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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1995)
Opinion Wednesday, October 11, 1995 Page 4 -—— 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 Bret GottschaJI/DN Pope pushes piety Catholic leader stresses values, visibility Pope John Paul II, perhaps the world’s most visible religious leader, made his fourth visit to the United States last week. The 75-year-old pontiff, installed as pope in 1978, visited New York, Maryland and New Jersey — the focus of his tour being a speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly, The last papal visit to America before John Paul II became head of the Catholic Church, was in 1965 by Paul VI. Paul VI also spoke to the United Nations, almost 30 years to the day from last week’s papal speech.John Paul II has been our most visible Pope. Despite his sometimes precarious health and the risk of physical harm, John Paul II travels the world taking political stands and engaging his opponents in debate, rather than retiring to the Vatican and the com fort of the “big chair.” ■ Whether one agrees with him or not, it’s good for the leader of one of the world’s laigest living religions to be so visible. As the role o( religion in American society has become signifi cantly blurred, the pope spoke about the crushing need for the vis ibility of values in American society. “Democracy needs virtue,” he said. “Every generation of Ameri cans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” Many American Catholics have strong differences with the pope on issues, but his message of religion in American society finds an ear with those concerned about the moral direction of the country. The pope challenged Catholics to defend “against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secular ism as America’s official faith.” Religion is an important factor in our lives and we can’t divorce that from public policy. Religion has to be a matter of debate. It’s not a question of “church and state” but of a need for values in our communities, our legisla tion and our leaders. Goodbye pope. Come back soon. 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 the 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. Letter policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected fw 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. 68588-0448. I mrvite THKTf y" VlKHtfe. ^ OJEWEl&i(T KiT>s OtCIbEb 70 OOIAF hr THE SfiNf TlMF. h ____________^_______ 1 A bad rap Point blank, I’m upset by a column written by Steve Willey (“Odd couple,” Oct. 5). I feel as if I’ve been slapped in the face with a hot bag of nickels because of this person’s joltingly written essay about rap mu sic or Gangsta Rap if you will. Asa rapper myself, I can’t begin to explain the importance of rap music in the inner-cities and urban communi ties all over America. Rap is the voice of a people who, some years ago, were not allowed to say anything. Let us speak, let us say what we will. Food for thought right here—don’t address anything you don’t know or understand, Steve. Antonc Douglas Junior Elementary Education Jamie “Nelson” Karl Usually when Jamie Karl takes up his pen and writes some ridiculous and bigoted comment about the way the world should be, I am able to restrain my rage and frustration. I re mind myself that he represents the fringe element and holds no real power to achieve his scary visions. But this all changed with the ap pearance of the letter to the editor from Gov. E. Benjamin Nelson (Let ters, Oct. 9). It starts offwith the words “I appre ciate the ideas expressed by Jamie Karl in a recent column,” which is a real tip-off that Nelson’s politics are on the fringe also. The specific column Nelson ap preciated dealt with the death penalty. Nelson goes on to say that if elected to the Senate, he will work to “reform” the appeals process. What he really means to do is “reform” it right out of existence. Ifyou elect Nelson to the Senate be ready for the Jamie Karls of this world to get their way. Nell Eckersley Senior Women's Studies I Sock it to me I was very disappointed this Mon day morning when 1 picked up my copy of the DN and didn’t see any thing about the women’s soccer team on the front page. 1 understand that the big thing in the entire state of Ne braska is Husker football, but they didn’t even play this week. Our women’s soccer team played two games this weekend at Abbott Soccer Complex, winning both and not letting the other team even get a shot on our goal once in either game. I hope that in the future you will give the women the recognition they deserve for all their hard work and success. Martina Seigel Union Admin Offices ...But your chains While reading Nick Wiltgen’s “Al truism threatens personal freedoms,” certain passages seem to be lifted from thin air in his attacks on this “religion” of altruism. Two of Mr. Wiltgen’s points espe cially caught my eye. First of all, his take on the psychology of an altruist seems to be totally misguided: “(Altruism) ultimately leads to feel ings of worthlessness, loss of self esteem and lack of identity.” Really? I’d think someone who is lost in the world of big business and money would find themselves strug gling for a reason for continuing in the face of such monetary disappoint ments. Nothing i s more rewarding than offering yourself for the benefit of someone in need. The second point was even more outrageous: “Only the doctrines of altruism could permit the horrors of slavery...” Bear with me a minute, how do you support that claim? As I see it, slavery was the saving grace for this new idea of capitalism in our country. What it did was allow the economy to be placed on the backs of free labor, and as any capitalist will tell you, there’s nothing better than cheap la bor. 1 would suggest to Mr. Wiltgen, and any other capitalist out there who is struggling to find some direction in their life, to open their eyes to the broader picture and see the hopeless ness in trying to survive with only your own best interests in mind. Matt Jewell Junior Anthropology Quilting B An important contribution to the names quilt from UNL was omitted from the front page story (“Quilt dis play an emotional remembrance,” Oct. 9). Last fall, the PERSUNL (Peers Encouraging Responsible Sexual ity at UNL) Program, as part of Worlds AIDS Day activities and with assis tance from the Campus Red Cross HIV Educators, created a quilt panel that was signed on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) by approximately 150 mem bers of the UNL community. The Quilt Panel will now be a part of the Names Quilt. The quilt panel “University of NE Supports AIDS Awareness” was for mally submitted to the Names Quilt at the closing ceremonies by members of the PERSUNL Program on Sunday along with a donation to the quilt that was collected at the signing of the quilt. It will now be part of the Names Quilt. I think it is important to acknowl edge the time, effort, and caring of the individuals involved. Pat Tetreault, Ph.D. Sexuality Education Coordinator - ...to the ( Nebraskan Send your brief letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588, or Fax to (402) 472-1761, or email <letters @ unlinfo.unl.edu.> Letters must be signed and include a phone number for verification. ■ ■ i • '.
