_ Editorial
. —-_ i
Nebrayskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mike Reilley, Editor, 472-1766
Jeanne Bourne, Editorial Page Editor
Jann Nyffeler, Associate News Editor
Scott Harrah, Wight News Editor
Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief
Linda Hartmann, Wire Editor
Charles Lieurance, Asst. A & E Editor
Nebraska stumped
Karnes, Daub ‘Kerrey \i ’ away in campaign
More than a year before the
next election, two Nebras
ka Congressmen are al
ready in the campaign arena,
jousting for the Republican
Senate nomination.
The early campaigning by Rep.
Hal Daub and Sen. David Karnes,
both of Omaha, is like two knights
lancing without an audience, or
opening the Christmas season
j before Halloween. Nebraskans just
aren’t ready for the stumping
yet. Rather than worrying who
will be the next U.S. senator,
Nebraskans probably have their
minds on such events as FarmAid
and Husker football.
But Daub and Karnes are
probably worried; if former Gov.
Bob Kerrey runs for the U.S.
Senate, they will have a tough
battle ahead of them. Most ev
eryone knows Kerrey, but con
siderably fewer know the two
present congressmen.
That’s why we have seen both
Karnes and Daub running paid
commercials on local television
stations, traveling around the
state, attending fairs, local cele
brations and even greeting Husker
fans outside of Memorial Sta
dium before last Saturday’s game.
Perhaps there is another rea
son for their early start: They need
to raise money for the campaigns.
John Comer, a University of Ne
braska Lincoln political science
professor, said both Daub and
Karnes must start early in order
to gain financial support for the
costly campaigns, expected to
cost as much as $1 million each.
Daub may have gotten a little
uneasy after Gov. Kay Orr threw
her support toward Karnes, and
started campaigning.
The campaigning will get a
little old before the election,
although Kerrey and another po
tential candidate, Rep. DougBer
euter of Utica, might add some
spice to the senatorial race.
Bereuter has yet to decide whether
he will run against Daub and
Karnes. Kerrey has said he will
decide whether he will run for
the Democratic nomination for
the Senate in October.
Kerrey has said he would "eryoy
being in the Senate,” according
to a recent article by The Asso
ciated Press in the Lincoln Star.
If Kerrey runs, Comer said, he
will get the Democratic nomina
tion with few problems. There
are no contenders for the nomi
nation yet and it is unlikely any
will appear if Kerrey does run.
With Kerrey in the senatorial
race, Comer said, the campaign
ing would get exciting.
In the meantime, however, it’s
boring. The excitement died
shortly after Daub decided in
May that he would challenge
Karnes for the nomination.
Karnes, appointed to the Sen
ate by Orr on March 11 after the
death of Sen. Edward Zorinsky,
has said he doesn’t want the
campaigning to start so early.
Since polls indicated that few
Nebraskans knew who Karnes
was, he has made an effort to let
them know him. He has traveled
around the state, spoken in sev- I
eral communities and even went
to Honduras to visit the Nebraska
military reserves. While trying to
gain name recognition, Karnes
has done some campaigning on
the side.
Daub is rather up-front about
his desire to be the next U.S.
senator from Nebraska. His com
mercial, which has run for the
last three weeks on TV stations
outside Omaha, say* he has
worked hard as a four-tei i n iuse
member and concludes by tell
ing voters that he has “earned
it."
Karnes’ adv ertisement says “he
hit the ground running." His ad
ran when President Reagan visit
ed North Platte in mid-August.
While those politicians solicit
support for the May 10 primary,
which is more than eight months
away, Kerrey bides his time.
But he’s not the only one biding
time — so are Nebraskans who
are hearing the Karnes and Daub
commercials.
Quibbles & bits
State ditch-weed war is police placebo
• The war on "ditch weed”
continues. Nebraska law
enforcement officials announced
this week that they killed more
than 11 million wild marijuana
plants with a potential value of
billions of dollars.
Although they have a noble
goal of ridding Nebraska of the
"evil weed," the authorities are
still kicking down the wrong
door. What they’re killing is
nothing more than "ditch weed"
— no one in his right mind
would smoke it. Anyone who did
would be confusing a headache
with a high.
