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
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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
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