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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1992)
OH N ION Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chris Hopfensperger. Editor, 472-1766 Jeremy Fitzpatrick ...Opinion Page Editor Alan Phelps.Managing Editor Brian Shellilo..Cartoonist Susie Arth.;.Senior Reporter Kim Spurlock.Diversions Editor Sam Kepfield.t.Columnist Semester-long circus ASUN legislation will prolong mudslinging Prepare yourself; the circus is coming to campus early next semester. This year, as every year, there will be candy on every ✓ comer, balloons on every light pole and posters everywhere else. But something has changed. Newly passed ASUN legislation that removed nearly all limits from student elections guarantees a bigger and better show than ever before. ; Across America, people are just now getting over the year-long race for president. At UNL, students should be preparing for the treat of a semester-long ASUN campaign. Formerly, the campaign was limited to a three-week period immediately before the actual election day and candidates’ spending was capped at $3,500. That, apparently, wasn’t enough time or money for the strong-stomached members of ASUN. Thanks to the members of the Electoral Commission and the 13 senators who supported the new' legislation, students running for AS UN offices arc going to be able to spend as much as they want on their campaigns and start them as soon as classes start Jan. 11. Make that: Some things have changed. The legislation also increased the number of signatures a candidate needed to get on the ballot. That change would have been fine without the package deal, but it was not the point of debate. At the Nov. 18 ASUN meeting, the Electoral Commission proposal was rejected by a 12-8 vote of the David Badders/DN Assocjaljon Qf Students Of the University of Nebraska. Much of the debate at that meeting centered on the legal questions surrounding the campaign spending limits. In fact, only one student senator openly objected to extending the campaign period. Two weeks later, senators voted, 13-11 with one abstention, to approve the changes proposed by the Electoral Commission. Again, little was made of any point beside the spending limit. The senators, of course, had their reasons for approving the changes. David Stcinkc, an arts and sciences senator, originally voted against the proposal. But Stcinkc said he changed his vote because voting improprieties had been hard to trace in the past. That is simply poor reasoning. Student senators arc subjecting UNL to a semester full of relentless campaigning because “there’s always loopholes,” as Stcinkc said. c.Instead of working harder to enforce the rules, ASUN is simply getting rid of the rules. ASUN senators say that the changes will make it easier for students running for office to get the word out to the student body. But all the changes really do is give ASUN hopefuls more lime to sling mud at their opponents and more money to find ways to get on students’ nerves. Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the N U 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. Die 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 are 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 property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should included the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R Si., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. Mlu HMW Dear Mr Shellito j £^*nBajwotrrKcvsn.r •Bhcanfif -—-.___ Scholarships I'must commend Craig Heckman on his recent column (Dee. 8), par ticularly his observations concerning football scholarships. Too many schools have loo long enjoyed the advantage of players from rich, country club backgrounds. One simply cannot be successful at foot ball these days without the money for a stylish mouthpiece, or high-priced lootball tutors. Athletics seems to be one of the few remaining occupations where a poor person isn't given a chance. It'stimcwcpuianendtodominat- ' ing football programs like Dartmouth orColumbia. Basing football scholar ships on football ability is an anti quated idea. Now we just need to figure out how to stop all the smart people from grabbing up all the Regents scholarships. Doug Mitchell junior chemical engineering Sisterhood The news has been blaring at us for several days now from the shrieks of radio and television to the boldface headlines of the newspaper. “Candi Harms found,” “Candi H^rms was almost home” and “Best friend de pressed and afraid.” I think my favor ite though was an editorial entitled, “Suspense ends but not ordeal.” For women, it will never truly end. There is no woman on campus who docs not feel a sisterhood for Candi. Have we all not been guilty of leaving a building just a little late at night, looking over our shoulder at the dark shadows? We’ve all walked to our cars parked just one block too far away — even though the street lights were blazing. What female doesn’t check the back seat of her car when getting in? We look ahead, behind, beside and all it docs is raise our consciousness. It doesn’t protect. Constance Blcam graduate student Too liberal Conservatives have recently writ ten letters to the Daily Nebraskan defending our Constitutional right to bear arms. They carry this right too far by defending the ownership of assault weapons which arc designed to kill large amounts of humans in a very short amount of time. I doubt our forefathers had assault weapons in mind when they wrote the Constitu tion. The arms they were familiar with were simple rifles and pistols, and they didn't have overcrowded cities where people murdcreach other on a daily basis. It is truly ironic that the conserva tives arc so into family values and ridding the streets of crime, yet feel these weapons should be available to the public. To lop itoff, conservatives have opposed the Brady Bill, which requires a two-week waiting period before one purchases a gun. Listening to the logic of conserva tives, it only follows that 1 should be allowed to purchase hand grenades to give me a fighting edge on the hood lums with assault weapons; after all, grenades don’t kill people, people who pull the pins and throw them do. The dictionary defines arms as anything that can be used as a weapon in defense. This provides for a lot of discretion. The line must be drawn somewhere, and conservatives, you’re drawing the line too liberally. Paul Koester senior agronomy David Badders/DN ‘Vocal minority’ Several people have written that the cancellations of invocations, bene dictions or official prayersof any kind atcommcnocmcnt this year is a good thing. They arc, however, part of a vocal minority who believe that any refer ence to a higher being in a public place constitutes a violation of their "rights” under the First Amendment. Even though one of the best as peels of our system of government is the principle of minority rights which “the majority should not run roughshod over,” our system was also founded on the principle of majority rule; not tyranny of the minority. Living in the United Stales, a na tion founded on Christian principles, I would expect to find religious ele ments of a Christian nature here. Is this minority, who arc offended by this, so thin-skinned that they arc willing lodiscard every thing lhatmight offend them? The logical end of tyr anny of the minority is either rule by that minority or it is anarchy. Neither of these is desirable. Decisions by the majority should be kept unless they cause harm to minorities. What harm is there in sitting and listening to a 30-second prayer toaGod you don’t believe in if the majority does believe? Ruth Marie Ediger graduale student political science Human rights I have liule or no hopes of this letter being printed, but I need to say that I am very skeptical about the prerogatives of your pathetic excuse for a daily paper. Dec. 7 to 11 was Human Rights Week, Dec. 10 being International Human Rights Day, but this got no coverage. People who think Nebraskans arc unaffected by human rights abuses arc sadly mistaken. Yes, as Mr. Kcpficld has so cleverly pointed out, there are places where the abuses arc worse. Docs that mean we arc entitled to ignore the problems we have here? Is it not an important issue that only African-Americans were pulled out of class to be questioned about a sus pected murdcrcasc?Isitnolahuman rights problem that it is legal for this state to execute its own citizens? Speaking of capital punishment, it is ironic that Kepficld had his column printed that yearned for the killing of Ms. Harms’ murderers during the very week of human rights, while there was no effort to raise awareness of the abuses he was calling for. Sam Kcpficld is a living example of the desparale need for exposure to human rights at UNL, but I guess the Daily Nebraskan would rather be a part of the problem than the solution. Ann Towns senior * international affairs