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Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeremy Fitzpatrick. .Editor, 472-1766
Kathy Steinauer..Opinion Page Editor
Wendy Mott. Managing Editor
Todd Cooper. Sports Editor
Chris Hopfensperger..Copy Desk ChieJ
Kim Spurlock.Sower Editor
Kiley Ttmperley.Senior Photographer
Breathless
New DWI law too weak to be worthwhile
Anew drinking and driving law passed this summer may
actually be more trouble than it’s worth.
LB564 lowers the legal blood-alcohol level for drivers
under the age of 21 from the standard .10-percent level to .02
percent. Minors caught driving while intoxicated will have their
license suspended for 30 days if they fail a Breathalyzer test.
But there could be some problems with this new law. The
Breathalyzer has a 10 percent margin of error, which makes it
hard for the machine to measure alcohol level as low as .02
percent.
The law is also a secondary offense — like the current manda
tory seat-belt law — which means a police officer must pull the
driver over for a different traffic violation first. Also, those who
break this law will not be reported to the Department of Motor
Vehicles or their insurance companies.
Besides the 30-day license suspension, which alone is probably
a substantial punishment for many teenagers, this law does not
seem to be worthy of the trouble and money spent. It will be a
time-consuming process but somewhat incomplete because the
punishments are not very sound.
Minors caught drinking and driving should be punished more
because they have been drinking illegally. But this law alone is
not the answer. If this law were not a secondary offense, and if
those caught breaking it faced rising insurance premiums, perhaps
LB564 would be worth the time and would cut down on underage
drinking and driving. But as it is, the law is restricted and not
strong enough.
Each of the last five presidents has unveiled a plan to cut
government spending and get the public off their backs.
Now, with pomp, circumstance and forklifts of paper,
President Clinton has revealed his plan to slim down the burgeon
ing bureaucracy.
The plan, which is supposed to save $108 billion over five
years, suggests ways government can consolidate agencies that do
the same thing. Clinton wants to merge the law enforcement
functions of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI, close
some Department of Agriculture field offices and give the FDA
all responsibility for food inspection.
This all sounds great, but why should Clinton’s plan fare any
better than the past four presidents’ plans?
Because people really hate the government.
When other presidents proposed their plans, anti-government
sentiment wasn’t as widespread, the financial mismanagement
wasn’t as obvious and the deficit wasn’t nearly as great.
Now people are so sick of the government going on wild
spending sprees that they are ready to see some real cost-cutting.
Clinton must make sure these cuts are actually made and that
the American public can see savings. Additional money has a way
of getting lost in the government, so if Clinton wants to see his
“Reinventing Government” plan succeed where Carter’s “Zero
Based Budgeting,” Reagan’s “Private Sector Survey on Cost
Control,” and Bush’s “Right-Sizing Government” plans failed, he
must show the public that money was saved and that it was
reapplied to areas where it is badly needed.
— Daily lllini
— University of Illinois
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 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 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 ofthe newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students.
The 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
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affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68388-0448.
w.
Oppression
Look at laws being passed to pro
tect women and minorities and you
will see a disparity about protection
for Euro-males who do not practice,
use or preach sexism and/or racism.
Equality is not receiving the short end
of the stick. History serves as a re
minder so bad things will not happen
again. It has been established that
sexism and racism are bad.
We are one race: homo sapiens.
Our cultures are different and togeth
er we must work to create one culture:
American.
I will feel little sympathy for things
I had no part of. I will accept no bill of
retribution for oppression I did not
cause. I believe each individual’s abil
ity affects his or her opportunities
more than pigment or gender. The
days of the gross and wanton oppres
sion are gone.
I respect others for their difference
and individuality. I treat others as
they treat me and how I want to be
treated. The past is the past, and we
can only improve today and tomor
row. Let us do a good job so that when
our children eat side by side, it is at a
round table so that no one is superior
to another except for ability and apti
tude.
I offer no explanation or apology
of the dominance of Euro-males in
fledging America. Oppressing Euro
males so that they have a taste for it is
more wrong than the initial oppres
sion.
