} EDITOR
DougKouma
OPINION ?
EDITOR
Anne Hjersman
-
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
Matt Waite
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
Small crime
What ever happened
to detention hall ?
Nearly everyone fondly remembers the
carefree days of elementary school. Story
times, field trips and vigorous sessions of
kickball during recess often come to mind.
But the early days of school weren’t al
ways picturesque and innocent; troublemak
ers popped up now and then. They were the
ones who passed notes in class and stuffed
paper towels into sink drains in the restrooms.
They whispered dirty jokes behind the
teacher’s back, ate paste and purposely
mumbled the wrong words to the Pledge of
Allegiance.
And when most of us look back at our
grade school days, we realize that—on one
occasion or another—we were troublemak
ers, too.
But in elementary and secondary schools
across America in recent weeks, a new breed
of troublemakers has begun to rear its ugly
head. Tt*ey are seemingly good students who
\ have become grouped with all the habitual
paste-eatersand note-passer's.
- —InNorth Carolina, a first-grader was
suspended for violating his school’s policy
on sexual harassment He had kissed a class
mate on the cheek.
— In Florida, two Roman Catholic high
school students were suspended for refusing
to remove pro-choice stickers from their cars.
— In Ohio, a 13-year-old honor student
was suspended for the possession of narcot
ics. She had taken Midol to school.
These students and events, while unre
lated, have all earned national media atten
tion because of both the severity of the pun
^ ishh^ttts arid, M jprdb casds, die laughable
in attempts to quell tne iears oi paranoia
parents and earn the praise of grandstanding
politicians, schools across the country have
taken a track toward stricter enforcement of
long-standing rules and regulations. Al
though this course of action may sound as
* though it would provide a sense of order in a
potentially chaotic environment, in these
cases it has created the opposite.
How can an environment be called or
derly when a bottle of Midol is filed under
the same punishment heading as crack co
caine? Or when a first-grader’s peck on the
cheek is called sexual harassment?
* School administrators defended their ac
tions in these instances by saying they were
doing what the public told them to do: Get
tough on crime.
But when the paranoia of the masses is
enough to get harmless children suspended,
that paranoia needs to be put in check. Be
cause even if we did decide to systematically
remove every bad apple from our schools, in
the process we would end up throwing away
far too many good ones.
And die environment we will have cre
ated for our children would not be one of
learning, but one of fear and paranoia. And
our children shouldn’t have to be afraid and
paranoid before they graduate high scnool.
They ’ll have the rest of their lives to do
that
1 _
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall
1996 Daily Nebraskan. They do not neces
sarily reflect the views of the University of
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supervises me fuomiaioQCf me news
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Brent
POPE
Out of order
Crooked cops are below the law
Two years ago, on Oct. 1, an
innocent man died after a struggle
i with Lincoln police’ officers. His
name was Francisco Renteria. In case
you weren’t in Nebraska at the time
or you forgot, here’s a more detailed
version of the tragedy:
The Lincoln Police Department
got a call saying there was a Hispanic
man violating a protection order and
disturbing the peace. The LPD sent
several cars to the site. Officers saw
Mr. Renteria, a Hispanic man,
walking in die area and assumed he
was the suspect. They were wrong. It
was a case of mistaken identity. They
stopped Renteria and attempted to
question him, but he didn’t speak
English. He tried to walk away...
What happened next depends on who
you believe.
The officers involved said that
Renteria had a seizure in the police
car, but doctors found no pre-existing
medical conditions that would have
explained a seizure.
Hie officers said they believed he
was drunk, and that’s why he
vomited while they were ESCORT
ING him to the police car. Doctors
found ho alcohol or drugs in
Renteria’s system.
The officers also stated that he
was restrained in the normal fashion.
A Nebraska legislator said that the
autopsy report indicated bruises on
Renteria’s head, neck, back, legs and
, sides, and showed swelling of the
brain.
No matter who you believe, this
much is indisputable: Francisco
Renteria died of a brain hemorrhage
«
I am quite sure
there are dirty cops
right here in
Lincoln. In fact,
Tve encountered
a couple "
after being mistaken for another
Hispanic man and apprehended by
Lincoln police.
The police chief, two officers and
a fire captain were investigated for
possible wrongdoing; all four were
acquitted. Even so, I am quite sure
there are dirty cops right here in
Lincoln. In fact, I’ve encountered a
couple.
In the summer of 1990,1 bought a
car at a Lincoln Telephone Company
auction. It was a bright yellow 1974
Chevy Nova—one of the ugliest
cars ever made. On my way home, I
pulled onto O Street.
At 12th and O, a cop pulled me
over with no explanation. I wasn’t
speeding or anything, he just wanted
to see my license and registration. (I
don’t think that’s legal.)
At 48th and O, I was pulled over
again. And again, I wasn’t breaking
any laws. This police officer was
nice enough to get his night stick out
and demand that I get out of my car.
When I asked him why, he re
sponded, “Because I think you stole
this car, boy!” I refused to get out of
my car. Luckily, I was on a busy
street and nothing really came of the
accusation. I gave him my license
and registration, and he sent me on
my way.
The sad thing is, I never reported
what happened to any authorities. I
just went home and tried to forget
about it. When the Renteria incident
occurred, I felt really guilty about not
telling anyone about my own
incident. Not because it would have
stopped that tragedy from taking
place, but because 1 didn’t do my
part in making people aware that
these things can and do happen.
We must do everything we can to
make sure that police are held
accountable for their actions. The
police are watching us, and we
should return the favor. I’m not
talking about being a vigilante, I’m
talking about being aware of a
potential problem and protecting
yourself from it.
And please don’t think that this is
just a racial issue. Some cops are
prejudiced against guys with long
hair and earrings. Some don’t like it
if you have a nice car. Sane just
have chips on their shoulders.
Anyone can be a victim.
Pope is a senior broadcasting
major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist
jRlS Write 3>ack
flMl ^ .a.~”' «?
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