=======
Jana Pedersen, Editor, 472-1766
Alan Phelps, Opinion Page Editor
Kan Wells, Managing Editor
Roger Price, Wire Editor
Wendy Navratil, Copy Desk Chief
Brian Shellito, Cartoonist
Jeremy Fitzpatrick, Senior Reporter
Taking the initiative
Petition rights should be preserved
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday stopped the en
forcement of a law passed by the Legislature this session
that restricted petitioners from circulating petitions
outside of their home counties.
Attorney General Don Stenberg had argued before the court
that enforcement should halt until the law’s constitutionality
could be tested in court.
The restrictions were hurting efforts to pul an initiative to
limit elected officials’ terms
on the next ballot, said Ed
Jaksha, the perennial Omaha
activist and leader of the
term-limit drive. He said his
group had gathered one
fourth of its 70,(XX) signature
goal. The organization must
turn in 58,663 signatures
dciore juiy 3.
“Now wc can at least finish
under the law wc started,”
Jaksha told The Omaha
World-Herald. “Now wc can
carry on as if it never hap
pened.”
Senators denied that the
v. law was an attempt to stall
«\,\ v \ the term-limit petition. Sen.
Lisa pytiiK/DN Don Wcscly of Lincoln said
the requirements were an effort to make petition drives a more
“grass roots” affair.
Whether the Legislature actually targeted the term-limit
drive with the law is questionable. But so is the logic behind
the overly restrictive law.
Ballots in Nebraska haven’t been overloaded with initiatives.
This year, only four major drives arc under way. Each of them
obviously deals with topics that Nebraskans arc concerned
about, and laws dictating who can and who cannot circulate
petitions block the comparatively liberal system this state
enjoys.
Initiatives arc an important part of the democratic process.
The people need an avenue to enact legislation that the Legisla
ture docs not or will not address. Many slates do not have
initiatives, and Nebraskans should be wary of attempts to
restrict theirs.
Stenberg is correct in this case. The law must be examined.
Whether Jaksha is on the right trail or is simply a loudmouth is
for the people to decide.
Half-Asskin, films shame UNL
Again, the last of the spring se
mester is approaching, and I want to
call attention to last year's Half-Asskin
insert in the Daily Nebraskan (April
29, 1991). This was but another bla
tant exercise in what some classify as
freedom of speech, but which is noth
ing more than irresponsible behavior.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled
categorically that obscenity is not
protected by the First Amendment,
regardless of what the American Civil
Liberties Union may say. If our tax
supported university has any self
respect, it should give those students
involved a failing grade in journal
ism. Otherwise, the professors that
condone this should be fired, or the
college disbanded.
Last year’s insert also immedi
ately followed the university women’s
march protesting disrespect and rape,
and therefore was a direct affront to
women. Many should be seriously
concerned about the dishonor brought
upon our university and state by such
acts as this, including the past show
ings by the university film theater o
such obscene and anti-Christian film:
as “Hail Mary,” “Tongues Untied,'
“Slop the Church,” etc. and the spon
soring of the recent lesbian/gay/bi
sexual film festival. And the ncv
chancellor, Graham Spanier, has i
responsibility in these matters.
It is certainly true that our Crcato
gives wisdom to His followers so lha
they would not be deceived by tb
Destroyer. Jesus is quoted in the Bibl
books of Matthew and Luke that as i
was in the days of Noah before th
firmament broke and in the days o
Lot who dwell in Sodom, so will it b
when He returns to judge the world
Oscar Blomstce
alumnu
Lincol
Lditor's Note: This year’s Apri
Fool’s supplement, a look at th
state of satire issues today, wa
published April 1. The Daily Ne
braskan is not part of UNL’s jour
nalism college.
-LETTER POLICY
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
brief Icilcrs lo ihc editor from all read
ers 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 or reject all material submitted.
Readers also are welcome to sub
mit material as guest opinions.
Whether material should run as a let
ter or guest opinion is left to the edi
tor’s discretion.
Letters and guest opinions sent u
the newspaper become the property
of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot b<
returned.
Anonymous submissions will no
be considered for publication. Let
lers should include the author’:
name, year in school, major an<
group affiliation, if any. Requests u
withhold names will not be granted
Submit material to the Daily Nc
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 F
St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
KIRK ROSENBAUM
Nebraska tastes censorship
Rap musician Luther “Luke”
Campbell was scheduled to be
in Omaha last Friday night for
a press conference about censorship,
the First Amendment, artistic free
dom and a handful of other key is
sues.
Omaha was such an important
haldcground, suggested Campbell, that
he was chartering a plane at his own
considerable expense to be there.
Campbell is the front man for a rap
group from Miami called 2 Live Crew.
Their last album, “Sports Weekend,”
features 28 tracks of explicit language
and sexual references. While it is not
the sort of thing you would expect to
find in George and Barbara’s album
collection, up until now its worst crime
had been being unimaginative and
stupid music.
