Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1995)
Culture barons Capitalists snatch precious historical gems Watch out, America. Bill Gates, the country’s richest man, is at it again. Gates, the embodiment of American capitalism (for good or for bad), is continuing his orgy of consumerism. Last year, Gates reportedly purchased Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. The notebook contained da Vinci’s famous sketches of human anatomy, flying machines and the dozens of amazing inven tions he proposed so many centuries before his time. A priceless artifact of Western culture. Well, not exactly, because Gates named a price, and now the book is his. Last week, Gates took another step toward controlling the visual history of the world when he purchased the Bettmann Archive, a collection of 16 million historic photos. The visual history of the world, once again, proved to be pricey, yes, but not nearly priceless. The archive is merely another notch in the Bill Gates belt that already includes images from the National Gallery of London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the State Russian Museum. I’m not sure if anybody knows what Gates intends to do with his , new stash. He couldn’t have bought them for personal viewing— looking at each picture only once, for a mere five seconds, would take 925 days. That’s without eating, sleeping or answering nature’s call (but then again, maybe Gates has someone on staff to do that for him). Maybe he plans to put all the photos on CD-ROM and destroy all the negatives, so would-be viewers would have to buy more of his stupid Microsoft products. From a business standpoint, it makes a perverse kind of sense. Or maybe Gates looked down from his lolly perch above corporate America and saw some peon Doug Peters “Imagine Orson Welles (in ‘Citizen Kane’) galavanting around the screen in a pastel blue suit, his yellowish-pink cheeks standing in stark contrast to the blinding neon-green grass. But I digress. ” wearing the famous T-shirt: He who dies with the most toys, wins. “Damn that Ted Turner,” he may have thought at the time, “he’s going to beat me if I don’t start buying stuff.” In case you don’t already know, Ted Turner is the man responsible for the bastardization — I mean colorization — of hundreds of American film classics. Turner’s collection includes over 3,000 films, including such greats as “Casablanca,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “Citizen Kane.” And one by one, he’s ruining all of them. To get an idea of Turner’s disregard for the country’s cultural heritage, imagine Orson Welles galavanting around the screen in a pastel blue suit, his yellowish-pink cheeks standing in stark contrast to the blinding neon-green grass. But I digress. Gates and Turner, and others of their ilk, probably see nothing wrong in buying up the images and sounds of history. To them, it’s just another investment. They are the beneficiaries of the information revolution, just as the Camegies, Fords and Rockefellers were beneficiaries of the industrial revolution. But this new frenzy of acquisition is a different kind of capitalism than America has seen in the past. The great robber-barons, the kings of industry, those who became ultra-rich as a result of the industrial revolution, certainly amassed unbelievable amounts of money and property, too. Granted, they weren’t always model citizens. But instead of buying up culture, they spread it around. Now, in the afterglow of the Reagan ’80s, capitalism has taken an odor more typical of the nastier traditions of America. America, which was built around the disenfranchisement of native inhabitants. America, which developed around the practice of slavery. America, the only country in the world where Donald Trump could become a hero to millions, where nothing comes for free and where the idea of something belonging to everyone is shouted down with cries of “communist!”. This is the world of the new-and improved robber barons, who ante up their 24 dollars’ worth of beads and trinkets and leave the table with sole rights to the control of some thing precious. Our cultural heritage should belong to everyone. Until then, though, hide those holiday snapshots and home movies — you never know where these guys will strike next. Peters is a graduate student of journal ism and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Cold words U.S. can’t sidestep Russia’s chilling signals Officially the Cold War has been over for more than four years, but recent comments by Russian President Boris Yeltsin have been awfully chilly. And each time the climate drops a bit more President Clinton — underscoring three years of grim foreign policy displays — either fails to comment or dances around the issue. Dealing with Russia is serious business. Its economy may be in shambles now, but it’s still a strong nuclear power with too many vital resources to remain in an economic rut. It is therefore the responsibility of U.S. leadership to roll up its sleeves and not tolerate traditional Cold War rhetoric and policies. But President Clinton, Secretary of State Warren Christopher and other key administration officials continue to reach for extra sweaters, suggesting Russian cold fronts are either political remnants of the old regime that will dissipate with time; or that they can be managed at summits, like the one this week. The past, however, has firmly established that Yeltsin is a smart politician who spins rhetoric and policies skillfully to achieve his desired objectives. Last Thursday, Yeltsin issued harsh words to NATO and the United States. He then threatened to dismiss his foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, who has the reputation of being the West’s favorite Russian son. Attempting to drive home his disappointment with the West, Yeltsin went so far as to start pounding on a table, a comical but alarming allusion to Nikita Khruschev’s notorious 1960 shoe banging incident at the United Nations. On Bosnia, Yeltsin said, “We Neil Feldman “Next year, Russia has presidential elections too, and it is absolutely paramount that its leader. . . understands that the U.S. will not tolerate policies and rhetoric reminiscent of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. ” will not fight under NATO com mand.” Russia has historical