The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 26, 1985, Page Page 5, Image 5
Friday, April 26, 1935 Daily Nebraskan Page 5 Columnist predicts Nebraska 'pre-nostalgia' I have three major compulsions: food, food and nostalgia. I am slowly learning to control the first two, but I have given up on the third. I am a man with a curse. I am a sucker for situa tion comedy reruns, old love letters, and the 50 greatest hits of anyone who sang before 1970. S Jame Sennett Nostalgia buffs are especially susceptible to certain times of the year, of which Christmas is by far the worst and the end of the school year is a respectable second. So here it is, April again, and I have the irresistible urge to look back. In obedience to a force far greater than I, I hereby present the first annual "There's One Born Every Minute" Awards in appreciation of all those people who made 1984-85 a year worth remembering only by future nostalgia sickies. The "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Fan tasy Award goes to the Nebraska State Legisla ture, which continues to demonstrate a remark able faith that quality education doesn't cost anything. The current encore performance may lead many exceptional faculty, staff and stu dents this fall to utter those immortal words, "I don't think we're in Nebraska anymore." . O The "Emily Post Never Got Elected to Nuthin' " Hospitality Award goes to State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who is once again proving at every opportunity that you don't have to be uncouth to make headlines, but it sure helps. O The "Much Ado About Nothing" Award for Compassionate Comic Relief goes to all the stu dents and others who participated in the Daily Nebraskan's "Great Weight Debate" last fall. In the midst of an election year, which also wit nessed crucial issues concerning local, national and foreign policy, we were able to spend our time arguing the great theological question, "Can fat people get into heaven?" O The "Hell Hath No Fury" Award for Feather Ruffling above and beyond the call of duty goes to ASUN (would somebody get Bill Allen a tissue?) for its adept handling of the WRC inci dent. It's not every legislative body that can vote for a resolution overwhelmingly, then breathe a collective sigh of relief when it is vetoed by the higher-ups. Supporting Actor Award in this category goes to UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale, who with one stroke of a pen nullified a week-long con troversy and proved to us all once again just how much power our student government really has. The "My Heroes Have Always Been Vig ilantes" Award for Creative Cowardice goes to our old friend Bernhard Goetz, who gave new meaning to the expression, "Take two; they're small." Finally, the Award for Best Performance in a Non-existent Post-Election Role goes to former vice president Walter Mondale, for his excep tional portrayal in "If You Can't Beat 'Em and You Don't Want to Join 'Em, At Least Stay Out Of Their Way." Class act, Fritz. Not one "I told you so" from a man who has plenty of opportunities. (It is rumored that, on election night, Mondale consoled his family and friends in the wake of one of the most devastating presidential land slides in history with the words, "At least we got the Daily Nebraskan endorsement.") Well, there's the year for you. I have much more, but I want to rush this into print before People magazine steals my exclusive. If anything can be learned from such a survey, it is just how transitory our interests really are. Matters that were urgent just weeks ago are now fodder for yet another "Where Are They Now?" column. So the next time something seems urgent or vital, do a little "pre-nostalgia." Will people be laughing at this in 10 weeks, or 10 months or lOyears? If it is really important, really worth our time and effort, it will still be an issue when the smoke has cleared. Shalom. Have a wonderful summer. Don't take any wooden Class I school districts. 'Disguised murder' an easy answer Opinion by Susan Kisicki Staff Reporter In the April 11 issue of the Daily Nebraskan, James A. Fussell wrote an editorial, column about murder. This article was about the "civ ilized" murder we as a society commit through the death penalty. Every Tues. and Fri. u starting J CY June Uth. (j Nebraskan r i Co v Fussell told us how we "salve our conscience by calling it justice," and how we mask the fact that it is murder by using clean, polite words like "execute," when we could use matter-of-fact words like "kill." Killing criminals is not the only murder our society commits. Fussell said: "Nothing cheapens our humanity like the death penalty." But I can think of a worse crime. The number of lives lost because of the death penalty are few, especially when compared to the millions of lives lost because of abortion. Some people say that abortion is OK because we are not destroying human lives. But there is an irony in that statement. When we allow abor tion, suddenly other laws don't make "sense. There is a pro-life advertisement with a pic ture of an unborn eagle and an unborn human that asks which of the two is more valuable. It further explains how society fines a person for killing the unborn eagle, but pays someone to kill the unborn human. Something is wrong with a society that values and protects an unborn eagle, but not an unborn human. It also is ironic when in one part of a hospital, we could put so much effort, money and technol ogy toward saving a premature baby's life, and in another part of that hospital we destroy the life of a child the same age. Birth is just a change in location. Often a fcius is viable before birth. The real miracle happens at conception. Life begins the moment the sperm and egg unite. Technology won't change that fact. When we apply that fact to our lives, the irony ceases. Our society loves easy answers. When a seg ment of society presents a problem, an easy answer is to simply eliminate, dispose of, exe cute, abort kill them. We ease our con science by giving a non-human status to the unborn, the handicapped, the criminals, the sick and the elderly those who pose a problem to society. There are no easy answers to complex social problems. We probably will always have unwanted children and untimely pregnancies, but abortion is not a solution. Abortion is carefully disguised murder, and we are responsible for it. Letter 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. Readers also are welcome to submit mate rial as guest opinions. Whether material should run as a letter or guest opinion, or not run, is left to the editor's discretion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be consi dered for publication. Letters should include the author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names from publication will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. V7rT-VT)Tr3 fen ii 1 1 1 1 "9 April 26, 1985 12:30-5:00 PM UNL East Campus Cornstock Meadows ? M4m h ' r 9 3)OW tJ II WS V5 ADMISSION: Can of food for the Lincoln Food Bank SPONSORED BY: Vb, Sa DANCES & CORNSTOCK Li