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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1987)
EditoriaL Nebraskan University ot Nebraska-Lincoln ' * Mike Reilley, Editor, 472-1766 Jeanne Bourne, Editorial Pa ye Editor Jen Deselms, Manayiny Editor Mike Hooper, Associate Seas Editor Scott Harrah, Night Sea's Editor Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief Linda Hartmann, Wire Editor Crowd needs control Enthusiastic fans can kill Big Red fun Letters have trickled into the Daily Nebras kan and other local newspapers throughout the last week or two encouraging Ne braska football fans to show their enthusiasm during the v Comhusker-Oklahoma game this Saturday at Memorial Sta dium. But sometimes that enthusi asm can go too far. Take 1982, for example. After the Huskers held off an Oklahoma rally fora 28-24 win, fans stormed the Memorial Sta dium turf, tore down the goal I posts and knocked down Okla homa coach Barry Switzer. Oranges flew freely through out the stadium after each Husker touchdown. A Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln police officer was struck with a frozen orange and had to wear a neck brace for tom ligaments. And it wasn’t just UNL stu dents who caused problems -during and after the 1982 game. Police officials told the DN that several “older people... in their 30s and 40s” took part in the fray. At times this season, Nc ~ braska fans have behaved just as immaturcly. Cup-throwing es calated from harmless fun to a dangerous problem by the UCLA game, but a close game against South Carolina as well as tougher security measures helped solve the problem. The Oklahoma game tends to bring out the worst in Nebraska fans. Adrenalin is high and people arc more apt to do some thing foolish. University and Lincoln po lice need to have extra officers on duty for the game to help with crowd control. They also need to look at how other law enforcement officials handled games. For example, Philadel phia police brought out guard dogs to protect the field after the Phillies won the 1980 World Scries. The threat of losing some flesh kept the Phillies’ fans in the stands — where they belonged. What’s sad is that it shouldn’t take such extreme measures. Nebraska fans need to stop and think. Although tearing down goal posts and storming the field appears to be harmless fun, past instances have shown that it’s dangerous. The same goes for the cup- and orange-throwing. Remember, the game will be televised nationally by CBS, and will ptobably be among the most popular telecasts of the week. A drunken riot won’t do much for the image of the uni versity, the state and its citizens with millions of people watch ing. Let’s not give everyone the impression that we’re a bunch of red-clad, football-cra/.y hicks. If Nebraska really has the No. 1 football team in the na tion, its fans should try to fol low suit by behaving them selves. Time has come for U.S. to pay its U.N. dues It’s time lor the United States to pay up. The United States has yet to make its annual contribu tion to the United Nations Gen eral Assembly budget. This amounts to more than $200 million — 20 percent of the total General Assembly budget. The Soviet Union, which contrib utes 12 percent of the budget, has just paid up. “Ironically, it was the Re agan administration that started what is called ‘U.N.-bashing,’’’ said David Forsythe, political science professor at UNL. The first Reagan administra tion, notably former U.S. Am bassador Jean Kirkpatrick, strongly criticized the U.N., complaining about the interna tional organization’s ineffi ciency and anti-U.S. bias. The United States asked for changes. The U.N. complied with a new veto system for es tablishing the U.N. budget. But now Congress has taken up U.N.-bashing. “It is not the president who is not paying, it is the Congress which has refused to pay,” com mented U.S. Ambassador Ver non Walters at a recent speech in New York. The White House has now realized that the U.N. is useful in addressing situations like the Persian Gulf crisis. The United States continues to contribute to volunteer and humanitarian programs run by the U.N. (such as UNICEF). But now that the requested changes have been made, it’s time to pay our membership dues. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials represent official policy of the fall 11)87 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The Daily Nebraskan's publishers are the regents, who established the UNL Publications Board to super vise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the edi torial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student editors. liiillllllilil ^ . MvlYi i'iv«*«.>.M.¥W.