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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1994)
Ohnion Monday, November 7, 1994 Page 4 i ---. —— Nebraskan EdHorial Board University of Nebraska Lincoin 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 -■ I Campaign ‘94 Daily Nebraskan Endorsements Let us vote Amendment motions should be on ballot The Nebraska Supreme Court issued a poor ruling on Friday. In a 4-3 opinion, the court ruled that five proposed constitu tional amendments be taken off the Tuesday ballot. The reason for striking the amendments, the court majority said, was because the amendments were filed one day late. The dissenting judges, however, agreed that the filing deadline was unclear. According to the law, the amendments were to be filed “no less than four months preceding the election.” State Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha filed the explanatory language for the amendments on July 8, which he understood to be the filing deadline. The court majority ruled that the language should have been filed no later than July 7. In a dissenting opinion, Judge John Wright wrote, “A filing on Jan. 1 is not less than a month prior to Feb. 1. A filing on July 8 is not less than four months prior to Nov. 8.” We agree. r The lawyer who filed the suit to remove the proposed amend ments happens to be opposed to one of them — the one that would have made arbitration an alternative to settling disputes in court. It remains a question as to whether the content of the amend ments was considered in the ruling. Even the three dissenting judges said they would have thrown out the proposed amendment on binding arbitration, because they said it was not made clear to voters that the amendment could have infringed on a person’s right to go to court. This, however, is not what the court was to rule on. What was handed down mi Friday was a nonsensical opinion that will only penalize the voters of the state of Nebraska. Don’t restrict us Term limits would limit right to choose Term limits probably would not be a good idea for the state of Nebraska. Initiative 408, a proposal placed on Tuesday’s ballot by citizen petition, would amend the state constitution to establish term limits for many of Nebraska’s elected officials, including U.S. senators and representatives, state legislators and other state officials. Supporters say term limits would make elected officials more accountable and promote fresh approaches to government. Politi cians presumably would dedicate their energy toward their public duties instead of trying to get themselves re-elected. Term limit supporters have good motives. But the arguments against term limits arc too strong. For one thing, Nebraska would be at a disadvantage in Con gress. Power in Congress often is based on seniority, and term limits would prevent Nebraska’s representatives and senators from securing positions on influential committees. Also, term limits would deprive voters of the right to re-elect officials they like. A politician should be allowed to remain in office as long as voters are satisfied with his or her performance. Term limits imply that the electorate can’t be trusted to make smart decisions. The Daily Nebraskan urges you to vote “no” on Initiative 408. • ——^ Staff editorials 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 ofRcgents. 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. : The Dai ly 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 j available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right toedil or reject all material submitted. Readers ! also are welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material I 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. rffUoTA (W Horr^l OK M A 1 (wseosity lumwsd Greater misery triggers glee Vinous polls show that the overwhelming majority of Ameri cans are glum. They dislike the national decline in everybody else’s morality, meddling government, doublespeak politicians, arrogant media, highly paid athletes, sports strikes, and many other annoyances. The question is, why are people so unhappy when times are rela tively good, the economy seems perky, and it seems unlikely that Judge Ito will totally ban TV coverage? To get answers, I arranged for an exclusive interview with Dr. I.M. Kookie, the internationally re nowned expert on lots of stuff. Dr. Kookie has been studying the droopy American spirit at the think tank he founded: Tne Institute to Determine What’s Up. Here are some of his findings: “People are unhappy for one very simple reason. They are not unhappy enough.” but mat aoesn i make sense. How can they be unhappy because they are not unhappy when it is clear that they are, indeed, un happy? “That is a very good question. Actually, it is a stupid question, but I will try to be polite. So I will answer it anyway. OK, when you are real thirsty, what makes you feel better?” Having something to drink. “Right. And when you are real hungry, what makes you feel gooor Obviously, having something to eat. “Vfery good. Now do you under stand?” I’m afraid not. “Misery. We need more misery. Until we get more misery, people will be miserable. Now you got it?” We need more misery to be happy? “Exactly. We got it too good. When was the last time you had to call you brother-in-law to bring over his jumper cables because the cold weather killed your car battery?” It has been so long, I don’t remember. “See? It used to be that when we {’0t a cold snap, every brothcr-in aw to bring over his jumper cables because the cold weather killed your car battery?’ It has been so long, I don’t remember. “See? It used to be that when we got a cold snap, every brother-in 7he question is, why are people so unhappy when times are relatively good, the economy seems perky, and it seems unlikely that Judge Ito will totally ban TV coverage? law was out with his jumper cables. But now they make better cars and batteries that almost always start. SO how can you feel good when your engine starts if you weren’t miserable because it didn’t start in the first place?” So we need dead batteries to be happy? “More than that. In the Great - Depression, what made people miserable?” That’s easy. Being out of work, not having food or a roof over their heads. “Ri^ht. So what made them *ia*Xjob, food on the table, and a warm place to sleep. “You got it. Any kind of job made a person happy. The job didn’t have to fulfill them or be on the fast track, as long as it provided a paycheck. Food was pretty good haute cuisine if it filled the belly. And nobody complained about not having as nice a house as their parents had, because most parents were lucky to have clean linoleum and a toilet that flushed.” So you are saying that in order to appreciate what you have, you have to have been deprived. “It helps. But now we got every kind of machine we need to keep us cool when it’s hot, warm when it’s cold, entertained with movies or sports or games or music when we’re bored. To make our coffee and cook our food real fast. To cut our grass, throw our snow, wash our dishes, clean our clothes, exercise your legs, check your blood pressure, count our calories, and do our arithmetic. Fifty years ago, the world’s richest people didn’t have the luxuries that the average guy — even some low income guys — take for granted today.” But if we have it so good, why are the majority of Americans unhappy? “Because they want more, and there ain’t no more, but people think there is. That’s wny millions of them are running out an buying themselves or their kids computers with a CD-ROM. A few years ago, they would have thought that CD ROM was a mantra: See-Dee Romm-Romm, See-Dee Romm Romm, hey, hey, hey, goodbye. Now they think a CD-ROM will bring them happiness. But it won7t All that will happen is that it will keep popping out and goofy messages will come on the com puter screen saying, ‘Insert Disk,* ‘Remove Disk,’Take Disk and Shove It.* Then they will tell a pollster that life is doo-doo ” SO you seem to be saying that to be happy, you must know some misery first. Only then can you enjoy simple pleasures. “well, I would not put it in such a sappy way, but that’s part of it. See, what we really need is for the government to say that we are going to be hit by a giant meteor ” A giant meteor from outer space? “Right. They should announce that it is going to crash into this planet in 30 days and kill every thing except the cockroaches. And so in a few million years, the cockroaches will evolve into sharpies like us and will be un happy with their CD-ROMs. Yes we need an end-of-the-world meteor alert.” But are we in danger? “Of course not. But if it was announced, it would scare every body out of their wits for a few days and there would be mass hysteria. Then the government could announce that it was a mistake and that we aren’t all going to die after all, and everybody would be relieved and happy to be alive.” Then people would appreciate what they have and be happy? “Maybe. Or they’d be unhappy and would impeach the president. Cither way, it a worth a try.” Thank you. “Don’t worry, be happy.” Copyright 1994 Tribune Media Service*, lac.