T Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
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
What Others Think
Ruling finally addresses homelessness
A ruling this month by the New York State Supreme
Court shows that someone has finally realized that
the homeless problem will not just disappear.
The court ruled that the state must give welfare recipi
ents enough money to afford adequate housing and or
dered a trial to determine whether New York’s shelter
allowance is enough.
Final’y, there is an answer that effectively addresses the
problem. Let’s hope this ruling will prevent any of New
^ York’s 450,000 welfare recipients from having to live on
the streets or in homeless shelters.
Guidelines of this type should be enacted on a national
level in order to guarantee all citizens their right to ade
quate housing.
The homeless are not all drug addicts and schizophren
ics; many are families with small children who have fallen
| on bad times.
Many U.S. families are just one paycheck or welfare
check away from homelessness, and the state of New
York has found an effective way to stop the growth of the
| homeless population.
-• The University Daily Kansan
University of Kansas
Probing story about Quayle reveals joke
• ‘‘It’s no joke,” says the headline of the latest issue of
“Time” magazine. “This man could be our next presi
i dent.”
ll Yes, the magazine was referring to Dan Quayle, vice
J president extraordinaire. And the probing story about
1 Quayle literally was filled with interesting anecdotes and
® stories about the veep.
Our favorite was a quote given by one of Quayle’s
| former college instructors. “I looked into those blue eyes,
and I might as well have been looking out the window,”
| he said.
In light of such comments, perhaps “Time” would
| have been wiser to give the article a headline such as
‘‘The Joke.” After all, that’s how we’ve always referred
to him.
•• lovta State Dally
lewa Suite University
Editor ’s goal is to convert souls
A very sick slate of affairs it would
be, if amateur social engineers like
Amy Edwards were somehow able to
implement their bizarre solutions to
social problems on society. If she had
her way, higher education would be
little more than one grand program
designed to adjust the attitudes of
those who have “undesirable” opin
ions. According to her, teaching stu
dents math, history and chemistry is
not enough. Not even “sending se
lected students to retreats ” is enough.
Not even a “fighting words policy”
that allows slurs against Catholics,
but on the other hand does not tolerate
even a playful allusion to racial or
sexual characteristics (a black girl
riding a tricycle), is enough. No, the
fundamental purpose of a university
is to convert lost souls to a saving
faith in Amy’s values. From what
authoritative source does she claim to
have obtained these “correct” val
ues? Are we just to presume that she
and those in her crowd are “right”
and others are “wrong?”
Actually, her values are the trend
of the moment. Depending upon the
political climate of the lime and place,
these same people would probably be
touting fascism if it were the right
“thing to do.” Deep down I think
they’re simply opportunists seeking
to fit in with an “in” crowd. They
also like to feel justified or at least
belter than the rest of society. It’s
good to be able to look down upon
scummy sinners. They probably even
snicker to themselves that minorities
could never make it without the help
of the liberal white establishment (of
which they’re proudly a part) and
worry about where the “great cause”
would go if minorities ever refused to
be kept in their place, i.c. of depend
ence. They like to use words like
“combat.” By “combat” they mean
“gain control of the appropriate po
litical apparatus, with which to squelch
the free exchange of ideas.”
Really, it’s just fine if these fanat
ics want to speak their minds. They
should be able to exercise their right
to free speech. But it’s not fine when
they decide that they have a monop
oly on truth and can therefore start
suspending students they disagree with,
fining them, making them undergo
“counseling,” and ultimately con
vert the university into a religious
revival.
(Incidentally, it is also my suspi
cion that the DN bunch would never
print my letter intact, not only from
[>ast experience, but also because the
ast thing a group of losers wants is a
challenge to their sacred orthodoxy.)
Darin J. Knepper
senior
German/history education
Soon-to-be-graduate lets loose
Cat hair, watery mustard, interviews, pessimism fill thoughts
nMay Iz,I II beoultahcrclor
gcx>d.
Since this is my last column,
I’ve decided I'm going to be daring,
pull a half-Nelson and wing it for a
change.
Normally, I’d have some defin
able subject in mind, have the facts to
back it up and end it with at least
some kind of sensible conclusion.
