V \l I KOI Sll K Paul’s potpourri of ponderings My writing career at the Daily Nebraskan will soon end. There is so much to write about, it’s difficult to decide on a topic. I considered writing about that young man in Singapore who chose to spray-paint cars and is going to get the whippin’ of his life, and how if he was smart he would have come over here and done it, for in the United States one can simply buy a “good” lawyer and get off scot-free. How embarrass ing it is that an American citizen went into another country and vandalized its property, and more so that our nation has the nerve to request he receive special treatment. He chose to break their laws, knowing the conse quences. vjoou thing wc Americans are so humane. We’re so compassionate, we simply cage people up like animals. I could write about that woman who was struck by a Domino’s Pizza truck that ran a red light. She spent a few hours in the hospital for minimal injuries and sued the company for $78 million. .$78 million! They should have given her a couple grand and given the rest to the sick and homeless or to the environmental movement, or they should have used the money to form a new support group for people who have been so deeply traumatized by minor accidents. Speakingofjuslice, how about that Barney/Bjorklund trial? Typical case of the inconsistencies and injustice of the death penalty, 1 say. One man gets off because he turns in his accomplice fi rs t, wh i le t he other man acts as scape goat. We’re sure quick to hang in this country and slow to change the under lying causes of violence. Another good topic would be Judge Endacott and his intimacy with the jury. 1 believe Bjorklund received a fair trial, but what’s the judge doing praying with the jury? And why is he hugging them? And what’s this about Typical case of the inconsistencies and injustice of the death penalty, I say. One man gets off because he turns in his accomplice first, while the other man acts as scapegoat. the jury giving him a chocolate pie after the trial? Sounds a little fishy, if not a little above and beyond the call of duty. Yum, yum, this talk about pi/./a and pie is making me hungry. Speaking of food, I could write about the commercialization of our football team. This came to mind to day when I heard the new Runza advertisement featuring that hero Trev Alberts. How about that huge salary Tom Osborne receives while his uni versity falls apart? How about those poor seats students continue to pay too much for? If I were Association of Students of the University of Nebras ka president, fdcall for a boycott and make a national scene — picketing, protesting, the works. They’d catch on. Don’t worry, though; Loudon is gonna tell ‘cm to quit that, and with the vast authority the regents have given him, things will change. Sure, he gets no vote, but they’ve been so kind to let him represent 24,000 stu dents by coming to their meetings. Those nice regents. Where was the university band during the Orange Bowl? I guess Hol lywood stars are more exciting, be cause our band received minuscule TV coverage at halftime. To further commercialize football, the universi ty is going to install multimillion dollar video screens to be paid for partially by advertisers. Now football games can be as good as TV. with commercials and all. Cool! I could write about Clinton’s health care plan, and how it continues tc assure that billions of dollars will be channeled through the health-care leeches, the insurance companies. I say we bypass these parasites, remove the loopholes from the rich in the upper tax brackets and use that money to pay the doctors directly for health care. Also, there is no need to help the wealthy with their health care—only those in need. In Clinton’s program, employers will be required to insure all employees. Layoffs will result from his plan, but not in the insurance company offices. 1 could write about the new world wide trade agreement, and how it will result in rampant environmental de struction worldwide, as powerful cor porate interests go into Third World nations and freely exploit their re sources more than they already are. The rich nations will prosper at the expense of the less developed. At last, the final frontierofthc corporate world is here. Another option was to write about the abuse of our national forests by elite logging, mining and ranching interests, and how the government is losing money subsidizing these nonsustainablc practices. 1 even considered writing about those sophisticated fraternity party shirts. Can those guys party or what? Then again, 1 could just write about a little of everything. Rooster is a senior soil science major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. P\l I \ L.