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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1984)
Tuesday, March 20, 1934 Pago 4 Daily Nebraskan Mee5ia sileae MIL EOT) 'lUiiHG The Fall River, Mass., rape case has caught the attention and eyes of the nation. It has received play on some cable television stations in and around New Bedford, on the national news and in the papers every day of the triaL The victim, as she is appropriately referred to in the media, has told and retold the story. She was asked when she last had sex with her boyfriend, if her grandmother called her a drunk and if she defrauded welfare. News reports say soap opera view ers have switched to watching the trial. My sister remarked that there have recently been two rapes on All My Children in one week; perhaps an attempt to compete with the grue some details of this case. Two men were convicted of aggra vated rape in the case. They face pos sible life sentences. I hope they get them. Few crimes are more heinous than rape. It is an incredible violation and should be treated as such. The defendants' families and com munity are complaining that the jury sought vengeance because they were of Portuguese descent. So was the vic tim. The convicted rapists would deserve the same sentence no matter what nationality they were. Four other men still are on trial. That means the victim will be telling her story and answering irrelevant questions about her past for at least another week. She has been victimized twice. Whether or not she defrauded welfare, was drunk or promiscuous should have no effect on the trial. She was the victim of a violent crime; her past does not excuse these men for raping her. The men who stood around the bar and watched the victim dragged to a pool table, and who cheered as she was brutally raped deserve some time in prison as well. It's a shame nothing will happen to them. The rules of the courtroom should change. But who can say where the line is drawn in testimony on the cir cumstances of a rape case? Judges should be urged to halt the cruel gril ling of rape victims when the line ot questioning is designed to make the victim crack or to discredit her. Its almost as brutal as the rape itself. A secondary effect of the trial is pre dicted by rape crisis center staff mem bers. They say victims of rape may be afraid to press charges knowing that they might have to endure what the New Bedford victim is enduring. Women are alarmed by the lengthy and brutal questioning, and the treat ment this trial has received in the press. The woman's name was used in many newspapers. And her trial was televised. The trial is news. The case is particu larly newsworthy because of the cheer ing of the patrons and the number of rapists. But this news dissuades victims of rape from testifying, and that outweighs the value of that news. The options: The people's right to know or the sanc tity of the victim, on which extensive press reports have a crushing effect. In this case we could have been spared the "news" until the men were convicted. The papers gave some peo ple what they wanted in trial coverage. It wasn't the best for all of the people. Cliris Welsch , H . ,K.-: .VS v& L l..fTH,i - I" E car iv. v, .u : . ' - 1 M V-- AY, :A Sol iwiai 1 m CHICiO TResuHE Personal pan politic an presented Reagan: Well, in the first place, I don't agree with your assessment. Farmers have done well the last four years, thanks in no small part to my Payment Unkind Program. Their future looks even brighter, given my re-election, because we'll get rid of those Christopher Burbach Should Walter Mondale hang on to nab the Demo cratic presidential nomination, this fall's debates will be battles between two of America's most gifted purveyors of truth and insight, Mondale and the incontinent, excuse me, incumbent candidate Ronald Reagan. A debate may very well go like this: Moderator (someone who looks like Bella Abzug): Welcome to the League of Women Voters' 1934 pre sidential candidates' debate. On my right is Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. (Huzzah, Huz zah!!). And on my left is the incontinent, excuse me, incumbent Republican candidate President Ronald Reagan (Huzzah, Huzzah). The first question is from Brent Musberger of CBS Sports. Musberger: Mr. Mondale, if elected, do you think youH have a chance to reach the Final Four? Mondale: Well, Woodrow Wilson did it, so f think I'd have a pretty good shot. We both have a lot of gray hair. ' Moderator President Reagan? Reagan: Well, I've been playing golf all my life, and IVe always made the final fore. Barbara Walters of ABC News: President Rccin, one group that has not done well under