¥wyiiyW'i Bell tower deserves the worst Singing silo should play Kiss, Manilow — not beloved classics After more than four years at the University of Ncbraska Lincoln, I have a confession to make. I hate the Mueller Tower. There — V ve said it. Chances are the same people who paid for that mon strosity also provided the funds that pay for my teaching assistantship, but I think I’m a better person for finally admitting how I feel. % James j Sennett —--J S incc my arrival on campus I have endured the slightly off-pitch clank ing of the carillon within the tower. I have long thought that carillons arc the black velvet paintings of musical instruments. It’s bad enough when they play music you expect such anachronisms to play—‘‘I Love You Truly or “Amazing Grace.” But someone with even less taste than the people who put the thing up has decided that it would really be cool to produce contemporary musical tunes a la warped chime. I will never forget the first time I heard “The Sound of Silence” wafting over the fall Ne braska sky. I found myself wishing Paul Simon were dead so he could turn over in his grave. For the last four years I have been conducting a continuous — albeit slightly unscientific — survey. I stand under the tower while it is playing and call out to passers-by, “Hey, docs anybody like this thing? Can I see your hands if you think this is a good idea? Would anyone object to a selective fire-bombing here?” Over four years — nol one hand. I have gotten a number of very strange looks, but not one person has cared enough about the car-sore to even raise a hand and say, “Yes— I enjoy the carillon, and I’m proud of it.” My conclusion is that there are at most two kinds of people on this campus — those who hate the thing and those who are ashamed of their enjoyment of it. Perhaps the worst crime commit ted by this potentially deadly weapon is its concerts on football Saturdays. Nothing can destroy my sports spirit like hearing an out-of-tune “Take Me Out to the Bali Game” or “The Notre Dame Fight Song"as I’m pushing my way through Gate 24. And what that overgrown calliope does to “There Is No Place Like Nebraska” and "Hail Varsity” ought to be against the law in this state. I have a hunch that the tower could even make “Boomer Sooner” sound worse than it usually does -and that would be quite a feat. But, never being one simply to olfer destructive criticism, I have a lew suggestions about what can be done to improve the tower’s contri bution to life on the UNL. campus. My lirst thought was that we could fill it with concrete, sink it into the ground,and use itasanICBM missile silo decoy. While the Russians arc busy nuking us, Offutt could get off scot-free to do the voodoo that they do so well. On the more practical side, if they insist on playing it, and they insist on playing contemporary music with it, why not get a little more up-to-date? The 1960s nostalgia and 1970s disco that usually come out of its dark windows only insult faculty and ag ing grad students who recognize the tortured tunes as melodies that once touched their very souls. Why Should we be the privileged few? The major ity of current UNL students get most , of their information about the Beatles I out of history books. Let them enjoy the sacrifice of their own music for a change. 1 propose that the tower begin at once to belt out the greatest hits of U2, Madonna and Miami Sound Machine. Can ’t you just hear an all-bells version of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” or Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love.” Another idea is full-fledged con certs. Why just the 10-minute mini affliction between classes? We could subject the entire campus to hour long ventures into the depths of musical purgatory. There could be a series of performances, featuring the greatest hits of contemporary musi cal giants. “The Mueller Tower Pres ents the Grateful Dead’s Greatest Hits” or “23 Best L.ovcd Melodies from Kiss and Alice Cooper.” What 1 wouldn’t give to hear what that thing could do with “In-a-Gadda-da- Vida” or “Canned Heal Boogie.” Of course, some music could not be made worse even by the lower. Some stuff is so far gone that it might even be a welcome improvement to trap it within the bellicose belfry. Barry Manilow, the Bee Gees, Tony Orlando and Dawn — these and other dark spots on the contemporary musical scene deserve whatever fate befalls their music. I cannot imagine “1 Write the Songs” or “Knock Three Times” sounding any worse than they already do. There seems to be little the tower can do to them. Of course, this may be a little like offer ing blemished sacrifices, but some gods I am not too anxious to appease. Sennett is a graduate student in philoso phy and campus minister with College-Ca reer Christian Fellowship. Letter Journalist questions profession’s ethics As a broadcasting senior at the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, I am deeply concerned about reporters asking public officials if they have smoked marijuana. The question in itself raises a larger question: Arc the news media asking a legitimate ques tion, and arc they exercising good news judgment and ethics? I believe the marijuana question can and should be asked by reporters, but I disagree that the question should be asked at random without just cause. Local journalists in this case may have jumped on the bandwagon when Rep. Hal Daub opened the question floodgates by saying, “All things we do in public and private life ought to be taken into account by the voters.’ This statement seemed to signal a green light for journalists to ask local public officials at random if they have smoked marijuana. How ever, as a responsible journalist, I would never ask such a question unless there was a legitimate reason to do so, and 1 do not view Daub’s statement as a legitimate reason. In my mind, what separates a legitimate question from an illegiti mate question is news judgment. Without it, journalists arc stripped ot their objectivity and arc susceptible to outside forces that could shape their opinions and questions. David Grooman senior broadcasting