OPINION
Friday, November 4, 1994 Page 4
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Uncoln
JeffZeleny.Editor. 472-1766
Kara Morrison..Opinion Page Editor
Angie Brunkow..Managing Editor
Jeffrey Robb.Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell.Columnist/Associate News Editor
Mike Lewis.Copy Desk Chief
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
-1 I
Campaign ‘94
Daily Nebraskan Endorsements
Choices limited
Allen better regent pick than Prokop
Voters from the NU Board of Regents 5th District face an
impossible decision at the polls Tuesday.
Their choices are limited, to say the least. The best candidate
for the position — John KJostcrman of David City — lost by a
narrow margin in the primary, which left incumbent regent Bob
Allen of Hastings and former regent Robert Prokop of Wilber.
Both gentlemen have achieved nearly all of their name recogni
tion through public blunders and during their respective terms have
done nothing for board unity.
Allen, who has been a regent for six years, has consistently
managed to stir up controversy. But to his credit, his support for
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been unwavering.
The Daily Nebraskan has consistently criticized Allen for his
public attacks of UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier's efforts to
bring cultural diversity to the Lincoln campus. We disagree with
Allen's criticism of UNL’s commitment to diversity and equal
opportunity.
But Prokop would be a worse choice for the board. He is out of
touch with the majority of his constituents.
He told the Daily Nebraskan earlier this year his main goal if
elected was to reinstate the UNL Czech language program. Al
though that issue is popular in Prokop's home of Wilber, it's a
done deal. The Czech program is being administered by the UNL
Division of Continuing Studies.
With deep reservation and regret, the Daily Nebraskan endorses
Robert Allen for re-election.
vote Berkshire
Challenger should take 8th district seat
The candidates running for the 8th district scat of the NU Board
of Regents have a number of similarities.
Richard Berkshire and incumbent Rosemary' Skrupa both
practice law in Omaha. And both support a separate engineering
college at UNO.
Berkshire and Skrupa both support NU President Dennis
Smith’s one university concept. Under that philosophy, the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha
and the University of Nebraska at Kearney would be treated as
three equal parts of one university.
Both candidates also claim they can make education better by
streamlining, or cutting, the NU budget.
The Daily Nebraskan favors Berkshire slightly over Skrupa
because he said he was committed to remembering student needs.
Berkshire also told the Daily Nebraskan that if elected, he
would stand back and let the chancellors do their jobs.
We endorse Richard Berkshire for The NU Board of Regents.
Editor's note: In the Daily Nebraskan's endorsements for the
House of Representatives on Tuesday, it was stated that Rep.
Doug Bereuter voted against Goals 2000. Bereuter voted
against an initial version of the education bill but supported the
final version of the bill.
Staff editorial* represent the official policy of the Fall 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
The Daily Nebraskan welcomea briefletters to the editor from all readers and interested others.
Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and spue
available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edi I 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. Let ten 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.
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Bike theft
I’m writing this letter concern
ing the horrible problem with
bicycle thievery on this campus. I
hope that my letter will result in
some action taken to help solve the
problem we are faced with.
Recently, my first mountain bike
was stolen from the bike racks
outside Cather Hall during the
night. I was lucky to have credit
card insurance and was able to get a
new one at no cost. I decided to
invest in a stronger more expensive
lock in hopes it would end my
problem.
So now, instead of these thieves
stealing my entire bike, they steal
every other part of my bike that
isn’t or can't be locked up. I am
furious!
I think that the UNL police and
residence hall authorities are aware
that bike thievery is a huge problem
and it’s a joke that they’re not
doing anything about it. Do they
care? We pay outrageous prices to
live in the (terms in hopes that we
and our possessions will be safe. It
seems that this is not the case
Maybe the UNL police and
residence hall authorities could
work to install extra lights around
the bike racks outside the (terms.
The lighting wouldn’t eliminate the
problem, but it should deter some of
the thieves.