This time, whatever pops into my
mind at this moment (don’t worry,
this won’t take long) is what you’re
going to read.
In other words, I’m letting loose .
.. so be prepared (cuz I’m not).
Atthc moment, I’m thinking about
this job interview I’ve got in about
three hours from now. Since I’m gradu
ating soon, this interview naturally
means a lot to me.
I’ve been up since 6:30 this morn
ing preparing for it. However, it’s
only 10:02 a m., and my got-it-to
gether facade is already beginning to
wilt a bit.
I’ve redone my makeup two times,
checked for runs in my hose every
hour, hated my hair about a million
times, and, oh yes . . . have so far
spent about half the morning picking
white cal hair off my black suit. I
don’t think I’ll ever be done with that.
I can just see the scenario now.
The interviewers will discuss all
my excellent qualifications, my
commendable work record, my en
thusiasm and intelligence.
“She seems just right for the job,”
one interviewer will say.
“Yeah, but, geez, did you notice
how much cat hair was stuck to her
jacket?” another one will ask.
“Oh, yeah, I noticed that right
away. I also noticed that her hairdo
wasn’t exactly right.”
“Yeah, she definitely has a prob
lem with hair. So, should we still
consider her?”
“Nope, on second thought, send
0
her a nice personalized torin letter.
And don’t forget to sign it this time.”
Well, if this is the way the big
interview process goes, ail I have to
say is: Big Hairy Deal.
Something else that’s on my mind
right now is cheaters. 1 really hate
people who cheat on tests, on papers,
on everything. 1 just ran into one this
morning. This cheater’s a pretty nice
person, except for the fact that he
cheats. He seems to rationalize this is
the way of the “real world.”
Great. I can’t wait to visit this guy
in jail 10 years from now.. .after he’s
arrested for cheating on his income
tax. IRS is the real world, bub.
C.J.
Schepers
What I do love is people who are
honest. Even if they tell me that they
can’t stand the sight of my face, it still
gamers more of my respect.
Like my fnend Victoria. She’s never
been afraid to tell me what she thinks.
The first couple of times she did this
though, she really bruised my ego.
I could ask her anything, and she’d
tell me straight off.
“Carrie, hmmmm,” she’d shake
her head, “well, in my opinion, !
think you’re wrong.”
“Well, who asked you, you *#@!,”
I’d say indignantly.
“You did,” she’d remind me.
I quickly learned to appreciate her
honesty, and today I consider her one
of my very best friends. After all, it’s
extremely rare today to find friends
who have the guts to be honest with
you.
I can only admire it.
Une thing i aon t aamirc, now- i
ever, is pessimism and gossip. I once
worked around this kind of poison, 1
and it persisted mainly among the
working women of the office. In fact,
it nourished.
I even fell into some of it myself.
Negativity and back-stabbing has this
irky ability to grow on you. You start
to think that maybe this is the “real
world.”
But it’s not.
I recommend avoiding it lor your
self -- because it will only drag you
down - along with the others around
you. I’ve learned to follow' the simple
rule of avoiding these troublemakers,
because frankly - they make me sick.
I’ll tell you something else that
really turns me off.
Watery mustard.
It can really be a downer to a
wholesome chicken-becf-parts, cvc
rything-that’s-ediblc bologna on w hue
bread sandwich.
You know how that goes. You’ve
got the bread, you’ve got the lettuce,
you’ve got the cheese and then you
reach for the mustard, thinking maybe
you’ll draw something unique today
- like a smiley face - on top ol your
boiogna.
Instead, you end up squirting wa
tery mustard all over your sandwich,
until you remember: “Oh, yes. I need
to shake it up, for a smooth consistent
application.”
Sounds like I’m getting ready to
paint my house or something.
What I am gelling ready to do is to
finish school, finish this column w ith
a lew mature words of advice, and
then - I’m oulta here.
So at 31, here’s a hit of my wis
dom: Sometimes, you’ve got to say.
“What the shucks.’’
Have a happy life.
Schepcrs is a senior news-editorial major and
a Dally Nebraskan columnist. ||g
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 publisher*
are the regents, who established t W
UNI. Publications Board to supervis ag
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