That was before Omaha City
f Councilman Steve Exon realized this
j music was being sold to white kids
’ and launched a sting operation against
. several local record stores.
Exon, son of our peppery senior
' U.S. Senator, enlisted the help of a
1 small-but-fervent group with a fright
ful name, Omaha for Decency. To
r gethcr they sent minors around to
L aflAmnl Ia kiui OAniAc aT “C aaH o
\ Weekend.”
J Their plan was called “Operation
! Bee Stinger,” and succeeded at six
P different record stores. One wonders
' how much brainstorming went into
* that witty little name. Maybe the really
neat “Operation” names, like Rescue
and Desert Storm, were already taken
, by other zealous citizens.
It’s not that I mind these folks
trying to clean up their town, but why
I do they seem especially hostile to my
t hobbies and interests? If they’re not
5 yanking books out of school libraries,
- they’re putting warning slickers on
. everything or just generally raining
on the orgiastic parades of pagans
everywhere.
Omaha for Decency’s anti-smut
campaign nearly caused me to cancel
' my subscription to “Nude Frisbec
Frolic Quarterly.” As if that wasn’t
, enough, now they’re trying to be
, come the arbiters of musical moral
. >ty.
Ahh, but where would we be with
l out such civic-minded folks to pro
. tcct us from ourselves? Besides, I
; admit that I wouldn’t be poking fun at
I them if they were attacking the things
> I find repugnant, like bowling or
. Muzak.
Not that I’m a big fan of Luther
t Campbell. In fact, you probably could
find his music on the jukebox in hell,
Omaha tar De
cency’s anti-smut
campaign nearly
caused, me ta cancel
my subscription to
“Nude Frisbee
Frolic Quarterly.” As
j£that, wasn’t
enough, now they’re
trying to became the
arbiters oL musical
morality.
somewhere in between the Village
People and R.E.M. But these people
who seek to pin the decay of our
nauonai morality on L Live Crew are
the same sort of people who believe
that all of society’s violence can be
traced directly to Wile E. Coyote.
Don’t forget, there arc worse sounds
than bad rap music that can be heard
right here on our very campus. Poetry
readings arc a good example. Or how
about the blalhcrings of that non
traditional student in every class that
never misses an opportunity to share
an extra decade of life’s wisdom with
the class at any moment and on any
subject?
If we persecuted every untalcnted
fool who offended us, our national
economy would wither away. Think
of the layoffs at places like MTV and
People magazine that would occur if
we banned every offensive celebrity
and form of prurient, unredeeming
entertainment.
Even the three news stations in
Omaha made Campbell’s visit their
lead news item Friday afternoon. They
portrayed the rapper as a canny mix
tureof Martin Luther King Jr., Vaclav
Havel and Deon Sanders. According
to the news reports, Campbell’s visit
was shaping up to be one of the major
statements of our generation.
In a faulty and temporary way, I
am a journalist. Thus, it seemed that I
couldn’t afford to miss such an occa
sion, especially when it promised to
overshadow any speech ever given at
Gettysburg, Corregidor or the Duke
Blue Devils’ locker room.
With this in mind, a curious friend
and I loaded up the Winnebago with a
pitcher of vodka gimlets and a large
pizza and drove over to the festivi
ties. The record store where Campbell
was scheduled to speak was the size
of a Porta-Potty and the parking lot
was even smaller.
The police and media had taken up
most of the space, so we were forced
to park across the street and watch the
historic drama unfold from afar.
Occasionally we walked over when
things began looking especially vola
tile or interesting.
It soon became obvious that
Campbell never would arrive. Armed
with this knowledge, I was giving 3
to-1 against him showing up and tak
ing all bets, including $10 from some
bleachy woman whoclaimed to know
the rapper personally and disappeared
before I could collect.
There were several other white
people in attendance, most of them
thinysomcihing parents trying to prove
they were still liberals. A few were
telling stories from their youth about
ihmnc m«»lino rV»nm« HnnrV'TOr
having to get rid of their copies of the
Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” because the
album cover was too suggestive.
One particular Richie Cunning
ham look-alike in a Malcolm X base
ball cap yelled something about the
evils of totalitarianism and “a battle
for the future,” and then went off on a
spiel that sounded as if it were plagia
rized from Thoreau, Jefferson and
Frank Zappa. At that point we re
treated to our Winnebago, crushed
under the weight of our dashed hopes
and failed expectations.
Indeed, it is a battle for the future
— the future of Luther “Luke
Campbell. He might not be a Rhodes
scholar, but he has a sharp business
sense and is much more concerned
with decimal points than censorship
and artistic freedom. He will con
tinue making money because head
lines generated by people like Exon
and Omaha for Decency do nothing
but sell albums.
Meanwhile, those who arc be
queathing their children toxic waste
dumps, ozone holes and trillion-dol
lar debts will continue deciding what
is in the best interest of their kids.
Rosenbaum is a senior history major and
a Daily Nebraskan columnist.