Nebraskan
XX 1 iVyi 1 Monday, March 29,1993
Net?raskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chris Hopfensperger.Editor, 472-1766
Jeremy Fitzpatrick ..Opinion Page Editor
Alan Phelps. .Managing Editor
Brian Shellito....Cartoonist
Susie Arth. Senior Reporter
Kim Spurlock..Diversions Editor
Sam Kepfield..Columnist
Second guessing
NU regents indecisive about Massengale
The members of the NU Board of Regents have apparently
changed their minds about outgoing University of Ne
braska President Martin Massengale.
In January, Massengale announced he would not seek an
extension of his contract as NU president after speculation that the
regents were not satisfied with his performance became public.
Now tire regents are extending their hands to Massengale. They
approved a plan Saturday to keep Massengale as president until a
successor takes over and then granted him a $115,000-a-ycar
agronomy professorship.
If Massengale accepts the offer, the salary would make him the
highest-paid agronomy professor at UNL.
Certainly, Massengale is qualified and would be an asset to
UNL’s agronomy department. But paying him a $115,000 salary
in a time of severe budget constraints is questionable.
This incident is yet another example of the haphazard fashion
under which regents have supposedly been supervising the
University of Nebraska this year.
First, speculation that the regents were unhappy with
Massengale played a part in his stepping down. Now they are
magnifying their mistake by attempting to make up for it by
offering Massengale a contract that is out of touch with the budget
realities faced by NU. -
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Helping out
Russian reforms may need American aid
Boris Yeltsin won another political victory over the week
end. But his political position is still not secure.
A secret ballot of the Russian Congress of People’s
Deputies fell 62 votes short of a two-thirds majority needed to
oust Yeltsin. The move against Yeltsin was led by former com
munist officials now in the Congress.
Yeltsin’s victory is a relief to the United States and other free
countries. He has managed to bring the former Soviet Union into
the free world and has established an unprecedented friendship
with the United States.
It would be a great loss to the United States if Yeltsin and
those who favor democracy were removed from power. We have
only been able to make strides at improving our country domesti
cally because the threat of conflict with Russia has been removed.
If Yeltsin falls, it might mean the return of Cold War relations
. with Russia and the end of the domestic reform movement that
has taken hold in this country.
The Russian leader is far from secure. He still faces daily
< challenges to his position as president.
President Clinton and the Congress need to take extraordinary
steps to demonstrate the United States’ support for Yeltsin and
democracy in Russia. If democracy is set back in Russia, it will
be set back here as well.
Foreign aid is never popular, but the United States should be
prepared to offer a significant emergency-aid program to Russia if
, that is what it takes to keep democracy alive there.
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Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1993 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set
by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the student* or the NU Bond of Regenu. Editorial columns represent
the opinion of the author. The regenu publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by
the regenu, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
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The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others.
LcttenwiHbe retoctedfw publication on thebasiaof clarity, originality, timdm«s«^pwe
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
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published. Letters should included the author’s name, year in school, major and group
affiliation, if any. Requesu to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
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Rights
1 am writing in response to Todd
Burger’s column “Police deserve re
spect for job,” (DN, March 18,1993)
for it begins to uncover one of the
reasons why there are so many viola
tions of people’s civil rights, such as
the beating of Rodney King, taking
place in this country.
Burger stated that the reason
Rodney King was “overwhelmed” was
because he “rebelled against the power
(of the police).”
I suggest to Burger that perhaps the
reason he was beaten was because of
you, and others like you, who are so
willing to accept the authority of the
police without judgment. A society
that accepts that “Police have... more
credibility its own kind of power
— in the courts” is a society that frees
police from the same kind of account
ability for their actions that the rest of
us have.
When you say, “It is the police that
have the power and we who have no
choice but to respect it,” you imply
that we have no choice but to give up
our pride as individuals, our rights as
human beings and our position as the
the ones who should hold the police
and courts responsible for their ac
tions.
The fact is, we do have a choice.
