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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1995)
Grom Wednesday, January 25,1995 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln JeffZeleny.......Editor, 472-1766 Jeff Robb....Managing Editor Matt Woody....Opinion Page Editor DeDra Janssen. ....Associate News Editor Rainbow Rowell.................Arts & Entertainment Editor' James Mehsling...........Cartoonist Chris Hain_......>.... .Senior Reporter Talk is cheap Clinton needs to cash in on his plans A Republican Congress welcomed a Democratic president into its den Tuesday for the first such State of the Union address in 40 years. President Clinton proceeded to offer “a new covenant” for the next two years and sounded a conciliatory tone to reach out to the Republicans who could stand in the way of his progress. Not only did the president addres: issues familiar to himself smaller government, less bureaucracy, campaign and lobbying reform _he hit on many issues that would endear him to Republicans, such as the line-item veto, welfare reform and a middle-class tax cut. In parts, Clinton appeared to make a pitch for the end of gridlock. But Clinton has addressed these issues before in his drive to the presidency and when he had a Democratic Congress. It is time for Bill Clinton to stop re-addressing issues and take action. However, after two years in the White House, Clinton appears ready to tackle some of his major goals. Clinton should push hard for the line-item veto, and if the Repub licans hold up to their contract, he will see that legislation on his desk. Sign that bill. 1 he president called for a lobbying reform bill and campaign reform to bring government and candidates closer to the American public. Stop the talk and push that bill. Make Congress drop that on your desk. Not dll issues were rehashed, though.-The president was able to further tout the paltry achievements of his first two years. Clinton and Vice President A1 Gore earlier pledged to “reinvent” government Tuesday, Clinton wanted to make government leaner, not meaner. The president said his administration had cut 250,000 posi tions from die federal government, trimming itto the smallestsize since Kennedy was president. Keep going. If the president follows his plan, the public may see immediate . results with the “Middle Class Bill of Rights and Responsibilities,” which Clinton said would be supported entirely by spending cuts. Progress has also been seen in the president’s direct college-loan program. This program needs to be extended to every college and university, as Clinton proposed Tuesday. One vital issue not aided by the loan program is the cost of higher education. Direct loans make receiving financial aid easier, sure. How about making a plan so that less students wouldn’t need loans? If you’re streamlining the system, let’s really stmt shaving down and get to the heart of the issue. The president needs to stand hard on other issues, ones sure to be challenged in the coming two years. Don’t let special interests shoot down the ban on assault weapons. Expand AmeriCorps, don’t let a good program fall by the wayside. On deficit reduction, go further. Drop each person’s share of the debt by $20,000, instead of the current $10,000. Sign a decent welfare-reform bill. Clinton proposed to end welfare in its current form within one year. An ambitious goal, yes, but one with a wealth of support. Just don’t let the changes go too far. Don’t put families on the street. Last night, Clinton again showed his ambition, but he has had ambition before (for example, health care reform) and failed. The president has promised to end gridlock, yet it was not completely broken in the first two years, when the Democrats controlled Congress and the White House. Clinton came to Washington with the idea of doing things differ ently. His leadership still can take the Union in the right direction. But perhaps now it’s time to take a step back and do things right, not just differently. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Sjxing 1995. Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editori alsdo notnecessarilyreflectthe views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU BoardofRegents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion ofthe author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to su pervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the e<hto rial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. Letter policy The Daily 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 spaceavailable. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit ma terial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Doily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub lished. Letters should included die author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material totheDaily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. \ OXYooR ; -roR\i SMiARTY It’s all in the (phone) numbers When Steve moved to the Near North Side of Chicago a few months ago, he got a new phone number. He didn't know that it would give him a fast education in the world of TV show biz. Almost immediately after it was installed, the phone rang and the voice said: “Oprah?” “Who?” “Is Oprah there?” “You must have the wrong number.” Then it rang again, and someone said: “I’m calling about the show.” “What show?” “Oprah’s. I got the exact same kind of problem she’s talking about.” “Who?? “Oprah. Is she there? Can I talk to her?” “This is not Oprah’s show. You have the wrong...” “Tell her it’s real important.” “You have the wrong number.” “Huh?” It rang again. And again and again and again. Steve discovered that his new number was only a clumsy finger away from the number people call to volunteer for Oprah’s show. So he joined a select group of people whose phones attract swarms of wrong numbers. I’m one of them. If people call AT&T’s problem number and dial 1-800 first, as instructed, they get AT&T. But for some reason, many people skip the 1-800 prefix. Maybe they mistakenly believe they will save a long-distance charge. Then they get my phone. If they are fortunate, my assistant answers and politely explains their error. I’m less forgiving of dumb dialing, and I usually say that AT&T has been bought by oil-rich Arab sheiks, and only those who em brace Islam will be given phone service. Steve, who runs a consulting business from his home, is more : Mike Royko fortunate because he gets a more interesting mix of phone bumblers. “You would not believe the calls,” he says. “People are so naive and so needy. I’ll tell you, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Most of the time it is 50-50. “Recently she must have had a show about finding lost loves or lost children or lost parents or dogs or somebody that’s lost. I don’t know for sure because I never watch those shows. “But when I got home from an out-of-town trip my answering machine was overflowing with desperate people looking for someone. The calls came from all over — Chicago, Montreal, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey. Everyone looking for someone. “It was miserable listening to it all One woman was looking for a son she placed in a foster home mpre than 30 years ago; one woman looked for a lost love she met in Japan a long time ago. One woman couldn’t speak English and went on and on in a language I couldn’t identify. Then this one woman, I don’t know what she was looking for because all she did was sob for several minutes.” Then why not put a message on your machine telling callers that it isn’t Oprah’s show and if they call again, an electronic worm will slither from the phone into their ear and burrow into their head and eat their brain? That’ll give them something to think about. “Of course I leave a message. Nothing like that, but I say quite clearly: ‘This is not Oprah. This a a private residence. Do not leave a message because Oprah won’t call you back. If you think this is Oprah, you have misdialed.’ “But it doesn’t matter. People don’t listen. I communicate for a living and speak clearly and slowly; What more cart Lsay?'They pay no attention to the message and start talking anyway. “What amazes me is how many people feel that Oprah has super powers and is able to do something for them. Or that they actually think she’s going to call them back. “They all seem to think they have this deep connection to a woman who has no idea they even exist. As I said, sometimes it is funny, and earlier this week the calls were unbelievable. “They must have been looking for guests for a show about kids who want to become singers, because I had all these incredible message form kids who couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 years old. “And they were all singing these great old torch songs. There were all these little kids’ voices on my machine belting out these I’m looking-for-my-man-who-got-away type of songs. “It was like an audition. I could see all of those parents putting their little kids on the line to sing, ‘Set ‘em up, Joe, it’s one for my baby, and one more for the road.’ “The thing is, I never know what kind of show she’ll be planning next and the kind of weird calls I’ll be getting.” So I called Oprah’s correct number and a cheerful recorded voice said: ‘Turn in your debt ridden relatives.” When I passed that along, Steve said: “I’ll probably hear form half the country’s unhappy ex-wives.” You can always get a new phone number. “What, and give up show biz?” (C) 1995 Trlbaae Media Services, lac. The Daily Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you want to voice your opinion about an article that appears in the newspaper, let us know. Just write a V brief letter to the editor and sign it (don’t forget your ‘ student ID number) and mail it to the Daily Nebras kan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, or stop by the office in the basement of the Nebraska Union and visit with us. We’re all ears.