Opinion
Tuesday, October 3, 1995 Page 4 t
Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Hain.Editor, 472-1766
Rainbow Rowell.Managing Editor
Mark Baldridge.,.Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen.Associate News Editor
Doug Kouma.Arts & Entertainment Editor
JeJfZeleny.Senior Reporter
Matt Woody.>..Senior Reporter
James Mehsling.!..Cartoonist
Slipping by
Whaddya do when the truth hurts?
In the movies, a peel is slippery.
You know, like when the characters don’t see the banana
skin lying just where a foot is about to
fall... You snicker. It’s an old joke,
k In the O.J. Simpson trial, it’s the po
lk tential appeal that’s slippery: well
|S| greased by scrupulous, lawyers.
1 he appeals process tor
O.J. has been slickered by legal
eagles intent on winning, not
\ this little battle, but the war.
Put yourselves in their
shoes: The evidence against
your client is overwhelming.
Men have been hanged or— in
our little 50th of the country —
sent to the electric chair under
less incriminating circum
stances.
So whaddya gonna do?
The judge won’t play
footsie. He consistently bars
your consistently inadmissible
evidence from the court room.
You’re gonna lose, is
what. It’s a done deal.
a So you oil the way for your
James Mehsling/DN appeals process.
Ito says no Fuhrman tapes will be played to this jury. They don’t
have any bearing on the case.
ao you piay mem ior me country
— for the world. Knowing all the
time that the jury you gotta sell is
not those 12 hapless
bookpeddlers you got stashed
away in L.A. — but the larger
jury of public opinion.
When the time for appeals
come around you won’t have to
get your second-hand circum
stantial evidence of crackpot
conspiracy theories across a prin
cipled judge’s bench.
If O.J. is found guilty, it will have al
ready been slipped under the door of
CNN.
It could be argued that no sensible
jury shown the real evidence could
possibly acquit your client.
It’s the perfect set up.
It’s smart.
It’s how you could get away
with murder.
Editorial policy
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 the
university, its employees, the students
or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial
columns represent the opinion of the
author. The regents publish the Daily
Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications Board to supervise the
daily production of die paper. Accord
ing to policy set by the regents, respon
, sibility for the editorial content of the
newspaper lies solely in the hands of its
students.
Latter policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the
editor from all readers and interested others. Letters
will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily
Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material
submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit mate
rial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether
material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and
guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the
property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub
lished. Letters should include the author’s name, year *
in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Re
quests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit
material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union,
1400 R St. Lincoln, Neb. 685884)448.
SOlF&SW'toODIb
Ssoccesfiiax cmTct,' -N
W&WKTOWr fey-f
DN Online
Congratulations to the Daily
Nebraskan for its on-line offerings.
It’s obvious the staff has listened
and learned well about newspapers
on the net.
You’re now providing a great
service to “Nebraskans Removed”
while continuing to show that
Nebraska is synonymous with
worldclass journalism.
George Tuck
Professor
College of Journalism and Mass
Communications
via e-mail
Kabooms
A recent article (“On the rocks,”
Sept. 29) concerned Kabooms and
what a “problem” it was for the
downtown area.
1 felt a rebuttal was necessary.
Despite the opinion of some of
the hierarchy of the Lincoln Police
Department and possibly some of
the public, Kabooms is not a
cesspool of sin and debauchery.
It was said in the article that
Kabooms had made police calls 256
times since September 1995. This is
very true. But I recently paid a visit
»to the police station to see exactly
what those calls were. Probably 20
percent were of a necessary nature.
The rest were minor attempts, which
means we received a fake ID — as
we do more than any other Lincoln
bar.
There were several trespassing
calls, which means that someone
wouldn’t leave when asked to. And
the rest were simply general
assistance calls that we didn’t have
to make, but felt it necessary to
inform police of what was going on.
Not every call from a bar means
there is some nut with a gun
randomly picking otTpeople waiting
for a drink.
One officer told me that anyone
who makes as many calls as we do
must be on their toes.
What people don’t realize is that
if you call the police you’re at risk
of receiving a tavern violation —
but if yoy don’t call the police
you’re at risk of the very same thing.
It’s a Catch 22 situation. How
ever, you’re much better off calling
the police,^ we do.
Kabooms has had only four
tavern violations in the last year and
about seven since we’ve been open.
Pat Doering
Kabooms Manager
Unsung victims
I came across an article (“Pro
testers stand up for victims,” Oct. 2)
about the protest held by NOW and
the University of Nebraska’s
Women’s Center before the football
game Saturday.
Although the intent behind the
protest is valid, I believe that by this
type of action the public is lead to
believe that because these men play
football they are more inclined to
commit acts of violence toward
women.
This is a dangerous stereotype, as
is any unfairly judging a group as a
whole and failing to recognize the
countless other attacks on women
throughout the city that do not reach
the headlines.
If these individuals wish to
—..■<-———i 'I I
James Mehsling/DN
protest this type of violence, might I
suggest including all women who
have been a victim of violence and
not just the ones who happen to
make the papers.
Doug Alexander
Senior
Criminal Justice
Babble capital
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I
read “English needed to Unite
States” (Sept. 27).
In Mr. Karl’s desire for a a
completely homogenous nation, he
must have forgotten that there would
be no United States if our ancestors
hadn’t come here from all the
countries of the world.
Cultural differences of dress,
food and, yes, language that the
people of the world bring to the
United States make our country rich
in all respects.
We are the most diverse country
in the world and this doesn’t serve
to divide us.
Jennifer Moss
Sophomore
Spanish/Sociology
I
■■ i^—
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