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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1990)
", Editorial Netfrakkan ’ A ^ A -*- Monday, April 23, 1990 _ | Daily I Nebraskan Editorial Board t University of Nebraska-Lincoln Amy Fdwards, Editor, 472-1766 Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor Ryan Steeves Managing Editor Fric Pfanner, Associate News Editor Fisa Donovan, Associate News Editor Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor Designation needed Niobrara should get protective status An article in Rolling Stone magazine called the Nebraska Sand Hills one of the 12 places on the planet where “mankind has created hell on Earth.” The article claims that fanning has turned the area into a “bleak desert,” an area where damage from erosion will take years to control. For years, canoe trips on the Niobrara River have been a , favorite excursion for UNL student groups. To anyone in i volved in these trips or the arc9 in general, it is obvious that s neither the river nor the region has been substantially altered by | farming and ranching. According to a study done by the UNL Conservation and Survey Division, only about 3 percent of the area is used for farming. I But this doesn’t mean that this unique river and region can’t be damaged. With this in mind, the Niobrara River may soon be protected under the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. As a National Scenic River, the Niobrara would be pre served in free-flowing condition, and the immediate environ ment would be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. in testimony given to the House national parks and public | lands subcommittee, James K. Cole, a UNL psychology f professor and co-chairman of the Niobrara Awareness Commit Z tee» gave some interesting insight into opposition to the bill. In excerpts of his testimony printed in the Saturday Omaha World-Herald, Cole said, “The Niobrara Basin Preservation Association is an ironic misnomer. What these folks want to preserve is their right to build a dam. This is why they hired a professional agitator from California to delude and divide the people of the Niobrara area.” Cole said there are also those in the area “who simply fear \ that big government will come in and take away their rights and property. It is important that these folks be told that the scenic river designation protects and preserves their land and property and that it prescives the free-flowing quality of the river as it currently exists.” Cole is absolutely right. The provisions of the Scenic River Act are fair to the landowners along the river. The only people who suffer arc those who would profit from a project damaging to the river. The designation of the Niobrara River as a National Scenic , River is necessary to ensure that Rolling Sterne’s inaccuracies aren’t prophecy. The Niobrara River and the Sand Hills are still beautiful. It is federal legislation like The Wild and Scenic ; Rivers Act that promise that beauty for future generations. •• Bob Nelson for the Daily Nebraskan Thompson talk frustrates student If the Hunter S. Thompson talk on Friday in the Centennial Ballroom at 7:30 p.m., or should I say about 9:15 p.m., is indicative of the type of pro gramming we can expect for $10 a pop, I have some real problem with the show’s sponsors CHic Great Red Shark, Cosmic Comics and Duffy’s). The guest speaker arrived on stage at approximately 9:15 p.m., bul not before his “editorial assistant’’ read a heart-rendering passage from his newest book of columns. Thompson was obviously disoriented; we were told by his chaperone that he spent 45 minutes in the stall at the airport. Good preparation for a speech he was probably paid in the area of $2,000. He mumbled a few incoherences before he opened the floor to questions. This is what I paid $10 for? The few questions that he fielded from the floor were handled poorly, in almost a state of babble. His side kick «for this evening on the stage (who will remain anonymous for her own good) edited the pre-written questions and had the uncanny knack of calling out only the most banal and witless ones to pose to Thompson. His responses matched the banality of the questions. At this point, his sidekick abruptly ended the supposed two-hour show at about 10:20 p.m. This was no doubt the most ill-run event I have ever been witness to and encourage all who attended to seek a refund. Hunter’s ramblings about Gorbachev and a Bcntscn/Jackson democratic ticket in ’92 should be enough to merit a refund alone. Go home, Hunter, and return to Nebraska when you have something to say and the state of mind to say it. To quote “Fear and Loathing ’72,” you looked like a “potato with mange.” And this from a man whose books and columns I have read and once respected as a political journal ist and writer! Oh, by the way, if the $10 or $8 you spent on your ticket was not enough of a charitable donation, Hunter and his “editorial assistant” made pleas for contributing to the “Save Hunter” legal fund. Can we first deduct our ticket price before we send in our contribution? Fair is fair. James A. Roberts graduate student .. AND THEN THE TV1C TRIBE S , \NHO HAD PREVIOUS LV BEEN ENEMIES COOKED/ THE TRADITIONAL / SACRIFICIAL LAMB BEFORE CONTINUING L/ THEIR PEACE TALKS...!! Hitler’s bunker must be saved Commemorating evil doesn't necessarily involve supporting evil I guess the Germanys