Opinion
Netnaskan
Friday, April 10,1994
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Rainbow Rowell
Adeana Left in
Todd Cooper.
Jeff Zele tty.
Sarah Duey.
William Lauer .
.Editor. 472-1766
.Opinion Page Editor
Managing Editor
.Sports Editor
Associate News Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Senior Photographer
Ql (HI SOh I III \\ H K
“If I have to do this one more time, I’m going to
commit suicide. ”
— Lisa Cardillo, Missouri flood victim, after accepting a ride
with her three young daughters on a fire department boat.
“/ honestly don 't know. ”
— Lt. Gen. Richard Keller, responding to questions about what
threat might have been posed by two U.S. helicopters that were
mistakenly shot down over Iraq by U.S. warplanes. Twenty-nine
people died in the accident.
“There are positive and negative role models,
and each of you needs to be a positive one. Role
models — if you’re one, God bless you. If you’re
not, become one. ”
— Gale Sayers, NFL Hall of Fame running back, addressing
152 student-athletes at the Nebraska Student-Athlete Academic
Awards Banquet.
“We do not do anything to hook smokers or
keep them hooked. We no more manipulate
nicotine in cigarettes than coffee makers
manipulate caffeine. ”
— James Johnson, chairman and chief executive of R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co., testifying before Congress.
“All I know about Whitewater is what I read in
the papers, so / don’t understand it."
— Humorist Garrison Keillor
“It will be exciting for me to do something else
for a year. I’m going to be 67 in June, you know.
That’s not a kid. I want to finally enjoy some things
I ’d like to do. ’’
— Retiring Iowa State basketball coach Johnny Orr
“The implication of your remarks, sir, is that... I
should stop being president and do my homework
on this issue. ”
— President Bill Clinton, responding to a newspaper editor on a
Whitewater question.
“Are we not still confronted each day with
issues of equality, justice, compassion, sensitivity,
tolerance and understanding?’’
— Graham Spanier. UNL chancellor, speaking at a Holocaust
commemoration at the State Capitol.
“It’s important to help individuals understand
that school is cool. ”
— Ben Nelson, Nebraska governor, before proclaiming! April 11
as School is Cool Day.
“Whenever we find out about something like
this, it’s a done deal. I don’t have any specific plan
of action because I haven’t got all my questions
answered. They (the Parking Advisory Committee)
did a pretty slick packaging job. ”
— Andrew Loudon, ASUN president, explaining why ASUN
could do little about parking fee increases.
Em ioui \i I'm k \
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring I994 Daily Nebraskan Policy is set
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university, its employees, the students or the NU Hoard of Regents Lditorial columns represent
the opinion of the author The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan They establish the UNI,
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the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the bands of
its students
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_
Double standard
In a dichotomous culture (oppres
sor/oppressed; dominanl/minority)
such as ours, a problem isn’t per
ceived as being real unless the domi
nant group has afTirmcd its validity.
As much as this is upsetting Kimberly
Spurlock (DN, April 13,1994), that is
part of the essential nature of oppres
sion systems.
This in no way requires you to
lower your professional standards.
Quite the opposite. Members of the
target groups must be better at what
they do than their non-target group
peers to be considered “almost as
good.”
Nanci Rivcnburg
senior
biology
Apology
“A leader admits his mistakes and
accepts responsibility for them.”
Michelle Steinauer, I couldn’t agree
with you more. In response to your
letter to the editor on April 14.1 must
confess that the reason Andrew Loudon
has not mailed the required letters
resides in the Electoral Commission.
It is the commission’s responsibility
to provide him with a list of individ
uals to write to. and the commission
has yet to do this.
While no good reason exists lor
this delay, mitigating circumstances
such as the disbanding of the 1993-94
Electoral Commission, spring break
and services I have been asked to
provide inother cam pusclcctions have
contributed to the delay.
In fact, Loudon has asked me for
this list of names on at least three
occasions. I shall do everything in my
power to move this process forward,
and you shall receive your letter with
in the next week.
As a leader in the election process,
I accept responsibil ity for this delay in
action, and 1 apologize for any trouble
this may have caused you.
Mark A. Byars
Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska Electoral
Commission Director
Objectivity
In response to Kimberly Spurlock’s
column (DN, April 13. 1994):
Any writershould realize that what
they write may be influenced by their
own opinion and view. Objective
writing can be ensured only if it is
done by a party not involved in the
issue at hand. An article about dis
crimination should not be written by
a person who discriminates or is dis
criminated against.
The above statement is also true
for any other kind of reporting or
It I II K> in III! KDIKIU
writing.
The fact that a white person pro
duced and reported a video that showed
the opinions of several black students
on campus (to show how black stu
dents on campus feel) is more bel iev
ablc, not because the person was white,
but because this person was — as an
objective viewer — more likely to
present the truth unchanged by their
opinion or experiences.
Billy Pettijohn
sophomore
computer engineering
Amy Schmidt/DN
Parking fuss
First I was surprised, and now I’m
annoyed with all this fuss about park
ing at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln. Every day I use the remote
lots, and it is extremely rare not to
have a parking spot waiting for me.
What is the stigma attached to remote
parking? So what if it takes five or 10
extra minutes to get to where you need
to go? It takes that long to walk from
the more expensive lots.
A parking garage is a stupid, ex
pensive idea. This town has enough
ugly concrete buildings.
To solve this thing, we’re going to
have to compromise. We should all
consider remote parking when we buy
our permits for the fall, and if these
lots become insufficient, they should
be e xpanded .Simple sol ut ions are out
there. Quit complaining and take ad
vantage of them.
Scott Ferguson
sophomore
Spanish and English
English reform
In response to the ongoing debate
about English composition courses at
UNL:
I am a double major in Engl ish and
history. I have taken all levels of
composition courses and have also
found them to be “easy A” courses.
In Engl ish 2 54,1 asked to be taught
formal writing that would help me
improve my history papers. 1 found it
hard to believe that as I received A’s
in English courses, my history profes
sors were giving me B’s because of
my poor sentence structure, awkward
style and poor editing skills — even
though 1 worked harder on my history
essays than I did on my English es
says. I can’t be the only person with
this problem.
Why isn’t the English department
giving students the skills they will
need in their future jobs and their
other courses? I am still using the
same formal writing techniques that I
learned in high school for my college
classes. No one has taught me any
thing different in the English depart
ment. Yet my history classes of the
same level expect better writing.
I believe the solution to this frus
trating situation is to reform the cur
riculum of English composition class
es.
Jackie Purvis
junior
English and history
Spurlock
Kimberly Spurlock (DN, April 13,
1994) concludes her column on rac
ism, would you refuse to listen to
my story because I am black? If your
answer is yes, I suggest you dig your
own grave, because you are already
dead and need to lie in it.”
Is adead person still a human being
orjust an object? The worst criminals
recognized by society are still human
beings. Even Hitler was a human be
ing.
No matter what a person’s views
are. he or she is still to be considered
a living human being, worth treating
with all the dignity and consideration
due a fellow human being. Any other
assumption may open the door to
conduct inconsistent with decent so
ciety.
Another point: you can’t listen to a
dead person. Spurlock said, “My col
umns arc written from my perspec
tives—my truths.’’Can it be assumed
that someone clse’sperspectivc, how
ever racially insensitive, is also their
“truth”? Personally, I am uncomfort
able applying the word truth random
ly
For instance, 1 see little recogniz
able truth in Hitler’s perspective.
Whether your discussion partner is
speaking truth or not, you still must
listen. You can’t be heard unless you
will also listen.
Robert J. Tobin
graduate student
geology