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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1994)
Opinion Nebraskan Monday, February 7,1904 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick Rainbow Rowell. Adeana Left in. Todd Cooper. JeffZeleny. Sarah Duey. Willi an Lauer.... .. Editor, 472-1766 .Opinion Page Editor .Managing Editor ..Sports Editor . . . ^. Associate News Editor Arts & Entertainment Editor .Senior Photographer Km ioki \i Out of bounds Osborne s authority con fined to the field Imagine Tom Osborne’s response if Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady stopped by the playing field this fall to help the football coaches get the team ready. Osborne would probably feel hassled, maybe even angered. Osborne would be justified if he told Casady to keep his nose out of it. Police chiefs take care of police business and football coaches coach football. Why, then, did Osborne visit the police department Tuesday to inspect the car that was allegedly shot by Comhusker defensive back Tyrone Williams? Monday Osborne announced at a press conference that the shots were fired accidentally. The same day, Casady said there was no reason to believe the shooting was accidental. Although Osborne has since said some of his statements may have been inaccurate, one must question why he felt he had the authority to say them in the first place. Osborne should be respected for caring about his players and doing his best to protect them. He also has the responsibility to follow this incident carefully so he can make decisions about who will play for Nebraska in the future. But he should not be a part of the criminal investigation. He should not be inspecting evidence or making judgments of guilt or innocence. He should cooperate with the police and wait to see what they find. By trying to get further involved, he embarrasses himself and the university. Fatal inaction U.S. attention vital for Bosnia s survival Something must be done. That is the only sane and logical conclusion about what is going on in the former Yugoslavia. But exactly what the United States can do to help end the conflict is far from clear. On Saturday, a mortar shell exploded in a market in the besieged city of Sarajevo. The shell wounded more than 200 people and killed 68 others. It was another senseless act in a war that has claimed 200,000 lives. The United States responded by sendinga 13-member medical team and three transport aircraft to ferry the wounded out for treatment in Germany or Italy. But relief efforts will not end this war. They can only help keep people fed and transport away the dead and wounded. It is easy to see that more must be done. But devising a solution to the conflict seems close to impossible. Simply understanding what is going on in Bosnia-Herzegovina is hard enough, let alone stopping the fighting. Support is growing for I imited air strikes aga inst Serbian positions. The Serbs have encircled Sarajevo and have held the city hostage for 22 months. The problem with air strikes is that it is not clear they will end the fighting. They could also hit civilians and U.N. peacekeepers on the ground in Bosnia. Perhaps the greatest weapon the United States can bring to the conflict is its prestige. If the United States makes the conflict a high priority in its foreign policy, world attention will remain focused on the former Yugoslavia. The greatest mistake would be to do nothing. As world leaders and as human beings, it is time for Americans to play a larger role in ending this tragedy. I m K >i<i m I’m k \ SUIT editorial! 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 esUblish 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 II II U l'( U It N 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 mm Nbo wawoK'CT, \P0 TOCVBEK sra^DOVS. worn « ttiAA K MV WWS VEDWMfi. I l l 11 Ns in I III KmioR ‘White males’ To my fellow white males: Your views against a woman’s right to have an abortion were definitely enlighten ing (glimpses into narrow minds). I sit with bated breath for the day you begin to tout “Dan Quaylian” family values. No wonder we’re being bashed from all sides. By the way, do you club your wom en before or after you get them into your caves? Sean T. Green freshman general studies Osborne Now that the Lancaster County sheriff has resigned after one day on the job, the county commissioners promise an extensive search to locate the best candidate to fill the vacancy. I wish to suggest, however, that they exclude one name from the list of possibilities: Tom Osborne. Though Coach Osborne has indicated some interest in law enforcement activities, there are at least two reasons why he should not be considered for the job. First, he isa talented football coach, and it would be a shame for him to stop doing what he does so well. Second, despite his many talents, recent events indicate Coach Osborne may