Daily
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
CkrisHain....... —.Senior Reporter
Higher power
McElroy’s future lies in judges’ hands
The biggest mass murder in Nebraska history was averted on
Oct. 12, 1992. It would have been more tragic than Starkweather’s
rampage across Nebraska. There would have been more deaths than
Simants’ killings in western Nebraska.
The tragedy, the terror, the nightmare would have happened right
here at the University of Nebraska. Shortly after noon on that warm
Monday, a higher power stepped in when Arthur McEJroy attempted
to kill about 20 classmates.
This higher power didn’t let the fully locked and loaded Inland
.30-caliber M-l carbine semiautomatic rifle fire. The weapon
jammed — and 20 lives were saved.
A judicial higher power finally decided the case on Friday. In
District Judge Bernard McGinn’s opinion, McElroy was insane on
that October day, and is not guilty of attempting murder of those
students.
McElroy’s road through the judicial system has been long. This
case has not attracted a significant amount of media attention or
public outcry. It will not be remembered as a celebrated case with a
winning prosecution or defense.
This case doesn’t have a winner.
Even though McElroy was ruled competent to stand trial, three
doctors are convinced he was unsure of what he was doing that day
in 1992 when he walked into the Ferguson Hall classroom.
The doctors said McElroy suffered from a type of paranoia and
he didn’t understand that what he was doing was wrong.
Many of the student-victims in this case now are living across
the country. But they certainly remember that day when disaster
was averted by a higher power.
During a hearing on May 4, McGinn will begin to decide if
McElroy is dangerous to himself or others. Just because the case
has not attracted much attention, Judge McGinn and future judges
who hear the case cannot forget McElroy’s actions on Oct. 12,1992.
-This will be the judge’s time to cxerciseTiis higher power.
Bum deal
Baseball needs permanent agreement
Let the games begin.
The 1995 major-league baseball season — and it now can truly
be called that — is back from the dead.
The 28 team owners did not lock out the players, and so the sea
son will start.
Replacement players find themselves with nothing but shattered
dreams and a one-way ticket home.
And what do baseball fans find themselves with? Proof that God
exists? A purpose in life? A renewed feeling of hope?
Wrong.
There was no deal.
The rules were set back to the way they were last season, for
now. So they’ll play the 1995 season and try to reach some common
ground in that time.
But both sides already have had plenty of time to do that, and
they haven’t
A real agreement needs to be worked out before games start be
ing played.
If that doesn’t happen, fans will be worked up at the end of the
season when they suddenly realize the tease is over.
Edttortal policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 1995. Daily
Nebraskan. Rdicy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Edhori
als do notnecessarilyreflectthe views
of the univeoity, its employees, the
students or the NUBoardofRegentr.
Editorial columns rcpreseatthe 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 edho
rui content of the newspaper lies
solely in the hands of its students.
The Drily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the
editor from all reader* and interested others. Letters
will be selected fbrpublicalion on the bnsis of clarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily
Nebraskan retains the right to edit or rgect all material
submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit ma
terial as guest opinions. The editor derides whether
material should run as a geest opinion. Letters and
guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the
property of die Drily 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.
SuhmitnnUerial to the Drily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska
Union, 1400 RSL, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
V
:
VJHAT?
Endless love is a magir mix
The other day I was at The Mill
and was browsing through a
magazine. As my eyes skimmed
over the pages of the magazine, one
picture caught my attention and
stilled my eyes. It was an awesome
picture of the Taj Mahal!
The Taj Mahal is one of the most
beautiful and elegant structures on
Earth, built completely of white
marble. Considered to be one of the
seven wonders of the world, it was
built by Shah Jahan as an expression
of his undying love for his wife
Mumtaz. It would not be an under
statement to say that the Taj Mahal
is considered fay many to be the
ultimate symbol of everlasting love.
Coming from the land of the Taj
Mahal, I have always been fasci
nated by the concept of everlasting
love.
Everlasting love. The emotional
equivalent of the spiritual nirvana.
For some this is the embodiment
and the purpose of life, and for
some others it is the elusive, ever
out-of-reach enigma that is not quite
real.
As humans, we have always
been obsessed with the topic of
romance. The worldwide fame and
fascination with the age-old stories
of Romeo and Juliet, Layla and
Majnu, etc., are standing testimo
nies of our preoccupation with this
powerful phenomenon. But then
romance does not equal everlast
inglove.
These are tragic stories where the
lovers die for their love (or is it
because of their love?) and we can
only guess, were they not denied
their lives, whether they would have
“lived happily ever after” and
reached a ripe old age.
Even though Cinderella, Aladdin
and Snow White are supposed to
have lived happily ever after, I
husband’s overbearingjealousy.
What was different about this story
was that the husband stated that he
loved his wife and the wife was
suffering from a terminal illness.
No, this is not about euthanasia,
either. To me the story is about love.
It was a special and awe-inspiring
story of a 94-year-old man who
killed his wife of 64 years and then
attempted to kill himself because
she was suffering from a terminal
illness. To add to their misery, this
inseparable pair were forced to live
in different nursing homes because
of their health conditions.
Since they had resolved to be
together ‘til death did them part,
they could not bear to be apart. And
so they decided to take their own
lives.
Forget Romeo and Juliet and
Cinderella; to me this is a story of
everlasting love. These are the
unsung heroes of everlasting love,
and they are probably our neighbors,
grandparents or friends. These are
die people who live out a great
romance and turn it into an everlast
ing love.
In its own way, the story had
answered my question of what
makes a romance an everlasting
love. It is the combination of
romance with commitment, tenacity,
patience and love that makes the
magic potion. It all suddenly
dawned on me.
I wonder if the seat that I was
sitting (Hi was made of the bodhi
tree, under which Buddha attained
enlightenment. I also wonder if all
this newfound enlightenment would
help me with my take-home test.
Maybe not.
Ramattagam b a graduate itadeat ta
compiler sdeice aid a Dally Nebraska!
colimalst
Vennila Ramalingam
cannot but wonder if Cinderella had
snored, would her prince still love
her the same? What would the
sequels to these stories be like?
What if you kiss your prince and he
turns back into a frog? How many of
our romances have the commitment
and tenacity to last the tests and
trials of time?
As my thoughts ran in this
direction, I was puzzled at what
makes a great romance an everlast
ing love. Is it the commitment of
characters like Andy Garcia’s in
“When a Man Loves a Woman?” Or
is it the tenacity of Meg Ryan’s
character?
As I was pondering over this
issue, my take-home exam lay
neglected beneath piles of news
magazines and newspapers (first
things first) and a headline caught
my attention. “Man stabs wife to
death”—it was enough to bring my
romantic exploration to a screeching
halt.
This headline would probably not
shake people up, as they live in the
O.J. era of domestic violence, ns
people become inured to it and
eventually apathetic. But what
would catch your attention was the
husband—the killer—got 5 years
probation as his sentence. Atro
cious. And I read on.
The story turned out to be quite
different. This was neither about
domestic violence nor about a