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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1987)
Editorial _ Mike Reilley, Editor, 472-1766 t> .. Jeanne Bourne, Editorial Page Editor MonmC|C.1 n Jpn Deselms, Managing Editor 1 1 Mike Hooper, Associate News Editor University of NebrasKa-Lincoln J“*<ott Hurrah, Sight Sews Editoi Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief l inria Hartmann, Wire Editor Selling suicide Novelty products for kids glorify death For wnaievcr reasons, teen suicides over the last few years have in creased by massive propor tions. About 600,000 10- to 24 ycar-olds try to kill themselves every year, and 5,121 youths between the ages of 15 and 24 succeeded in ending their lives in 1985, according to the Na tional Center for Health Statis tics. Gcsner Militia in Washing ton, N.J., sells double-edged razor-blade pendants through the mail. Triple M in Venice, Calif., sells hats with “suicidal” printed on the bill. Plan 9 from Lodi, N.J., sells coffin-shaped skateboards. RIP is a heavy metal rock magazine that adver tises products like these. What purpose do these prod ucts serve? Do any of them have redeeming qualities? Cash. Hawking “suicide” products is fast becoming the new American growth industry, ac cording to a Nov. 5 Gannett News Service article in The Dcs Moines Register. ine occurrence oi icen sui cides is skyrocketing fast enough without the added glori fication of the act. Making money the easy way is great. Everyone likes to make a buck. But profits from the sales of these products do not replace the loss of teen lives. Sam Heilig, a psychiatric social worker in the Los Ange les Suicide Prevention Center, said the popularization of sui cide reflects the despair of some of today’s teens. “This reinforces the idea that may already be in someone’s mind,” Heilig told the GNS writer. “It can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” But RIP Executive Editor Lonn Friend denied his maga zine is cashing in on teen sui cide. “That would be wrong,” he said, adding he doesn’t think teens are influenced by suicide products. “Kids are a lot sharper than that.” Too bad nearly 6,(XX) teens in 1985 weren't. Court ruling sets dangerous precedent Must landlords pay? A Douglas County Dis trict Court judge has awarded a rape victim $90,000 to be paid by her land lord for providing inadequate security. If this decision is not over turned, there could be danger ous repercussions. If landlords arc to be held responsible for crimes committed in the build ings they oyn, the effects could be dangerous. The Omaha woman who brought the suit sued the land lord for ignoring repeated re quests to repair a lock on her apartment door. 'I’he building didn’t have a lock either. The victim claimed the land lord should have foreseen the possibility of rape. The suit was filed in 1984 and was dismissed. After an appeal to Nebraska’s Supreme Court, it was sent back to Dis trict Court. The apartment building, at 19th and Jones streets in Omaha, is noi considered to be in the “safest” area. If the woman felt uneasy about tile security she should have hired a locksmith to repair the lock and sent the bill to the landlord, or she should have moved. To hold the landlord respon sible could have serious effects on costs of living to compensate for insurance increases. Letter Voltage is questioned in UNL residence halls Wc arc writing in response to the article (DN, Nov. 9). In the article about microwave use in residence hall rooms, we were told that wc could use microwaves in our room; because they now use less “voltage’ than the older inefficient models. We were wondering how this could be The change in “voltage” was men lioned several times, so wc arc fairly confident that it was not a simple misprint. Wc see two possibilities Appliances do not have control ovci how many volts they gei, so the Firsi possibility is that the volts dial are provided for us by UNL must be lowei than the standard 120 or so. Thi; makes many, many students very concerned, because much of the elec tronic equipment that we own needs 110-115 volts to operate correctly. Is it still safe to leave these things plugged in? The other possibility is that the UNL maintenance department really doesn’t know what it is talking about ; much of the time. This is very disturb ing as well, but not very surprising. Jeremy W. Burgeson John M. Willman, III juniors Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials represent off! ; cial policy of the fall 1987 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Cleaning out politicians’ closets Those fat, stupid and tacky dudes have no place in public office Well, I must say that I am quite relieved that we’re not going to have a pot-head on the Supreme Court. What difference docs it make that the guy hasn't touched the stuff for more than a decade? Do you know how long that stuff stays in your system? Chances are, at a most crucial moment in jurisprudential history, DouglasGinsburg’s rational faculties would have been replaced by some delusive notions concerning the bal ance of universal karma, and the next thing we know it would be illegal to buy bananas by the pound. 