your eco nomic reform is the American farmer. If re-elected, what will you do to reverse their fortunes? silly national forests, which will create more farm land, which will in turn increase the magnitude and subsequently the beauty of the Payment Unkind Program. Mondale: I have one question..."Where's the beef?" It's in Canada, that's where it is, and it's coming south. We've got to keep those cows out! Sandy Freeman of Freeman Reports:. Mr. Mondale, your critics claim that, because of your early endor sement by the AFL-CIO, you may not be able to act independently as president. Would you please re spond to that argument? Mondale: I'll stand up to them, as I've said several times throughout this campaign. I've confronted them and avowed my independence, and they said "Have it your way, Fritz." I assure you, I will be a president of all the PACs er, people. Reagan: 111 say the same thing to the unions as I've been saying to my filthy rich big corporate pals, "You deserve a break today." For the unions, that's break as in bust. For my rich pals, that's break as in less taxes, less regulation more blank checks from the First Bank of Exploitation. Campus Quotes, Daily Nebraskan: What do you think of the weather in Nebraska? Do you approve' Both candidates: Go Big Red! Roger Mudd, NBC News: For both Mr. Mondale and President Reagan. What benefits will your par ty's platform create for the average American? Reagan: America, we do it all for you. Well balance the budget again, well decrease taxes again and well get your oldest son killed in a meaningless show of power. Mondale: 111 be your persopal pan president, America. Ill solve your myriad of problems in five minutes or I'm free. That's right, if the arms race isn t halted, unemployment eradicated and equal rights realized within five minutes after my inauga ration, 111 work the rest of my term for free. The audience: We love politicians, we love 'em' Simple answer found for child's broken bank, but not Commonwealth My girlfriend and I recently bought a bank for her little brother's birthday present. His birthday was Monday, but they're not celebrating it until Friday so we can be there. They can get away with that because he's only three and doesn't really know when his birthday is yet Bill Allen Actually, they could skip his birthday entirely and he'd never know. That's a cruel thing to do though. I know. I was 16 before I found out about Christmas. He can't read yet either, of course, so I can write this column without him finding out we are cele brating his birthday Friday instead of Monday, or that we are getting him a bank. If he was a famous former president we always would celebrate his birthday on Monday regardless of the day on which he really was born. Before we could do that he'd have to grow up, become a politi . cian, get elected several times, run for president, be great and die. All that's a long way off. He just got regular underwear a few days ago. We told a couple ol friends that we got him a bank and they all said, "Which one?" "American Charter," my girlfriend said. , "No, Commonwealth Savings," I said. "It was cheap." Actually, it's a ceramic bank shaped like a little boy with a slot in the back of his head for the coins. It has JON written on the front of a pair of bib overalls. That's how they spell his name, so we liked it. It's cute, like the real Jon, but he doesn't have a slot in the back of his head. The more I think about it, the story of our bank is somewhat like the plot of Commonwealth. You see, we bought that bank a couple of weeks ago and had it sitting around. Lots of our friends came in and asked if they could keep change in it. "Sure," we said, "but if it's stolen, we're not respon sible. I mean this little savings bank isn't insured or anything." "Oh, no problem," they said, laughing. "Well take our chances." Sure enough, for no reason, that little Jon bank fell part. All the coins rolled here and there and we couldn't find most of them. We even had other peo ple help us look, but the money was gone. "But your money wasn't insured," we yelled as our friends pounded on our door, trying to break it down. "We don't care," they yelled. "Why should we be responsible for ourselves?" "What do we look like, the Federal Deposit Insu rance Corporation?" I asked. "Why dont you call Gov. Kerrey and ask the people of Nebraska to give you your money back?" "Would they do that?" they asked in all seriousness. "Of course not," I said, "that's ridiculous. I was only joking." Our friends still are unheppy. We went to the store and explained the situation to the manager. "There's nothing I can do," ha srid. "Nothing. Nothing at all I can do."