Opinion
Nel^raskan
Friday, January 28,1884
—
Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Rainbow Rowell . .
Adeana Leftin. .
Todd Cooper.
Jeff Zeleny . .. 7..
Sarah Duey.
Stacie McKee . . .
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
.Editor, 472-1766
.Opinion Page Editor
......... Managing Editor
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.Associate News Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
.Photo Chief
I IM lout \\
It’s about time
Congressional vote asks to put end to war
The Vietnam War is long over. One of the final doors on the
conflict closed Thursday when the Senate voted to end
trade sanctions against Vietnam.
Two of the resolution’s key supporters were senators who lived
through some of the worst of the war.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was wounded three times in the
war. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., spent six years in a prisoner-of
war camp in North Vietnam.
“If you want to put the war behind us and act in a statesmanlike
fashion and move to the future and protect the interests of this
nation, you will vote to lift the embargo,” Kerry said.
Senators voted 62-38 to approve a non-binding resolution
urging the Clinton Administration to lift the trade sanctions. The
vote will give President Clinton credibility to move in opening
new relations with Vietnam.
Opponents raised arguments against lifting the sanctions,
mostly because of human rights violations by the Vietnamese and
the 2,238 Americans still missing from Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos.
But six of the eight senators who served in Vietnam voted for
the resolution. Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., said he thought it was in
the best interest of the families of MI As and the United States.
The search for missing servicemen should continue with even
greater vigilance. But the war is over. The time has come for the
normalization of trade relations.
Ql Oil SOI mi \\ I I K
"That’s the whole nature of the university, to
foster constructive dissent, and once a decision
has been made, let’s play ball. The opposite would
be a police state.”
— Rosemary Skrupa, Omaha regent, in support of competition
between Nil’s Omaha and Lincoln campuses.
“Well, ‘cause I was stupid. I took someone’s
advice and I shouldn’t of, and I felt bad about It. ”
— Roger Biorklund, convicted murderer, explaining to Lincoln
Police Detective Sgt. Greg Sorensen why he mailed threatening
letters to jurors.
“Among the most difficult tasks anyone can
begin Is one which Is fraught with nearly
Impossible deadlines, inconsistent and
unreasonable expectations and a substantial dose
of old-fashioned Missouri pessimism, ‘Show me.
— Bruce Stahl, executive director of the Nebraska Coordinating
Commission for Postsecondary Education, in a statement
following his resignation from the post.
“We're not going to sit back and let this happen.
It Isa mission of mine to establish a proper climate
In the greek system."
— James Griesen, UNL vice chancellor for student affairs,
vowing to enforce dry-campus policies
“It Is the duty of nations, as well as to men, to
owe their overruling power to God. Those nations
are blessed If their God Is the Lord."
— Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist, quoting Abraham Lincoln
at the 19th annual Walk for Life.
I m mm w in >i k \
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1994 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 of
its students.
i i 111i< I'm i< \
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
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
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
CWUl AWASH?
Nelson
The Daily Nebraskan has shown
its obvious partisanship and lack of
true journalism with its Jan. 25,1994,
editorial on Ben Nelson. It stated that
Nelson basically saved the state from
going under and kept “Nebraska sta
ble during difficult years. And that
was no small task.”
Now for the truth about Nelson’s
record. Under Ben Nelson’s leader
ship, the state has seen an increase in
state government. Not only is the
State Office Building full, but state
offices have expanded into the Atri
um . In the first two years of his adm in
istration, Ben Nelson added 531 new
state employees. Now the state has a
hiring freeze on all full-time employ
ees, but the want-ads are full of new
openings for state positions. This is a
key example ofNelson’s “do as I say,
not as I do” attitude. He touts himself
as being fiscally responsible and put
ting the brakes on runaway spending.
In fact, in 1992, the budget Nelson
submitted to the legislature never made
it mit of the committee. This saved
taxpayers a great expense. Sen. Ber
nard-Ste vens, who is on the Appropri
ations committee, said that Nelson’s
budget had $100 million in new, hid
den taxes without any tax cuts.
Nelson has also been giving bo
nuses left and right. Under his admin
istration, he has hired a lobbyist, Tom
Litjen, a former law partner, who
works in Washington, D.C., at a cost
to taxpayers of nearly $90,000. Former
Omaha mayor Mike Boyle, who was
booted out of office, is paid $60,000
to review contracts that the Attorney
General would review at no extra cost
to taxpayers.
Another expense was the approxi
mate $90,000 that was spent on un
necessary security and equipment for
the state lottery, the crown jewel of
the Nelson administration.
