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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1995)
Daily Nebraskan 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 Sea of red Amendment’s defeat ensures more deficits The Unites States Senate voted again on Thursday for fiscal irre sponsibility. A balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, approved by the House of Representatives, died with a 65-35 vote — two votes short of the needed two-thirds majority — in the other legis lative chamber. The vote was sharply divided along party lines: 33 of the “no” votes were cast by Democrats, and one of the two Republican votes was Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole’s, in a maneuver that could bring the measure up for another vote in 1996. “Let ‘em try,” to bring it up again, Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle said defiantly after the vote. Are the Democrats living up to their tax-and-spend reputation in standing against balancing the federal budget? Well, yes they say, if it means balancing the budget at the expense of Social Security. “All this talk about protecting Social Security is a cover for a tax increase,” Dole said. Whatever the reason, it certainly smacks of politics. Since the amendment was a key part of the Contract With America, it could be that the Democrats were looking for their first victory since the election. People have been sick and tired of gridlock for years. Each party has always pointed the finger at the other. But in this case, unfortu nately, it is the Democrats who are keeping anything from happen ing. The Republicans should be applauded for not setting Social Se curity aside in the budget-balancing process. If Social Security is first, then welfare or Medicaid or defense spending can’t be too far behind. If this country and its leaders are dedicated to and serious about balancing the budget, we must look at every line. Balancing the budget will not be an easy task, and that’s why a Constitutional amendment is the only way it will ever occur. Three months after the 1994 election, the Democrats and Repub licans still are fighting, while the deficit keeps growing and grow ing and growing. Quotes of the week “We did a pretty good job on the guy. He just hit shots. It seems like everybody wants to have a career day against Nebraska.” — Nebraska guard Erick Strickland, on Kansas State guard Belvis Noland “For Nebraskans, it means we can begin to transform the complex spider-web welfare system we now have into the simplified safety net it was intended to be.” — Gov. Ben Nelson, on proposed Nebraska welfare reforms “I think now we can put the jokes behind us. DIA does include airplanes.” — Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, on the city’s new Denver International airport, which opened Tuesday after many embarrassing delays Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1995. Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editori al s do notnecessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board ofRegents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion of the 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 edito 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 forpublication on the basis ofclarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains therightto edit orrejectall 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 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. Submit materia] to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. I Send your brief letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588. Or fax to: (402) 472-1761. Letters must be signed and include a phone number for L verification. -: Correction A word was accidentally omitted from a sentence in Denise M. Whitaker’s letter “Racism” (March 2). The letter read, “(L)et’s remem ber that some African Americans are not the participants of the wel fare and affirmative action pro grams.” Itshould have read,“(L)et’s rememberthat some African Ameri cans are not the only participants of the welfare and affirmative action programs.” The Daily Nebraskan regrets the error. Lincoln radio This letter is in response to Jeff Hansen’s comment in “Mysterious countdown puzzles 101.9 listeners” (Feb. 21) that it “would be really cool if they would start playing new music that usually doesn’t get heard on radio stations around here.” Say what? May I direct his (and everyone’s) attention to the university’s own KRNU. A more di versified, alternative-rock radio sta tion does not exist within several hun dred miles of 90.3 FM. I suggest that you tune in to KRNU if you are sick of the so-called “new rock alternative” radio station here in Lincoln. You know the one. Its programmers think Ace of Base, The Cars and The Pretenders are al ternative. Alternative to what? The other day I actually heard “Pop Mu sic” by M, which came out about 16 years ago. Can anything that was re leased in the ’70s really and truly be called new rock alternative? Hmmm? OK, there were the Sex Pistols. And they sure get played in heavy rotation, huh? Uh, sorry, I’m digressing. Where was I? Oh yeah. “We never had a good station for serious alternative music,” says Hansen. “Never” is a pretty strong word. At one time, Lincoln listeners could count on KZUM to regularly come up with some interesting alter native radio sounds. However, if you are waiting for 101.9 (on the “Edge” of what?) to “fill the void,” I’m afraid you’ll be waiting a long, long time. You see, commercial radio’s lifeblood depends on advertising revenue. It has to sell ads and appeal to a broad audience, the lowest common denominator, someone who’d freak if they turned on the radio and heard Swamp Zombies,'Poster Children or the Mommy Heads. KilNU is the only “serious alterna tive” that plays “stuff you wouldn’t hear” on commercial radio. Spin the dial counter-clockwise to 90.3 FM, KRNU, Lincoln’s only REAL alternative-rock radio. K.R. Theesen illustrator College of Dentistry i i ii——— —a ——r Amy Schmidt/DN UNL parking . I would like to applaud ASUN for its stand against the proposed motor cycle parking fee. I would also like to set a couple of things straight with the Parking Advisory Committee. The idea that charging motorcycle riders a parking fee out of fairness is absolutely ridiculous. The spaces pro vided are tiny and poorly maintained; usually they are leftover spots where the lines for auto stalls would not fit. Also, on good-weather days, motor cyclists are just as hard-pressed to find decent parking as anyone else on campus. How does parking services pro pose to monitor these fees? One way it suggested was to place a sticker on the license plate (which is illegal in it self), another was to issue permanent tags to be placed on the motorcycle. I would assume that those tags would have to be highly visible. I hope that parking services doesn’t run out of the minuscule funds it will collect by re placing all of the stolen or lost tags. At 65 mph on the interstate, they sure wouldn’t last long. The parking problems on this cam pus are a huge and volatile issue. Riding motorcycles to campus should be encouraged in every way, shape and form. Maybe next year we will see bi cycle permits required, and after that little meters at students’ desks in the classroom and tickets pasted on their foreheads. Rolin £. Lemon sophomore pre-education Traditional values Lara Duda makes a good point about traditional values (March 2). When financially feasible, many women would love to stay home and raise the children maintaining the household. When couples share the same “traditional” values, this works out great. Even as a professional, I dream of the time when I can provide more for my children than day care offers, main tain a healthy, clean home, devote time to community involvement, pre pare balanced meals and support my partner in his profession. I enjoy making lunches every morn ing. I put a little love into everything I do. Careful, guys—traditional values do not equal control. As soon as I am expected to do something because it’s “my job” as a woman, then I will no longer love doing it. Now there’s a greater probability that I ’ll stop doing it. Polly Ann Najarian graduate student agricultural meteorology