Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Linccln
Amy Hdwards, Editor, 472-1766
Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor
Ryan Sleeves, Managing Editor
Hric Pfanner, Associate News Editor
Lisa Donovan, Associate News Editor
Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor
Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor
. ...- 1 —i
Priorities on iine
Recommendations reflect student needs
Gov. Kay Orr and the Nebraska Legislature recog
nized last week what the true priority should be for
the University of Nebraska^-Lincoln « its students.
The Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced
' $6.6 million in requests from the University of Nebraska
into the 1989-1991 budget alterations bill with the money
1 requested by the NU Board of Regents for needed instruc
I tional equipment and computers for university students in
the College of Engineering and Technology.
The committee did not recommend inclusion of
$400,000 for 1989-90 and $1.2 million for 1990-91 for
instructional equipment outside of the College of Engi
I neering and Technology. But the $825,000 the committee
f and governor did recommend will go a long way toward
I alleviating the computer shortage problem at UNL.
According to Roy Keller, chairman of the Department
of Computer Science & Engineering, almost all UNL de
f partments are short on computers. The shortage results
;; from Orr’s veto in 1989 of NU’s request for instructional
1 equipment, he said.
“UNL’s equipment replacement and improvement is
not financed by the state, and we made a big proposal to
obtain some of the funding needed,” Keller said last
month. “Upper administration is now trying to get some
of the funding back.”
The regents and NU central administration succeeded in
part of that effort with Orr. The Appropriations Commit
tee followed the governor’s budget proposal that did
include money for instructional equipment in the College
I of Engineering and Technology. The rest of the Legisla
| ture is likely to follow suit.
Aitnougn other departments on campus are snort on
| equipment, the most crucial need was in the engineering
j college so it can maintain accreditation.
Appropriations Committee members did not grant $1.4
| million for asbestos abatement in Burnett Hall. If the hall
* is not an immediate health threat, the committee was right
to put equipment for the engineering college and Depart
t mem of Computer Science & Engineering above an ad
| ministrative concern.
The computer science department has suffered the con
sequences of a lack of equipment. The number of gradu
I ates decreased from 87 in 1987 to 65 in 1988, department
statistics showed.
It’s no wonder UNL has problems attracting computer
I science majors when it has an outdated Harris computer
I system with 160 students vying for time on 16 lines into
I the mainframe.
More of these students are using personal computers on
| campus, increasing competition for computer time in
other labs with personal computers.
“In general, we have only one-half to two-thirds the
1 amount of equipment that we’d like to have,’ ’ Keller said.
“And with students who need to use these computers a
# lot, we have a definite need for more. ’ ’
Last year, the Legislature appropriated money for the
| instructional equipment but did not have enough time to
| overturn a veto by Ore.
This year, the governor and Appropriations Committee
| are putting their priorities in the right order. Hopefully the
rest of the Legislature will follow through on that com
| mitment to students and allocate more money for comput
ers.
« Victoria Ayotte
for t/u Doily Ntbraskan
W - A A —
HEV DAD, CAN
I HAVE SOME
. LUNCH MONEV ?
_ -\
Us ECONOWt
AIP J
Panamanian
--
Demons present new problems
Methods must be established to punish innately bad offenders
It’s almost spring and, for once,
we’ve got a bigger problem
than winter fat and ASUN
elections.
Oh sure, you won’t be able to get
to class this week without being ac
costed by well-dressed, nitrous-oxide
freaks soliciting buttons in an array of
offensive and unnatural colors.
And sure, Spring Break is almost
here and you still can’t fit your big toe
into the slinky swimsuit you bought
last November when you started the
exercise program that ended a week
later when Oreos and Sugarbabies
went on sale at Super Saver.
But these are mere unpleasantries,
my friends. There is something much
worse than politicians and fat.
Yep. It’s demonic possession.
John O’Connor, a Catholic Cardi
nal, said Sunday that the rare rite of
exorcism has been performed twice
in New York City just this year. Also,
a Dec. 12 article in the San Francisco
Chronicle stated that Pope John Paul
II recently increased the number of
exorcists in Rome.
And here s the real sunkcr. Ac
cording to the Associated Press, po
lice in Indianapolis last week asked a
priest to pray and sprinkle holy water
in a house after they saw a radio, a
vase and other objects inexplicably
move.