ties to the Serbian people and has refused to compromise on a potential Bosnian division of Croatian, Muslim and Serbian regions. Yeltsin also noted that “Our weapons are powerful and in many respects better than American ones.” Do you feel a draft? And what does President Clinton say when pressed by a reporter on Friday? “It will be an issue on the table at next week’s summit.” When asked to elaborate, Clinton ignored the reporter and addressed another question. Wouldn’t General Mac Arthur be proud! Even on Chechnya — where Yeltsin acted vehemently toward the Chechen minority, bringing back memories of Soviet nationalities policy — Clinton was careful not to specifically condemn Yeltsin. Instead, he said things like, “It’s an unfortunate display of aggression that should and must be confronted by the West.” Afterward Clinton sent his Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, who gets little press coverage, to directly field questions on Chechnya. All of these instances underline how weak and timid Clinton is when dealing with Yeltsin. With prime-time campaign season just around the comer, Clinton must demonstrate that he can lay down an iron fist and stand up to the Cold War nonsense that has been proliferating out of Moscow lately. Next year, Russia has presiden tial elections too. And it is abso lutely paramount that its leader — who, according to most observers of Russia, will not be Yeltsin — understands that the United States will not tolerate policies and rhetoric reminiscent of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. If Russia continues to rail against the West on Bosnia, NATO — with U.S. leadership — should charge forth with an aggressive and fair policy, irrespective of Yeltsin’s pro Serbia stance. If Clinton, though, continues to put on a sweater every time the temperature drops, things could get a little too close for America’s comfort. And he could pay a heavy price at the polls. Feldman is a senior international af fairs major and a Daily Nebraskan colum nist n fetfeji... from the —dseasi Tattoo fulfills need for rite of passage Adria Chilcote A few weeks ago I turned 18 years old. I am now officially an adult. I’m a child no more. Big deal. I don’t feel any different now that I’m 18.1 had no ceremony of any kind an nouncing to the world my passage into adulthood. My life hasn’t drastically changed in the past few weeks. Ever since I was a little girl my image of an adult was of someone who’d moved out of their parent’s house, had a job, did stuff like pay the bills and write checks. 1 don’t exactly fit that image. I still live with my mom, I’m unemployed, I’ve never payed a bill, or signed my own name to a check. Another thing about being an adult is that I can now buy cigarettes. But I don’t smoke. I could vote now, if there were an election going on. If I commit a crime now, I’ll be convicted as an adult, instead of a minor. I should have gone on a crime spree while I could have gotten an easier sentence. I have a valid I.D. now that proves I am an adult. When I turned 18,1 felt the need to use that power somehow. I needed to perform some act, some rite of passage. I didn’t want anything else pierced, so I decided to go ahead and get that tattoo that I’ve wanted for quite some time. I walked into Ray’s Tattoo place fairly confident. I had made an appointment the day before to have a tribal style lizard tattooed onto my stomach — its little tail going around my navel. I thought the pain wouldn’t be that big an issue for me. I thought I was tough. Two hours of needles repeat edly going into my skin gave me a whole new perspective: Pain is a bad thing, and should be avoided at all times. The first time I worried about the pain was when I was lying down, my stomach bare and sterilized. Watching Ray prepare his instrument of torture, I asked him what the pain was like when compared to having your ears pierced. He said that it was completely different, and he was right. He also said that it was like plucking your eyebrows, and he “He kept on saying that after this or that was done it would be all downhill. I don’t know what hill he was - talking about, but the hill I was going down was very large, covered with thorns, and I was sliding down on my stomach. ” was wrong, very wrong. When I plucked my eyebrows it didn’t hurt all that much, and it didn’t last for two long hours. Getting a tattoo is so much worse than plucking your eyebrows. It wasn’t all that bad at first. After the first half hour 1 wasn’t sure I would make it. First he did the outline. At that point I was thinking that it looked pretty good like that. I didn’t need to have it filled in. But he said that after the outline it was all downhill. Like an idiot I believed him. There was still another hour left. He kept on saying that after this or that was done it would be all downhill. I don’t know what hill he was talking about, but the hill I was going down was very large, covered with thorns, and I was sliding down on my stomach. Not exactly a pleasant experience. I was very incredibly relieved when it was finally done. It definitely fulfilled my need for a rite of passage into adulthood. It seems that in a rite of passage the participant should be proving something. Proving I can take a lot of pain is something I don’t need to prove. If I ever need another rite, I think I’ll try something mentally challenging instead. It’s a funny thing that when I tell people that I got it done, they ! ask if it hurt. Shouldn’t it be a ' given that a tattoo hurts? You don’t have to ask. Now that I’ve done something to exercise my adulthood, all I need to do is move out of my mother’s house, get a job, pay some bills, write a check, buy a pack of cigarettes, and vote for somebody. But I don’t want to waste my money on cigarettes, and I’ll vote when the time comes. I think, instead, I’ll wait until my next birthday to perform any of those other responsible adult activities. Chileote is a freshman women’s stud ies major aud a Daily Nebraskan colum nist. BE OUR GUEST The Daily Nebraskan will present a guest columnist each Monday. Writers from the university and community are welcome. Must have strong writing skills and something to say. Contact Mark Baldridge c/o the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588. Or by phone at (402)-472-l 782.