\\'I(«NK Lincoln’s meat not just steaks More than nine months ago, 1 arrived in the capital city with a zillion boxes, sham poo, enough computer equipment to launch a small jet and a prayer. I also came with some skepticism that I wouldn’t be able to find any thing in Lincoln. It wasn’t thejigsaw puzzle of one-way streets and con struction barriers; it was my lack of hope for this pseudo-city. I wasn’t a Lincolnite. I thought, and I’d never be one. Like any peon freshman, I missed home. It was more than my best friend, my dog, my mom and my own shower. It was the big “O” fading off into the distance as I traveled down Interstate SO to a foreign land. Living on the outskirts ol Omaha for more than 1S years, I grew fond of this metropolitan oasis on the prairie and came to realize we did more than “make meal.” There was more between Denver and Chicago than a few hundred rest areas and Stuckey’s. There was Oma ha. Lincoln was just another tourist attraction, like Chimney Rock or Carhcngc. I always thought of Lincoln as a large suburb, kind of a scale model of Omaha, full of senators, college stu dents, grandparents and psychotically obsessed Huskcr fans. In the big petri dish of Nebraska, Lincoln was a little germ, and Omaha was a full-blown virus. Nine months later, the cold war is over, and my perception of Lincoln has warmed up. The people aren’t a bunch of clones, and it’s not the cul tural black hole of the Midwest. Omaha, of course, is a much larger city than Lincoln, and things, on the whole, arc just built on a grander scale, with the exception of the Uni versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln and ath letic egos. Omaha has larger museums, mov ie theaters, parking lots and rats. The Haymarket is a Barbie-esque version of the Old Market, and the Folsom Children’s Zoo is a fishbowl com pared to the ocean of the Henry Doorly I always thought of Lincoln as a large suburb, kind of a scale model of Omaha, full of senators, college students, grandparents and psychotically obsessed Husker fans. Zoo. Omaha has four large shopping malls that make Gateway look like a glorified 7-Eleven. Lincoln Munici pal Airport is a fly strip compared to Epplcy Airfield. Omaha’s corporate base is larger, and it is more densely and permanent ly populated with larger families. There’s a good reason for this, howev er. Lincoln’s population takes a se vere beating. It’s the most nomadic area on the map. On a given fall Saturday, the population of Memorial Stadium becomes the third largest “city” in Nebraska. But, after a few beers and bad calls, everyone goes home. Throngs of college students come down in the fall, and senators mosey in when the Legislature is in session. But this cozy small-town atmo sphere is kind of good. Lincoln has less crime, I think, because people aren’t here long enough to hate each other. Lincoln’s streets, unlike Oma ha’s, aren’t continually polluted with barricades, cones and road kill. Lincoln, being farther south, is considerably warmer than Omaha at significant times of the year like, oh, let’s say the middle of January. It’s not like traveling from Siberia to Ecua dor, but it’s a significant improve ment. One of my biggest fears about leav ing Omaha had to do with the culture clash. I thought the most exciting events in Lincoln would be a docu mentary film festival on prairie dirt (sorry, soil) and a John Denver lip sync contest. In the past nine months. I’ve met some of the biggest names in jazz. rock and classical music. Famous bal let companies and artists have wan dered through here. Prominent actors and actresses, instructors and other entertainers have all stopped in Lin coln. And, each one talked about how much they underestimated the cultur al base of this city and how surprised they were when they came. Touring artists aren’t the only ones responsible. Local artists and enter tainers — from bar bands to faculty photographers — have made Lincoln an internationally renowned place to perform, teach and learn to create. Every individual and organization assoc iated with UNL’sCollege of Fine and Performing Arts, the Wagon Train Project, the Lincoln Association for Traditional Arts, the Home Concert Association, the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, downtown bars and other Lincoln groups are responsible for fostering local talent and bringing in new talent to the capital city. Withall thispraise, I don’t mean to sell Omaha short by making it sound like some two-bit traveling fleacircus. Omaha has a strong cultural base, and I’ve known that for a long time, but it does have competition down south. Omaha and Lincoln have their strong and weak points, and together they generate a strong image for Ne braska. Maybe I’d even find some hidden notoriety in ScottsbluPf or Ogallala if I looked beyond the corn stalks. Although it’s not New York, Lon don or Paris, Lincoln does have a stake, not just steaks, of which it can be proud. I.avigne is a freshman news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. NING INTERNATIONAL “The Make Your Own Jewelry Store” 1 0% OFF Purchase with this Ad Fantastic Inventory of Beads • Supplies • Classes 438-2828 1637 P Streef Suite B _Next to Pickle; "...Willv. s('\v, pl«i\till. A \(‘l\('l voice l)i<> enough lo till