daily nebraskan
frlday, march 2, 1979
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Legislature celebrates Nebraska's 112th birthday
By Randy Essex
Happy birthday Nebraska, only one day late.
Although the ground and trees probably don't look
any older today, the state they help compose was 112
years old Thursday. The day had passed without cere
mony several times in the past, but not this year.
A birthday party was held in the capital rotunda
Thursday afternoon, complete with cake and the
governor, who was there to cut the cake. The num
ber one-ranked UNL gymnasts put on an exhibition,
which was the first athletic event held in the capital.
Secretary of State Allen Beermann organized the event,
which was open o the public. The Lincoln High Choir
helped congratulate the state on living one more year.
And, happy birthday to two state senators who were
born on Feb. 29th. Thomas Fitzgerald of Omaha and
freshman Harold Sieck from Pleasant Dale were wished a
happy birthday by their fellow senators Wednesday.
By coincidence, the Legislature was not in session on
the state's birthday. Senators were given Thursday and
Friday off because the National Convention of State
Legislators met in Washington Thursday and is meeting
today. Ten of the state's 49 senators attended the event.
As any diligent or occasional reader of the Daily
Nebraskan probably guessed, abortion laws took up a
great deal of time in the capital this week. LB3 16, which
is an attempt to bring the state's laws into compliance
with court rulings went through extensive amendments
and floor debate before it was advanced to final reading.
Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who warned senators that
they were passing an unconstitutional bill when they
passed the law that has been rendered useless by court in
junction, issued the same warning again as LB316 was
rewritten by amendments.
"You can understand my exhultation at this point,"
Chambers said. "Venditte (Omaha Sen. Patrick") doesn't
know if DeCamp (Neligh Sen. John) is on his side. . .con
fusion reigns."
"You have chosen to lumber and blunder your way out
of the swamp and into the wilderness," Chambers said.
"The entire matter has become frivolous, and I'm going to
treat it as such."
"The courts will make the bill unconstitutional, and
we will be dealing with this again next January, but that
has never been an impediment to this Legislature before,"
Chambers said.
Probably by coincidence, but worth noting anyway,
were absences during Judiciary Committee hearing this
week.
Venditte and Chambers both sit on the committee. It
is certainly fair to say the two are not close legislative
Hard to justify any death penalty
First-degree murder is defined as the
jpremeditated killing of a human being. Second
degree murder is a rash, unpremeditated act.
Manslaughter is an unintended, often accident
al act. Then there is execution.
Execution is an act sanctioned by the
governing body of a society. Although murder
and manslaughter are considered immoral acts
by most, execution usually escapes similar con
demnation. We do not need biblical guidelines to tell us
the taking of a human life is wrong. Human
kind knows almost instinctively that there is
something inherently wrong with the act of
killing a fellow human. It can be argued that
the aversion to murder is nearly biologically
ingrained.
When we get to the fringe areas-war and
capital punishment -we suddenly find ourselves
in a moral quandary. We find ourselves wonder
ing if there are times when killing fellow
humans is acceptable, such as when defending
our homes or ridding our society of killers.
When speaking of the death penalty, logic
rarely reigns supreme. Morality, by its very
definition, is subject to emotional interpre
tation. The proponents of the death penalty are
motivated oy emotions. They illustrate the
classic battle between the concept of justice ,
which, in its purest form, is logical and ob
jective, and vengeance, which is a purely emo
tional concept.
Emotions speak louder than logic, irregard
less of from what side of the coin they are
derived. Where the punishment or murder is
concerned, logic takes a back seat to emotion.
When a murderer is spared the death penalty,
it is a decision based on compassion, either for
the murderer or society. When he or she is sen
tenced to die, it is often a revenge-motivated
decision directed against the ' heitiousness of
the crime rather than the perpetrator himself.
The most chilling argument for the death
penalty is the economic one, i.e.; it costs so
ciety so much to keep a murderekfiqused in a
place of confinement for so much tirjie. :
It is the ultimate indignity, reducing ffie
worth of a human life to a calculable aniount
of money. This argument is also a sham
because it is a feeble attempt to logically de
fend the motive of revenge. Emotion can not
be logically dissected. It is the nature of the
beast that it can be approached only emotion
ally, in subjective terms.
A logical defense of the death penalty may
be little more than the abdication of moral
responsibility to the condemned. The argument
is that there is a greater responsibility to so
ciety. If this is true perhaps society would be
better served if tt were spared the burden of
guilt for condoning the premeditated execution
of one of its members. For certainly, if a
society stands by and allows a person's life to
be systematically terminated, it is as guilty
as the judge who passes sentence or the
technician who pulls the switch.
M$m tie 'tthe editor
Hie Mobile Elood Bank held at Wesley House on Val
entine's Day was a good success! The final tally was 83
pints of blood that were especially for bum patients at
St. Elizabeth Hospital and for over-agers who can no
longer give blood.
For the Community Blood Bank and for die recipients,
I want to thank all who donated blood and all who volun
teered their help. And also to the Daily Nebraskan -thank
you for your help through our paid ad and through the
news .coverage of the event.