Joe Hering
freshman
general studies
Guns
Sam Kepfield’s column (DN, Sept.
1) spewing forth rhetoric hand-fed to
him by the gun lobby and the ensuing
letters to tire editor in response have
finalW prompted me to write. Mr.
Kepfield seems to believe that gun
control is an evil advocated by fools
who don’t understand how important
it is for the innocent to have firearms
toprotect themselves. I firmly believe
in the rights of the innocent to have all
manner of projectile weapons to pro
tect themselves. So here. I (Hitline my
plan to use gun control to reduce
violent crime nationwide and to virtu
ally eradicate violent acts against
women.
i
First, Congress would pass a law
making it mandatory for women above
age 15 to carry a loaded semi-auto
matic handgun at all times. Financial
assistance would be given to those not
able to afford a reliable weapon.
Women would also be required to
undergo an intensive joint NRA/local
police force handgun training/marks
manship/self-defense course. They
would be required to renew this train
ing once a year.
Second, handguns would slowly,
over five to 10 years, be legally phased
out for men. Men could sell their
handguns to the government to reallo
cate to women. Eventually the law
would prohibit men from owning or
buying handguns, with the exception
of sworn police officers ami the armed
forces. Men found breaking this law
would be subject to heavy fines and
long prison sentences.
The result of this action would be
very interesting. Approximately 98
percent of all violent crime is perpe
trated by males, and almost 70 per
cent of those invol ve handguns. Grant
ed, even if this program was phenom
enally successful and all handguns
were turned in or confiscated, that
still wouldn’t stop the violent crime
from occurring.
Yes, Mr. Kepfield, men would still
use knives or even rocks. 1, however,
would rather face 10 madmen armed
with knives and rocks any day than
one with a MAC-11 capable of firing
1,200 rounds per minute. But the big
gest things this system would accom
plish would be the drastic reduction of
misogynistic crime. Rape, sexual as
sault and all manner of abuse would
virtually halt. It’s hard to feel power
over a woman—which is what rape
is about, not sex, but power and vio
lence — that one has just thrown on
the ground to abuse or rape when one
has a couple of smoking .4S-caliber
bullet holes in one’s chest. Those
enticing curves and bulges women
have would take on a whole new
meaning ifone never knew which was
the butt of a well-oiled 9mm.
Yes, there would almost surely be
some innocent men shot or killed, but
no one seems to have any problems
with the one out of three women that
are raped or the conviction rate of less
than one in five. And then the women
who aggressively pursue the rectifi
cation of this problem are called “femi
Nazis” by the so-called great thinkers
of our time.
The increasing problems associat
ed with guns are not going to go away
by simply ignoring them or by censor
ing television or music. The problem
isn’t in the words we read or hear or in
the images we see; it’s in the very
fabric of our society. Rape isn’t going
to stop because it’s not seen or talked
about on television. Neither is any of
the violence associated with guns.
Until men are socialized to abhor
violent acts against other human be
ings the way women already are,
maybe women should be given tjie t.
chance to itieid out the swift and sure
justice that Mr. Kepfield talks about
for themselves.
Christopher Hoffmann
sophomore
art
Green space
A positive thought by Graham
Spanien more green space! My re
sponse to the people worried about
walking another couple of hundred
feet to their cars is that they realize
that Lincoln is a city with one of the
lowest crime rates in America. UNL’s
City Campus, compared to many oth
er city school campuses, is quite quiet
and well-protected. With the new
hotline phones around, safety is en
hanced. As for harsh winters, should
we sacrifice comfort and convenience
for a mere few-hundred-foot walk? I
myself enjoy a brisk walk before class
ami also enjoy seeing more green
space than pavement, which is repre
sentative of a commuter campus.
When beauty is in question, to be
pushed aside for convenience at a
school of education, do the people
attending this institution want to learn
or be comforted?
Peter Chant II
senior
psychology, art
Graham Spanier: Would you listen
to the students for once? no green
space!
Dave Glatte
senior
business education
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