Editorial
|f~~~ Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor
Ryan Steeves, Managing Editor
Eric Pfanner, Associate News Editor
Lisa Donovan, Associate News Editor
Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor
Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor
What Others Think
Evaluations, unsigned editorials disputed
A Florida state House of Representatives subcommit
tee approved a bill Wednesday that would make it
illegal for newspapers to publish unsigned editorials
and force editorial writers to disclose financial holdings,
The Associated Press reported.
ft would make it a misdemeanor for a newspaper to run
an editorial not signed by the author, said the AP.
One of the 32 co-sponsors of the bill, Democrat Elvin
Martinez, said the measure’s intent was to shed more light
on newspapers’ role as opinion leaders, the AP said.
“The real molderof public opinion is the press,’’
1 Martinez said. “They can take you and beat you and do
anything to you, and they’re immune. I think people have
I a right to know if their views are jaundiced by some
! financial interest.’’
Well, isn’t that special? This was tried in South Caro
\ lina a few years back. The same reasons were given at the
I time, but the truth was far more revealing about the
? representative who wrote the bill then. Rep. G. Ralph
Davenport, R-Spartan burg, had been the subject of an
editorial campaign in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that
didn’t present a favorable image of him.
Back then, Davenport wanted to make one person
| responsible for the editorial of a newspaper. He wanted to
I know exactly who he should call up and take to task about
what he considered unfair statements.
But it doesn’t work like that. Editorials traditionally are
the opinions of the editorial board of the newspaper. The
top editors meet and decide what their stand on local
issues is. And then they tell their editorial writer to write
it, whether he believes in it or not.
I- The University of Georgia Gamecock
• Accountability to students is crucial to any reform of
the University (of Texas). UT administration is showing
that it recognizes this and, more importantly, faculty have
jj joined students in a call for some form of mandatory
| teacher evaluations.
| ... statistical data that would be provided from fill-in
the-blank surveys are very necessary to recognize trends
in certain departments and compare levels of student
satisfaction in different colleges.
Mandatory evaluations made available to the general
* UT community have been long in coming. Faculty and
• students both recognize the necessity; it’s safe to say this
3 issue isn’t the only one in which each group can find
3 common ground. We must come together and hammer out
1 the final form of evaluations.
j Mandatory teacher evaluations are the first step on the
| road that places value in educating students.
— Brandon Powdi, for the University of Texas Daily Texan
Ex-smoker supports Krugerud
Fran Thompson, you insolent pod!
Never before can I remember suffer
ing through such an unwarranted at
tack of wearisome, overcapitalized,
underconsidcrcd flack (DN, April 10).
I don’t believe that Kurt Krugcrud
has violated anyone’s space by merely
voicing his opinion on smoking. It is
your letter which is “rude and vio
lent’’ It seems to me that you wouldn’t
even take issue with Kurt’s column if
you didn’t already feel defensive about
your defenseless habit. Where in
Krugcrud’s article did he mention
“wishing to save your life?” I can’t
recall that part.
I currently share a dorm room with
a smoker, and I must sav that at times
it does bother me. Yes, Fran, I know,
I got myself into this one, but what
you might note is that there arc rude
smokers and there are considerate
smokers. I certainly can see that
smoking does affect the space of a
non-smoker. Krugcrud’s point as
regards public space, (a point which
was bafflingly missed by Fran-baby
in her verbal assault on Krugcrud),
was that a smoker cannot share publ ic
space because smoke doesn’t stay
within the confines of the “smoking
section.” Cigarette smoke is a filthy,
greasy, dust-manufacturing industry
which coals everything that it comes
in contact with. It’s true!
I am a non-smoker who recently
quit smok ing after a four-year bout as
a pack-a-day Benson and Hedges
fanatic, and yes, 1 used to try to ra
tionalize what was purely a psycho
logical addiction with phrases like
“who wants to live forever,” and
“there is already enough pollution in
the atmosphere, what could a ciga
rette hurt.” Which brings me to my
next observation: Apparently, Fran
has no bodily odor and doesn’t need
louse “vile chemical deodorants and
aftershaves.” Wouldn’t it be neat if
we all had such inhuman immunities!
Next time Fran, why don’t you just
let one rip and release some of that
pent-up aggression that you arc cur
rently fostering deep within your in
testinal cavity.