1 want to thank those who so forthrightly came forward with the shocking newt about this facade of a model Ameri can, James Sennett I In fact, all across America it’s springeleaning in November as poli ticians, judicial officials and garden variety public servants of every stripe arc dusting out the closets and ‘fessing up or reassuring constituents that they have nothing to which to ‘fess. Our own Nebraska representa tive and would-be senator Hal Daub announced last weekend that he has never touched a tainted substance. In addition, Dapper Daub reportedly asserted that no one who has ever broken the law should seek public office. Hal must be the only person in America who has never gotten a park ing ticket. First we were shocked by the news of Pat Robertson’s closc-but-no-ci gar premarital tryst,and now we learn that federal judges arc former joint tokers. It is good to see that no level of immorality or illegality will be toler ated by this newfound social con sciousness of ours. In fact, I’ve got a few other confessions I’d like to see forthcoming from those who dare to suppose themselves worthy to lead our local and national business. Who knows what tawdry secrets have been swept under rugs, kept under wraps and otherwise metaphorically ex cluded from public perusal? We’ve uncovered immoral and illegal ac tivities; now here arc some more cate gories of questionable behavior I d like to sec explored. •Fattening. This is the natural third counterpart to the two aforemen tioned atrocities. In this health-con scious, new-age fitness world of ours, we cannot tolerate those who have once engaged in, or currently do engage in, culinary customs invidi ous to the body beautiful. How many closet junk-food junkies line the halls of our legislative houses? How many benches arc filled by those who have spent many a hard-earned dollar on Hostess Twin kies or have never even counted the first calorie? Jesse Helms sure doesn’t impress me as a Richard Simmons devotee. Some hotshot reporter better get on this right away. There’s a lot of contraband sugar flowing through the veins of Ameri can leaders. •Stupid. No matter how hard we try, we cannot make everything that ought to be discouraged illegal. It is quite possible fora person tolivealife completely clear of lawlessness and yet never rise above the level of just plain dumb. I want to know how many of those who think themselves ca pable of determining my future have ever acted in any way that is regret table, unforgivable or even dull city. The aforementioned statement by Daub, while clearing him in the ille gal category, makes him a prime candidate for this one. What evidence is there that public officials do not have both oars in the water, arc not hilling on all cylinders, arc missing the two of clubs, arc three bricks shy or arc just half a bubble off plumb? We have a right to this information. •School Days. I don’t know about you, but I was surrounded all through school by kids gelling into trouble. How many ol mem arc now ostensi bly serving our best interests? How many truancy violators want to be your ncxtcounly commissioner? Did Orrin Hatch ever smoke in the boys' bathroom? Detention, suspension, and writing “I will not talk in class'’ 100 times — any one of these is enough to disqualify anyone who might think himself or herself worthy of my vote. Incidentally, if a guy named Ned Nadderson ever tries to run for mayor of your town, get in touch with me. The stories I could tell you ... •Tacky. This has to be the grand prize category. There is a lot of taste - icssncss in this country, and it has no place in the halls of justice or the scats of power. How many current leaders once owned Nehru jackets? How many weekend polyester paladins are setting public policy? Rumor has it that an announced Democratic presi dential candidate, as yet unnamed, was once seen shopping for black velvet paintings while listening to Slim Whitman tapes. We cannot have this kind of behavior. If these charges arc not investigated, we could wind up with Naugahyde furniture in the Oval Office. As you can see, the potential for corruption is