Blind submission to authority encour
ages abuses, it does not eliminate
them. When we realize this, we will
be a long way toward putting respect
and accountability into a system dis
eased by megalomania.
David Johnson
Lincoln
‘Police state’
Todd Burger’s column (DN, March
18,1993) stated that, “When a police
officer wants to stop or detain you,
you’d better stop and meekly obey,”
and that if we all compliantly accept
the fact that we have to respect their
power, “no one else will have to end
up like Rodney King.”
Although I agree that police offic
ers have a tougn job and we should
show them respect, lack of respect
should never be a license for police to
inflict punishment on an individual or
make racial slurs. Not only are these
behaviors not part of the their job
descriptions, but they are illegal ac
tivities. It appears that Burger has no
objections to living in a police state,
but he, being white and overly com
pliant, will never have to deal with
police brutality although he seems to
be OK with it going on.
Rodney King did not “have to” be
beaten any more than those officers of
the peace had to call him a nigger.
Wouldn’t a better way of keeping
people from being beaten be to quit
placing bigots and psychopaths in
positions of power? By weeding out
these individuals who are giving po
lice officers as a whole a bad name,
police officers can regain their re
spect, no more people will be brutal
ized and people will be much more
cooperative.
Raul Koester
senior
agronomy
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James Mehsling/DN
Hot dog
I am writing in response to the
article by Jeremy Fitzpatrick (DN,
March 16,1993).
You don't honestly believe that a
fully automatic weapon is as easily
picked up as going out to the street
comer to a hot dog stand to get a hot
dog? Automatic weapons art illegal.
The National Rifle Association isn’t
the one we should be pointing the
finger at. It’s the person giving the
drugs and guns to kids so they can kill
each other off.
You must be 19 years old to re
ceive a handgun, and you just can’t
walk into a Wal-Mart and buy one.
There are restrictions on getting hand
guns, much less a fully automatic gun.
Darin McDaniel
sophomore
business
Prediction
I’d like to respond to Paul Koester’s
letter (DN, March 17, 1993). In his
letter, he blamed George Bush and
Ronald Reagan for poverty-stricken
children, low-birth-weight babies and
moderately low immunization rates.
Well, Koestcr, it is sure easy for
you to point the finger at the one man
in the office. However, you failed tu
make any mention of the Democratic
Congress which, for 12 years, road
blocked every program Bush and
Reagan tried to establish. Of course
they couldn’t get anything done with
guys like Ted Kennedy in they way. If
you want to know who is to blame for
the mess America is in today, look in
themirror andatall your liberal peers
Koester, you also said actions speak
louder than words. Well, I advise you
to hold onto your wallcL Slick Willie
and his Democratic Congress arc go
ing to be dipping their fingers deep
into your pockets while claiming to
need the money for their social pro
grams.
I assure you that over the next four
years our taxes will increase while our
social programs get worse.
Brian J. Svik
freshman
undeclared
Diary
I’m writing in regards to your no
name “Diary of a Madman” produc
tion (March 19,1993). Compared to
the otherwise ever-so-high standards
of your newspaper, don't you think
the “no brains psuking guy” pseudo
comic deserves a place in a first
grader’s rag (actually, that might be
an insult to their intelligence) instead?
Chris Brantner
assistant German professor
Guns
There is no justification for auto
matic weaponsln the hands of private
citizens, and semi-automatics are only
marginally less dangerous. A bolt
action rifle is certainly adequate for
any citizen's needs. Muzzle-loaders
are more challenging, for that matter
And what about pistols? Wereally
don ’ t need pistols, certainly not sem i -
automatic ones, and modem revolv
ers are only slightly less dangerous, it
at all.
It’s time to consider society as a
whole. The Constitution does not
specify the types of firearms allow
able in John Q. Publics’ hands. Re
strictions should be imposed. Let’s
limit ourselves to bolt-action and
muzzle-loading firearms.
Robert J. Tobin
graduate student
geology