arc having a tough lime deciding whether to restore and dedicate an Ad olph Hitler shrine. Hitler’s bunker, where he and his generals planned their last efforts of World W'ar II, is just on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall. Some Germans want to make it a museum, others want to immediately fill it in and build apartments over it. This seems like an eternal point of friction, the war between those who want to remember and those who want to hold grand ceremonies de nouncing and then destroying things so we can forget about them. Last year, a yacht belonging to Hitler joyously was sunken off the Florida coast. Apparently, the former symbol of death would become a new symbol of life, acting as a sort of reef on the ocean floor for aquatic life to call home. Ah, what wonderful irony. Whatever the ease, the terrible thing would be out of sight. It just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe 10 years from now. National Geographic will do an underwater special showing us Hitler’s aquarium and telling us we need to remember. Maybe Gcraldo Rivera will do a spe cial in Berlin and crack the seal of Hitler’s bunker. But in the mean tune, we won’t have to think about it. I think we ought to think about it. I think the bunker should be preserved. There is some room lor debate. There is fear that sonic people may begin to see the bunker as just a really neat piece of history, or that they actually might have fun there. Think of our own national play pens. What do people really see when they gaze over the rolling lulls at the Little Bighorn? I’m sure most see Custer’s last heroic stand. Others might see it as Custer's dumbest stand. But who really sees it as the last heroic stand of the Sioux? There arc countless Civil War battlegrounds throughout the South o Brandon Loomis and East. After looking at these his toric sites, you can go to the gift shop and buy little soldiers and think how courageous and wonderful these men were. Undoubtedly, they were coura geous and wonderful, but in such a setting, it's easy to forget all that w as at stake on these battlegrounds and the troublesome circumstances that led up to the war. But the mere chance that someone might misconstrue what a monument is all about is not enough to just give up on building monuments. There w ill be those who recogni/c the evil that certain monuments represent, and the fact that know ledge of such past evil permeates their minds cannot help but keep future evils from occur ring. The evil surrounding Hitler’s bunker is sure to be clear to almost all who enter it. Take the Vietnam War as an ex ample. As time passes, more and more people believe that the war was wrong, or at least wish that it had not been fought. A great many people think the war was evil, and yet there is a monu ment to its soldiers in Washington. The wall, with the names of those killed in the war, easily is the most awe-inspiring sight in the capital cits. Even the most vehement opponents of the war will feel choked when they see it. But this feeling, oddly, does not come from any sort of national pride. It comes from a feeling ol grief for our own actions, undone feels like apologizing to both American and Vietnamese families. The monument commemorates something that many view as evil, but it docs not by its existence lend popu lar support to that evil. The same is true at the Little Big horn. One might marvel at the late ol ptx>r George Custcr, but to do so is not to condone the slaughter of American Indians. Driving through Montana, it is readily apparent who really won that battle. When listening to the tale of Custer’s last stand, it is impossible to avoid the tale of the slaughters that led up to it. When entering Hitler’s bunker and hearing ol how' he came U) kill him self, it would be impossible to ignore the tales of those he killed before that It's not fair to assume that Ameri can’s arc smart enough to cry at the Victnam Memorial, but that Germans w ill take pride at Hiller’s bunker. III had any money, I’d pull Hitler’s yacht out of the water and pul it on display. I think I ’d move it far away from Florida and Disney World, though. I.uomh Is a senior news-editorial major and the Daily Nebraskan wire editor and columnist. Signed staff editorials represent the official policy of the spring 1990 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its members arc Amy Edwards, editor; Bob Nelson, editorial page editor; Ryan Sleeves, managing cditor;Eric Pfanricr, associate news cditor;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 supers ise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the re gents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student editors. — The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publi cation on the basis of clarity, original ity, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit all material submitted. Readers also arc welcome to sub «/u fnalcrial as guest opinions. Whether material shouid run as a let ter or guest opinion, or not to run, is lelt to the editor’s discretion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be tcnUrne^ ^ ^crs s^°uld be typewrit Anonymous submissions will not be considered for publication. Letters should include the author’s name, year in school, major and group affili ation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. 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