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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1992)
Opinion Nebraskan ' Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chris Ilopfensperger.. . ■.Editor, 472-1766 Dionne Searcey.Opinion Page Editor Kris Karnopp.Managing Editor Alan Phelps. . Wire Editor Wendy Navratil... Writing Coach Stacey McKenzie. Senior Reporter Jeremy Fitzpatrick.. . Columnist Giving them away Free tickets mean lost money for NU Apparently the easiest — and cheapest — way to get tickets to Nebraska football games is to get elected to the state legisla ture. _.. , While average Nebraska fans have combed, the streets around Memorial Stadium td buy tickets at inflated prices, several officials have taken advantage of this state government’s most valuable perk — free football tickets. But the perk lasts beyond the fall. In the past year, slate officials accepted more than $ 12,(XX) worth of tickets from the University of Nebraska to football and basketball games and events at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. For years, it has been a tradition for state officials to be offered free tickets; until this year the value of the tickets was not disclosed. But a ruling by the Nebraska Accountability Disclosure Commis sion required the university to report its entertainment spending under state lobbying laws. -✓Last year’s totals, released Friday, include: • $9,792 worth of season football tickets. • $187 worth of single-game football tickets. • $1,316 worth of basketball game tickets. • $750 worth of event tickets from the Lied Center. The tickets amount for most — but not all — of the university’s $13,183 entertainment budget. That total, most likely, will continue to climb. Ticket prices continue to rise and the demand certainly has not fallen off. Football fans have bought up every ticket to Nebraska’s home games since 1962, basketball crowds have consistently grown as the Comhuskers have improved into an NCAA-calibcr program, and patrons of the arts have begun to notice the high caliber of shows being offered at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. But university officials would like people to believe that the money isn’t being lost. “The university is not actually spending the money,” said Richard Wood, NU’s chief legal counsel, “it is only the value of the tickets.” It is, however, money the university could be making by actually selling the tickets instead of giving them away as door prizes to the 49 members of the Legislature and six stale constitutional officials. Trivial talk Soundbites seem to have no real purpose Turn on ihc evening news, and they lum oul everywhere. Soundbites. Long or shon sentences, sometimes only mere phrases, generally intend to boost a candidate’s name in the polls. A good soundbite may spell election success; a bad one may backfire, surely tarnishing the future of a political career. Thai’s why it is so essential to emerge victorious in the war of soundbites. From an embarrassing vice-presidential “polaloc” to an election-winning “read my lips, no new taxes,” the soundbite has increasingly become the queen of newscasts’ lead stories and front page headlines. Unfortunately, the notoriety has not been well deserved. The actual content of the soundbites is appallingly small. Their purpose seemingly is to satisfy the audience craving the quick applause and acceptance. — The Daily Iowan Staff editorials represent the official policy of the I-all 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, itscmployccs, the studenlsorlhe NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. 'Ihc Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also arc welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the properly of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be relumed. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should included the authocU mimc, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granlod. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 6858$ 0448. 4. MTV News nothing but flash, fluff 1 don’t think I watched MTV at all this summer. But with the begin ning of classes, I moved in with my roommate, who tunes in to the pop channel all the time. I don’t sit down and stare at it with him, but on occasion I catch a glimpse. It’s painful, but it happens. One of the biggest babblers on Music Television is Kurt Lodcr, weeny star of “MTV News.’’ When MTV first began to air this pseudo-news pro gram, it was all about music. Kurt would go out and talk to bands; discuss concert dates, tattoos and makeup; give us the lowdown on Madonna; and gen erally glorify MTV. Nowadays, I’ve found, “MTV News’’ has expanded its coverage. As MTV has grown and started to think of itself as some kind of generational leader, Kurt and the boys have taken up the pursuit of real news. But it’s a long way from CNN. When you tune into 'MTV News,” you are treated to a decidedly differ ent slant on world events. Lodcr and his partner, “that MTV News girl,” continually update us on the MTV Agenda, in which George Bush is a bad guy, Dan Quay Ic is an id iol, Demo crals arc cool and Slash’s opinion on world events really DOES matter. The news segments arc flashy, with all kinds of neato camera angles and slices of groovy dance music looping in the background. I’ve never understood why MTV cameras can’t be still, why they al ways float around. Perhaps it some how adds a cool factor to the person who is speaking, simply because people who wobble around and turn on their sides for no reason arc great. I know I am impressed when I talk with people who arc able to lean at incredible angles without losing their balance. It’s even better if they can move close to me, then rush back, then rush up again at the same lime. “MTV News” did a lot of this camera trickery during the parly con ventions. I saw one during the Demo cratic National Convention in which a couple of no-nkmc glam-band mem bers interviewed some of the Holly wood fare who always show up at Democratic functions. The conven tion looked pretty exciting with ev eryone leaning this way and that over a funky beat. The subjects “MTV News” usu ally concerns itself with arc the stan dard issues we young people arc sup posed to be concerned with—censor ship, the abortion battle, racism, sex, the environment and sex in different environments. It gets old after a while. Actually, it gets old rapidly. The amount of repetition on “MTV News” is overwhelming. But then, it prob ably lakes awhile for Kurt to beat his views into the MTV-hcads. But w hen a new segment is about to be produced, the MTV “newsroom” must be a beehive of activity. I’msurc the brains behind it all is Kurt Lodcr, the man who decides what news is fit to run. Kurt: Well, what’s in the news today? Nameless MTV weasel: Hmmm. A quarter-million homeless in South Florida, death in Somalia, Yugosla via, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Iraq That MTV News Girl: Hey, what docs Axl Rose think of Roc v. Wade? Kurt: That death thing, there m ight be something there. All right, it’s settled then—another segment on the evil Tipper Gore and her anti-Amcri can ways and how the government is out to silence rap stars. Kurtalways delivers the “news” in a very serious way, rather Dan Rathcrcsquc, but with that hip edge that only Kurt has. Kurt isa self-styled crusader, battling daily against those who would keep Flavor Flav’s opin ions from us. Kurt’s fighting a war, and he’s taking no prisoners. I’d like to see Kurt go one-on-one against, say, Peter Jennings. Kurt could even have the girl for a tag team. Then we would see who was the real journalist. I suppose “MTV News” is good in some small, insignificant way, be cause at least the MTV-hcads get a little dose of the real world, however slanted it may be. MTV has made the news — some of it, anyway — enter taining to their target audience, and that is an accomplishment. Few who slay locked into Cablcvision’s chan nel 25 ever drop to 24, and MTV might be their only window to the outside. 4 However, when that window is painted over by Kurt Lodcr, it’s hard to sec the truth. I wouldn’t have a problem with “MTV News” if it didn’t pretend it was news. If it was called “MTV Stuff” or “What Kurt Lodcr Thinks,” that would be peachy. I’ve written columns before that I think Kurt would agree with, but they always appear in the opinion section of the paper. Our landlord came over last week to spray our house for cockroaches. I wish he could spray for MTV. Like the German roach, one of Lincoln’s most numerous varieties, MTV likes to hide in cracks and be hind cupboards. It drinks water from the pipes under your sink, scrambles across your floor and into your dirty clothes hamper, and then — bam! — The Week in Rock. MTV breeds in a 30-day cycle. The egg bundles arc easy to recogn ize if you know what you arc looking for. After you have sprayed in the comers and baseboards of each room, set off a bug bomb and get out of the house. 1 guess I’m just tired of MTV and its pretentious assumption that factu ally matters. I’m tired of hypocritical rock stars telling me to vole; I’m tired of little kids wearing their clothes backwards; I’m tired of a channel that is basically one long commercial for jeans. Phelps Is a Junior news-editorial major, the Daily Nebraskan wire editor and a colum nist. X* ^... P.S. Write back #'■ V i <• The Daily Nebraskan wants lo hear from you. If you want to voice your opinion about an article that appears in the ncwspapcrjcl us know. Just write a bricl letter to the editor, sign it, (don't forget your student ID number) and mail it to the Daily.Ncbraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. Or slop by the office in the basement of the Nebraska Union and visit with us. We’re all cars. *■—— -i-—-—___ ■_;_ J >' * ' * * , #■