Opinion Ne^kan
A JL 1 XVyjL 1 TM«»d«y, Hov«mb»r 2,1993
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.Co/rv Desk Chief
Kim Spurlock.Sower Editor
Kiley Timperley.Senior Photographer
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Unpack it
Senator should comply, release diaries
Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Orc., has one last chance to set the
record straight on his involvement in ethics charges that
have been made against him. If he doesn’t, the Senate
should.
The Senate ethics committee has subpoenaed 8,500 pages of
Packwood’s diary in its investigation of sexual harassment
charges against him. But Packwood has refused to comply with
the demand.
The committee is seeking Senate approval for a court suit that
would force Packwood — under the threat of legal punishment —
to comply.
Packwood has claimed through his lawyer that the committee
is on a fishing expedition. He also has said details about the sex
lives of other lawmakers arc contained in the diary.
But it is time for Packwood to turn over the diary, settle the
issue and expose what he wrote about his involvement in the
charges made against him.
Senate investigators should use care and not release any
information that would be harmful to other senators. But they
should not back away from their attempt to obtain the diary.
If Packwood has nothing to hide, he should abide by the
subpoena. His reputation cannot be further harmed if he has done
nothing wrong.
If he docs have something to hide, that will be made clear
when the diaries arc turned over to investigators.
Whatever the result of the investigation, it is time for it to be
completed. Senators should vote to make Packwood turn over the
diaries. By doing so, they can show they are serious about pre
venting sexual harassment in the highest levels of government.
If history teaches us anything, it is that military force is not
to be used half-heartedly. If U.S. soldiers arc sent on
foreign adventures, they better be allowed to use the
necessary force to get the job done.
U.S. troops were sent to Haiti as part of a U N. team to help
Haiti move from a military dictatorship to a democracy with an
elected president.
Violent mobs and ruthless soldiers clearly threatened the
U.S. diplomats in Haiti and would endanger any U.S. military
personnel sent to aid in Haiti’s return to democracy.
Unfortunately, the U.S. soldiers scheduled to land in Haiti
were given no power to protect themselves. Under Clinton’s
original orders, most would have been defenseless, and the few
members that would have weapons would carry only light side
arms.
There’s one easy way to end the dictators’ smugness.
Assemble a large fleet off their coast. Invade Haiti like we
invaded Panama. Crush all opposition. Arrest the military
dictators. Install the democratically elected leader of Haiti by
force.
This isn’t a polite solution; it may not even be a practical
one. But if we decide to use military force in Haiti, we better
do it right. Gunboat diplomacy works only if we’re willing to
shoot.
Half-hearted military actions unwisely risk lives, prevent the
United States from achieving its goals, and tarnish our mili
tary’s reputation.
— The Daily Texan
The University of Texas
-1 i
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1993 Daily Nebraskan Policy is set by
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JlLirS
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" is this mission WiMWMN OU NATiON-BUHOINft ? "
Random art thrives in Lincoln
Since Halloween 1990, Sludge
has infected Tuesday’s midnight
airwaves with random music.
Tonight is its three-year anniversary.
The first time I tuned into 89.3’s
Sludge, I thought a raving schizo
phrenic woman had taken the KZUM
FM radio station hostage.
I had been flipping through the FM
radio frequencies looking for one of
the numerous yuppie jazz programs
on public radio to mellow my mood
witn after a long day. I turned to
KZUM and heard Sludge instead.
“How are you? How are you? How
are you? How are you?” a woman
screamed through my stereo. 1 waited
for her to start singing. It didn’t hap
pen.
I listened to her babble and curse in
a depraved singsong on the radio for
10 minutes. Then 1 called KZUM for
an explanation.
“Are you playing a recording of a
woman screaming?” I asked when
someone answered the phone.
“She’s singing,” a man answered.
“What’s she singing?” I asked.
‘“Silent Night,”’ he said.
“Oh,” 1 said. “Could you play4 Ken
tucky Rain’ by Elvis Presley?”
“We’ll try!” he promised, but nev
er did. Instead the radio show called
Sludge played disco, Nancy Sinatra
and random car commercials, back
ward and forward, for the rest of the
night. The more I listened, the more I
loved it.
Two weeks later, 1 visited KZUM
at midnight to watch the Sludge show
happen. I met its creators, William
“Vince” Berrigan, 28, and Bernie
McGinn, 23.
Berrigan and McGinn were dressed
in frumpy Ivy League clothing. They
had huge, wild hair. Their appear
ance, laughing eyes and quick man
ner made them resemble members of
an Albert Einstein cult.
