Friday, April 26, 1996 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoki 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 “He loved life. He did what he wanted to do. He had a lot of enthusiasm and he enjoyed every day. I’m sure he had no regrets.” — Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, on former Husker quarterback Brook Berringer, who died last week in a plane crash. “There’s nobody I coached who had better char acter than Brook Berringer.” — Osborne, during a eulogy for Berringer in the players funeral Monday. “We anticipated a swamp of calls. Perhaps people are becoming more realistic about HIV risks. And we want to emphasize the risks in this situation really are minuscule.” —Jim Nolan, Creighton University spokesman, on the university’s decision to allow an HIV-positive dentistry student to continue seeing patients. “I’m just happy to be a part of the New England Patriots organization. I don’t know if I’ll start right away, I’m just hoping to find a way where I can contribute.” — Fortner Nebraska football player Christian Peter, on being drafted by the Patriots last weekend. “They released me. Now I’ll go on from here. Someone else will get a great player now.” — Peter, after being cut from the Patriots Wednesday, due to “unacceptable off-field behavior. ” “You have to appeal to the prurient interest, which in English, means you have to turn someone on. When I take my clothes off in public, there’s no chance of anyone getting turned on, so I’m safe.” — Tim Quirk, lead vocalist for Too Much Joy. on his penchant for disrobing during shows. “They offer up students as some sort of sacrificial lambs.” — Nancy Berg, organizer of the student protest of Playboy magazine's visit to UNL. “We got one of the protesters’ fliers. It was kind of cute.” — David Mecey. Playboy photographer. “In space there’s no such thing as upside-down.” —Jennifer Cantrell. NASA public information associate, during a visit to UNL. “I really like him, and he is one of your typical Nebraska linemen, hard worker, good student and well-trained.” — Carl Mauck. Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach, about Aaron Graham. “When I mentioned to him that it could take up to a year, he said, ‘Whatever has to be done, has to be done.’” — Dr. Deepak Gangahar, about Tommy Frazier. “We’ve got three real strong legs.” — Gary Pepin, UNL track and field coach. 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 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 10 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. Readersalsoare welcome to submitmate 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 shouldlnclude 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 SL Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. ISNfr &b\^b TO VIDRK OUT. \i * ' 7/// \ L term L.. . i /wWiS i a— i 4 Call to action There’s a long-standing custom that never ceases to amaze me. Fortune cookies. I’ve always wondered who sat around for so long, so bored they wrote about 190 billion little catch phrases so people someday would think they could sec into the future. It shouldn’t, however, take a fortune or revelation of great wisdom for us to realize what’s going on in the world today. Nita Washburn (April 25) tells us “This lack of respect for others ... is the fundamental root of hatred and violence in our society.’’ You would think this is a naive assessment, at the most, of our society. But is it? If it were, then why is it still such a big problem? This is about the simple things that show us where we have gone wrong. Is it really smart to have a day where America should “try” not to be violent? Does that mean teen agers in the forbidden zones of our environment should cut drive-bys down by half that day? Does it mean husbands should only use verbal abuse on their wives for a day msieau oi niiung tnem; Having a day like that means we’ve accepted the problem and that it won’t be the end of the world if we are violent for the other 364 days of the year. Fortune cookie: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Why pay attention? I’ll tell you why — if we don’t begin today, the journey back to a civil society will be a million miles instead of a thousand. What are we waiting for? Guns aren’t getting any less deadly and smoke isn’t suddenly going to be the gas of wisdom and youth. Maybe we should remember this when we are sleeping in or working for a 3 l/2-month break from the environs of higher learning. Aaron Cooper freshman English Ethics . I had to do something very disturbing today. I had to console a close friend who had just lost someone who they cared very deeply about. Death is always a tragedy, but it is even sadder when the new hurt the loved ones are feeling is not from the loss of someone they cared about, but from a bad decision made by the editors of their own campus newspaper. What I am writing about is journal istic integrity, the integrity that puts the lives of the readers before sensationalism, the integrity that has been lacking in the past on the part of the Daily Nebraskan and the integrity that was lacking this Wednesday. The front-page story concerning the death of Brook Berringer lacked this tact and feeling. The purpose of a newspaper is to inform the reader about the issues that truly affect them. It was a relief to hear that their was no alcohol involved in the tragedy and that there may be answers to the mystery, but a description of the physical condition of the two young men was not only tactless, it was extremely hurtful to those who cared about them. In the future, please remember that your articles have an effect on people. Take the responsibility to address issues with moral fore thought and make ethical journalis tic decisions. Let people like Brook and Tobey’s loved ones remember what was good about the person, like their zest for life and their ability to chase their dreams, not what physically remains after a tragedy. If you really want to help your readers let them know what Dl Cl UUlldV/l I dll/ 1^1 they can do in remembrance and move the story about the Berringer memorial up from the 11th page! Stephanie Brauner senior finance Undercoverage The front page of each Daily Nebraskan reads “covering the University of Nebraskan since 1901." I feel that the Daily Nebras kan has not lived up to this claim. In Kimball Hall on Wednesday night, there was a tribute concert to Vernon Forbes, professor of music. Professor Forbes has taught at the University of Nebraska for the past 35 years and is retiring at the end of the semester. No mention of this concert or his retirement has been made in the Daily Nebraskan. It is sad that such a long and distin guished career that has affected so many lives would go unrecognized by the school paper. Instead, the Daily Nebraskan has had articles in the Arts and Entertainment section about music reviews, movies, videos and the World Wrestling Federation. I like professional wrestling as much as the next person, but a university newspaper has a responsibility to cover events that are important to students and faculty on campus. Vernon Forbes has had much more of an impact on the lives of students at the University of Nebraska than the Ultimate Warrior will ever have. Mark Campoli junior fine and performing arts Send your brief letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Ne braska Union, 1400 “R" Street, Lincoln, NE 68588, or Fax to (402) 472-1761, or e-mail . Letters must be signed and include a phone number for verification.