Instead, authorities need to
concentrate more on trafficking
of hard drugs. That’s where the
action is, not in the ditches.
• DN Advertising Manager
Marcia Miller and former DN ad
representative Patricia Miklos
became $ 125 richer this week by
winning a first-place award in
the 14th annual Nissan Student
Advertising contest. Their win
ning ads will be published in
America magazine, a publication
distributed to every college and
university campus in the United
States.
New ‘Billyscopes’ predict
presidential Cltaro scandal
Scorpio, Thursday, Sept. 10.
“What appeared lost is due to
be recovered,” was the first line of
my horoscope. Great, I thought. My
sense of humor is coming back. You can
twist these things around any way you
want.
“Individual who ‘serves you’ will
perform favor, could locate object in
question," it went on. I won’t even
hazard a guess on that one.
My favorite personal horoscope of all
time was: "Romance could flourish and
you could be planning a trip.”
Notice the use of the word could
there. In other words, romance could
flourish, or you cou Id be stuck at home
watching “As The World Turns.”
In one of the Lincoln papers the
horoscopes are written by psychic Jean
Dixon. Isn’t she the one who predicted
in the National Enquirer a few years
ago that Elvis would return as a Mick
Jagger impersonator? That J.R. Ewing
would marry Elizabeth Taylor? That a
front-running presidential candidate
would blow his chances by having an
affair with Charo?
We’re to put our faith in this woman?
Let’s face it, if I had opened the
paper and read ‘‘You will wake up at
6:30 a.m. with a horrible hangover and
not be able to go back to sleep. Your
parents will write you a letter telling
you they can’t find a place for you in the
family tree, sorry. You will finally get to
sleep at 2 p.m. and then be awakened by
a research company wanting your
opinion on feminine protection, you
give it to them,” then 1 would have
more faith in the stars. Because that’s
how yesterday went.
Bill
Allen
As it is, all I know is that a Pisces
will play a key role.
Just for the heck of it, I’m writing
UNL’s horoscopes for today. These are
horoscopes you’d like to read, but
never will. And please, don’t just read
yours. It’s nice to know what’s going to
happen to the other sucker, too.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) ASUN will do
nothing for you today. Your girlfriend
will call your apartment today and the
woman you live with will answer the
phone. Several small welts will appear
on your body, ruining an otherwise
pleasant bath. No one will believe you
when you tell them how good you were
at sports in high school.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Indian
time-travelers will throw skins over
“Old Glory” and move in for a week.
You will discover your phone number
on the bathroom wall at Chesterfield’s
under “FOR A GOOD TIME CALL. . .”
which will explain everything. ASUN
will do nothing for you today. Your
mother will call and say she is going
back to school and wants to be your
roommate.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) You and a
“sister” will fall in love with the same
Phi Psi. Your only hope is a new war
drobe and Ultrabrite. Charge it. Be sure
to stock up on hair spray, makeup. AXO,
Fiji, SAE play key roles.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) A
hard rain is gonna fall. Someone you
don’t know will die and leave your
name in a suicide note. The health
center will call with bad news. Your
little sister the nun will become preg
nant, marry a man named Joseph, etc.
Lied Center construction will continue,
ASUN will do nothing for you today.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The
Lincoln Police Department will return
something that was stolen from you
years ago. It will no longer work. The
UNL Police Department will respond to
your call about the theft of that item. A
Moonie will play an important role in
your sex life.
See ALLEN on 5
The REAL poilitical heroes:
Koop and Kris Kristofferson
Like most of America, I was dis
gusted and amused by the Kukla,
Fawn and Ollie show this summer.
(Ollie: the pompous, toothless dragon.
Fawn: wholesome, level-headed, right
thinking sex symbol. Pick your favorite
silly clown and let him be Kukla.)
I’m not going to dredge up the tired
absurdities of Irangate again. But 1
bring it up because the hearings showed
something scary about the character of
American in the 1980s. (Actually almost
every thing about the hearings revealed
somet hing scary about the character of
America in the '80s, but I’m only going
to talk about one.) I mean the peculiar
new definition of the word "hero."
