest
sense the word is extraneous. But in the quoted sentence
it is being used as an intensive, akin to very or completely
or fully, in order to add emphasis to the word it modifies
and m this case it is helpful.
Word oddities. Talking about BoW-wow, you may be inter
ested to know that one dictionary says that wow is an
exclamation of pleasure or pain among other things. Take
your choice.
(cj 1376 Thaodor M. Csmstcin
Spatial Features
Generation doesn't give 'hoot in hell' about election
By L. Kent Wolgamott
"Who is going to explain in 1976 that all the people
who felt they got burned in "72 should try again for
another bogus challenger? Four years from now there
will be two entire generations between the ages of 22
and 40-who will not give a hoot in heS about any elec
tion, and their apathy will be rooted in a personal exper
ience. Four years from now it will be very difficult to
convince anybody who has gone from JohnsonGoMwater
to HumphreyNixon to NixonMcGovem that there is
any possible reason for getting involved hi another bullshit
election. Hunter S. Thompson summed up Campaign
76 four long years ago.
Apathy is running wild during this campaign, pro
jected voter turnout is the least in history, for good rea
son. The. least productive age group, without a doubt,
will be those 18-25. But we are (lisillusioned. The UJS.
was involved in an immoral, unjust war in Southeast Asia
for the most pert of our Eves, and our early political
memories are bkak-assssmsation of our great leaders,
urban riots and decay, unrest on the campus. . . This
generation has yet to see and live throh any of the
"greatness of this country's history, we have been given
nothing to be proud cf, no great national accompli-
.
la the 1960s the young people called for a charge ia
this country, but they wsre dsnisi.
Instead of tayt!!3 pcs2ss we were ghea Eschnrd..
lsca rrocee-;d to xlTy the cfUce cf the Presidency
and destroy tie fh cf the jstriaa pttTIc ia their
gsmmcit. Ills dowcM was not the end of the Nixon
lZ7-1 continues ia the farm cf cnbinet officers, and in
the greatest abortion of justice in American history The
Pardon. The damage done by the Nixon Administration in
the area of enemies civil rights and to the moral spirit of
the country as a whole cannot be accessed today that is
for history to decide but the record is starting to come in.
This election can provide a change. It can turn the path
of a country which is sti3 divided by the unrest of the 60s
and the political turmoil of the early 70s. Gerald Ford has
said he is running on the record of his administration.
If I was forced to have that record I would run, too,
and fast. Mr. Ford is hard-pressed to explain his cruel
vetoes-of a school lunch bill, a strip mining bill and his
lack of handling foreign policy. Mr. Ford has not shown
dynamic leadership, evidenced by the GAO report on the
Mayaguez sfiair and his indecision on the Earl Dutz
debacle. He has shown us no vision of the path of the
future of the nation, managing the government by res
ponding to a crisis and not setting a policy. Four more
years of this do-nothing, govenunent-by-veto leadership
wO prove disastrous for the ration. We need a vision of
this country and a government whichwill be responsive
to the needs of the majority of the people and not a gov
ernment which exists to assist the elite of our society.
We need a government which will help the people who
need fcdp-the elisify, the unemployed and the EL
We need government which will operate on a fcrefen
policy basil on, the values of this notion and not on ex
pedncy. We need a government which win restore the
faith of the Amsrksa public in itself and in its govern
ment. If we cannot have this type cf government this
nsitsa w3 est sunire esy. Ckr cities axe rapsi! be
ccn3 retted end dscsjsd to the point of no return,
our govsnnncnt end-r l&xa and Ford has msnssd to
.veto most cf the "people" kIlioa as inCiibnery,
yet the infhtioa rate cf this administration is one of
the greatest ia history. XI e have more people unemployed
now than at any time since the Great Depression. And the
Ford administration is running on its record.
I don't see any quick and easy solutions to these pro
blems. People are not getting invohed in politics today
and ther results could be fatal. Beth Carter and McCarthy
grownups
'game
offer a positive alternative to the record of the past.
However, as a minority candidate McCarthy may do
more harm than good. If he receives a substantial percent
age of the vote he could take enough votes from Carter
to cost him the election and give us four more years
which is a very frightening thouit.
Jimmy Carter is somewhat cf an unknown quantity on
the American political scene and perhaps that is what this
country needs some one to come ia and chrs the things
which need to be changed in order to mike this country
Foud agasi. Genii Ford is usmg this as his campaign
s-ogsa but I am not proud of our country and its action
n the kst few years, I am not proud of the unespby
ment; the lack of health care, and the gcaersl kck cfccn
pssion of our pvexnznent. I am not rrsdl cf a farea
pcicy run h secrecy andby Ideal
see how anyone eis coiii be pmsd. Us ibsd chs in
ts country, we need kciss ta, tcccn3 xzSsdi
twn the apathy and degredstbn of this nztbn wil
continue.
