Editorial
Daily
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mike Reilley, Editor472-1766
Diana Johnson, Editorial Page Editor
Jen Deselms, Managing Editor
Curt Wagner, Associatee News Editor
Chris Anderson, Associate News Editor
Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief
Joel Carlson, Columnist
More contradictions
Petersen is ignoring his responsibility
The wall around the
AS UN country club is
stronger than ever, and
two senators say it has been laced
with barbed wire.
No one gets in.
No one gets out.
Especially the press.
Two senators from the Asso
ciation of Students of the Uni
versity of Nebraska accused
newly elected president Jeff Pe
tersen of placing a “gag order”
on the senate members, telling
them not to discuss a bill until
after it has gone through com
mittee. The senators, who asked
not to be identi fied, said Petersen
made the proposal during execu
tive session at a meeting Sunday.
One senator said Petersen
gagged the senators in a “self
righteous, superior way.” He
said Petersen told the senators
they weren’t “team players” if
they commented on a bill before
it went through committee hear
ings.
“Petersen’s the team,’ the
senator said.
Another senator said
Petersen’s action was “unprofes
sional and an over-reaction to the
situation.’’
“I think students need to be in
formed of things affecting all
students,” the senator said. “The
committee process of students is
a public process or (it) should
be.”
Petersen said Tuesday he
didn’t place any gag rule on the
senators, but asked them to “use
their best judgment” when com
menting on a bill that’s still in
committee hearings.
“I wasn’t trying to suppress
anyone,” Petersen said. “They
have the right to express their
opinion. 1 was just concerned
that we give the legislative proc
ess a fair run. Perhaps I was
wrong in the first place to say
that they should or shouldn’t
talk."
Bills that pass through ASUN
are open to coverage by the
media at any time, just like the
Nebraska Legislature. "Tie Lin
coln and Omaha papers, as well
as the Daily Nebraskan, compete
with each other to get the legisla
tive news to their readers first
That often means reporting on a
bill from its introduction until
it’s signed by the governor.
The same holds true with
ASUN. The DN tries to publish
stories on ASUN bills as quickly
as possible. Many of the bills
affect UNL students financially
and can help or hinder the quality
of the education they receive.
Even the joke bills get a little ink
now and then.
Petersen, a junior Droaucasi
ing major from Scottsbluff, re
fused to comment on questions
asked by a DN reporter about last
Sunday’s meeting. The reporter
asked about an amendment to
ASUN’s bylaws that would
change the structure of the ap
pointments board.
"It wouldn’t be fair for me to
comment while senators are de
bating it,” he said. "My support
for a bill comes when 1 sign it.
They (senators) can comment
any time they want.”
Petersen apparently contra- |
diets himself. As a student
leader, it is part of his responsi
bility to be accessible to his
constituency as well as making
information available to them.
Petersen’s campaign prom
ised to improve communication
between ASUN and the campus.
Already the newly elected stu
dent leader seems to be ipncging
on his platform.
Radical thankful for veto of bill
to reward play with money
“Players are providing a service
for which they should be paid,” Ne
braska Sen. Ernie Chambers said
(Daily Nebraskan, April 14.)
What?! Is someone out there
trying to tell me that certain students
here are playing football because they
have to? I thought people came to this
institute to achieve a degree in a spe
cial field. I thought sports were avail
able as an extracurricular activity in
which students voluntarily engaged
on their spare time.
I understand that football is a vi
able profession and many players
hold degrees in jobs they practice off
season. Also I understand how ap
pealing the glamour is to students.
that perchance they can reach fame
and fortune by excelling in a sport.
No one participates in a sport be
cause they have to. It is their freedom
of will that motivates them. If they
need money so bad, let them do work
study for minimum wage and help the
college operate in the process.
My thanks to everyone who con
tributed in the veto of such a hideous
attempt to reward playtime monetar
ily.
Yep, this really bugs me.
Anthony Mottc
radical at-large
junioi
art cducatior
UNL law protessor lovea ui\ joKe issue
Well, I'll say it: I loved the April 1
joke issue! I think it was hilarious, and
I saved two copies to share with
friends from out of town. It will be a
sad day for this state and this nation
when 24,(XX) college students can
survive an entire year without at least
one day of irreverence and vulgarity.
There is a high probability that
H*f.M ,:;-4
after graduation, you and your live:
will become more boring with ever
passing year (just look around you)
Have some fun while you still have i
in you!
J.B. McCornb:
assistant professor of lav
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Harrah mocks Kivera
New color added to today’s yellow journalism
Embellishment, lying, sensa
tionalism, stupid questions
and cat fights sure make in
teresting journalism — just ask “in
vestigative reporter” and talk-show
host Geraldo Rivera and syndicated
columnist Suzy.
Rivera and Suzy broughtnew color
to modern-day yellow journalism and
mock muckraking the past two weeks,
feeding America’s hunger for media
hyperbole.