Berrigan and McGinn began their
show by playing three records simul
taneously: a radiodrama, a collection
of spooky sound effects and a record
ing of a Christian children’s show
The radio show called Sludge
played disco, Nancy Sinatra
and random car commercials,
backward and forward, for the
rest of the night. The more I
listened, the more I loved it.
called “Amen!” featuring Erick the
puppet.
They played the-records backward
and forward while occasionally intro
ducing noise from other sources. To
gether, the records sounded like this:
“Today a woman asked me to kill
her. 1 felt absurd just silting there.
Don’t open your face. Peaches. Why
is the church helpless? Hi, this is
Jimmy Buffet, 1 can’t stand the pain
anymore. Today a woman asked me
to kill her.”
“Why do you play random record
ings?” I asked them.
Berrigan answered, “It’s kind of
like a big melting pot, and it turns into
this big Frankenstein of sound.”
McGinn said,“Sometimes it works,
and sometimes it’s super-boring.
There’san art tostitching it all togeth
er. It has merit as an art.”
Berrigan said, “We find a record,
drop a needle on it and somebody on
the record will say something that’s
just totally out there.”
I asked Berrigan if people were
ever irritated by his show.
Berrigan said, “Once, we played a
haunted house record with the sound
of someone getting whipped next to a
recording of Jimmy Swaggert pray
ing. People heard it and thought it was
blasphemy.”
“But blasphemy is subjective,”
Berrigan said. “It’sonly blasphemy if
you’re a believer.”
Whether Berrigan and McGinn are
reckless blasphemers or music pio
neers, they’re not alone. Random
music has a long tradition from mod
cm bands like Ncgativiand to pio
neers like Aliester Crowley and Hugo
Ball.
Ball was the founderof the Dadaist
Random Movement. In an effort to
destroy art, he would recite poems
randomly or perform plays in three
languages at once.
Sociological rebels like Malcolm
McClarcn used Ball’s theories to cre
ate anti-art punk and the Sex Pistols.
Virtually all new rock bands, from
Nirvana to the Breeders, owe some
thing to Ball.
Random music also has a long
occult history. Aliester Crowley, nick
named the “most evil man in the
world,” would tape random sounds
and then listen to the tapes backward
to hear the voices of the spirit world.
“All things satanic are inverted,”
said Jason Gildow, a UNL mystic
scholar. “All satanic symbols are par
odies of holy symbols, like the cruci
fix and holy communion.”
The Beatles and Led Zeppel in used
Crowley’s inversion techniques to
create reversed instrument effects and
backtracking in the studio. The bands
impact on rock music has spread
Crowley’s sound to the world.
Berrigan and McGinn are neither
Dadaists nor Crowley students to my
knowledge. But who cares? Whether
freestyle musical stitching or satanic
Dadaism, Sludge is still rock and roll
to me.
Hanbrecbt it a sopbanon arwi-editori
al major aad a Daily Nabraikaa coiamaiit.
‘Family values’
Thomas Eads’ letter (DN, Oct. 29)
claims society’s ills are due to a de
parture from traditional, religious fam
ily values.
I disagree. The greed-based capi
talistic system these upstanding fam
ilies supported and gained from is the
real problem, and it is meeting its
demise. The rich are getting richer at
the expense of the poor and middle
classes. Frustration, violence and de
spair are the inevitable result in a
money-oriented world where confor
mity is essential to success.
The minorities these fine religions
oppressed for so long are rapidly be
coming a majority. Homosexuals are
tired of hiding who they are. Women
are tired of being cast into a role
simply because Eve tempted Adam in
the garden of Eden. Even many men
no longer care to portray the unemo
tional, manly role these often dys
functional families taught them. Many
of us want to pursue our happiness and
be ourselves, not conform to the ap
pearance and thoughts of the rel igious
right.
Jesus Christ made two main points
in his 1 ife: love one another and do not
judge, be tolerant. The pharisees and
their followers were judgmental and
intolerant, and Jesus was loving, ac
cepting and hung out with sinners.
This is why they^cilled him. No doubt
he would be killed again today, for
people have not changed.
Paul Koestcr
senior
soil science
Death penalty
If Roger Bjorklund is found guilty,
he should be put to death. This case is
the best argument for the death penal
ty. It hits close to home. How can you
not feel for the Harms family? Only
through the execution of whomever is
found guilty of this crime do 1 believe
that Mr. and Mrs. Harms will feel any
type of justice has occurred.
Mark D. Mercer
freshman
general studies