Opinion
Friday, February 9,1996
Page 4
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Haiti
Doug Kouma.
Doug Peters.
Sarah Scalet.
Matt Waite.
Michelle Garner...
Jennifer Mapes_
.Editor, 472-1766
.Managing Editor
,. Opinion Page Editor
Associate: News Editor
Associate News Editor
.Wire Editor
.Columnist
Ql'OTES OF THE WEEK
“I want to continue to expand the academic excellence at
UNL. I want UNL to be seen as efficiently run, and a
university that cares about its students.”
—James Moeser, new UNL chancellor
“If we’re going to cover up their rears, let’s cover up the
rest of them... It should be unlawful to slut yourself
around like that”
— Lincoln resident Lisa Bulin speaking to the City Council about
full-nudity strip clubs
“I come as the pilgrim of love and hope.”
— Pope John Paul II in Guatemala City
“My job was to be captain of the ship that sunk the
Bismarck.”
— State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha on his motion to post
pone debate on a constitutional amendment to expand casino
gambling
“This is like herpes — this will be back.”
— State Sen. Dave Landis of Lincoln on the same gambling
amendment
“Everyone who’s gotten up and talked this morning,
you’ve got your head in the sand.”
— State Sen. Stan Schellpeper, criticizing opponents of the
gambling amendment.
“Peace is beginning to take hold in the former Yugosla
via.”
— Warren Christopher, Secretary of State
“If his name wasn’t Malcolm Forbes, he wouldn’t be a
serious candidate for mayor of a city in New Jersey.”
— Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander about the surprising
success of Republican presidential candidate Malcolm (Steve)
Forbes.
“We showed in the second half that we can still play.
We don’t give up. The old Nebraska is back, and the rest
of the Big Eight better look out”
— Nebraska basketball player Mikki Moore after the Huskers’
fourth loss in a row
“It won’t be hard becoming a Husker.”
— ChancellorJames Moeser
“Not only can you see your breath, but if you choose, you
can actually snatch it from the air and throw it at live
stock.”
— Columnist Steve Willey, on the recent low temperatures
“I encourage you (students) to not be sucked in by the
short-term friendship the opposition will offer you.”
—Justin Firestone, OFFICE candidate for AS UN presidency
“There's no need for personal insults. I call for the same
courtesy from our opponents.”
— Eric Marintzer, ACTION candidate for AS UNpresidency, concern
ing possible mudslinging during the ASUN< campaign
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 19% Daily Ne
braskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials
do not necessarily reflect the views of
the university, its employees, the stu
dents or the NU Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the opin
ion of the author. The regents publish
the Daily Nebraskan. They ekablish
the UNL Publications Board to super
vise the daily production of the paper.
According to policy set by the regents,
responsibility 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 die basis of clarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily
Nebraskan retains the right to edit (V 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 die
property of die 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.
Double jeopardy
After reading Wednesday’s DN
editorial “Playing with fire,” I felt
compelled to voice my opinion
concerning the avaricious Bill
Byrne. Well known for his greed
and disregard for the interests of the
students, Mr. Byrne has once again
let his true colors shine through in
his latest proposal to move the
student sections to the upper south
stadium. This is more than the
students should have to endure.
Mr. Byrne’s greed was also
exhibited at the recent home
basketball game against Kansas.
Arriving at the game 45 minutes
before tip-off, my companions and I
were directed to the upper C section,
a section normally designated for
student overflow. After a short time
passed, we were approached by a
group of Kansas fans holding tickets
for our seats. As it turns out, the
athletic department had sold tickets
to our seats, in essence, selling those
seats twice. Students were forced to
stand along the top of the arena for
the entire game.
I’ve lived in this state my entire
life and have been a loyal
CORNhusker fan from the begin
ning. These past events have been
more than I can tolerate. I’m hoping
that others will take action to give
rights back to the students.
Mark Stone
sophomore
biological systems engineering
via e-mail
Seriously
Regarding Veera Supinen’s
editorial about capital punishment
entitled “Uncivilized,” (Feb. 7)
thanks. Thanks for giving me
something worth reading—a
serious comment on a serious issue.
While I was tempted to write the
other day to decry the general lack
of substance and unbridled, verbal
narcissism that seems to so often, of
late, characterize what attempts to
pass itself off in the DN as hu
mor(?), editorial comment(?), I
figured why bother—it’s only
characteristic of thp self-gratifying
age we live in. Ms. Supinen’s article
is unique to the DN in that she
concerns herself with something
other than herself —a novel idea
that some of the other editorialists
might consider emulating.
Tim Janda
lecturer
English
via e-mail
Dead on
In response to Veera Supinen’s
comments about the death penalty
— I totally agree. Death as punish
ment for a crime is totally unneces
sary in a supposedly “enlightened”
society sucn as ours, and I also feel
that it should never have been
reinstated in the American lawbooks
— in my mind, it is the utmost in
American hypocrisy.
I’m writing from my personal
experience, participating in the
protest outside the State Penitentiary
a year and a half ago, when Harold
Otey was killed in the electric chair.
The two sides of the issue were
separated by a fence, to prevent any
physical altercations, but the verbal
wars were quite strong. The people
on the other side of the fence from
me seemed to be there primarily to
party, to celebrate Otey’s death. A
friend who was protesting with me
even received death threats against
his family. Irony in the extreme,
considering that the reason Otey was
being killed was that he was
responsible for murder; I saw
nothing in the crowd of people that
night to set them apart from Otey in
the slightest.
Of course I’ve heard all the
arguments in favor of the death
penalty, like crime deterrence, and
the cost of the procedure; Ms.
Supinen covered them rather well in
her editorial. But for me, the entire
argument comes down to a single
idea — if we, as a society, decide
that deliberately taking another
person’s life is wrong, then it should
be wrong in all cases. No matter
whether it’s done by Harold Otey on
a whim, or by some anonymous
state-employed executioner by the
order of Gov. Nelson and the court
system.
C. David Peters
senior
international affairs
via e-mail
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