The police had been called to in
vestigate a possible burglary after the
resident came home and found smashed
dishes, windows, a lamp and eggs. A
14-ycar-old relative who had been
slaying there was believed to have
been involved in devil worship, au
thorities said.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but 1 get
terribly nervous when law enforce
ment officials begin calling priests to
solve burglary cases. Besides the fact
that this is a blatant mixing of church
and state, this also is an extremely
dangerous precedent for criminal
investigations. Just imagine:
OFFICER: “Mrs. Smith, we be
lieve your cat has been placed in the
. tree by demons. We’ll contact the
proper religious authorities. Goo
dbye.”
Or.
FRIEND: “Joe, don’t try to drive
home. There’s a lot of cops out there,
and I think you’ve had one too many
demons.”
That last one didn’t make any sense.
Let me try this again:
OFFICER: “Hold it right there or
I’ll squirt ya!”
Get it? Water gun? Holy water?
Anyway, it seems unlikely that a
group of police officers would all lie
about seeing normally inanimate
objects move on their own, let alone a
radio and a vase.
The last logical explanation is that
they have a new kind of mandatory
Bob
Nelson
I
drug lest for police in Indiana:
DOCTOR: “Officer, you’ve tested
positive for every hallucinogenic on
Earth except LSD.’’
OFFICER: “I’M MELTING!!!”
DOCTOR: “Maybe, but you’re
not fit for duty. Drop two tabs and call
me in the morning.”
But what if the police, the cardinal
and the pope are telling the truth? All
these people hold truth in pretty high
regard. This leaves me with only one
conclusion.
We have a demon epidemic on our
hands.
I suppose that, like all epidemics
of this nature, we must establish a
method whereby we can punish the
holy living crud out of the offenders
those being the demons.
Let us use the Indiana case as an
example.
First, we must make sure that
demons actually are responsible for
moving the radio and vase. Second,
we must establish whether or not
moving a radio or vase is illegal, and
third, we must institute a fair punish
ment and rehabilitation program for
the guilty demon.
The problem of guilt is an easy one
to solve. Radios and vases, as inani
mate objects, do not move on their
own. Therefore, the vase and radios
were moved. If they were moved and
the police officers didn’t sec what
moved them, then the vase and the
radio must have been moved by a
demon.
Is it a crime for demons to move
things? I say yes. Because demons
are evil, anything they do is evil.
Crime is evil. Therefore, if they move
a vase and a radio, they have commit
ted a crime.
Should they be punished or reha
bilitated? I say they should be pun
ished. Demons are innately bad. They
can’t be rehabilitated. There is no
such thing as a good demon. There
fore, they should be exorcised.
Now some people would say the
demon in Indiana was not there by its
own choice. They would say that the
devil-worshipping metal head conjured
the demon and that the demon is not
to blame. The demon wouldn’t exist
without the want for a demon, they
would say.
They would say that the problem
stems from the 14-year-old who con
jured the thing. They would ask, “Why
the hell did the kid need a demon?”
Well, I could do the demon and
drug parallel for days. We’ve got
more important things to worry about.
For God’s sake, there arc police offi
cers asking priests to exorcise de
mons.
1 guess this story just messed with
my Big Picture. Where is the Law and
the Order when demons are included
in a society?
Worst yet. What if the demons
aren’t Catholic?
Nelson is a senior news-editorial major
and the Daily Nebraskan editorial page edi
tor and a columnist.
1—fef=>
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editorial -
Signed staff editorials represent
the official policy of the spring 1990
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the
Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its
members are Amy Edwards, editor;
Bob Nelson, editorial page editor;
Ryan Sleeves, managing editor; Eric
Pfanner, associate news editor.Lisa
Donovan, associate news editor;
Brandon Loomis, wire editor; Jana
Pedersen, night news editor.
Editorials do not necessarily re
flect the views of the university, its
employees, the students or the NU
Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the
opinion of the author.
The Daily Nebraskan’s publishers
are the regents, who established the
UNL Publications Board to supervise
the daily production of the paper.
According to policy set by the re
gents, responsibility for the editorial
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the hands of its student editors.