In Nelson’s own office, staff has
increased by nine employees, travel
ditures are up 50 percent and
expenditures have increased
by nearly 25 percent.
The DN also stated Nelson “con
tinues to guide our state through the
choppy waters of crime, welfare re
form and economic hardship." First
of all, Nelson never realized crime
was a problem until he was forced to
introduce his own crime package just
a few weeks ago. But where was
Nelson when the Attorney General
was trying to pass his crime package
last year? He was sitting on the side
lines. It should be no surprise that
Nelson has become a “me, too” gover
nor, hardly a strong leader. He consis
tently offers too little, too late. The
simple fact is if Ben Nelson would
have worked as hard on a crime pack
age as he did to get the state lottery
passed, our state would be a much
safer place.
Unemployment has remained low
and more businesses have come into
and expanded in Nebraska over the
past several years. The fact is Nelson
I i ii i us m 1111 I m mu
takes credit for these things, but these
rewards that the state has received are
not the results of his leadership, but
from the actions of former adminis
tration. LB775, which Nelson cam
paigned against in 1990, has allowed
the state to reap these rewards, and
Nelson now embraces LB775 as if it
was his own.
It has also been said Nelson has
“made decisions based on what Ne
braskans want, even if it has meant
stepping across party lines.” Howev
er, he also “asked” the people’s Lieu
tenant Governor Maxine Moul to re
sign, appointed her to director of eco
nomic development and appointed
his own political crony, Kim Robak,
to her position. This means that if the
governor would have to leave office
for some reason, Nebraska would have
a governor that was not elected by its
people.
It is time this state had a governor
who leads by example and shows real
leadership, Nebraska needs more than
a ceremonial, “me, too" governor.
When it comes right down to it, when
the tough decisions have to be made,
Ben Nelson is sitting on the sidelines.
Nebraskans deserve more than a back
slapping, ribbon-cutting, glad-hand
ing governor. It is time to make sure
that Nelson and Robak are voted out
of office so this state can move for
ward under bold, new leadership.
Josh Daws
junior
history
Amy Schmidt
‘Propaganda’
In a recent court decision, some
Nazis were sentenced to time in pris
on, a small fine and were ordered to
see “Schindler’s List." What does
“Schindler’s List” have to do with
anything?
Do we forget that “documenta
ries” that were really cleverly dis
guised propaganda films were played
m Nazi German theaters?
Jeremy Meister
sophomore
general studies
Student Assistant
In reply to Matt Kroll’s letter to the
editor (DN. Jan. 26,1994):
I wanted to thank Kroll for his
“tips” on how to spot residence-hall
drinkers. I’ll be sure to cut out his
comment and post it on my wall as a
mission statement.
As a Student Assistant in Abel
Residence Hall, I am one of those
people “stopping alcohol from enter
ing the residence halls.”
The rules are enforced in the halls.
I have poured out many containers of
liquor from residents. When they are
caught, they usually are instructed to
take a $30 alcohol class and are even
put on probation sometimes.
Other residents call S.A.s to com
plain about parties, alcohol and suspi
cious-looking students. When was the
last time you saw your fraternity broth
er drinking a brewsky and called the
president of the house, if it wasn’t him
drinking, or the UNL Police?
Yeah, we have a problem in the
halls—but if people are going to play
the game, there are consequences.
Jennifer Junge
Abel Hall Student Assistant
junior
psychology
Hoax
We are writing in response to Mark
Knofller’s letter (DN, Jan. 25,1994).
The letter contained some informa
tion and apparent opinion about haz
ing in our greek system. Many.people
disagreed with his opinions and found
his letter to be very inappropriate.
After some research, we have found
there is no Mark Knottier registered
at the University of Nebraska. We
have therefore concluded that the let
ter was not written by someone in the
greek system, as it implies.
The letter was also written in a
very sarcastic tone that was probably'
not meant to be taken seriously, as it
was by many people.
For both reasons, Knoftler’s letter
should be disregarded by readers of
the Daily Nebraskan.
Brad Shafer
senior
English
Nick Reifschneider
junior
construction management
Disablities
I am very concerned that there
appears to be virtually no representa
tion on campus for those labeled with
an emotional or mental disability.
Despite the passage of the Americans
With Disabilities Act and its mandate
for greater accessibility, the mentally
and emotionally disabled constitute a
forgotten disability. The time is long
overdue for UNL to address the needs
of this minority, as it has so many
others.
Roy Ferry
Lincoln