Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1990)
i P H1 friri 2k 1 Nebraskan 4 JLl VtlivIJL 1CI1 Friday, January 26,1990 ■ Daily INebraskan I Editorial Board i: University ot Nebraska Lincoln Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766 Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor Ryan Sleeves, Managing Editor Eric Pfanncr, Associate News Editor Lisa Donovan, Associate News Editor Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor Bush veto bad move Chinese students need to be protected i Thursday, the U.S. Senate upheld President Bush’ veto of a bill protecting Chinese students from deportation. Bad move. An estimated 40,000 Chinese students are studying in the United States, according to the Associated Press. Those students need to know that their hosts are not going to withdraw their hospitality. Legislation would have offered that piece of mind. Tiananmen Square was a tragedy. No one can condone the violence used by the Chinese government against its own people. Especially not the United States, when the protesters killed were asking for freedoms staunchly protected in our own country. Bush may not think of his veto as condoning the Chi nese government’s actions; he is concerned about long term relationships. But his move -- and his China policy in general — show a lack of respect toward those who have condemned t~nma s oppression. A lack ot respect toward people fighting for democracy. Many Chinese students living in the U.S. have spoken f out against the problems in their country. The American government and public were eager to hear those students’ opinions when their peers were killed in Tiananmen Square. Had they made those statements in China, they may have been arrested, jailed or killed. When they return to China, they may face repercus sions from their freedoms of speech in the U.S. No one can know for sure, but the thought alone is frightening. Before the Senate’s vote, Bush repeated his promise that students would be fully protected even without the legislation. - . “No student, as long as I’m president, will be sent back,” he said. 1 Bush says that now, but what if he changes his mind while he continues to woo the Chinese government? What about when Bush is no longer president? Who knows what the Chinese government — a govern ment that has proven it will use brutality as a means of control — will be like in three years? -- Amy Edwards for the Daily Nebraskan Pornography column ludicrous Reflecting on Brandon Loomis recent column (DN, Jan. 22), on por nography, I feel there is reason for concern. It was unfortunate that those opposed to pornography were carica tured as naive while suggesting that its use is harmless. To excuse pornog raphy as “male bonding or some thing,” even though “women are degraded,” is rather ludicrous. The degradation of a segment of our soci ety for any reason, let aJone for pleas ure, should be cause for alarm. For too long, women have been viewed as objects rather than human beings in their own right and with their own dignity. Unfortunately, pornography helps to perpetuate such a portrayal. Finally, I cannot accept the state ment that this is an “American tradi tion" even if Loomis insists that I should “believe it.” If, as Loomis suggests, “sexual impulses... came out of the sixth day or thereabouts,” then he would also need to accept its conditions for legitimacy which are set forth in the same volume contain ing this account. Nate Peachey graduate student chemistry Drunk driving not biggest killer I ne tacts about aiconoi consump tion in the United States contradict Bob Nelson’s recent editorial state ment (DN, Jan. 19), “thatdrunk driv ing is the primary evil of alcohol.” Dean Gerstein of the National Re search Council estimates that each year alcohol consumption is an im portant factor in: 30,000deaths from cirrhosisof the liver. 20.000 deaths from falls, fires and drownings. 11.000 traffic deaths. 10.000 alcohol-related overdoses. 10,000 suicides. 10,000 murders. The total monetary cost of alcohol abuse in the U.S. in 1983 was esti mated at $ 116 billion, only $3 billion of which was attributed to motor venicte crasnes. The University of Nebraska-Lin coln administration is tasked with promoting the education, health and safety of students, most of whom have not reached the legal drinking age. Assuming that UNL students are not much different from the U.S. popu lace, authorizing alcohol consump tion on campus would most likely increase alcohol-related accidents and fatalities. Insisting that young citi zens understand the advantages of not consuming alcohol and other drugs and their responsibilities when they do is the most enlightened stance UNL officials can take. Tim Karstrom graduate student political science —— L Some pictures last a lifetime Even routine research can change outlooks on moral issues We’ve all been there before - the wrong place at the wrong time. Most have lived through such experiences. Some have not. This was the case for two young boys doing their early-moming paper routes *• Danny Joe Eberle and Chris topher Paul Walden. But who is to blame for their death? Maybe coincidence. Perhaps bad luck. As the John Joubert story resurges again, we witness yet another move in the lawyers’ game of chess. Joubert’s second appeal before the Nebraska Supreme Court is pending. His plea to charges of murdering yet another little boy, this lime in Maine: innocent. Innocent. You know, there was a lime when I would have calmly shook my head, “How can he do that?’’ I would have quietly wondered how the hell could h(* <tn lhal There was a lime when I con sciously said “no” to capital punish ment. No to the penalty of death. Now, that’s all changed. Last week, 1 was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was asked to do some research for a Portland, Maine, newspaper on the case of Joubert. When The Associated Press call came through to the College of Jour nalism, 1 just happened to be close by. It seemed exciting — thinking about rifling through Supreme Court files of a major murder case. 1 was fired up. I thought I was in the right place at the right time. God, was I wrong. Using my important-sounding voice, I entered the Nebraska Su preme Court office and asked for the files. It took a few minutes of search ing before they finally were found. Not loo ominous looking. Just a regular, everyday, plain, ordinary cardboard box. A deceiving package. Because as you may guess, what rested within the package was not plain or regular. It was a nightmare. As I lifted the lid, I viewed many, many files containing thousands and thousands of pages. I began fumbling through them. I really didn’t know where to look first. Finally, I found the witness’ name I was searching for. It was indexed in the front of a fat, black, vinyl note book. * C.J. Shepers “Great,” I remember thinking. “This will be easy.” Flipping through the pages, I strained to find the witness’ testi mony. But it didn’t make sense, be cause instead of finding black-and white testimony, I was coming across newspaper articles ... polaroid pho tos of police lineups. . . exhibits of evidence. w nai 1 nceaeo aian i seem to dc in there, but I was persistent. It had to be in there. Then it happened. I turned to a page that I wish I had never turned to. I saw something never meant for human eyes to sec. I saw the pictures of the dead boys. Muti lated. In color. God knows what had been done to them. Or why. For just a brief second, I froze up. Not wanting to look, but too horrified to do anything else. I swallowed quickly, turned the page and slammed the book. I lamely went to the counter and asked for help in finding what I needed. They were helpful, and I finally found it. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had seen. Like an obsession, I couldn’t erase the thing from my mind. A few hours later, I finished my research with a sobering view, mailed off the information and jumped in my car, heading home, west down Inter state 80. The photos of the boys kept flash ing through my head, speeding faster and faster. Sometimes, the gentle faces of my own two children Hashed through, mixed with faccsof thcdcad. I reached for the radio, forgetting that it hadn’t worked for months and months. Then I panicked. Breathing was lough. Driving was tough. My nails dug deep into the steering wheel, trying to keep hold. I gasped for air and the tears started streaming. Pretty soon 1 was bawling like a baby. I didn’t even know if 1 could make the last seven miles home. But I was lough, 1 could do it. I smeared away the tears, sucked in my runny nose and look a releasing sigh. My peace lasted only a second. The bawling resumed. Hysterical bawling. And it didn’t end there. In fact, it lasted through the night. I began wondering if 1 would ever slccpagain. Through the night, I asked my husband, “How could he do it?” But he couldn’t answer me. Noonc could. 1 kept thinking about those boys. Those sweet, wonderful boys. How could he do it? Wrong place, wrong lime.' No. It wasn't bad luck. And it wasn’t coincidence. It was John Joubert doing what he wanted to do. What he de sired to do — even though he knew it was wrong — at least in the eyes of the rest of society. And I believe that he deserves to pay for his sickening crime. He de serves to die. Now, I know what some of you think. That capital punishment is as wrong as the murder itself. But I don’t agree. Two weeks ago I might have. Not any more. If faced with guaranteed electro cution for his crimes, would he still have killed? After reading testimony, my logic is mixed. But my gut feeling is that he wouldn’t have been as likely to kill. He's a smart guy - in the IQ superior range of 127 - and he's out to save his own hide. In the case in Portland, Maine, he is now preparing to draft much of his own legal work because he’s so smart. He knows what he's doing. He always has. Schepers is a senior news-ed Itorlal mqjor and a Daily Nebraskan staff reporter and colum nist.