Editorial
NelSraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mike Rcilley, Editor, 472-1766
Diana Johnson, Editorial Page Editor
Jen Dcselms, Managing Editor
Curt Wagner, Associate News Editor
Chris Anderson, Associate News Editor
Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief
Joel Carlson, Columnist
Quibbles & bits
Much of King’s dream is still unfulfilled
* A full generation has
passed since tlie assassination
of Martin Luther King Jr. Al
though much has changed since
his death, part of his dream
remains unfulfilled.
Today, 20 years after King
was Shot on a motel balcony in
Memphis, Tenn., we should
remember the contributions to
society by the black leader.
Washington lawyer Charles
Morgan, the first white man to
serve as a director of King’s
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, called King one of
the most influential public fig
ures of the 20th century.
“He resurrected a society,”
Morgan said in a Los Angeles
Times article. “No one else did
that. No one else except (Fran
klin) Roosevelt.”
King made every day Elec
tion Day in America. He forced
American citizens to watch. He
forced the Congress to act. The
courts responded properly, and
together, they vindicated the
Constitution of the United
States.”
The Times article cited sev
eral changes in civil rightsin the
last 20 years, most of which
were spurred by King.
“Southern blacks sit on the
very courts, city councils and
school boards that rigidly im
posed inferior status upon them
a generation ago,” the column
said. “They hold middle-class
jobs long reserved for whites
only and attend the most inte
grated school systems in Amer
ica, the public schools lying
below the Mason Dixon line.”
But John Lewis, a oeorgia
Democrat in the House of Rep
resentatives and black activist,
said the civil rights movement,
since King’s death, is no longer
a movement.
“Something is missing,’’
Lewis said in the Times article.
“It has been missing ever since
his assassination — a sense ol
moral clarity, moral authority,
urgency.
“Today, we are caught up in
getting our piece of the pie. We
no longer speak in moral terms.
We don’t ask what we can do for
society, that large segment of
society that is still left behind.
Without Dr. King, that force is
missing. That direction is miss
ing/’
• uiurcngoers ai inc Carme
lite Chapel in Paramus, N.J.,
had to find another church for
Easter Sunday services. Mass
isn’t celebrated in the 18-year
old chapel on Sundays because
Bergen Shopping Mall, which
the chapel is in, is closed.
According to an Associated
Press story, the 150-seat chapel,
known as the Chapel on the
Mall, has been a hit on the other
six days of the week. It attracts
about 200 people a day for three
masses daily on weekdays and
four on Saturdays. Chapel pas
tors say it will continue to flour
ish as long as there are shoppers.
At one service, the Rev.
Brice Riordan looked out over
his congregation and said,
“Dear friends, it’s encouraging
to see such a great number of
you. There must be a sale at
Stem’s or something.”
Jackson as president dream, art implies
A cartoon by Jeff Anderson (Daily
Nebraskan, March 30) depicted the
Rev. Jesse Jackson being asked by
Santa Clausand the Easter bunny, “So
Jesse.. .we hear you Believe you will
be the next president.”
It was my impression that Ander
son is implying that Jackson’s dream
of becoming the president was noth
ing more than a fantasy.
Well, it may not have occurred to
the artist, but it was once a fantasy to
speculate that a human could run the
mile in less than four minutes, or that
we could one day reach the moon, or
that a former Hollywood movie star
named Ronald Reagan would be
come president.
Mfon A. Umoren
senior
Reader: Where do we draw the line?
In response to Christine Allcrheili
gen (Letters, April 1), I am sincerely
sorry to hear of your brother’s motor
cycle injury.
I do not doubt you in that people
probably should wear helmets while
riding motorcycles. I understand your
view on the proposed helmet law, and
I’m sure many people, including state
Sen. Dan Lynch, can tell a story of an
accident where a helmet could have
saved a life or serious head injury. I
am sure that many people can relate to
the proposed seat belt law in the same
way. Arguments exist on both sides,
but my question is where do we draw
the line when it comes to the govern
ment telling us what we can and can’t
do?
It’s funny how this is supposed to
be a free country when there are more
and more things we can ’ t do. I ride my
motorcycle with my helmet most of
the time, but I wear it because I want
to, not because someone tells me to.
It’s not all a matter of what is right or
wrong. Again, I’m sorry to hear of the
accident, but Allerheiligen’s brother
made a choice that he knew involved
l
I . ,, . ... -
a risk. When I ride my motorcycle
without my helmet, I also take that
risk. I do it because I want to as a
matter of choice. I’m aware of the
possible end result. How long will it
take before people realize that we
have to draw the line with the amount
of legislation imposed on everyone?
Do you want the state and federal
governments to take on the task of
making all the “right” decisions for
each individual? If so, you are in the
wrong country. Maybe Russia would
be a better place for you to live. I can
understand laws that protect people,
but this has gone loo far. We are not
robots or puppets on a string for leg
islative officials to control. Not wear
ing a helmet docs not infringe on
anyone clse’s physical well-being,
only my own. My family and friends
would have to understand that it was
my decision to take the risk of not
wearing a helmet if I was injured or
killed in a motorcycle accident.
Tim Matza
senior
business management
PR. MARTIN LUTHER RING JR. I
JANUARY 15.1929
APRIL 6.1968
3^-'
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© wee
20 YEARS APTER
THE DEATH OP A
VISION_[
Get ready for Dukakis in ’88
‘Vice-president jinx’ may be enough to ojfset economic reason
Making predictions has al
ways been a popular pas
time. The recent NCAA
basketball tournament pools pro
vided a great opportunity to exercise
one’s prediction skills. One must
usually predict a few crucial upsets
and bank on the success of a “Cinder
ella” team in order to win the pool.
