The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 19, 1984, Page Page 4, Image 4
Daily Nebraskan Thursday, January 19, 1834 7 I I O r1 O rmmmci TATrtrir-371 "ri fnrm ttTI r- rrs rr T ail Pega 4 The residents of Sarpy County are tired of run ning scared. After a fall straight from a Hitchcock movie, Sarpy County residents are pinning their hopes for calmer lives on the possibility that John Joubert really did Mil Daniel Eberle and Christopher Walden. The events of the case are well-known. Eberle, a 13-year-old Bellevue -resident, was last seen alive Sept. 18. Walden, a 12-year-old from Papillion, was reported missing Dec. 2. Each was found a few days after his disappearance, dead of multiple stab wounds. Throughout the fall, the sheer wickedness of the crimes, coupled with the inability of a ICO plus member investigation team to find even one suspect in either of the two cases, produced a profound change in the communities involved. As Paul Easier, ' superintendent of the Papillion-La Vista school dis trict told the Lincoln Journal Jan. 12, "It's caused a great deal of apprehension. Older people cant even talk to youth anymore. We have put such a scare in the children I don't know if they'll ever get over it." A reward fund, to be given to the person whose lead resulted in the arrest and conviction of the killer of the two boys, grew to $55,600. Law enforcement officials got their break last week. A report from a preschool said that a man had brandished a knife at a teacher. Joubert was picked up Jan. 1 1 in connection with the preschool inci dent, and later charged with the murders of Eberle and Walden. The investigators. and the general public have understandably drawn a huge, collective sigh of relief that a susoect has at least been charged with the murders. With that sense of relief, however, comes the great danger that Joubert will be con victed not because a court of law weighs the evi dence presented to it and finds him guilty, but that he will instead be convicted simply as a result of our sheer need to convict somebody of these crimes. In our minds and hearts, if not in our public state ments, we run the risk of convicting Joubert before he ever gets to trial The trial of Joubert stands to be one of the most closely-watched news events in the state. Sarpy County Public Defender James Miller has rightfully filed a notion on behalf of Joubert to prevent inves tigators from giving "purported evidence" to repor ters before the hearing. However, the stories and rumors that already have circulated about the case Joubert's "loner" image, or the stories of FBI agents hypnotizing witnesses to develop descrip tions of suspects, for example make the whole affair once again seem like a movie. The real test of the investigative team, our legal system and cur collective desire for true justice is just beginning with Joubert's preliminary hearing, which m scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today. Our test will be to remember that this b not a movie, that Joubert is a flesh-and-blood human who is, according to our most fundamental legal tradition, innocent until proven guilty. Pa Clark .... --n.r , i. ii - N N ! -n- - - ' " f vxx ... Letters Age won yt stop buyers In response to your editorial on the drinking age (Daily Nebraskan, Jan. 16), I must question the rea soning that another year gap between teens and the drinking age will decrease the number of buyers. It is currently illegal for teens to drink, so the number of lives to be saved is merely speculation. If even one life saved makes it worth it, why not reinstate prohi bition and save more lives? Our problem is not the age, but society's adjust ment to the use of this legal drug. We need to increase awareness of the responsibility that needs to go with being able to drink. Even if you don't value your own life, don't jeopardize the safety of others by driving under the influence. If you go out drinking, realize intoxication is a possible and likely outcome and plan ahead to get a ride or to walk home. Don't just try to make it home without getting caught. Be considerate enough not to ruin someone else's right to live or to drink. If at 18 Americans can vote and be drafted to go to war, they ought to be able to drink. After all, alcohol is our legal intoxicant of choice. Thanks for not drinking and driving. - . - 1 . David Splichal , freshman ornamental horticulture 4 In ; FT 1 -A r K it 4 r 4 1 1 7 J - - - -5L 2L. r-n pc:n fay Anrnicaro rrTi-.cr,i,AUCE?" Awareness of death necessary AUm lartcsiMMwr for lis to fully , appreciate iiie I read Bill Allen's editorial column (Daily Nebras kan, Jan. 16) and I can say it was one of the most immature columns I have read for a long time. J assume that the Daily Nebraskan is a proving ground for up and coming journalists. But Allen, by his attitudes toward fraternities, sororities and off campus students, has proven the fact that he has no humor and little, if any, intelligence. I recommend Allen resign his position or allow a less narrow minded person to write numerous guest articles. JerrieR. Muir . ,r junior business Why do we college students in our teens and twenties need to think about death? It intrudes only slightly in our age-segregated lives as when, for example, a college professor commits suicide. Oth erwise, it is a remote, abstract concept that is almost unreal. The work of the right-wing death squads in El Salvador, for example, is little more than a news item for us.. (1 ' Krishna i Madan , Letters Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit all material submitted. . : Anonymous submissions will not be considered for publication. Letters should include the author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names from publication Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebra ska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. eS5S2-0i-18. Yet, we experience death and its companion, birth, every day of our lives in our dealings with ourselves and with others. As we discover things that enrich our lives, we are continually being born anew. In order to do this, a part of us our old attitudes and prejudices ' must die. In our dealings with people, some friendships are born while others die in a process that goes on continually. Our actions determine whether we develop new friendships and give a new life to old ones or whether we kill off existing friendships either by letting them wither or by inconsiderate acts. t Death pervades our lives much more literally when it comes to physical things. The food we eat either hastens or postpones our death. So do exer cise, deep, ar.d stress. . ' . Yet, how are we to be continuously aware of the presence of death in our lives without being sombre, : morose individuals? The answer, as usual, lies in resolving those opposites that philosophers thrive on; in this case, the opposites of sadness and joy. Conventional wisdom declares that to be happy we should forget our troubles and those of others. This type of happiness is but a thin-skinned bubble which is easily burst and consequently, can produce its opposite: unconsolable depression. In contrast, an awareness of death produces a quiet but more secure joy that is based on the knowledge that, through our actions, we do have some measure of control over death. Moreover, our actions can similarly enable us to experience the joy of birth, both within ourselves and in our relation ships to others. Even though our final, physical, personal death is unavoidable, this certainty need not be a cause for despair. Research has shown that those who reflect on their lives with the most contentment while on their deathbeds are those who feel that they have done what they know is right both in their relation ships to other individuals and to the world at large. The latter needs emphasizing. Even though right wing and government-sponsored terrorism in U.S. backed El Salvador may not disturb us enough to prompt any action on our part, the accumulated deaths of the people there may weigh heavily on us 40 years from now. Our inaction is bound to pro duce a vague perhaps unconscious uneasiness about the way we have lived our lives. Ia order to better prepare for our final deaths, therefore, we have to be more aware of the literal, aru figurative deaths taking place all around us wMe giving birth to new idsss, attitudes, relation ships and ultimately to a new society.