Wednesday, April 1, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
Pago 5
Press Inquisitor' role
evolved constitutionally
Career Corner
KRAUT from Page 4
and his presidency would have been
finished
The pretense persists that a news
conference is a news-gathering device.
"We know that the president has the
answers," explains UPI's Helen Thomas.
So reporters just ask the questions. But
that is not remotely what a news
conference is about. It is a theatrical
event: the dramatic confrontation of
the two most powerful branches of
government, the executive and the
press. It is the reluctance of the press
to recognize that it has become the
official opposition that makes these
events otherwise incomprehensible.
In other democracies, the leader of
the opposition confronts the prime
minister directly during parliamentary
question period. Americans try their
version of that by pitting administration
and congressional opponents against
each other on the MacNeil-Lehrershow
and such. But this just serves to empha
size again that the medium that chooses
the opponents, establishes the ground
rules, asks the questions, and regulates
the debate is the real player.
In the United States, the role of
inquisitor has devolved upon the press.
And devolved almost constitutionally:
The practice is so ingrained that when
breached (if the president goes too
long without a prime-time mano-a-mano),
the clamor for another ritual
match-up begins.
The institutionalization of the press
as extra-parliamentary opposition has
turned it into the fourth branch of
government. In some ways, it is the
most powerful because, unlike the
other three, it is constitutionally un
regulated. The Founders faced a press that was
often rabidly critical but always frac
tured, a "party press" largely created
by the Founders themselves. Each polit
ical faction had its outlet. (Most fa
mously, Hamilton's Federalists had the
Gazette of the United States; Jeffer
son's Republicans had the National
Gazette, then the National Intelli
gencer.) Today, the great organs of the press
are their own party. Network news
broadcasts, for example, emanate from
such uniform political and journalistic
sensibilities that scholarly articles must
be devoted to telling them apart. By
18th-century standards, our media are
restrained. But something as monolith
ically adversarial as today's great media
was far beyond the Founders' ken.
The power of the executive has cer
tainly grown over 200 years. But the
genius of the American experiment has
been to encourage new checks to
grow against new powers. The Found
ers did not expect the First Amend
ment to produce the most formidable
check on executive power. But it has.
Whether a government so checked
can act decisively in the world is a fair
question. But that the Founders created
a political system endlessly inventive
at defusing and thwarting power, there
can be no doubt.
1987, Washington Post Writers Group
Krauthammer is a senior editor for the
New Republic
On-campus interviews
Employers scheduled to recruit dur
ing April include:
Air Force civilian personnel, April
7; seeking all majors for personnel
management trainee positions.
Allen Bradley Co., April 14, Electri
cal, mechanical and industrial engi
neering for summer sales positions.
Allied Group Insurance, April 2, bus
iness majors with a farming background
for underwriting positions.
Colgate Palmolive, April 10, all majors
for consumer sales-unit manager posi
tions. ConAgra, April 6, agricultural and
chemical engineering for process engi
neering positions.
Direct Transit, April 23, all business
majors for fleet dispatcher.
Duplex Products, April 7, all busi
ness majors for entry-level sales posi
tions. Employers Reassurance Corp., March
31, actuarial science majors.
First Investors, April 14, all majors
for management trainee positions.
General Motors GMC Truck Div
ision, April 7; business and marketing
majors for sales positions, mechanical
and agricultural engineering majors for
service positions. Summer employment
only.
IBM, April 6, electrical engineering
and computer science for system engi
neer positions.
Ingersoll-Rand, April 7, mechanical,
industrial and agricultural engineers
for application and design engineering
manufacturing.
The Jones Store Company, April 9,
home economics arts and sciences and
business majors for merchandise man
agement trainee positions.
KN Energy, April 9, business admin
istration and mechanical engineers.
Kutak, Rock and Campbell, April 14,
computer science for financial pro
grammeranalyst. Lincoln Electric System, April 7,
computer science majors for life-insurance
agent positions.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Company, April 8; all majors for life
insurance agent positions.
Mutual of Omaha-Division Sales office,
April 2, all majors for career sales man
agement positions.
Naval Weapons Systems Engineering
Systems, April 13, electronic engineers
for inservice and field engineering
positions.
The New England, April 7 and 13,
MBAs for executive sales in insurance
and investment.
Norwest Banks, April 13, accounting,
economics and finance majors for gen
eral development trainee.
Vigortone, April 13, agricultural bus
iness for area manager position.
Weitz Corp, April 1, construction
management for assistant project en
gineers and assistant superintendents.
Internship Opportunities
O Applications are sought from
graduate students interested in policy
issues for summer internships with the
United States Environmental Protec
tion Agency. Areas for study include
ground water, protection of the public
water supply and municipal waste water
management. Application deadline is
April 15.
Program-cut hearings begin
The NU Board of Regents has set
public hearings on five programs
considered for elimination.
The proposed program cuts pres
ented by NU President Ronald W.
Roskens at the board's March 14
meeting, resulted from the Nebraska
Legislature's 3.1 million reduction
in the university's general fund
budget at a December 1986 special
session.
The hearing schedule:
O Adult Services Program and
Learning Disabilities Program at
the Meyer Children's Rehabilitation
Institues: 9 to 10:30 a.m. today at
the Peter Kiewit Conference Cen-
ter, 16th and Farnam streets in
Omaha.
O The Lincoln Division of the
College of Nursing and the Com
munity Dentistry Program: 1:30 to 4
p.m. today in the Nebraska East
Union's Great Plains Room.
O The NU School of Technical
Agriculture (Curtis): 9 to 11:30 a.m.
Thursday at the North Platte's Stock
man Inn, 1-80 and Highway 83.
The hearings will be the only
forum for public comment on the
proposals. No action will be taken
by the board at the hearings. Final
consideration and action on the
proposals will be taken at the April
11 meeting of the Board of Regents
in Varner Hall, 3825 Holdrege St.
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Mark Shiffler is a physical therapist at Bryan Hospital. Like all Bryan
therapists, he's thoroughly trained, clinically proficient and highly skilled. He
works with physicians as a vital part of the medical team.
In physical therapy, Mark knows that the sooner a patient is up and around,
the faster the road to recovery. But, it's not always easy. So, Mark always tries
to take a little extra time. . . to teach people ways to prevent future problems. . .
tc feel good about themselves ... to be stronger and healthier. And that's the
most rewarding part of the job.
Of course, Mark Shiffler isn't alone. At Bryan Hospital, our entire staff
prides itself on making todays health care better. Itb a dedication to
improving your health . . . with an unending commitment to caring.
You won't find people like Mark Shiffler just anywhere.
bu will find them at Bryan Hospital.
Our people make the difference.
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Mamtwr o V Vokjntmy Hnpitrt o Amanca Sytwm.