The race for the office of president
of the United States is no different.
Few predicted that Vice President
George Bush’s fast-break offense
would leave Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in
the dust for the Republican nomina
tion.
Despite a stiff challenge by the
Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic
race, few would have guessed that
consistent wins by Massachusetts
Gov. Mike Dukakis would add up
faster than a run of three-point shots.
Dole was my favorite, and I am
disappointed that he didn’t catch on
with Republicans. As the Senate
Republican leader, Dole has been the
master of making the critical com pro
miscs 10 gel Dills tnrougn Congress.
Also, Dole would have been one
tough hombre on the deficit as a sound
fiscal conservative. Farmers would
have benefited from Dole’s farm
policy experience on the Senate Agri
culture Committee.
However, my favorite has been
eliminated in the Presidential Tour
nament. Fortunately, Bush and Dole
agreed on essentially every major
issue. That was Dole’s problem — he
couldn’t position himself away from
Bush to attract voters.
A look at the other side of the
bracket has Jackson battling Dukakis
in a tight semifinal match. Dukakis
will probably make it to the finals
against Bush by picking up big stales
like New York and Pennsylvania and
winning everything west of the Mis
sissippi.
With Bush and Dukakis battling it
out in the finals this November, one
wonders how to make heads or tails
out of the showdown.
Dukakis has election history on his
side. Voters have not been kind to
vice presidents — Richard Nixon in
1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968,
Gerald Ford in 1976 and Walter
Mondale in 1984 All lost because of
the “vice-president jinx,” which is
similar to the “Sports Illustrated
jinx,” where athletic teams tend to
lose after they have been featured on
the front page of Sports Illustrated
People tend to look for fresh candi
dates, no matter what administration
the vice president comes from.
However, Bush has a lot going for
him because Dukakis has taken some
dangerous stands that voters may re
ject, just as they rejected Walter
Mondalc.
Dukakis has sought the economic
issues as a method to gain the pocket
book votes. Instead of using the words
“inflation” and “unemployment”
(both at an eight-year low), Dukakis
has lambasted the Reagan admini
stration for creating low-pay, dead
end, hamburger-flipping jobs that
have notspelled relief for many,espe
cially minorities.
-1 „ -k
Dukakis is wrong. A recent report
from theCouncil of Economic Advis
ers shows that between 1982 and
1987, jobs grew 2.7 percent a year.
Minorities fared better than the gen
eral population — blacks (4.7 percent
a year), Hispanics (6.8) and black
teen-agers (8.2). Half the new jobs
pay more than $20,000.
Management and administrative
jobs grew especially fast (21 percent)
in this period, while tbc slowest
growth was in unskilled “hamburger
flipping” jobs. According to colum
nist George Will, real median family
income rose 9 percent between 1981
and 1986, with blacks doing better
(15.5) than other groups.
Dukakis also has taken credit for
what he terms the “Massachusetts
Miracle.” He boasts that he “can do
for America what has been done in
Massachusetts.”
Massachusetts has enjoyed some
economic success, but so has much of
the New England area. As the Wall
Street Journal noted: “The only prob
lem is that Gov. Dukakis has been at
best a bystander. The state’s eco
nomic boom in the mid-1980s can be
traced largely to two factors: tax cuts
and federal defense spending, both of
which Dukakis opposed.”
Taxes were cut and state spending
was brought under control in the early
1980s by his predecessor, Demo
cratic Gov. Edward King. In 19K6,
Massachusetts was awarded with a
whopping 6.4 percent of the nation’s
prime defense contracts, even though
the state has only 2.6 percent of the
country’s population.
In fact, jobs have been lost with
Dukakis as governor. Since 1984, job
growth in Massachusetts has been 30
percent below the national average.
Despite the hefty defense contracts,
Dukakis’ Massachusetts has lost 11A
percent of its manufacturing jobs
since 1984 (41 percent of all the
manufacturing jobs lost nationally).
Dukakis also has claimed that the
Reagan tax reduction package in
1981 has contributed gready to the
federal deficit and benefited the rich
more than the poor.
Pukakis is wrong again, rcucrai
revenues did not diminish between
1980 and 1987. The 1981 tax cut
produced tax savings of SI .48 trillion
over the past seven years, but new
taxes passed by Congress of about
$ 1.6 trillion have more than compen
sated for the tax cuts.
As for the gap between the rich and
poor, Rep. Richard Gephardt said it
best when questioned by Dukakis
about his vote for the Reagan tax
package. The moderate Democrat
quipped: “I’m proud to lower taxes by
two-thirds on people earning $50,000
and below.”
Gephardt was right. The tax bur
den has actually been greater for the
rich and less for the poor. According
to columnist William F. Buckley Jr.,
the poorest 50 percent of families will
pay 5.9 percent of all taxes in 1988,
down from 6.7 percent in 1980.
Meanwhile, the rich (top 5 percent ot
all wage earners) will pay 40.9 per
cent otthe taxes in 1988,upfrom 37
percent in 1980.
Nevertheless, Dukakis will proba
bly be the next presidentof the United
States. The vice-president jinx may
be enough to offset the economic
positions of the governor from Mas
sachusetts. Shall we start a pool?
Carlson is a third-year law student
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