Opinion
Thursday, January 26,1995 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'
Get tough
Lowering legal limit not proper solution
Eight convictions, one death and countless court appearances
later, Michael Fogerty was sent to jail again Wednesday for driving
drunk.
This time, the Lincoln man will spend at least 4 1/2 years in
prison.
Fogerty has been in the news for years. His name has become
associated with drunken driving and the problems with such
convictions.
Stiffer sentences could have prevented his arrests from multiply
ing. If tougher laws against habitual criminals were on the state
books, his latest run-in wouldn’t be a second offense.
There has been—and is bound to be more—talk about drunken
driving during this year’s legislative session.
A bill, proposed by Sen. LaVon Crosby of Lincoln, is leading the
stack of proposals to curb drunken driving.
Crosby’s proposal, LB 150, seeks to lower the legal blood
alcohol content level from. 10 to .08. Initially, this proposal sounds
good. Why not do everything we can to eliminate drunk driving,
right?
Next to prohibition, tougher sentences and more convictions are
the only two effective methods to curb drunken driving.
Lowering the legal limit wouldn’t have worked in Fogerty’s
case. We need to turn our attention to getting repeat offenders off
the road and keeping them off.
Clear view
Ito makes right decision about cameras
Let them have their Juice.
This was, in essence, what California Superior Court Judge
Lance Ito ruled Wednesday, concluding that the live television
broadcast of O. J. Simpson’s highly publicized double-murder trial
should continue.
The issue came into question Tuesday when an alternate juror’s
face was broadcast, accidentally was caught by a CourtT V camera.
After that happened, Ito ordered a recess and said he would
consider ending the coverage and return with a ruling the next day.
Facing the prospect that its opening statement might not be
broadcast, defense lawyers argued before Ito that, out of fairness,.
he must let the broadcasts continue in light of the prosecution’s
hours-long opening statement, which characterized Simpson as a
man who killed his wife because she no longer wanted him.
Prosecutors said ending the coverage was fine with them, that the
trial should be aimed through the courtroom at the jury and not
through the media at a TV audience.
But the legal battles already have been taking place for months
in front of the cameras, and this case is very much for the public.
As long as the broadcast doesn’t interfere with Simpson’s right
to a fair trial, they should continue.
Ito recognized that and appropriately weighed in the technical
blunder. He made the correct ruling.
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 1995. Daily
Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board Editori
alsdo notnecessarilyrefiectthe views
of the university, its employees, the
students or the NU BoardofRegents.
Editorial columns represent die opin
ion of die 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 bythe
regents, responsibility for the edto
ri al 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
wilt be selected forpubli cation on the basis ofclarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. 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 die Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned Anonymous submissions will not be pub
lished Letters should included the author’s name,
year in school, major and group affiliation, if any.
Requests to withhold names will not be granted
Submitmaterial to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska
Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
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Daily
Nebraskan
readers say:
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Send your brief letters to:
Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St,
Lincoln, Neb. 68588. Or fax
to: (402) 472-1761. Utters
must be signed and include a
phone number for
verification.
Women’s basketball
I am writing as a duate of
UNL to express my ippointment
in the lack of student support for
the women’s basketball team.
It seems like game in and game
out, there is a very small percentage
of students attending the home
games.
How about showing pride and
support for all athletic teams at
UNL? It would surely help the
team.
I hope to see more of you at the
games.
Donald Cunningham
Lincoln
Paternalism ;
In response to the editorial
entitled “Closed Minds” (Jan. 24), I
wonder if this is a reference to the
mental limitations of the DN
editorial staff? I find it interesting
that you attempt to associate a
poorly written and researched
newspaper article in The Lincoln
Star, and the responses it aroused,
to a conspiracy by the opponents of
multiculturalism.
The Daily Nebraskan used
stereotyping, generalizations and
name-calling to defend
multiculturalism. I thought that
terminating such behavior was a
goal of multiculturalism, not a
tactic. The editorial stated that
“when people hear ‘multicultural’
they immediately get scared. This
comes from ignorance.”
What I will comment on is the
Daily Nebraskan’s paternalistic
attitude — paternalism being
defined as providing for a person’s
needs, without giving them respon
sibility.
Paternalism, when displayed by
a newspaper, is despicable. Accord
ing to author Sissila Bok, the most
dangerous form of deceit is the
desire to advance the public good,
to engage in paternalism for a
perceived benefit to the community
at large. The paternalistic assump
tion of nobility, good breeding and
superiority by those making these
decisions also carries a great
danger; it risks turning to contempt
toward those to which you feel
inferior and incapable of deciding
issues for themselves.
Your paternalistic attitude has
blinded you to your own biases, and
you take away the right of students
to make their own decisions
concerning their curriculum,
culture and beliefs.
Randy Griffin
UNO graduate student
public administration
Critics
Surprisingly enough, the only
article in the Daily Nebraskan that
has motivated me to respond is that
by a parasitic critic who has
knocked The Stone Roses’ latest
release, “Second Coming” (Jan.
24).
Critics make me ill. The whole
notion of putting down the creativ
ity, ingenuity and innovation of
those with the courage to express
themselves is pure cowardice. It is
even worse when it becomes
evident that the reviewer lacks
knowledge of the bands being
attacked and attempts to label
artists outside of their own context.
I suppose we are doomed to
being exposed to critical leeches
that wouldn’t survive without
powerless host organisms, but as
readers, we deserve better than
opinionated drivel by writers who
don’t understand the vibe or the
spirit within the art that they are
criticizing.
Nick Myers
senior
Teachers College
Big Red fans
Congratulations, Comhuskers,
for the great football season and
winning the national champion
ship!!
I have always been very proud to
say I am a Comhusker and defend
our state all the time. Not only are
the players good athletes, but good
students as well. Tom Osborne gets
nothing but praise for his great
program.
My husband and I are full-time
RVers and are both natives of
Trenton, Nebraska. We traveled
through Canada and Alaska last
summer and were in Haines,
Alaska, when Nebraska played
West Virginia.
We couldn’t get any TV recep
tion in the campgrounds, so we
drove* into Haines, parked our
pickup on a hill and watched the
game on our little 5-inch AC/DC
television that we plugged into the
cigarette lighter.
We were so excited to be
watching the game, even though it
was in our pickup. We didn’t leave
until it was over.
When we stop RVing, we plan to
come back to Nebraska to live and,
now and again, come to Lincoln
and watch a game in person.
Joanne and Stan Duckworth
Livingston, Texas
Issue Forum
Every Wednesday, the reader response section of the Daily
Nebraskan will become a forum for one particular issue or
current event. Readers’ submissions should be short, so as
many letters as possible may be printed.
Next week’s topic:
The O.J. Simpson case