Opinion
Monday, April 29, 1996 Page 4
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Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Doug Kouma...Editor, 472-1766
Doug Peters.Managing Editor
Anne Hjersman.Opinion Page Editor
Matt Waite.Senior Reporter
Paula Lavigne !.Associate News Editor
Mitch Sherman.Sports Editor
Beth Narans.Night Editor
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Sigh of relief
UNL has hope after tumultuous year
This is how the school year ends — not with a bang, but with a
whimper.
Or was that a sigh of relief?
The events of the past year have left UNL banged-up enough as
it is. Wc will be lucky to end the school year with the familiar chaos
of finals week — a couple exams, a moving truck, a whole lot of
caffeine and a few good-byes.
Sonic good-byes have already been said.
To a young woman found slain in her south Lincoln apartment
last summer.
To a student who died in a car accident while driving to work
during Christmas break.
To four Columbus teens, two of them UNL freshmen and all of
them intoxicated, who drowned after their vehicle plunged into
Wagner Lakes over spring break.
And to a star quarterback who taught all of us a little something
about heroism while helping the Comhuskcrs win two consecutive
national championships and giving us cause for celebration.
The Huskcrs showed without a doubt that they were the best
team in college football — maybe the best team ever. And although
they had their critics, they proved themselves on the field.
Following an equally impressive season, the NU volleyball team
pummcled the competition and claimed its first national champion
snip.
And after accompanying those teams to victory, the Cornhusker
marching band earned a national championship of its own.
But time marches on, for better or for worse.
Chancellor James Moeser, officially installed Friday, will begin
his first full year in office and add some stability to an administra
tion too long in flux.
Next year water will flow for the last time from Broyhill Foun
tain, leaving an expanded and remodeled Nebraska Union in its
wake.
And the Big Eight will undergo some expansion of its own, add
ing four Texas schools to become the Big 12.
But that’s next year.
As this year winds down and many students prepare for a long
awaited break, UNL will settle in for a quiet summer — we hope.
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 establish
the UNL Publications Board to super
vise the daily production of the paper.
According to policy set by the regents,
responsibility for die 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,
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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
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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. 68588-0448.
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Truth and
consequence
Following the announcement of
Christian Peter’s release by the New
England Patriots, I was asked by
local and national media to com
ment. I didn’t feel there was much
more to say — finally some degree
of justice for women victimized by
violence. I was embarrassed that
sanctions came through the NFL and
not UNL! I am now provoked to
comment a tier reading Tom
Osborne’s statement in the 4/26 DN:
“1 think the owner reacted to
publicity,” Osborne said. “The
NOW (National Organization for
Women) and all those people.
We’ve been through it.”
Oh please. Could it be that
Robert Kraft, Patriots’ owner,
reacted to Mr. Peter’s actions,
including allegations and convic
tions of first and third degree sexual
assault. Coach Osborne, when will
you stop making excuses for your
players and hold them personally
responsible for actions off the
football field? I don’t hear excuses
being made for on-the-field behav
ior, blaming lost yards on lousy calls
by officials! Is it possible that some
players can’t limit power and
dominance to football slams and
tackles?
Apparently the New England
Patriots were unwilling to assume
the risk and liability for a person
with a repeated history of violence
against women. Coach Osborne’s
excuses are out of bounds even in a
society where abusers go unpun
ished and victims are held account
_ i_ 1 _
CIU1U.
Judith Kriss
'*■ *. director
UNL Women’s Center
Method madness
Is Kelly Johnson serious? With
regard to the Unabomber she would
have us believe: “His method might
be flawed, but that doesn’t mean his
message is” (DN, Apr. 25).
I wonder, given her recent attacks
on law-abiding gun owners, if she
feels the same way about Timothy
McVeigh?
Sensible people will recognize
that both Kaczynski and McVeigh
represent the extreme radical fringe
whose ideas are so distant from the
main stream as to not be taken
seriously. But I suppose that’s
asking a bit much of a liberal
columnist who “might” consider
\__ —i
James Mehsling/DN
murder a flawed method of demon
strating one’s beliefs. It’s scary to
sec how far some will stretch
common sense in the name of
political ideology.
Thomas K. Eads
senior
political science/English
Money matters
I was rather disappointed with
the editorial that appeared on April
22 about ecology in the ’90s. The
overall tone of the editorial was
positive, and pro environmental
responsibility. Still, the paper saw
tit to seemingly take a swipe at
activists, or as the unknown editori
alist wrote “capitalists” who market
buttons, T-shirts and so forth on
Earth Day. Well, I have to wonder
why is that so wrong?
Later the same editorial mentions
that the cause of the environment no
longer divides people by ideology.
Maybe you people at the DN ought
to climb out of your basement
offices once in a while.
Sure, there are businesses that are
becoming more environmentally
conscious. Perhaps some of the less
bloodthirsty republicans in the
house arc wavering on the issue of
the environment, but they arc but a
lew blades of grass in a field
overrun with the weeds of ignorance
and self-absorbed indifference.
Local activists have been trying to
nurture those making rational
choices on environmental issues for
many years. That requires capital in
our society, and even the DN
doesn’t get printed for free. If
activists don’t sell T-shirts and
buttons and veggie-burgers, what
resource does the Daily Nebraskan
recommend? Maybe using the same
“tits and ass” revenue from BJ’s
Hideaway that the DN uses?
Whatever the point the author of
the-cdiiorial was attempting U* jg§
make, I appreciate what coverage
the Daily Nebraskan has given to
environmental issues over the years.
I hope that Doug Kouma, the
paper’s editor for the next school
year, will continue that coverage. It
just seems strange that a student
paper in a school with an environ
mental awareness as acute as ours
doesn’t seem to think that much of
those who devote considerable
amounts of their free time to the
issue.
James A. Zank
senior
English
Bad judgment
For people both on and off
campus, the Daily Nebraskan often
serves as the only source of news
about campus events. UNL is a
conservative school and the DN is a
conservative paper. Its advertising
policy is vaguely outlined as
allowing any ads so long as'they are
not “obscene or offensive.”
Normally I do not support
censorship, but the case of the
Playboy ad begs the question as the
DN regularly censors what is
covered in its pages. The very
description of its advertising policy
speaks volumes on this note.
Whoever uses their power to make
the final decision of what is offen
sive or obscene for an entire
community is a censor.
The question is why did the DN
not censor the Playboy ad? Allow
ing the ad means that the person
with the power of censor did not
find it offensive or obscene. In the
conservative climate of this campus
this acts as a tacit endorsement of
what Playboy stands for.
Love Library carries Playboy but
not Ms. magazine. Several football
players have been accused of rape
with lew repercussions while
condom machines arc stilj not
allowed in the residence halls. What
message does all this give? Cer
tainly not one which respects and
supports women as individual sexual
beings and this is both offensive and
obscene if you ask me.
Nell Eckersley
graduate student at-large