Editorial
I Daily
I Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Uncoln
Knc Pfanncr, Editor, 472-1766
Victoria Ayotte, Managing Editor
Darcie Wicgert, Associate News Editor
Diane Brayton, Associate News Editor
Jana Pedersen, Wire Editor
Kmily Rosenbaum, Copy Desk Chief
Lisa Donovan, Editorial Page Editor
Massengate?
Regent's conspiracy theories have to end
The real conspiracy surrounding the University of Ne
braska presidential search finally has surfaced. Only, it
happened two years ago.
NU Regent Robert Allen of Hastings has come out with
| another reason why the Board of Regents made a mistake by
voting to hire Manin Masscngale as president. Masscngalc
violated regents policy by advising Allen during the 1988
campaign for regent, he said.
Massengate.
There’s one problem, though. Allen made the phone calls
that allegedly were for advice, according to Joe Rowson, NU
| director of public affairs. And neither part) knew they were in
g violation of the regents’ policy at the time.
The policy says, “No administrative officer of the University
5 of Nebraska shall be asked to participate or shall participate,
directly or indirectly, in the campaigns for election of members
of the Board of Regents.”
Allen called Massengale during the on campaign lor some
advice concerning the needs of the university, Rowson said.
Now Allen says the phone conversations could be construed
t as participation in a political campaign. That may be stretching
the regents policy.
Allen has prided himself on how careful he was. Ke even
taped conversations with Massengale because he didn’t want to
miss any of the details.
If Allen was such a stickler for detail, he should have known
the policy during the campaign.
| It’s funny that the alleged violations didn’t surface until after
Massengale was selected as president. Allen was one of three
regents who voted against Massengale’s selection. If he wanted
to make a fuss about supposed infractions of the rules, he could
have done so before Nov. 20, when the regents voted for
Massengale. Bringing up the issue after the election sounds like
sour grapes.
Allen admitted he might have been equally responsible for
! the alleged violations. After all, according to Rowson, Allen
i made the calls. And yet, it is Massengale’s credibility as
president that Allen seems to be calling into question.
\ Allen was elected two years ago, when he and Massengale
were friends. The vote for NU president was almost a month
ago. It’s time to quit dwelling on the issue. What’s done is
done.
Old business should have been taken care of before Massen
galc’s election. With another legislative session just around the
comer, Allen should join the rest of the regents in looking to
the future, not the past.
11 — Lisa Donovan
I and Eric Pfanner
for the Daily Nebraskan
Qpjfltffl
Capital punishment system
inadequate but gets results
Chuck Green (column, DN, Dec.
11), I appreciate the somewhat graphic
description of what happens when the
electric chair is used. It makes me
feel good to hear that the few sickos
who have been executed have suf
fered the same way their innocent
victims did.
So an execution costs more than
life in prison — big deal! I would be
more than happy to spend a few extra
bucks of my money to ensure that a
creep like John Joubert will never be
able to brutally murder another little
boy again.
You do make one good point,
Chuck.
Capital punishment, as it exists
now, does appear to obstruct justice.
Justice would be the killer suffering
the same fate as his victim. This
apparent obstruction, however, is the
fault of the defendants and their lib
eral, do-gooder attorneys. There should
be some sort of limit on the number of
appeals these criminals arc entitled
to. If five different juries feel certain
that a man is guilty, it seems kind of
pointless to try for a sixth.
Perhaps you are right, Mr. Green.
Maybe the death penalty is not a
deterrent. But it sure as hell prevents
that one person from committing any
more vicious crimes. You don’t hoar
about Ted Bundy killing women
anymore, do you?
Andrew Meyer
“The Silly Junior”
pre-med
r -
I TOOUW ID LEND \T
TO WOO TO HELP WOOR
ELONOWC TROUBLES.
Accidents can change outlooks
Just taking time out to think can change a lifelong perspective
I had reserved all day Monday to
work on my broadcasting proj
ect. I had interviews set up all
over campus and I was really fo
cused.
After that, I was going to cram for
my other classes just like all the rest
of us procrastinators. I had set aside
this time to be my own — I wasn’t
thinking about anything else.
