Opinion
Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Haiti.Editor, 472-1766
Rainbow Rowell. .Managing Editor
Mark Baldridge.Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen..Associate News Editor
Doug Kouma.Arts & Entertainment Editor
JeffZeleny.... Senior Reporter
Matt Woody.. Senior Reporter
James Mehsling..Cartoonist
Censorship?
Channel 14 could get the illegal axe
The fate of Public Access Channel 14 will be decided today in a
Lincoln City Council meeting.
According to the proponents of its dissolution, the issues are com
plicated and various.
Mayor Mike Johanns said cable consumers shouldn’t have to
pay for a public forum that they don’t like, don’t watch and don’t
use.
Cablevision chimed in with what amounted to a threat:
According to Rick Kiolbasa, director of public relations, basic cable
wm"nmd —TPraiws subscribers mav lose CNN if
114 is not sacrificed to accom
modate the arrival of Lincoln’s
new ABC affiliate.
But our country has a long
I and proud tradition of support
ing public forums at public ex
pense.
And at an estimated total
* share to each cable subscriber
* of about $ 1.33 a year to Chan
Jj net 14, we could hardly hope
, for a better deal.
Also, Mayor Johanns has
I admitted that moving £NN off
r the basic cable tier would cause
| enormous public outcry.
1 Such a decision on the part
■ ot Cablevision would be bad
business. It represents an extremely unlikely move — unless the
company feels it has a convenient scapegoat in the form of Channel
14.
So the stated reasons for removing the station cannot possibly be
the real ones.
Then what’s it all really about? Why the smokescreen and idle
threats?
The real reason behind all the so-called “reasons” is painfully
obvious: The Closet Comedian.
Aka Scott Harrold, the Closet Comedian hosts the “Cosmic Com
edy Show” on Public Access.
He shows, among other things, clips from “adult” movies.
And this is perfectly legal. A public forum, as such, represents a
format for the kind of no-holds-barred discussion that keeps America
resilient and strong.
And therein lies the problem, in the minds of our would-be cul
tural watchdogs.
If just anyone can get into a public forum and say or show just
anything they like — well, that’s got to stop.
According to those who would pronounce upon the public mor
als, this show — and any other it might inspire — is unacceptable.
But much more indecent than naked human bodies — what is
really unacceptable here is censorship.
This is still America isn’t it?
The mayor and the cable company are bound to make excuses
for what they really want to do for a simple reason:
Dissolving a public forum because they dislike the things said
there would constitute an illegal act.
What is about to happen, what may already have been decided
here, is infringement of the freedom of speech in a declared public
forum.
Such actions are un-American, immoral and obscene.
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Fall 1995 Daily Nebras
kan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras
kan Editorial Board. Editorials do not
necessarily reflect the views of die
university, its employees, die students
ortheNU Beard of Regents. Editorial
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Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
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ing to policy set by the regents, respon
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im.
__—_ ______
.
Smart cyber
shopping
I’ve got some comments for Matt
Woody about his Cyberscape
column (“The Web’s taking off; get
aboard,” Sept. 21).
Near the end of his article, after
discussing rates for both Internet
Nebraska and Navix, Woody goes
on to emphasize what a great deal
Navix is for students.
What he fails to mention is that
Internet Nebraska has similar
accounts with more hours of free
usage for a lower fee. I’ve had an
account with Internet Nebraska
since they first offered access last
year.
I’ve been very pleased with the
service they’ve provided and the
rates they’ve charged, and com
parisons that I’ve seen have 4
consistently placed their prices
below those of Navix. A
For comparison: IN’s “net- I
work” account, which is targeted 1
at students and is comparable to {
Navix’s UNL account, costs just
$39 for four months and includes^**
$48 worth of free usage per
month (40-80 hours, depending Npf
on the time of day). ^
Additional usage is just 1 to 2 W*
cents per minute. |r
If Woody is going to be
providing unsolicited advertisings^
for one of Lincoln’s Internet &
service providers, he should at HR
least give equal time to what
many people consider the better
of the two.
Ben Hollingsworth
Grad Student
Computer science
via e-mail
Huh, huh, he said
“hols”
I read some of Steve Willey’s
column the other day (“Offending
others a guarantee,” Sept. 21).
I thought this article was great.
This country is way too full of
people who do nothing but bitch
about everything.
Sometimes I wonder if they just
do not have anything bettor to do or
what—such as politically correct
(expletive deleted), who cares?
Why do people complain about a
“manhole” that it should be
“personhole?” I mean deal with it,
accept it and move on.
I thought the article overall
rocked and was really funny. Give
my congrats to the writer and keep
up the good work!
Tony Arlt
Freshman
Undeclared
via e-mail
Omaha Engineering
Generally, I curse the administra
„ tors ana
I regents of
this
university,
but I
commend
i them on
» their
& stand
against
engineering college at Omaha.
Mayor Hal Daub and business
leaders claim that the city has lost
business opportunities due to the
fact that the city has no accredited
engineering college.
I seriously doubt that the 45
minutes that separate Lincoln and
Omaha would destroy the effective
ness of any function a company
would require from a university.
The problems that Mayor Daub
and the business leaders of Omaha
have stem more from their contempt
of the rest of the state than from the
actual need of an engineering
college.
As a resident of Nebraska for
almost 20 years, I have noticed that
the city of Omaha feels that it is
better than the rest of the state, and
does not want to deal with them;
whether it be in the state legislature,
or in this case, with its little college
UNO.
In this age of cost cutting within
the government, educational
institutes must be efficient if they
are to provide a high quality of
education.
Building a new engineering
college next door to an existing one
is by no means efficient.
The focus should be on improv
ing our existing facilities so that we
can compete with other institutions
across the country with more up-to
date equipment and computer
resources.
The reason many high-tech
companies opt not to build plants
in Omaha does not lie in the fact
that there is no accredited engi
neering college within 10 minutes
of downtown Omaha, but rather
the fact that there is no high
quality engineering college within
2 hours.
Let’s use a little common sense
before pouring millions of dollars
into the wrong place.
Gene Paulsen
Graduate Student
Mechanical Engineering
> In the Sept. 20 issue of the “Daily
^ Nebraskan,” Jamie Karl has a
\ column entitled “Farmer’s plight
needs thanks.”
Although I cheered Mr. Karl’s
effort, a few minor corrections must
be made.
Throughout the article, Mr. Karl
continually refers to the farmer as
“he.”
I am not lobbying for “politically
correct” speech for its sake alone,
but for validation for the countless
women farmers who have been
ignored throughout history or
relegated to the role of “farm wife.”
On the vast majority of family
farms, the man and woman are
equally involved in the running of
the farm. Sometimes the duties may
differ, but there are countless
women who run combines or drive
truck alongside their male counter
parts.
Most family farms are run by
“the farmer we” not “the farmer he.”
Emily A. Carbon
Graduate Student
English