staggering. We can only be kept safe by our own intolerance. Inch-getters arc invariably mile-tak ers. I have only scratched the surface. A few moments of reflection will reveal how many other areas of life there are in which unacceptable be havior might be displayed. And we cannot have anything less than per fection. The definition of perfect is, after all, a matter of record. Just ask me — I’ll tell you what it is. Who arc these people that want to run my life anyway? Where have they been, and what have they done? Inquiring minds want to know. Scnnett Ls a graduate student in philoso phy and campus minister with College-Ca reer Christian Fellowship. Jefferson sforgotten rule: Government is best which governs least Republicans change tune What the Democratic presi dential candidates had in common in their first debate in Houston was hostility for the Con tras and for the Strategic Defense Ini tiative. This is ahistorical, since the Democrats were the great anti-isola tionist political force of the 2()th century, at times Wilsonian in their appetite to move in and make the rest of the world more like ourselves. And it was Democratic leadership that gave us the key to nuclear physics and toa man on the moon. Now the Demo crats arc increasingly isolationist and Luddite. William F. Buckley Jr. The Republican candidates in Houston had in common, or very nearly so, an enthusiasm for what the slate can accomplish. Listening to them there, one waited in vain for the anti-statist rhetoric associated with Ronald Reagan and with the intellec tual forces that led to the ascendancy of Reagan ism. There was one bracing moment. It came when Pete du Pont (if George Bush persists in calling him “Pierre,” du Pont should retaliate by calling Bush “Poppy”) said the emphasis being placed on peace was not entirely reconcilable with the biographical emphasis correctly placed on George Bush’s record as a war hero. He didn’t have a chance to elaborate, buldu Pont was saying that there had to be something more im portant than peace if George Bush was to be acclaimed, as he should be, for his role not in waging peace, but in waging war in pursuit of a certain kind of peace. The kind of peace, measured in modem limes, for which the American people will settle is a peace that leaves us free of Soviet domination, free from totalitarian ism. The enthusiasm with which most Republican candidates regard the potential of government neglects the main axle of traditional conservative thought in America, which is anti statist. Why is peace so desperately sought after? Because it is in jeop ardy. What is that jeopardizes the peace, it not statist control of scien tific skills and military concentra tions? John Dillcngcr was a threat to the peace, but in a pretty limited way. Wc struggle, all of us, against poverty, but poverty is induced by stale action everywhere, whether in Ethiopia by errant Marxism or Mex ico by statist greed and incompe tence. Human beings struggle whole lifetimes to save money, whose value is eliminated in a year or two by statist inflationary activity. Statist control of public schooling causes the worst to survive, often at the expense of the belter. State-enforced regulations imposed Jim Crow and seek to govern prices, retroactively to confiscate landlords’ properly, to regulate for cign commerce, to define usury, to set minimum-wage laws. The man next door may Ik a mur derer, or he may run over our child while driving a car drunk, or he may steal from us or swindle, or he may infect us with a deadly disease or set fire to our house or rape or seduce our daughter. We are all sinners, as C’on gressman Kemp correctly pointed out, pre-empting the point from Pat Robertson. Bui ihc sins ol the individual an. transmogrified when institutional i/.cd in the suite. And the agents ol statist action have a way of going through life with relative impunity, whether former President Echevcr ria, mourning the impoverishment ol the Mexican people from his multi farious palatial estates; or Adoll Hitler, paying for the dcathsof the 10 I million needed to stop him with his own niggardly death. It is a pity that Hiller had only a single life to give for his country. The Republicans should not sound like anarchists, nor think anarchy. But they shouldn’t lightly abandon the most refreshing insight of postwar Republicanism, which acknowl edges the insight of the earliest Democratic president. It was Thomas Jefferson who said the government is best which governs least and who reminded us that the government can only do something for the people in proportion as it can do something to the people. © 1987 Universal Press Syndicate.