Opinion Nel>raskan Friday, Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick.. Kathy Steinauer.... Wendy Mott. Todd Cooper. Chris Hopfensperger Kim Spurlock. Kiley Timperley ... Editor, 472-1766 Opinion Page Editor ... Managing Editor .Sports Editor ... .Copy Desk ChieJ .Sower Editor Senior Photographer I Dl I nl1 X \ Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1993 Daily Ncfaraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebnukaa Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the 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. K IN H l( \ The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers ,\nd 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 Anonymous submissions will not be published.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 Nebraakan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St , Lincoln, Neb. 68388-0448. cosvcorwfiMJRSw CtRlW. «: j MOWVTOCOHOOU^lKL RAINBOW ROWELL ‘Happy Volvo’ hits hard times Since I got my driver s license this spring, I’ve learned that there are some parts of driving that no one ever teaches you — like how to fill out an accident report. Fortunately, I had plenty of opportunities this summer to learn. My fifth time behind the wheel, I was involved — but, not responsible for—a three-car pile-up. Some wacky Minnesota truck driver didn’t know that in Nebraska we stop at red lights. He received a ticket, I filled out a police report, and we all went home. My next car accident, however, wasn’tso hassle-free. 1’djust finished watching a high school graduation and my two friends — who may or may not have survived the crash — and I were making a Border Run and listening to the Proclaimers. My only worry at that moment was whether 1 would order off the 59-,79-or99-cent menu. f\UU men, a lime nuuua iiajk a tum into my car. For three-fourths of a second, I saw it coming. I braked and considered honking, but decided she would hit me no matter what, so why wake up any babies who happened to be sleeping nearby? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, our cars collided. We jerked forward, but we were all unharmed. I was just trying to build suspense when I implied that someone died a few paragraphs ago. For a few minutes, no one said anything. If I had any sort of decency I would have used that moment to thank heaven no one was hurt. Instead, I couldn’t stop thinking, “My Volvo. She hurt my poor, happy Volvo.” “It wasn’t your fault,” my friend Anna said, breaking the silence. Nickie.my otherpassenger, repeatedly Sitted my shoulder and said, “It’s K, it’s OK.” Later she told me she learned to be so comforting by taking care of her roommate when said roommate gets drunk. She thanked me for not throwing up. For three-fourths of a second, I saw it coming. I braked and considered honking, but decided she would hit me no matter what, so why wake up any babies who happened to be sleeping nearby? I snapped out of my trance when two pony-tailed men approached the car. One in a Ren & Stimpy shirt took a big gulp of his Big Gulp and said, “Are any of you all hurt?* “No, no,” I assured him, “we’re all just fine.” Not so fine that we definitely wouldn’t have whiplash later, but all of our appendages seemed accounted for. He leaned intomy window, leering. “Are you sure because we’re ofT duty paramedics and we’d be happy to check you all out.” We were pretty sure, so they wandered ofT. Cars behind me started to honk, but someone’s father once told me to never move my car until the police arrived so 1 let them honk. When the police got there, they looked kind of ticked off and told me to move my car. We pulled onto a smaller road, and I ventured out of the car to check (Hit the damage. To save our lives, my dutiful Swedish machine had caved in on the left side. The headlight, bumper, fender and a few large metal parts were no longer recognizable. I could hear the other driver, a very kind-looking woman in her sixties, talking to the policeman. “On no, I don’t have insurance. This isn’t my car.” “Could we see your driver’s license ma’am?” “Oh, I don’t have one of those.” “When did it expire?” “Oh, I’ve never had one.” The officer looked confused and asked her why she was driving without a license. “Oh, I was just going to see my sister.” Apparently, there exists an obscuft bylaw that makes every other legal decree null and void if you’re visiting your immediate family. While the men in blue prepared her. tickets, she noticed her husband driving by in a formidable station wagon. She screamed, “Honey, Honey!” and waved her arms, almost causing a few more accidents. Her husband pulled over and joined the yaiit. When it was my turn to talk to the policeman, he assured me that if the, woman didn’t pay for the damage to my car, her license would be suspended. But, I said, she doesn’t have a license. “That’s true,” he said and appeared lost. Apparently, no one ever told him about that immediate family thing, either. Before leaving the scene, the woman apologized and told me that she “prayed to the Lord Jesus every day” ami that she would pay for the damages even if it took her 20 years Her husband chewed on a toothpick and asked me if I drove “one of them foreign cars." My car remains dented and the woman won’t return my c»lls. Apparently Jesus wouldn’t cosign a loan for her. Rowell la • Juaior aowa-editorlal, ■‘*ver' ttsiag aod Eagllsh aiajor aad a Dally Nebrai kaa cotuaiaiet. Abortion About the women’s right to know law going into effect Sept. 9:1 would like to clarify that I never said the waiting period of the law is its most important aspect (DN, Sept. 8). Rather, the whole impetus for this law is the fact that over the years, many women have come to us distraught over their abortion decision because they did not feel they received all pertinent information needed to make an informed decision. Post-abortive women have told us they received no information about the development of their baby, no list of alternative agencies they could tum to should they choose to carry the baby to term, and in some instances, they were not even told the name of the doctor. Not only am I not opposed to information being given over the phone, it was our National Right to Life lobbyist who worked with Sen. Lindsay to rewrite the bill to include the phone option to make the whole process less burdensome. What LB 110 does is make all information more accessible to those considering abortion. It does not abandon women and young girls to a largely unregulated industry. Julie Schmit-Albin executive director Nebraska Right to Life Smoking policy Am I the only one, or is the smoking policy on campus stupid* What was wrong with having speed u areas designated for smoking smoke bothers you, you didn ’ t go nea these areas. Now if you wantto ente a building, especially the union, yoj have to go by dozens of smokers wn< are blocking the way, plus you get« wade through an ocean of cigarct butts. It looks terrible and I’m sure t n« gardeners and groundskeepers realf enjoy cleaning them up. All would w better off if there were mterio designated smoking areas. Nancy Collico freshmai pre-mcdicin