When I came home from studying
I checked my phone messages and
heard my stepmother’s voice. She
said my dad had been hurt Fixing the
garage door and that he had been
home from work for several days.
“I’m just calling to let you know,”
she said.
I didn’t call back right away. I’m
not heartless, but the phone company
took away my long distance service
for not paying my phone bill.
Anyway, it was Dead Week and I
had to read at least three books.
I read about a young man named
Sherm who ran away from home
because his mother wouldn’t let him
play sports. 1 made it to the part where
Sherm was helping his brother on a
farm when I started thinking back to
my own family.
none on others, so he could get to his
destination back home to see us.
I was at an impressionable age.
What my friends thought mattered to
me like nothing else. They thought a
big rig was cool, so I took advantage
of that. My dad found lime to give my
class a ride in his truck. For a while, I
was popular.
changes about as
Robert
Richardson
go. Bui when he asked me this time it
seemed special, and I accepted with
out question.
We got up at 5 a.m. and left the
house at 5:30. We loaded cattle three
times and unloaded twice. We drove
in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. We
drove over the speed limit and talked
on the C.B. and we stopped at a truck
stop to get some sodas because the
coffee got kind of old.
I watched my dad closely all day.
When he drove he kept his eyes on the
road. He moved swiftly and steadily
through all 12 gears. But for the first
time I saw lines in my dad’s face. He
looked tired. He had been driving a
truck for at least 12 years and it showed.
All the time he had been driving, I
never told him 1 was proud of him for
always keeping a job and always
putting food on the table. He always
has worked hard for his family and
because he wasn't always home he
received little thanks for the support
he provided.
One thing my dad has always done
is trusted me.
As wc drove down the interstate in
Iowa, my dad pulled over to the side
of the road and asked me if I wanted
to try driving.
often as the direction of the wind, and
I didn’t remain on top for long. My
friend Jeremy was the top grade
schooler after his mom bought him a
Nerf football.
As I got older, I saw negative stere
otypes for truck drivers emerge from
television and movies. Truck drivers
drove over cars and eluded the cops.
They took drugs, had extramarital
affairs with hookers in truck stops
and some even killed people. Truck
driving wasn’t as cool as it used to be.
When my friends asked, “What does
your dad do?” I avoided the question
as long as possible.
My other friends had fathers who
were bankers and pharmacists and
business guys who were always home
and made lots of money.
My family wasn’t poor, but when
I got something it w'as for a good
reason. I needed it, or I cried until I
got it.
Up until the time I was settled ir.
high school I harbored some negative
feelings about my dad for one reason
or another. He wasn’t home often and
when he was, he was tired.
My thoughts changed when my
dad asked me to go trucking with him
last summer. He had asked me to go
in the past but I either had a job or
some other excuse as to why I couldn’t
When I was 8 years old, my mom,
dad, little brother and I moved from a
farm in north-central Nebraska to what
I thought was a metropolis — Hastings.
It had a shopping mall, video games,
a McDonald’s and even public swim
ming pools.
My dad got a job driving a semi
truck for a company in Hastings. For
a while his loads took him to New
York Ci ty about every week. That left
little time for him to spend wiih his
young family.
He wasn’t always around to go to
my soccer games or to see my school
plays or musicals. He also wasn’t
there when my brother and I got sick
and had to go to the doctor.
Where was he?
He was putting miles on his truck
so he could put food on the table. He
was getting two hours of sleep anight,
uaa, are you sure i can ao mis/
"I know you can if you want to,”
he said.
I didn’t drive far that day, hut just
enough to really appreciate how much
my father has done for me and the rest
of my family. All of a sudden my dad
was more important than Sherm,
broadcasting or Dead Week.
Idid get ahold of him the next day.
He was happy to hear from me and
anxious to know how difficult my
finals were going to be.
1 picked up my book and began to _
concentrate. Before I fell asleep, Sherm
was playing baseball and had just hit
a home run in the bottom of the ninth
to win the game.
Rkhard9on is a junior broadcasting and I
English major, a Daily Nebraskan columnist I
and Arts and Entertainment reporter.
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