And what about these so-called
campus security guards who wander
around the inside of the dorms at
nijght? Why don’t they take a few
minutes every hour to check on the
bike racks?
Dennis Rogers
junior
engineering
4-H proposal
In the article on the 4-H pro
posal to exclude homosexuals from
the nondiscrimination policy, Ray
Massey says, “There is no informa
tion saying children are not at risk
in a homosexual lifestyle, so it’s a
question of whether we’re wanting
to put our children at risk ”
I would like to ask him how he
thinks his children will be at risk if
homosexuals are allowed to be
employees of the 4-H camp. What
risk is he talking about? Is he
actually scared that if the children
of Gretna come into contact with
homosexuals, they too will become
gay?
Come on I Homosexuality is not
a disease or sickness, a person
cannot catch it. I am surprised that
an assistant professor would be so
Amy Schmidt/DN
uninformed about the facts of
homosexuality.
How could this policy be passed?
Haven’t we been working for a
nation that is nondiscriminatory?
The Midwest is said to be behind
the times, we argue that it is just a
stereotype, but this policy is a
perfect example of how we remain
closed off.
Midwesterners or Nebraskans
can't stay ignorant forever, people
need to wake up and realize
homosexuality happens everywhere.
If you ask me, the only risk that
these children are being exposed to
is the risk of becoming closed
minded and prejudiced just like the
generations before them.
Megan Wise
junior
biology
Guilt
In response to Jamie Kart’s
column last Friday, 1 don’t feel
guilty for what my grandfathers
did I feel guilty lor living in ' ^
prosperity gained generation ago by
the slavery of some people and the
displacement and slavery of others
and passed down through those
generations to me.
I feel guilty that I’ve done little
to redress that wrong that for the
generations now living, people
who, almost by definition, start out
with less and with less opportunity
to make it into more than I did.
I feel guilty for living in that
prosperity without spending more *
time and attention to sharing it.
I’m not talking here about per
sonal inheritance.
I’m talking about the relative
prosperity my race enjoys by
denying the means for achieving
that prosperity to their races.
I’m not talking about my
grandfathers. This is me, and I
resent being belittled for my
“ludicrous” concern for the human-1
ity of historical fact and present
reality and the relationship betweei^
the two. Reality never goes away M
because we deny it.
Mr. Karl might spend more timfl
and attention on history, on
demographics and on plain obser- 1
vation of human realities rather
than popping off with whatever
comes into his mind. He might
recognize his handicap in never
having lived in other places with
other ki nds of people.
Like Reynolds Towns’ letter
(DN, Oct. 28, 1994), I find these
poorly-thought-out, poorly
grounded columns disturbing and
wonder whether the Daily Nebras
kan has given up its mission of
responsible journalism. This is not
it.
Faye Colburn
graduate student
journalism
Endorsements
While reading the DN this week,
I was appalled at the absolute bias
and lack of integrity in the endorse
ments made by the DN editorial
board.
When Bob Kerrey was endorsed,
his time in office qualified him as a
valuable political force. But Doug
Bereuter s time in office was
labeled a career. Kerrey was labeled
a “leading critic of Clinton’s
economic plan,” without mention of
the fact that Kerrey cast the
deciding vote to pass Clinton’s tax
increase. The Dn accuses Stenberg
of politicizing his office, while Bob
Kerrey has used the Senate seat to
boost his failed ’88 presidential run
and to possibly set himself up for
another presidential run.
The purpose of the DN endorse
ments is to help the voters make an
intelligent choice, and when words
like “intolerant” and “extremist''
are used to describe candidates of
one party and words like “vision
ary” and “valuable” arc used to
describe the other, it should be
obvious to intelligent students that
there is an agenda at work here
Hopefully, the student body of
UNL will reject this agenda and
vote Tuesday for the candidates
they think arc best for the job and
not the candidates force-fed on
them by the DN editorial staff*.
Chad Pekron
sophomore
business administration