Nebraskan
•! 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.C°py Des* ChieJ
Kim Spurlock.Sower Editor
Kiley Timperley..Senior Photographer
President Clinton has just unveiled his new health-care
package, and one of the top issues on everyone’s mind is
how to pay for it. Clinton has two proposals: Increase “sin
taxes” on cigarettes and create a new payroll tax.
Sin taxes are a great idea. There’s no better way to raise money
than by taxing products such as cigarettes that people don’t need
anyway. What better method to raise money than by discouraging
unhealthy and dangerous behavior?
Critics might argue that the sin taxes will eventually bring in
lower amounts of revenue, since people will become less inclined
to smoke. But that’s partly the point of the tax. And, even if
revenues decrease, the public will gain from the lower amount of
secondhand smoke and the decreased costs of treating lung
cancer.
But payroll taxes have some problems. If the government
forces businesses to pay more taxes for each worker, employers
might respond by firing some of their employees. That could be a
prescription for heading back into a recession.
Unlike sin taxes, payroll taxes create disincentives against
something the government wants to promote: employment If
anything, work should be encouraged — not penalized by higher
taxes.
— The Daily Texan
University of Texas
-1 1 I
“I’m very scared."
— Omaha insurance agent Richard Wilkinson, in reaction to
President Clinton’s health-care reform plan
If (Laurence) Powell and (Stacey) Koon elect to,
they may walk out of the prison. I expect they are
going to make a U-turn and get out of here as fast
as they can. ”
— U S. District Judge John G. Davies, after granting Powell
and Koon two more weeks to appeal their case to the Supreme
Court. The two Los Angeles police officers have been convicted of
violating the civil rights of Rodney King.
"That’s going to cost millions to fix up Richards
Hall. Millions.”
- Paul Carlson, UNL interim business manger at an open
forum supporting Green Space.
"/ think the citizens of Texas see through this.
They see that this Is sleazy politics. ”
— Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who has
been indicted on charges of misusing her office m2 1/2 years as
state treasurer
“When I first came here, I knew I didn’t deserve
to be on the field.”
— Nebraska football player Gerald Armstrong, who last year
tied an NCAA record tor scoring touchdowns on six consecutive
receptions
“It was a good match. I can’t put my finger on
any one specific thing we did wrong. ”
—Nebraska volleyball player Nikki Strieker, lollowing the
Comhuskers’ loss to Notre uame
SUIT 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 of the newspaper lies solely in the hands ol
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 I i
available. The Daily Nebraakaa 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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Nebrpskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68388-0448
_
LAST JANUARY
Ecology Now!
As a third-year member of Ecolo
gy Now!, I am disturbed by the allega
tions made by James Zank (DN, Sept.
30) against this group. He concluded
that the most likely explanation for
Ecology Nowl’s public support of
green space was to make a political
move to coddle the chancellor’s favor
by supporting his “pet project.” Sorry
to disprove your line of reasoning,
James, but you’re dead wrong.
If you will recall, when Ecology
Now! intended to storm Spanier’s dis
cussion in the SelleckTV lounge more
than a year ago, our purpose was to get
him started on campus recycling, a
project he advocated when he took
office in 1991. This is a far cry from
wanting “to become chums with
Spanier for Ecology Nowl’s future
use.” In fact, Ecology Now! was one
of the main forces that produced the
Chancellor’s Committee on Recy
cling, created three years ago.
So what’s the real reason for Ecol
ogy Nowl’s endorsement of green
space? Would you believe it’s for the
unselfish reason of seeing it as a ben
eficial long-term investment for the
campus? Even you, James, would
agree, as you have stated, that this is
not an ecological reason. The facts
that were circulated with the petition
are summarized as follows: Only 155
parking spaces will be displaced, half
of which may go to the Union Insur
ance Building, and the other half will
push back student parking only one
row farther — all tor the benefit of
24,000 people who would enjoy a
campus quad.
Kobpom L. Cha
junior
chemistry
Generation X
1 think it was the “I before we”
article (DN, Sept. 23) that destroyed
my interest in the Generation X scries
of last week.
