EDITOR
Doug Houma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anne Hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
Matt White
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
BethNarans
Bellyaching
Union leaders impede
reforms in education
From The Son Diego Union-Tribune
Bob Dole’s promise to take on the politi
cally potent teachers unions to bring about
badly needed education reform has produced
predictable bellyaching from the biggest im
pediment to reform—the union leaders.
No sooner had Dole issued his challenge
than the National Education Association and
the American Federation of Teachers sounded
the false alarm of teacher-bashing. Never
mind that Dole was chastising the obstruc- -
tionist unions — not dedicated classroom
teachers—for inferior public schools.
The union leadership views the 1996
presidential election as a clear-cut choice be
tween someone they can control and some
one they cannot control.
They’re right.
Bill Clinton, like every Democratic presi
dential nominee of the last two decades, is
basically a captive of the teachers unions. He
routinely extols the virtues of public schools
while enrolling his own daughter in a private
school.
Ditto for Vice President A1 Gore and
many other Democratic lawmakers who do
the Unions’ bidding while reflexively oppos
ing legislative efforts to enable poor families
the opportunity to send their children to bet
ter private schools.
Dole, on tne otner nand, refuses to coun
tenance the cynical strategy of holding low
income students hostage in dysfunctional
schools. He believes all children—not Just
those of affluent parents — should be able to
attend good schools. Which is precisely why
the teachers unions are prepared to spend
whatever it takes to prevent him from win
ning this election and taking on the education
establishment with opportunity scholarships.
Fully one-eighth of the delegates who
were at the Democratic National Convention
in Chicago are members of the NEA or the ~
AFT. This special interest has earmarked
millions of dollars toward Clinton's re-elec
tion and that of like-minded Democrats. The
education lobby's strategy is to maintain the
stagnant status quo while trolling for more
* federal funds.
During the early 1980s, after the NEA
demanded of Jimmy Carter and therefore re
ceived a Cabinet-level Education Department,
a union official boasted that his people were
roaming the halls of Congress, reordering the
nation's priorities.
He didn’t mention roaming the halls of
urban high schools, where police officers of
ten patrol to protect students from harm; or
seeing to it that all children receive a quality
education.
Then again, the union leadership is more
concerned about looking after its own inter
ests than in dealing with such mundane mat
ters as reading, writing and arithmetic.
That is why die NEA and the AFT are
terrified by the prospect of a President Dole.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Fall 1996Daily Nebraskan. They do not nec
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of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its stu
dent body or the University of Nebraska
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Way out there
Marie Albracht’s editorial in the
Aug 28 DN compels me to write in
response. His admission of the
extent of how far Generation X (and
their older counterparts) have been
conditioned by the media bombard
ment of “alien culture” is appalling
and frightening.
Mr. Albracht’s theory that “we’re
being tested and buttered up for the
big news,” that we are not akne in
the universe, that we are being
prepared for the coming of “aliens
from outer space,” is right on target.
As a former Sci-Fi fan and trekkie, 1
can attest to how well this condition
ing is working. However, it is not an
alien culture from another region of
the universe that is doing the work,
but an agency right here on Earth,
and only here on Earth. One need
only study the Bible to find the
responsible party, and that is Satan
and his legions of fallen angels. The
Bible states that there are indeed
other worlds and other intelligent
beings out there — but they are
watching the drama being played
out on this planet with intense
curiosity, from a distance. They have
no desire to come to this world and
become trapped in the same snares
that hold our world in bondage.
This generation (X or otherwise)
is in grave danger of being finally
deceived. If you would know the
truth, study the Bible, go to church,
talk with a church elder, find a
fellow Christian and Seek earnestly
for enlightenment before it is too
late. Tb believe in the coming of
aliens with “excited anticipation” is
to welcome die enemy into your
heart and mind. The truth is far
more wonderful and marvelous than
anything that Satan and/or the
media can invent.
David M. Newman
“perpetual UNL student”
Adjust the facts
l ean appreciate views that differ
from mine when they are based on
facts and presented in a logical
manner. Brent Pope’s column on
Thursday did neither.
Putting aside for the moment the
inconsistency of holding Dole to a
standard for which Clinton is
exempt, consider the following
exposure of Pope’s falsehoods: Jack
Kemp at 61 will not be “the oldest
vice president for a first term
president in American history,” if
elected. George Clinton was 69
when he was elected as the vice
president for first-termer James .
Madison in 1808.
In his entire acceptance speech,
Bob Dole never said anything
like,’’Bob Dole likes ideas,” as Mr.
Pope alleges. You would think that
in Dole’s 57 minute speech Pope
could find something REAL to
criticize, but instead he made
something up, assuming that no one
would check up on it.
As a senior broadcasting major,
Pope should know better. As a
reputable paper, the Daily Nebras
kan should have a little chat with
Pope about die ethics of journalism.
As a student of this fine Univer
sity, 1 hope Pope is not typical of
what UNL is producing these days.
GleuTh. Parks
junior
philosophy
Disarming ideas
I found the column “Watch the
government; It watches you,” in the
Aug. 27 Daily Nebraskan to be
highly offensive and inflammatory
and inappropriate for inclusion in a
responsible newspaper. The writer,
Mr. Nick Wiltgen, obviously has
extreme anti-government views and
makes wildly exaggerated state
ments about “invisible guns” and
“armed robbers” to justify his
apparent belief that each person
should be free to obey only those
laws he thinks are “just.” The
human race has struggled for
millenia to raise itself out of
savagery to achieve its present
imperfect state of civilization. To do
this, it has instituted governments
and codes of behavior called laws.
Respect for the laws of a community
means respect for the people of that
community. If Mr. Wiltgen really
prefers anarchy to law, I can think ol
several other countries which he
might find mere to his liking.
He is obviously interested in
drugs, and in that connection, writes
of “victimless crimes.” However, a
large fraction of die murders,
assaults, robberies, burglaries and
other crimes are drug-related. We
are all victims, and the use of illicit
drugs has costs that all of us have to
bear.
In die name of responsible
journalism, I hope that the Daily
Nebraskan will let Mr. Wiltgen blow
off steam from a soap box out on
some street corner instead of giving
him space in the student newspaper.
M. Eugene Rudd
professor emeritus
physics
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