The Community Blood Bank is a local resource worth
supporting because it provides thousands of pints of fresh
blood Immediately, available to local hospitals. Persons
who join, by giving one pint of blood a year, can have all
die blood they or their family members need without
replacing it.? ;1 : x
Thanks to a3 who gave so generously!
MelLuetchens
Minister-Director
Wesley House
A letter to Forde
Dear Nets W.Forde,
Let me share with you two things I have learned at
UNL;
(1) The Daily Nebraskan is not the word of God. 1
learned this in Philosophy 266.
(2) Flippant, uninformed people tend to write flippant,
uninformed articles and letters. I learned this from reading
Tom Prentiss and yourself.
I realize that as a historian you have been trained to
rely on second-hand sources, but I propose to you that
the Daily Nebraskan might not be a sound basis for in
dignant tirades. Doug Eriandson can defend himself and
his class if he chooses. I shall concentrate on (a few of)
the idiocies in your Guest Opinion.
, For instance, it is very easy to flunk Philosophy 266.
AD it takes is plagiarism-mindlessly repeating facts
gleaned from some reference work. His written work
requires the student to produce eight to 10 pages of their
own ideas, without relying on outside sources. One sus
pects that, to get an A in a course like, yours, one must
cleverly paraphrase at least three independent sources,
with an appended "interpretation" paragraph.
Continued on Page S
allies. If they agree on a consequential issue, It is usually
tor very ainerem reasons.
Tuesday, Venditte argued for a bill that would require
fetal death certificates and funerals for fetuses aborted
after the 12th week of pregnancy. Chambers missed the
hearing.
' Wednesday, Chambers presented his bill to repeal the
death penalty. Venditte was absent.
Perhaps for selfish reasons, I had hoped both would
make it to both hearings to help relieve the dryness and
make the hearings' length more bearable.
Toad-child devours
laundry basket, cat
There are many things which depress me: funerals,
weddings, nuclear testing, pimples, the Boston Red Sox
when they drop a twi-rtight double-header to Cleveland,
four-putting a green, American Lung Association commer-cials-and
going to the Laundromat.
Going to the Laundromat ranks right up there among
my least favorite things to do, right Under eating liver
and kissing a goat on the lips.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate my distaste for Laun
dromats is to give you a minute-by-minute account of a
typical Laundromat visit. This visit is usually made on
alternate Sunday mornings between the hours of 11 a.m.
and 1 p.m.
1 1 :Q0-Enter Laundromat carrying largfe basket of dirty
clothes. Trip over crawling child
11 .00:01 -Run outside' for breath Of fresh air. Laun
dromat smells like warehouse full of soiled diapers.
11:01 -Tie handkerchief over hosefl4 tftduth and
re-enter..,. ; iM
'.-, Cast of chactera ,,.r ,
11:Q2 -toad washer with dirty clo&esV sit " tfdwh ' and
regard cast 'df characters; Cast of characters includes:
-one twsyear-old child of undetermhiati sek which
resembles a toad: 't
-its mother. Vv-
-a man with no nose.
-a comatose wino.
-two elderly women.
-a cat with no hair on its back.
-the attendant.
1 1 : 05 -Rummage through pile of magazines. Begin
reading six-year-old Field and Stream.
11:05:15 -Toad-child snatches field and Stream and
eats it. Smile tolerantly at child and find another
magazine.
11 :06 Elderly women begin discussing yeast
infections. I move to other side of room. Sit beside wino.
1 1 :07-Wino wakes up and asks me to lend him my
shoes. I move to chair beside mother of toad-child.
Eats underwear
U :10-One of my washers begins making funny noises.
I open the lid. Washer is eating my underwear Call attend
ant. 1 1 :48-Attendant comes. Kicks washer. Washer stops
making funny noises. Three pairs of underwear disappear.
12:04-Put remaining clothes in dryer. Sit down beside
toad-child's mother again. Man with no hose joins us. Asks
me to lend him my handkerchief, I go, back to elderly
women. Toad-child follows. . .
12:05-1 regard signs posted on walls. WE CLOSE AT
NINE, BE DONE IN TIME! NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR
LOST ARTICLES. ATTENDANT WILL REMOVE
CLOTHES IN YOUR ABSENCE. Look at attendantShe
is 60 years old. She has a moustache. Make mental note
never to come in when someone! absent.-
12: 15-Check clothes in dryer. Still wet. Put in another
dime.
Snake stories v
12:16-Elderiy women taking about ieriberi. Go back
to mother. Toadhild follows, Man With no nose is
telling mother how he lost it. Go back to wino. Toad
child follows. Wino tells me not to sit on snakes. Go back
and sit with elderly women.
12:25-Check dryer. Clothes still wet. Put in dime,
turn up heat. .
12:26-Toadhild begins making funny noises. Starts
eating my shoes. Kick child. Go and tit beside mother.
Toad-chad follows. Man with no nose sneezes. Go back to
elderly women.
12:35-Check dryer. Entire load Tits In my'fxwtet
Swear and give4iundry basket to toad-chad. Toad-child
eats basket. Give, handkerchief to man with no nose. Give
digital gesture to T attendant. Turn to leave. Trip over
crawling chad. " - ; -
12:57-Regain consciousness. Leave Laundromat. Turn
to regard cast of characters one last time. Attendant re
moves clothes. Toad-chad eats cat.