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 nl<l \l
Bad bet
Nebraska s lottery has many drawbacks
Saturday marks the opening of Nebraska’s first state lottery.
Nebraskans can start purchasing tickets at 12:01 a.m.
No doubt many will. The lottery, approved by 68 percent
of Nebraska voters in the 1992 election, is popular in the state,
and Gov. Ben Nelson has been pushing for a lottery since he ran
for election in 1990.
The proceeds will even be spent on good causes, supporting
grants for education and the environment.
But the opening of the lottery is a step backward, not forward,
for Nebraska. The arguments for a lottery do not make up for its
drawbacks.
The lottery is, in effect, a regressive tax, shoving the burden of
education and the environment on those who purchase lottery
tickets. The state is financing worthy programs with proceeds
from gambling.
Lawmakers acknowledged this problem when they set aside 1
percent of lottery profits to assist problem gamblers and their
families. When a state financing program needs to be accompa
nied by personal counseling for the problems it will create,
something is obviously wrong.
In addition, basing education and environmental funding on
something as uncertain as lottery profits is foolish. Proceeds from
lottery tickets are too uncertain to be used as funding for such
important projects.
Nebraskans wanted a lottery, and now they have one. Time will
show how wise of a decision they made.
()( on s ()i i ni w 11 k
"I asked (Bjorklund) 'Why do you talk with me?
It's always baffled me. ’ He said, 'Why? I don't
know why. So I can smoke cigarettes.'"
— Lincoln Police Detective Sgt. Greg Sorensen testifying in
, Roger Bjorklund's pretrial evidence-suppression hearings
"I know, the court knows and Mr. Helvle knows
we won't call all these witnesses. We never do."
— Deputy Lancaster County Attorney John Colbom,
responding to Helvie's objection to adding more than 70 witnesses
to Roger Bjorklund’s trial
"Playing Nebraska is a whole different story.
We're talking about a different breed of cat."
— Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes
"It was a real nightmare. I take all the blame for
us losing the ballgame 76-14.1 apologize to Coach
Osborne for us not being a more worthy
opponent. ”
— North Texas coach Dennis Parker
“Promises are cheap In American political life."
— Ivan Volgyes, UNL political science professor
“I tried weasellng out because I was a student,
but they wouldn't let me."
— UNL student Bob Henry, who missed part of this semester
to train with the Nebraska Army National Guard in Honduras
I III IDKI \l I'l >1 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
