Opinion
Wednesday, March 29,1995
Page 4
T'V
Nebraskan
Edtorial 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
Michael’s magic
Jordan bringing glory back to sports
Today’s world of sports is a mess.
O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, allegations of drug use by Reggie
Lewis, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, and constant bicker
ing among Major League baseball’s owners andplayers have filled the
sports pages and nightly news for months.
The once-glorious fantasy world of sports has been transformed
before our eyes into nothing more than apowerstruggle formoney and
control. Visions of Sunday afternoons in April at the ballpark have
been replaced by ugly courtroom scenes pitting powerful lawyers and
greedy athletes.
The world of sports needed to be rescued. The youth of this country
needed a role model, someone to fill the shoes left vacant the last few
years. We needed Michael Jordan.
Not the Michael Jordan of baseball. We needed the Jordan this
nation had come to know before corruption and constant nagging
forced him to leave the game he loved. Now, Jordan is back and it
seems like he hardly missed a beat
Jordan is showing the same heart, the same desire and the same
ability he showed the first time around.
You want a role model? Well, you’ve got one now.
Jordan epitomizes everything sports are about. When Jordan is on
the court performing his magic and dazzling the fans, nobody is
thinking about the testimony of‘Kato” Kaelin or Donald Fehr. Jordan,
more so than any other athlete of our generation, can captivate
thousands of people by simply walking out in front of a crowd.
Let’s not take him for granted again.
Another view
The Democrats lost control of Congress in part because they came
to be viewed as the creatures of special interests, bought and paid for
by well-heeled lobbyists and incapable ofacting in the public interest.
Now, it seems, the Republicans who took the reins are tiying to
make the lobbyists the creatures of die conservatives now in power.
One Republican freshman, Rep. Mark E. Souter of Indiana,
declined to meet with the lobbyists for the Indiana Farm Bureau until
it agreed to hire some of Souter’s cronies.
“They need to get the message in the PAC community that they need
to hire staff people that represent die members’ wishes and want to
keep us in power.”
News reports say other Republicans on the Hill share Souter’s
sentiments and are putting die arm on lobbyists to retire their campaign
debts. Those who don’t come through are shunned from negotiations
over legislation.
This symbolic relationship between politicians and lobbyists is as
American as apple pie or “you scratch my back...”
But the Republicans who campaigned against Washington’s “in
side the Beltway” mentality are showing that “inside the Beltway” can
be a contagious state of mind.
r
— Houston Chronicle
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One of the worst things that can
happen to a woman is to be a
victim of rape. This ranks as one of
the highest crimes along with
murder, and in some cases it can be
considered more tragic. It makes
me sick to my stomach to read
about men who have committed
rape, are put in prison, then do it
again once they are let out.
E. Hughes Shanks made a valid
point in his column “Men can't
know fear of rape” (March 13) in
saying that males are not as
worried about being raped as
females are. This is true, but men
can see some of the pain a woman
goes through after she is a victim
of this terrible crime.
I have several friends who were
raped, and the aftermath can be
very dramatic. A woman is not
raped for a few minutes or a few
hours, she is usually devastated by
this incident for the rest of her life.
Mightmares, flashbacks and
sometimes even certain sites or
smells can take her back to the
horrible memory. In other words,
man has the power to do something
in a few minutes that can murder
part of a woman’s soul and spirit
for the rest of her life.
Men cannot fully understand the
fear of being raped, but we need to
keep trying to, so that we can help
those that have been victimized and
hopefully end this evil crime.
This article is intended for all
males, especially those who think
they have no reason to worry about
this subject, because one out of
every six women in the United
States will be raped, and if you are
close to at least six women in your
life, chances are high that one of
them will be raped.
Who knows? It could be your
best friend, your girlfriend, or even
your sister. That is why we all need
to pull together, no matter what
gender, and fight back.
Scott Fisher
senior
agribusiness
Bret Gott schai I/D f'
Jamie Karl
I am writing in response to
Jamie Karl’s article entitled
“Students need more character”
(March 16). I can’t believe Karl
would base his judgments of
Lincoln High on a Seventeen
magazine. How gullibe and naive i
Karl?
He of all people should under
stand how the media works. They
show you what they want you to
see and hear. Seventeen magazine
didn’t come to Lincoln High to do
a profile or a biography on this
wonderful school. They came here
for one purpose and one purpose
only: to do a fashion layout.
Seventeen magazine is a fashion
magazine. I doubt that it even caret
if the true Lincoln High was
shown. What I really don’t under
stand is how Karl could call it “the
periodical of pimples and periods”
and yet have so much faith and
trust in it to label Lincoln High
“Subculture Central.”
Karl has demonstrated how
lookism is an increasing problem ir
our society. Just because someone
chooses to dress all in black with
chains and such, you think they’re
lower than you? Just because some
girls fed they don’t want to shave
their legs, you think they’re lower
than you? America has got to be
the only place on the face of the
Earth that expects its women to
shave themselves and men can be
as hairy as they want to be. Looks
are deceiving so don’t judge a book
by its cover.
Hien Nguyen
senior
Lincoln High School
Internet law
The Communications Decency
j Act of 1995 secures the assumption
| that the United States government
| will not rest until it has squirmed
I its greasy tentacles into every facet
i of die american citizen’s life.
1 The government couldn’t let us
have one truly free medium to
operate in. The Internet is not a
commodity to be bought, sold or
regulated. The Internet has the
potential to span the entire Earth
and bring us a step closer to
understanding and peace. And this
scares the U.S. government out of
its starched pants.
5 The Communications Decency
is merely a stepping stone to more
restrictive legislation. The Commu
nications Decency Act is a “trial
law” to monitor what, if any,
opposition the public will mount
against censorship of the Internet.
Expect more legislation to
follow the Communications
Decency Act of 1995. Very simply,
our government fears the vast
. amount of information the Internet
1 puts into the hands of the citizens.
For with information comes
knowledge, and with knowledge
the American people may finally
realize what a monster our govern
ment has become.
How many laws? How many
laws are enough before the people
take a stand and demand their
rights back?
Scott A. Knutson
sophomore
English
