Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1995)
Gin on Tuesday, November 21, 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 JejfZeleny.. Senior Reporter Matt Woody.Senior Reporter James Mehsling.Cartoonist Era’s end Big 12 should retain Big 8 records Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska football team will play Oklahoma in the last Big Eight game ever. The next evening at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha, the cham pionship volleyball match of the Big Eight Tournament will be re memoerea as me nnai maicn in Big Eight history. Next August, the Big Eight welcomes Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas A&M to join the fabled his tory of the Big Eight Confer ence. Why then must this be the end of a conference? It should be a revitalization, an addi tion. The Big 12 is the Big Eight plus four teams. Noth ing and no one is leaving the Big Eight, except all of its records. The great marks estab lished by Wilt Chamberlain, Johnny Rodgers, Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders will be gone. The Big Eight, with the i-1 coaxing or ns lour new mem Aaron Steckelberg/DN bcrs, has decided to erase all conference records. A fresh start they call it. It sounds more like a sour beginning. Since when are conferences in the business of erasing great ac complishments? If a Nebraska running back runs for 1,500 yards next season, docs he deserve to be the conference’s all-time leading rusher, when so many great athletes have graced the gridirons of the Big Eight over the past few decades? The four Texas schools bring with them a great deal of tradition; nearly as much as the Big Eight schools. By combining this history instead of merely wiping it out, the Big 12 can be known as the most tradition-rich conference in America from day one. It’s been nearly two years since the Big Eight invited the four Texas schools to join the Big Eight. In the 20 months since the initial invitation, many of the original ideas have become distorted. The Big Eight, in hopes of becoming more lucrative to the tele vision networks, major bowl games and potential students around the nation, wanted to expand. The idea was not to form an entirely new conference. Once the Texas schools agreed to join the Big Eight, they immediately wanted the Big Eight schools to unnecessarily sever their ties with tradi tion. In many arenas, the Texas schools have accomplished their goals. The headquarters of the Big 12 very well could end up in Dallas. The commissioner was selected from the Southwest conference, the former home of the new Texas schools. The Nebraska-Okla homa football rivalry has become a victim of the new conference. Before this goes any further, the Big 12 needs to remember this is not a new conference. It is simply a better conference. 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, die 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 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. 68588-0448. r-a ^-x G>IT TUO$E AREN'T QOEAsy? SoDfcr CUTS WXlTl-Wm^ 5tert*- HfltlCET-W/HCK 1; /Wilfl bw*( Clue for Cumberland Dear Debra Cumberland, I liked last Wednesday’s column about ‘dem hunters, but the stereo types you made against them were all wrong. I was bom a hunter and I don’t chew tobacco. Instead I choose Wrigley’s gum so I can break the habit. Jason Flatowicz Freshman Undecided via e-mail Report card Congrats on having your web site mentioned in U.S. News & World Report. I was rather impressed, yours being a college paper and all. Ted McGlynn Omaha via e-mail Fee bird The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is exceptionally important. I am not writing out of a desire to repeal the First Amend ment, or to exclude your paper from such rights. I am however, writing to ask you to reevaluate your standards of the type of advertising you accept. I think that pornography in any form has no place in a paper supported even in part by student fees. I understand that there is a need to sell advertising, but a university newspaper has the obligation not to print such offen sive material, even if it does mean lost revenue. Please be assured, it is not the fact that BJ’s Hideaway advertised in the Daily Nebraskan that incensed me. If BJ’s had taken out an ad without photographs, it would have been fine. If the mission of The Daily Nebraskan supports pornography, I wish to have my student fees diverted to a different area, where I can have faith that they are being used to promote high academic standards. Holly A. Heffelbower Senior Vocal Performance via e-mail Bad-ridge It is not often that I take the time to read the Daily Nebraskan, and unfortunately I took the time to read Mr. Baldridge’s column on Monday, Nov. 13 (“creativity precludes condoms”). I should not be surprised at the complete Ijtck of professionalism and decorum of columns such as Mr. Baldridge’s, yet each time I open the pages of the DN, I am appalled by the crude, tasteless foolishness that I read. Mr. Baldridge, grow up. Your James Mehsling/DN sex life is neither newsworthy nor noteworthy. A little forethought to your next column and the slightest bit of moral decency would be a vast improvement. Daniel Sievers Graduate Student Architecture Tex-Mess Dear Cornheads: You should be dead with embarrassment, though I’m sure you aren’t. Supporting a football coach and team that harbors criminals is nothing less than a lowlife endeavor. How can you in the name of good sportsmanship do that? I guess spineless ethics are OK if your team wins, right? You deserve any and all scorn heaped upon your pointy little heads. Carol Cardona Houston, Texas Send your brief letters to: tD the* Daily Nebraskan, 34 ... i ^ u i^ Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., '- Lincoln, Neb. 68588, or Fax to (402) 472-1761, or email <letters @ unlinfo.unl.edu.> L=—1-j- Letters must be signed and y Nebraskan si£Ktons"“m6er,or