Eric Williams
senior
art
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Parents’ abuse causes anger
Public should not close eyes to warning signs of child abuse
"Perhaps we cannot prevent this
world from being a world in which
children are tortured. But we can re
duce the number of tortured children.
And if you don't help us, who else in
the world can help us do this?’ ’
- Albert Camus
My grandmother used to tell
me fairy tales.
We’d be sitting at the
kitchen table, drinking our instant
coffee or hot tea, and she’d tell me
stories about how much my mother
loved me and how much she would
dote on her cute little blond girl. How
she used to dress me up in frills... in
bows ... in spit-shiny shoes.
In beautiful things.
“You know, she really did love
you Carrie Jo,” she’d say.
“Uh-huh,“ I’d sigh.
She’d continue talking, while I’d
be quietly thinking to myself: If my
mother really loved me so much --
then why did she abuse me?
Why?
1 agonized lo find an answer.
Right now, even as you read this,
some child out there is probably ask
ing themselves: “Why me?”
Maybe you’ve already heard that
this is Child Abuse Prevenuon Month.
As a college student, you may feel
that such an issue docsn t really con
, ccmyou. After all, most of you aren’t
’ even parents yet.
But you do know what it’s like lo
be a child.
And more than likely, you’ll also
f know what it’s like to be a parent
someday, if you don’t already.
So take some time to listen.
Last year in Nebraska, 7,522 child
abuse cases were investigated by the
. Department of Social Services. Slightly
j more than half of those were proven
, to be actual cases of maltreatment.
Nebraska ... the good life?
Not for these kids.
j Between 1979and 1986, Nebraska
1
saw a 181 percent increase in re
ported child abuse and neglect cases.
And authorities say there arc still many
cases that go unreported. I’m sure
some of you even know of one.
In fact, mine was one of those they
never counted.
I was in fifth grade when it all
started happening. In the next few
C. J.
Schepers
years that followed, I and others around
me, watched me transform from a
happy, extroverted child into a sullen
and solitary mess.
Throughout my years of public
education, not one teacher got a clue.
And the neighbors who talked about
the screams? They just plugged their
ears.
They probably rationalized that it
was just my parents’ way of . . .
parenting.
Alter ail, it was their business,
right?
Of course, that was more than 20
years ago. I’d like to think because of
a growing awareness of abuse and
acceptance to talk about it, that today
my parents would have gotten some
help.
Maybe.
But then again, authorities say,
many cases go unreported.
So you can’t offer safely to chil
dren and help to their parents if you
don’t even know they exist.
But they do exist.
In fact, often painfully.
And the pain doesn’t end with the
advent of adulthood. In fact, it only
continues to manifest. It’s not un
usual to hear ol adults who were abused
aschildrcn abusing their own kids. Or
striking out at society in other ways.
Fortunately, the nightmare of my
childhood had an opposite effect on
me. When 1 read or hear of abuse, 1
get so angry that I start to tremble
And it starts me reminiscing about
my own experiences.
Like the nightly raids upon my
sleep, when my mother and stepfa
ther in the midst of their hysterical
arguing, would wake me and drag me
from my bed to vent some of their
own personal anger.
Or the evening slaps at the dinner
table.
Or the ritual beatings, which oc
curred on a daily basis for more than
three years of my life.
But words hurl, too. Just as much
as physical abuse.
Calling an 11 -year-old names like
“bitch” and “idiot” work just as
well as slamming her head against the
wall. Sometimes, even better.
When I was in sixth grade, 1 re
member one night my mother crept
into my room to tell me she was sorry.
She held me tight and cried for a
while.
Then she crept out. That was the
only time I remember her with affec
tion.
uvcr me years, l vemougmauuui
that moment between us, and I've
come to the conclusion, that yes, she
probably was feeling sorry.
She was actually full of shame.
But she didn’t know what to do
about it.
Many parents don’t know whal to
do about it.
The National Committee lor Pre
vention of Child Abuse publicizes an
alternative lashing-out list for parents
to follow, with suggestions such as
phoning a friend or closing your eyes
and imagining you’re hearing what
your child hears.
Just imagine.
Schcpers is a senior news-editorial major and
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
' I-----—
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