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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1988)
E ditorial j NdSraskan University of Nsbraska-Uncoln Curt Wagner, Editor, 472-1766 Mike Reilley Editorial Pag* Editor Diana Johnson, Managing Editor Lee Rood, Associate News Editor Bob Nelson, Wire Pag* Editor Andy Pollock. Columnist Micki Haller, Entertainment Editor What others think Other student newspapers go on Quayle hunt Editor’s note: The Daily Nebraskan has received several phone calls and a few letters concerning the Oct. 6 editorial on the Dan Qwayle-Lloyd Bcntaen vice presidential debate in Omaha. Here are what other college newspapers thought of the debate: The real Dan Quayle stood up in Omaha for everyone to see. Not only did he fail to meet the expectations, which were quite low, he bombed.... miserably. That means big trouble for Vice President George Bush and the Republican ticket in November. " ' Since his nomination, Quayle has been attacked from many angles, mostly based on his age, experience and qualifications, or lack thereof. Because the expectations of his performance were so low, more than one political analyst predicted that Quayle could easily win the debate by merely projecting a qualified vice-presidential image — much like the prediction made for Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. But unlike Dukakis, wno surpassed uie anticipations, Quayle didn’t come close to looking the part of vice president, much less a president Instead, the man who was chosen because of his youth and alleged charisma to help out Bush’s blooper-prone image fumbled around the issues, stuttering and stumbling through hopeless attempts to prove his merits as a candi date. — The Daily Reveille Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, La. “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy,” Sen. Lloyd Bentsen taunted Quayle during the debate. “That was really uncalled for,” Quayle snapped back in a tiff. With this exchange, Bentsen exposed Quayle for the sniveling, whining, spoiled brat that he is. And Quayle displayed to the nation his political immaturity and unfit ness to lead. Facing down the media after being chosen as the Re publican vice-presidential candidate* Quayle claimed on Aug. 31 that; “I* ve been in politics a iong time. Fair play. Fair enough. I can stand the heat and I’ll stay in the kitchen.” Danforth, it seemed, was ready to take on the obligations of the vice presidency as well as the scrutiny. Granted, Danforth has had a rather rough time — especially in this campaign where loyalty oaths, patriot ism, military service and other non-issues dominate. In this campaign, the heat is especially high in the kitchen. But Quayle*s lame response to Bentsen’s attack — I especially after asserting throughout the debate that, like 5 JFK, he had the political experience and maturity in spite of his youth to govern the United States — was an obvi ous example of Quayle’s inability to withstand the heat University of jam Iowa City, rowa Ate a disappointing presidential debate, the vice presidential debate offered voters two things they have hungered for—a genuine look at two candidates and a clear winner. *>! * • .. Q^yJ' ema^iKT*idebwew. and it showed Unlike the George Bush-Michael Dukakis debate^viewers actually learned something about the Beatsen came acrosg as a smooth, experienced, knowl edgeable politician. Quayle, on the other hand, seemed cool and over-controlled. His presentation was stiff... and... Bill of... pauses, not to mention repetition. To some, it kxkcd aa if the moderators went picking on Quay le while allowing Bcntsen to side-step the same questions. But there’s nothing unfair about asking a vice presidential candidate what he would do if he became president. Quayle couldn’t even manage a decent pie scripted answer, only mumblings about his years in Congrcst. — Tkc University Daily Kaadft| University ofXansqm Lawrence, KarT% Inaccessibility breeds problems Columnist says condoms need to be easy to find on campus Ihad planned to fill this space with some drivel on the other two parties on the ballot in Nebraska. With a brilliant stroke of my pen I have condensed the entire column into two sentences: • I am for people, not platitudes. • Anyone who claims to explain economics in three easy lessons is leaving something out. With that done, I can move on to something truly important. Doug Zatechka, director of uni versity housing, was one of the first people that I met on campus. He and I have been acquainted for several years now. Heck, I’d even say we’re friends now that I live off campus and I’m not sending every penny I earn to the housing office. But just like any friends, Zatechka and I sometimes disagree. Once we differed on whether civil codes or moral truth should be the primary controlling influence over one’s actions. I said that conducting an astronomy experiment on the roof of Selleck Quadrangle with some friends and a six pack of plain-label beer was not immoral, but was actu ally good. Zatechka said that it was illegal and thus should not be done. wc agrteu 10 disagree, in me meantime, the