have certain deficiencies in the area of criminal misconduct investi gations. For example. Coach Osborne has stated publicly that the recent events at 17th and L streets were “accidental.” I have difficulty visual izing the events in such a light, but 1 do try. I see a football player at 3 a.in. accidentallycxitingniscarwhile he is accidentally holding a firearm. I sec him accidentally pistol-whipping the w indow of anotner car. After the driv er of this other car understandably attempts to vacate the premises, I see the football player accidentally firing multiple shots into the departing vehi cle. When Coach Osborne realizes the “accidental” explanation may be a bit of a stretch, he instead shifts to the justification that the football player was pushed over the edge by a phone call that, unbeknownst to the football player, was really a prank call. You see, the caller claimed to be the FBI telling the football player he was be ing watched. (This should have been a tip-off, since the FBI would not voluntarily inform a suspect that he was being watched, but be that as it may ...) The football player believed the call. Well, I guess that explains it. The football player didn’t realize he was accidentally shooting the car of some pranksters; he thought he was acci dentally shooting the FBI’s car. You or I would have done the same thing. What is more, if you or 1 had done it, it wouldn’t be in the newspapers. Only football players are supposed to be above such things as shooting the FBI. No fair. Coach Osborne is certainly correct that the accused player is innocent until proven guilty by the judicial process, and it is noble of him to defend his players. But he should step out of the picture and let that process work. His statements to the media have been unbecoming and embar rassing, have not helped Tyrone Wil liams one bit, and suggest to me that Coach Osborne is not the best candi date for Lancaster County sheriff. John R. Hibbing professor political science James Mehsling/DN Blacks only After reading an essay by Audre Lorde entitled “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism, 1 became acutely aware of the miscom munication that might be occurring with regard to black issues. Many instances that evoked anger in the black author, instances such as a white woman saying “Tell me how you feel, but don ’ t say it too harshly or I cannot hear you,” were no different than situations I have been in. I would say the same thing to my parents if they made a demand of me. The say ing, “Say it nicely or don’t say it at all” was strictly abided by if you wanted to be heard in my family. After realizing that blacks may be taking offense from my actions or words, I decided to attend the newly developing African-American Wom en’s Monthly Lunch discussion in order to better understand what is proper and how not to defend. I brought my lunch and went on up to Room 340 in the Nebraska Union, anticipating a productive discussion, even ifalll did was sit and listen. After sitting fora few minutes, a very pleas ant woman came in and began talking to me about my interests, etc. It was not long before I realized she was very politely telling me that the discussion was only for black women. Whites were not included. She did inform me, however, that there were many other opportunities for me to explore multicultural issues. I can just imagine the controversy if a group of men tried to have an All White Male Monthly Luncheon to discuss the frustrations of affirmative action. Ann Nelson senior actuarial science ‘Insensitive inac tion’ On Jan. 28, Linda Anfuso, Mohawk poet and artist from New York, hon ored my literature class with the read ing of her poetry, followed by a brief discussion. While visiting with stu dents, she expressed her concern about hundreds of Native American remains that are currently located on the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Anfuso stated that the skeletal re mains were stored in cardboard boxes in the basement of a building on cam pus. Apparently, requests have been made to have the remains returned to their respective tribes for proper cere monial reburial. To this date, the re quests have not been met. Without the cloak of bureaucratic rhetoric, will someone please answer a simple ques tion — why not? After speaking with Anfuso, 1 was ashamed to think that as a Nebraska taxpayer or university student, 1 have contributed to this insensitive action or inaction. Most of my family is buried in an “ethnic” cemetery here in Nebraska. 1 know I would not be as diplomatic in voicing my opinion as Anfuso was if it were my relatives lying in cardboard boxes against my request. I would like to hear from anyone who has informa tion regarding this situation, and whether anything is being done to honor the requests of the families and tribes involved in these negotiations. Cindy Cox T' senior teachers college