Opinion Friday, April 5, 1996 Page 4 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln J. Christopher Hain.Editor, 472-1766 Doug Kouma.Managing Editor Doug Peters...Opinion Page Editor Sarah Scalet.Associate News Editor Matt Waite....Associate News Editor Michelle Garner ....Wire Editor Jennifer Mapes.Columnist “I just don’t think we need Playboy and magazines like that in the world.” — Charlyne Berens. assistant news-editorial journalism professor. “It’s not just skin.” — Karen Ring Borgstrom, Playboy publicist. “Only a crazy man would go there.” — MiomtrZuzul, Croatia's ambassador to the United Slates, speaking of the area where the plane carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed. “The thing about 90s kitsch is, people don’t see it as kitsch yet.” — Garth Johnson, member of the band, Plastik Trumpet. “You’ve got to set the goal, and you’ve got to stay focused if you want to be a champion.” — Christy Johnson, NU volleyball player, speaking at the “School is Cool"jam % ■ “We play sort of a ska/punk style, with a little bit of reggae, but mostly just ska/punk.” —Jason Flatowicz, trombone player for Come On Jack “When I say cool music, I’m talking about new music — alternative music.” — Marty Merrick, group director for Market Source “The single greatest cause of death in this country is lighting organic material and sucking it into your lungs.” — Michael Ericksen, director. Centers for Disease Control office on smoking and health “I cannot let a bill like this pass without reminding you of the damnable conditions under which these players function.” — Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, speaking against spirit license plates “I’m a traveler. Some people might call me a gutter punk. Some people might call me a squatter. I call myself a traveler.” — Allen ",Sticky ” Gesick from everywhere— New Orleans at the time of quote “This is like the golden crane.” — Gary Lingle, habitat manager for the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, on the sighting in Nebraska of a rare “common ” crane, a bird that normally is found only in Europe and Asia. & . “I want to make this a one-stop shop in the com munity. I want a place where people can get dental care, a place for food stamps, commodity food items, for condoms, even for child-care.” — Donna Polk, director of the Nebraska Urban Indian Medical Center. “We have some writings that match up, but we don’t have his tools yet. We want the irrefutable motherlode of evidence.” — An unnamedfederal law-enforcement official, on the Unabombercase. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1996 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- t dents or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish 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 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. 68388-0448. THANKS EASTER • ' ' - . Gun fight Why are so many Republicans currently opposed to handgun restrictions and even a ban on assault weapons? Can they really be that blind to the reality of what these weapons actually do? Where is there common sense? Think about it. What could one possibly do with these type of weapons — besides killing and causing a lot of pain, grief and destruction? How will allowing more and more people to legally own assault weapons help improve our society? It will only create further chaos, anarchy and disorder. Jim Anderson Nebraskans for Peace Lincoln Play 1 would like to defend the “women like Berens and Kriss” that Emi K. Nyman (April 3) attempted to slam. Am I the only person to notice that Nyman’s letter is contradictory? Nyman states, in so many words, a “what-do you-expect-from-PIayboy” attitude that makes me want to vomit. I’ll tell you what 1 expect—1 expect and demand respect as a person and as a woman. Because Pm a woman, should I not expect and demand such things? Nyman should not cloud the issue with a debate about sexuality and its place in society. The issue here is the problem of the continued second class citizenship of women across the board. If one person, female or male, is even in the least bit discriminated Aaron Steckelberg/DN against or kept down, or if there is the appearance of impropriety, the responsibility falls upon everyone. This is not just a “feminist” issue. By allowing Playboy to come to UNL, we are tending the hungry beast of indifference. Let the beast shrivel and die. Become part of the solution: Join the Protest! Nancy Berg junior music education Boy I am writing in response to the editorial by Emi Nyman (April 4) about Playboy. In her letter, Emi makes several ignorant arguments as to why Playboy, and pornography in general, does not exploit and objectify women. A common point throughout was that the women are doing this out of their own free will. To quote Emi, “Everyone makes choices in life, some right, some wrong. Either way, the only person responsible is that individual.” What!? You are basically saying that people should have the right to act in any manner they choose, regardless of the effect on other members of society. You are partially correct in saying that a person must take responsibility for their actions, but simply assuming responsibility in no way gives you the right to act in a way that has a negative or harmful effect on those around you. Pornog raphy, whether it is sofl-core or hard-core, objectifies women. Think of it this way. When you see a commercial on TV, you often want what was advertised. When you see pornography, what is it that you end up wanting? Sex. So you soon begin looking at women simply as objects that can fulfill that want. I know because I’ve seen pornography before and there was not one moment during which I was at all interested in who those women really were. They were simply objects for my entertainment. This objectifica tion is what ultimately leads to the high rate of violence against women in our society. A person is much more inclined to act out in aggres sion against .someone whom they view as a “thing.” That’s a fact. Another fact is that 10 out of every 12 women will be abused in some form during their lifetime. That’s scary. Now vou can say that people have the right to do whatever they choose with themselves regardless of the outcome, but if you ever want to reduce that 10 out of 12 statistic, I think you better come back to reality. „ . _ . Brian Sobczyk freshman computer engineering ...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 must be signed and include a phone number for verification.