.EDITOR
DougKouma
OPINION
EDITOR -
Anne Hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
Matt Waite
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
Lottery millionaire
was better off poor
From The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento,
Calif.
Lottery millionaire Buddy Post has a
winner’s story that’s a sobering cautionary
tale to those who dream of winning the lot
tery and living the
dream: Be caretul
what you wish for.
In 1988, the ex
carnival worker and
cook won $16.2 mil
lion in the Pennsylva
nia Lottery. But as the
Associated Press re
counts it, that was
when his troubles be
gan.
Even before the
first check arrived,
Post’s landlady sued,
claiming she owned
part of the winning
ticket. The courts
awarded her one-third
of the proceeds.
Meanwhile, Post
and various relatives
opened a bar, a used
car lot and other busi
nesses, using the
promise of lottery pro
ceeds to come as capi
tal. All the businesses
failed and by now Post
is deeply in debt to
lawyers and creditors.
It gets worse.
In 1993, his
brother was convicted
of attempting to kill
Buddy and his wife in
hopes of inheriting the
lottery money.
Then Buddy was
convicted of assault
u
Buddy
Post may
or may
not have
learned by
now that
money
can’t buy
love,
happiness,
friends,
business
acumen
and lots
of other
desirable
things.”
and sentenced to
prison. He’s free pending appeal and claims
he only fired a gun into die air to scare off
his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, who was pes
tering him about a failed business venture.
Post’s sixth wife left him and filed for
divorce, and Buddy has been ordered to pay
her $40,000 a year in support.
He’s $500,000 in debt and has filed for
bankruptcy. The gas has been shut off at the
mansion he bought with lottery winnings.
Now he hopes to auction off 17 future
lotteiy payments worth $5 million. But Penn
sylvania Lottery officials are threatening to
block the auction, claiming that future pay
ments can’t be sold.
Buddy Post may or may not have learned
by now that money can’t buy love, happi
ness, friends, business acumen and a lot of
other desirable things.
Surely, though, he’s learned that it can
buy a lot of trouble.
Be careful what you wish for.
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MEHSLING'S VIEW
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LETTERS
Give me a break
Dear Cliff Hicks,
I appreciate your desire to be
proud of your German heritage, your
maleness and the fact that you have a
couple of black friends who will fight
for you if someone calls you a racist.
I appreciate your willingness to open
yourself up to the possible scrutiny
of your readers by. expressing your
views and feelings so candidly. And
finally, 1 appreciate the fact that you
wrote it all down for me to respond
to. That’s where the appreciation
ends.
Mr. Hicks, I pray that before I die,
white people will stop riding the
soapbox of disclaimers. Who in the
worldiias time to blame you for
anything? You have no understanding
about racism at all. Racism is about
power and privilege. And because of
the power of folks who looked like
you, African-Americans like myself
and those of other racial groups, have
the privilege of hearing you whine
about being thought of as a racist. In
a phrase, “Give me a break!”
You wanted to avoid this, but you
put yourself out there. Understand
this if you can. As an African
American man.... No, as a Christian
African-American man.... No, let me
start again, as a Christian African
American man from St. Louis....
Hold it, as a Christian African
American man from St. Louis who is
a college graduate, husband, father
and university administrator, I have
to sit back and have uninformed
people like you try to validate
themselves, while I have had to
prove that I am worthy, qualified,
patriotic and tolerable. I have had to
hold my tongue, humble myself, and
work in uncomfortable environments
and smile, smile, smile, just to
survive. I did not say thrive; I said
* survive. And you want me to feel
empathy for you. I say again, “Give
me a break.”
I would imagine that if I got to
know you, I would find that you are
probably an intelligent young man
with goals and dreams like many
others who matriculate here.
But you must understand, this
land we call the “good old U.S.A.”
belonged to the Native Americans.
White men came, lied to some, killed
others and took it. And had the nerve
to put their faces in the hills over
looking previously sacred ground.
They moved out the Mexicans,
brought over Africans and impris
oned Asians. You obviously have no
idea about the European immigrants
—who came of their own free will,
by the way—who were told to lose
their language, folkways and
everything else and become, as you
say, American.
“Give me a break.”
Mr. Hicks, be proud of who you
are and I will be thrilled that you are.
Understand that no one is blaming
you personally for racism, discrimi
nation or oppression. That makes no
sense. Also, understand that white
people are, and have beat for a long
time, the direct beneficiaries of
racism in America—like it or not.
Finally, understand that for us to
move beyond these debates, the
truths about America must be told
and the reality of these truths
acknowledged. *
, All I have said does not take away
from the fact that this is a great
country. But, think how much greater
it would be if not for the racism,
discrimination and oppression of
people who look like you. Be proud
of that if you can!
John L. Harris
special assistant
Office of the Vice Chancellor for
Student Affairs
The art of
mooching
;• In Nick Wiltgen’s “A sign of
government control: Forced funding
for public programs is unfair,” (DN,
Oct. 1) he states: “We need only
recognized that each person must be
free to earn his or her own living,
must merit his or her own popularity,
and must buy his or her own things.”
In the world of art, what merits
popularity—in other words, what
the mass public wants—is usually
trash, of little or no redeeming value,
except as mindless entertainment
(which, granted, is of some value).
If you doubt this, check out a
bestseller list from a hundred or so
years ago and see how many names
you recognized. The John Grishams
and Danielle Steeles of their day
have not lasted; on the other hand,
Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”—
frequently called “The Great
American Novel —was considered
a failure.
If this country had only to offer
what the marketplace bears, God
help us as a culture.
I won’t even bother trying to
defend the importance of art in
society, or how reading great
literature might improve one’s
quality of thought. No, 1*11 stick to
the only thing Wiltgen understands:
money.
What Wiltgen doesn’t understand
is that funding for the NEA ulti- |
mately stimulates the economy. In
many ways, government funding of
the NEA isn’t so different from
government funding for a small J
business. I
Wiltgen is affronted by the idea of
his tax dollars paying for something
that he doesn’t like. He condemns die
“legalization of mooching, extorting,
or stealing.” Ironically, he is attend
ing a state-funded university. If he’s
so concerned with people “buying his
or her own things,” I suggest he
transfer to a private university. After
all, if not for my tax dollars, Wiltgen
wouldn’t have had the forum of the
Daily Nebraskan to vent his frustra
tions about such “free-loaders” as
himself.
John McNally
graduate student
English
HS. Write Back
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