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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1995)
Opinion Wednesday, February 1,1995 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan 5 Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeff Zeleny..;.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 Spare a dime? Skyrocketing newsprint costs hit below belt What can you buy for 97 cents? Not much. Maybe two cans of pop or a pack of gum. The Committee for Fees Allocation—the group that distributes student fee monies — has recommended the Daily Nebraskan receive about 97 cents per student each semester next year. That marks a nine-cent increase from the amount students pay this year. Nationwide, the newspaper industry is facing a crisis as news print costs continue to skyrocket. The cost of paper on which the Daily Nebraskan is printed will increase at least 62 percent over last year, according to Scott Stewart of the Nebraska Printing Center, where the Daily Nebraskan is printed. This increased cost of newsprint has caused the Los Angeles Times to predict it will spend $40 million more in the next year to print its paper, and The New York Times to raise its metropolitan newsstand price by 20 percent. Closer to home, two other Lincoln newspapers have raised their daily newsstand price from 35 to 50 cents. The Daily Nebraskan is free. We don’t have that option. So there are two other alternatives: raise advertising rates, including classi fied ads; and ask for more in student fees. The Daily Nebraskan will have to do both if it continues to publish every day. < «. The University ofNebraska-Lincoln’s student newspaper, which is in its 94th year, already rece ives the lowest amount of student fees of any Big 12 school newspaper, according to a University of Oklahoma survey. Tonight, the Association the Students of the University of Nebraska will vote on whether to grant the Daily Nebraskan increase. UNL students have often criticized their student government for not doing anything and representing only a small part of the student body. This is an opportunity for students to make themselves heard, and to see what their government does. So what does 97 cents a semester buy? Calvin and Hobbes. Life in Hell. Crossword Puzzles. Personals. Greek Affairs. Announcements. Sports. Arts & Entertainment. News. Rainbow Rowell. E. Hughes Shanks. Jamie Karl. Only if you want it to. In one breath It’s a good thing the Big Eightchampion isn’t guaranteed a spot in next year’s Orange Bowl. Because if Nebraska fans traveled to Miami next year, they might run into car trouble on Florida’s Golden Coast. NU fans are sure to be identified by new “Nebraska Comhuskers” license plates, if they are approved by the Legislature. The new license plates, which are under consideration by the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, would cost $50 plus all licensing fees. Specialized license plates foster school spirit. But lawmakers should make sure a portion of the finances go toward a scholarship or benefit fund. The Legislature should approve freshman Omaha Sen. Keimit Brashear’s proposal. 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 notnecessarily reflectthe views of the university, its employees, the studentsortheNUBoaidofRegents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion of the author. The regents publish die 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 edto nal content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. Latter policy The Doily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected forpubli cation on the basis ofclarity, originality, timeliness and spaceavailable. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject ail 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 die newspaper become the property of the 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, 34Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. r “ \ rtE vwcT^ MB Vl& *>111? vour wm.p\ (\rturit\s GoumMH YlP&StftPMOj ^Vjfis 'IHM'S IT SLEEP WWAVlO TPETME AOLPWti WH& AOLEINCj op-the mm mwm bUW' J i Sr—JHr Lying holds perverse charm Two weeks ago in my column I dealt with the delicate topic of truth. The discussion was spawned by the recent execution of Texas inmate, Jesse Jacobs, who had been proven to be innocent before the sentence was carried out. My disquisition revolved around the very concept of truth, its signifi cance in history and its implica tions for today’s society. The open disregard for truth displayed by Texas authorities during the Jacobs case was probably an instinctive pull towards a very fascinating companion of truth — falsehood. Tliis week it would only seem fair to give equal space to a concept whose nature is highly controversial, the curious attrac tiveness exercised on humanity by the perverse charm exuded by lies. In short, we all like to lie, but we don’t know why. Since the dawn of time, truth and falsehood have walked hand in hand, and that isn’t by chance. This week I do not have a representative case from which to digress, regress and take examples, but I will rely upon the absolute certainty bf everyone’s familiarity with the subject. It is common knowledge that lies hold a firmer place in one’s memory than the truth does. We all remember our best-told lies and the reactions to them with pride. Wickedness is definitely more attractive than its opposite, but we seldom see a manifestation of such feelings on the individual level. This sentiment is, however, Simon Uverani magnified^ the mass level and becomes frighteningly apparent. That is why Jeffrey Dahmer had more fan mail than Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and why heavy metal music is more popular than Chris tian rock. Personally, I don’t care for either. It has been so since the day that Eve was lured away from her upright partner towards the treach erous tongue of the dishonest serpent. The original sin is nothing other than a simple lie, and as we all know, humanity would go on polishing that skill to produce politicians and used-car salespeople (not necessarily in that order of importance). Dishonesty, like truth, has had its place in the history spotlight and has not always cast a dark shadow. There have been instances in history when deceit has been held as a value and praised as such. The Trojan Horse, for example, has become synonymous with cunning, not deception; Ulysses was even rewarded by some of the gods. An example a little closer to us, both geographically and historically, is Oliver North’s performance in front of Congress. These lies not only made him a hero in the eyes of a great part of the public opinion, but also encouraged him to run for Senate. Anyone who has ever played a hand of poker knows how impor tant it is to' know how to lie white "1 playing that game. There lies the key to poker’s popularity: it is a competition to see who can deceive better. The bluff in poker is the ultimate finesse and the nirvana of those playing. The lie is elevated to the form of art. Without taking the example of the poker player any further, we can comfortably say that the ability or the will to deceive is as part of the human nature as flesh and bones are part of our anatomy. Is it a reminiscence of our origins in the jungle, where the ability to deceive can be the difference between being alive or being predator lunch? Were we genetically pro grammed to lie, and truth is a distortion of our real nature? . From an ethical point of view, these are disturbing questions because they suggest a predisposi tion to lie, and they upturn the commonly held notion that truth is the aim of every human being. Oscar Wilde has a great line that captures the essence of human nature and sincerity: “A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, but a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” Liverani is a junior advertising major and a Daily Nebraskan col umnist.