Lots of heroes were running around
this summer. Oliver North was a hero.
Richard Secord was a hero. The presi
dent and the conservative congress
men were quick to dub any accused
Tom, Dick or Harry a hero, but nobody
ever stopped to explain what they did
to deserve the name. None of these
heroes had ever rushed into a burning
building to save a child or rotted 20
years in a gulag somewhere for their
principles. It is confusing. Just what
makes a hero?
After watching for a while I came up
with a working definition: A hero is
someone who puts the ideology of his
particular political faction above all
other concerns of law, ethics and mor
ality. This isn’t really a new definition.
The left wing used it extensively in the
'60s and 70s — particularly organiza
tions like the Weather Underground
and the Symbionese Liberation Army.
But I don’t buy it. In fact, for me the
definition is completely opposite. A
political hero is someone who follows
his own reason and conscience without
regard to any social, political or reli
gious “party line." The biggest heroes
are those whose conscience leads them
between two or more established doc
trines, because anybody who embraces
parts of two radically opposed ideolo
gies is probably going to be rejected by
both. It takes guts to stand up for
something when nobody stands with
you, and guts are what heroism is all
about.
Chris
McCubbin
Let me give a couple of examples:
I consider Kris Kristofferson a bad
actor and a worse singer, but his ideol
ogy impresses me.
He’s no sociopolitical saint. His
biggest stumble from ideological pur
ity was starring in the jingoistic mini
series “Amerika." He claims he did it
so he could be a moderating influence
on the show’s politics. Sure, Kris, that
and the money.
But Kristofferson more than re
deemed himself from the “Amerika"
sellout when he went to Nicaragua to
perform to an all Sandinista audience.
This concert was a much-needed affir
mation that some citizens of the United
States are willing to cooperate wit h the
lawful government of Nicaragua, des
pite ideological differences, in the
name of peace.
A lot of Kristofferson’s time is devoted
to playing benefit shows for peace and
justice, and that’s admirable. What
makes Kristofferson heroic is that a lot
of his remaining time is devoted to
performing for U.S. soldiers. As a vete
ran who believes in peace, I have often
become irritated at the way many
peace activists seem to hold each indi
vidual soldier responsible for every
missile in the world. Most soldiers are
confused kids declaring their inde
pendence from mom and dad or victims
of Reaganomics trying to feed their
families. Kristofferson, also a veteran,
understands this and so he supports
soldiers without supporting militarism.
And if that alienates him from some
factions of the peace movement, fine.
My next example is C. Everett Koop,
the U.S. surgeon general. Before he
became surgeon general Koop co-wrote
the book and film series “Whatever
Happened to the Human Race" with
the late Christian moral philosopher
Francis Schaeffer. "Whatever Happened
to the Human Race" is one of the most
thoughtful and complete popular works
dealing with the social dangers of abor
tion and euthanasia.
Because he is one of the most visible
and well-respected pro-life activists in
the nation, Koop seemed the ideal man
to promote Reagan’s conservative a
genda in the surgeon general's office
Then the AIDS plague hit. While
many conservatives were babbling alxmi
“the judgment of God on gays" and how
sex education really encouraged pro
miscuity, Koop was advocating inten
sive scientific research to find a cure
and education on safe sex to keep peo
ple alive in the meantime.
Throughout the crisis Koop’s at ti
tude has been non-judgmental, afford
ing the same dignity to a victim of gay
bathhouse decadence and to the
hemophiliac schoolchild who received
a contaminated blood product.
Koop’s stands on abortion and AIDS
may seem contradictory to some, but
they aren’t really. Koop is a physician,
and he believes a physician has a
sacred trust to, first, preserve life; and,
second, protect the quality of life. If
Koop sees human beings dying from
abortion, he will try to save them —
legally and responsibly, without bomb
ing any clinics or terrorizing pregnant,
desperate women. If he sees human
beings dying from AIDS he’ll try to save
them, and he’ll treat them with com
passion and respect. If either of these
actions isn’t “liberal" or "conserva
tive,” Koop doesn’t care, and that
makes him a hero.
McCubbin In a Nenior EngliMh and philo
Nophy major.
