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....
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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
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448
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‘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