OK, I admit that we, as humans,
have problems. But we have also
learned and followed in the footsteps
of predecessors. I believe it was the
’60s’ and ’70s’ generations who were
originally called the “me” genera
tion. Now they are trying to pin it on
us rather than improve themselves. 1
know people who are trying to be part
of the answer, people not quoted in
that article.
I challenge a couple of basic as
sumptions of that article. First, all our
talk about diversity itself is a sign of
progress. We are airing — even if
through knee-jerk reactionism —
important ideas and often implement
ing these ideas in our personal lives.
Just because we don’t march by the
thousands doesn’t mean we aren’t
working. And conversely, huge dem
onstrations do not automatically im
ply progress.
1 also challenge the moral superi
ority of the generation labeling us
“X.” Everyone was not better back
then. For every Peace Corps worker, ‘
there was an all-for-money type. For
every civil rights activist there were
two or more segregationists. Those
activists set great examples for us, but
we must remember that they were not
everyone in that generation.
Trevor McArthur
senior
teachers college
James Mensiinq/UN
Safety
(
I attended the forum about the
green space issue. Due to the fact that
it was held on the last half of my lunch
hour, I was unable to speak (Hit against
the issue. I have already written to the
chancellor with my opposition.
Paul Carlson spoke on shall' of
the chancellor. During the time I was
at the forum, he spoke more than once
about how this plan to take the cam
pus parking to the outskirts of the
campus began in 1967.1 think Carlson
needs to wake up and realize that this
is 1993 and the campus was not nearly
as dangerous in 1967 as it is today.
The crimes against people and prop
erty were not nearly what they are
today.
In 1967,1 was the same age as the
students of today, and I can tell you
from experience I was not afraid to go
anywhere in this town alone, and did
on many occasions, both on foot and
in my car. Today when I get in the car
at bight, I lock the doors ami roll up
the windows, and if I have to stop on
my way home, I am constantly mak
ing sure no one is creeping up on me.
Barb Stevens
office of admissions
Gun control
Kudos to law professor Peter
Hoffman for, without realizing it, sid
ing with the pro-gun crowd and the
NRA (DN, Sept. 30).
Hoffman correctly pointed out that
the murder rate in Northern Ireland is
significantly lower than that in major
metropolitan U.S. cities like New
York, Washington, D.C., and Detroit.
However, let us not overlook the fact
that some of the most rigid handgun
control legislation in the United States
evolved and exists in those same cit
ies with zero reduction in gun-related
crimes.
It is simply not logical, with all that
we have learned about gun control, to
assume that new restrictive laws aimed
at the legal purchaser of a firearm will
bear any impact on reducing violent
crime.
One example of a more effective
strategy would be for the U ni ted States
to embark on complete redesign of the
federal, local ana state judicial sys
tems. Designed for an era of criminal
ity completely dissimilar to what we
arc experiencing now, the judicial
system at present is continually prov
en to be woefully inadequate.
The juvenile reform system, for
example, is just one microcosm of our
current failure to deal with a complete
breakdown of the moral and ethical
value base and societal changes in
America. Enacted to fairly exact jus
tice to minors who commit “minor”
crimes, the juvenile correctional sys
tem finds itself ill-prepared to deal
with juvenile delinquents who repeat
edly commit horrendous crimes. Ne
braska, along with a handful of other
states, are on the right track with their
adoption of a “boot camp” style of
juvenile corrections. Arguably a small
step, at least it does begin to attack the
root causes of juvenile lawlessness—
a disrespect for authority.
U mil Americans are willing to face
the fact that another gun control law
will do absolutely nothing to reduce
crime rates or criminal behavior, we
are all relegated to grasping at straws
in our attempts to manage lawless
ness.
Thomas K. Eads
junior
political science, English
Green space
I think that the hotheads in opposi
tion to the proposed green space/sanc
tuary of nature could use some expo
sure to snow drifts and subzero tem
peratures.
The fact that it reduces parking
may prod these heathens to incorpo
rate such God-fearing methods of
transportation as walking and car pool
ing. That is a laudable measure by any
means.
Andrew Seaton
sophomore
international Business