once-in-a lifetime planetary alignment came and went unnoticed, probably because all man’s creations were not, as ex pected, immediately shaken to dust. I feel, though, that I have let him down. He used to enjoy having lunch with me and my “radical hippie friends,” and we with him. Now, because my first piece of hostile fan mail is from a non-conformist, my name is tarnished. Perhaps I can pol ish it Zatechka said (DN Oct. 6), “I am aware that other campuses have con dom dispensers but 1 feel that con doms shouldn’t be so accessible that people won’t discuss their sexuality with doctors first.” This is a noble, if unrealistic, sen timent. People should openly discuss decisions about their sexuality with a doctor. According to theory, doctors know more than we do about how bodies work and how to reduce the risks associated with physical expres sions of love. One thing they will tell you for sure: Use a condom outside of a mutually-faithful relationship. ml A great variety of factors may be Hirectly related to whether one will r choose to discuss sexuality options with one’s doctor. Availability of condoms is not among them. More likely, if no one ever discusses sex with you until they wanted it from you, you will be reluctant to share this joyous discovery with someone who presses a cold piece of metal to your chest when you least feel like having this done. Interestingly, the biggest farce in the era of AIDS is this advice, “If you have sex outside of a mutually-faith ful relationship, then use a condom.’’ This says to me that as long as I only make love with one person at a time, then I’ll be safe from getting AIDS even without the use of preven tative measures. However, it occurs to me that it doesn’t make any difference if I make love to 10 people in 10 years or 10 people in two weeks. I would still be exposed by intimate contact with 10 people. A completely unscientific survey of my friends reveals that this figure might not be too far off — most have had between five and 15 lovers and several have had more. For these purposes, “friend” is defined as: • Someone whose sexual history I know something about; • Zatechka. Most of these people are single and under 25. The sample size is about 130. The vast majority of these people were in what they considered to be mutually-faithful relationships. In deed, most of my friends claim to have loved everyone they’ve ever slept with. Sometimes, however, the other party involved did not always consider it so. One of my friends was recently worried because she learned that one of her ex-lovers (she’d had less than five) is now openly homosexual. He’d had male lovers before and during the time that he dated my friend. She was unaware of this dur ing the relationship and upon finding out that she was, unwittingly, a member of a high-risk group, was tested for the AIDS virus. She fortu nately does not have it. Once, a group of people I liked to spend time with and I decided that 1:30 a.m. was the prime time for condom buying. The bars had just closed, and people were pairing off and leaving parties. We decided that in the unlikely event that this should ever happen to one of us, we should make a practice run — find a condom in Lincoln at 1:30 a.m. It wasn’t easy. The University Health Center is locked, and I know from experience that even if you arc being carried by several people or are bleeding profusely, it still lakes sev eral minutes to get in there. I don’t think they’ll be very willing to let every intoxicated, aroused couple in to buy a 10-cent condom. The closest condoms to be had were at 17th and South streets. Luck ily we had a car. We didn’t find them until about 2:45. Most aroused, in toxicated couples, we concurred, would not be so single-mindcdly devoted to finding condoms at that hour. Police sure don’t want them to drive to 17th and South looking for condoms. wiui inis in mina, ixmg, ici * consider the following scenario. Suppose you have a lovely 19-year old daughter. She has used her fake ID to spend the evening at Mingles with a group of college freshmen. One of them is a boy from her dorm that she likes. They decide to go home to gether. Neither of them has a car. If you stand by your decision, the near est condoms will be 15 blocks away. Like all good residents, they know that you have to get into a dorm room before 2 a.m. They decide to skip the condoms—“After all, we’ re going to be faithful to each other, aren’t we?” Before wc condemn the loose morals of the younger generations, we need to consider that, despite the most loving, concerned and informed parental advice, ultimately the deci sion to make love is made by two people. Three if you get into that sort of thing. If we had our way, none of our children, actual or hypothetical, would make love to anyone that wasn’t certified AIDS-free. But people are only human. Can wc ex pect so much more from our children than of ourselves? Wouldn’t it be better to help them live through a few mistakes than vainly hope they are smart enough not to make them? Longs! nr is a am lor economics and IntWf national affairs major and Is a Dally Nebras* kan editorial columnist.