First, another one of Rivera’s
laughable “in-depth” specials aired
last week. But this lime Rivera chose
a topic more sensational than A1
Capone’s vault or teen-age Holly
wood hookers: murder.
“Murder: Live From Death Row”
set a precedent for overdone broad
casting. The show, a sorry mishmash
of idiotic questions, grotesque close
ups of mangled, bloody bodies and
incoherent ramblings of mass mur
derers, was the TV counterpart of the
sleaziest detective magazines.
Rivera, known for his bad ques
tions and subjective homilies about
mankind, topped his own incompe
i tence when he interviewed Charles
Manson live on the show.
Rivera delivered such insightful
Manson proclamations as: “He is still
possessed by a Satanic spirit which is
at once fascinating and repugnant.”
After the camera zoomed in on
Manson’s usual frantic body move
ments and lunatic philosophies, Riv
era looked at him with his trademark
bleeding-heart sombemcss and said,
“I think you are an evil person.”
Gee, Geraldo, we never knew that.
Rivera then asked the author of
“Heller Skelter”: “Is Manson nuts?”
Rivera proceeded to interview
numerous convicted murderers and
focused on the most sensational sto
ries— like that of Judith Ann Neeley,
who injected a 13-year-old girl with a
lethal concoction of Drano and Liquid
Plumber.
And he also interviewed a woman
who murdered her baby, then stuck it
in a plastic bag and dumped it in a
forest. But, as always, Rivera didn’t
even try to be professional. Under the
woman’s name on the screen was the
title: “Baby Killer ”
As always, Rivera was unable to
hide his emotions and opinions. He
asked one murderer: “Why shouldn’t
you be put to death for the DREAD
FUL crime you committed?”
During commercial breaks, an ad
for Rivera’s talk show was aired fre
quently. In the ad, he defends himself
by saying: “Some of my critics claim
my show is sensalionalistic, but I
think life is pretty sensational itself.”
Yeah^ttftris just like The Weekly'
World News.'
a lew days octore Kivcra inter
viewed Manson, syndicated gossip
columnist Suzy took an egotistical
acid trip to the Spahn Ranch school of
Mansonesque delusion — with a few
side trips to Norma Desmond in
“Sunset Boulevard.”
Let me explain.
According to the Wall Street Jour
nal and Newsday’s James Revson,
Suzy wrote a column about a party
hosted by New York Times publisher
Punch Sulzberger. But — shame,
shame — Suzy dropped some names
that never appeared at the par ty. Why,
you ask? Because Suzy never at
tended the party and relied on an
advance press release for her column.
A columnist war of the Louclla
Parsons/Hcdda Hopper vein ensued.
Revson, Suzy’s male gossip rival,
lambasted the fibbing social chroni
cler in his Newsday column. Su/y
retaliated with an even more caustic
column. She actually compared her
column to Mount Rushmore because,
she said, it is “a class act loaded with
prestige.” She also declared herself a
“star” and “the best and the brightest
in my field.”
Perhaps Su/y thinks life is pretty
sensational, too.
Suddenly, “Suzyscam” became
the silliest trivial press-grabber since
the Jimmy Swaggart scandal.
“Suzyscam” became more ludicrous
when Suzy’s editor stood behind the
false account.
The scandals of the past year have
turned the media into an uninten
tional soap opera. The TV news pro
?;ram has become much more than a
orum for what’s happening; we now
feel our TV screens are theatrical
prosccniums and news must be dra
matic, if not sensational, to keep us
interested. The media knows this and
will do anything to make sure there’s
enough gore, sex and titillalion to
keep us watching or reading.
That’s why Suzy can stretch me
truth, call herself a star-studded
Mount Rushmorc and get away with
it. That’s why Rivera can spew plati
tudes, interview “baby killers” and
call himself a professional. They arc
merely filling the media hype gaps
until the next Ollie North or Tammy
Bakker arrives to be ridiculed by the
public.
Although Suz.y’s and Rivera s
antics arc amusing, perhaps it’s time
the American media realized credi
bility shouldn’t be sacrificed for
amusement.
Surely there are other Mount
Rushmores in the media who can tell
us more than how bright and famous
they are or what an evil person Man
son is.
Hurrah is a senior news-editorial major.
jrvjj/vTjIfjtm
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J Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its mcm
r bcrs arc fylike Reilley, editor; Diana
111! #1! IliltlP.
\*#**» r»w«iv
Johnson, editorial page editor; Joan
Rezac, copy desk editor; Jen De
selms, managing editor; Curt Wag
ner, associate news editor; Chris
Anderson, associate night news edi
mwum :^mr ;;;r row
numvuumiu • *»u* nitni hiim.i ,
tor and Joel Carlson, columnist.
Editorials do not necessarily re
flect the views of the university, it*
employees, the students 01 the NU
Board of Regents.
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