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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1997)
EDITOR Doug Kouma OPINION EDITOR Anthony Nguyen EDITORIAL BOARD Anne Hjersman Paula Lavigne Joshua Gillin Jessica Kennedy Jeff Randall Our VIEW On track Washington’s innocence worthy of recognition A 23-year-old man was given a chance Friday to live his life outside of prison, to help raise his 1 -year-old son and to continue his life that was put on hold Aug. 2, 1995. Riley Washington was acquitted of sec ond-degree attempted murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. Early that August morning, we know this happened: Jermaine Cole was shot in his left side. The bullet hit his ribcage and ricocheted underneath the skin, burrowing around to rest on his sternum. As many as 20 people potentially wit nessed the shooting. Riley Washington was there, but he said he did not see the gunman, and used his track-record-holding speed to get him away from danger before he could see who did it. Others were there. Abdul Muhammad and Willis Brown — two men who got in a fight with Cole. Harold “Bernard” Stewart and Israel Hawkins were there also. They testified that Washington did it, but their stories were filled with flaws and inconsistencies. Many others were there who didn’t step forward to tell their story for one reason or another. But what we know now, as a result of those who did testify, is this: Riley Wash ington is not guilty. Now everyone must look inward and think long and hard about what was said and what was written in that year and a half. And in return, we must commend his innocence as much as we condemned his arrest. The jury foreman Ken Vergith said no juror voted for a conviction. He said for many, the presumption of innocence never changed. » Unfortunately for many others, that was not the case. t The Nebraska football team has had its problems—there is no denying that. From Lawrence Phillips to Christian Peter to Terrell Farley to Tyrone Williams, players have had bumps with the law. Some stand accused of serious crimes. Others commit ted more common, more human errors. It is often difficult to look at a series of incidents and not group them together. The human tendency for “guilt by association” is a difficult one to overcome. But Washington cannot be made part of that Husker Trouble List that we in the media all bang on like a cheap gong. He is not guilty. Acquitted of all charges. And we all must give him what he de serves. His good name. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is soley the opinion of its author: The Board of Regents serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito rial^ Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the edi torial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. Letter Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let ters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Sub mitted material becomes the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re turned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affilia tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-ynail: letters@unlinfaunl.edu. Mehsling’s VIEW Ill jm -—- ll ,i ^ Relative morals I noticed two articles that appeared in the DN opinion section on Jan. 28 that were characteristic of most arguments dealing with the moral relativist stance. As always, these positions were filled with contradictions — and an ignorance of the ramifications of this ideology that seems to be embedded in this university. Sonia Hollimon-Stovall in her column “Casting the first stone” made several statements such as, “1 don’t think it’s OK to sit in judg ment of others,” and “but instead of sitting in judgment, we should mind our own business.” Michael Donley in his column “On a high horse” argued a similar stance. These statements are the corner stone of the unjustifiable relativist position. These two people demon strated their lack of knowledge of what they were saying when they spent an entire page passing judgment on those who pass judgment. Dcyuuu mis uuuuctuiciiuii, wiuui is inherent in the relativist position, Hollimon-Stovall committed several other contradictions. Within her column she made statements such as, “I say Americans because we are one of the most hypocritical coun tries on Earth” and “they did have enough sense not to fall for that ‘EuroDisney’ crap.” These state ments are very blatantly and obviously passing judgment on others within the very column where she sets out to criticize such behav ior. Furthermore, I can wily assume that Michael Donley was ecstatic after reading the article on the front page of the Daily Nebraskan which clearly stated, “The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has failed ... ” This article went on to quote Rev. John Carter of St. John’s church as saying, “If you can’t say that it’s wrong, then you’re condoning the conduct.” Donley’s wish has been granted fw at least one more day, by the university failing to, as Donley says “impose morals on people,” by not establishing a code of ethics. I am amazed that so many members of our university are DN_ LETTERS f Natalie Linstrom/DN. willing to attempt to abide by such an irrational position. Refusing to criticize homosexual, sexist and/or racist actions, is ineffectually condoning such conduct. Then these people make remarks similar to that of Hollimon-Stovall when she states, “we should mind our own business.” Matthew Molsen sophomore economics and finance Unreal Reasoning The recent column by J J. Harder “ ... discrimination for all,” (DN, Wednesday), about Sigma Chi’s initiation and about racism in general, has a few flaws in reason ing. I don’t believe that people are going to be racist no matter what happens. This is not true of anything in this world. You could just as easily say that people are going to have speech imperfections or are going to be murderers — no matter what happens. That kind of reasoning is what is keeping people from not being ; racist. There are many people who don’t have a grasp of what I would consider a reality, and these people are the ones I am talking about. They could see that someone thinks “people are going to be racist” or “people are going to be murderers” and have untrue thoughts about what is accepted and what isn’t. Take any murderers and you can tell where they got the idea from or what drove them to that — usually something to do with their child hood or a frequent amount of recent problems. That would be, most likely, the same for people who are racist. Perhaps their parents didn’t raise them correctly, or maybe their friends influenced them in the wrong way. Whatever it is, it could have been prevented. Things like burning crosses and any other forms of racism are just uncalled for. Furthermore, at the very bare minimum, they shouldn’t be supported by a column like this or the university saying that it isn’t against their policy. Adam Simeon freshman business National Champions! The Campus Recreation Advisory Council is very proud of the UNL co-recreation flag football team “Let’s Get It On,” which won the NIKE Invitational Flag Football Championship over the semester break. The team competed in New Orleans as an official part of the Sugar Bowl Festival and defeated Appalachian State 21-18 in the championship game. The Campus Recreation Advisory Council was very disappointed that the Daily Nebraskan neglected to find this achievement newsworthy. We want to be sure these students are recognized for their outstanding accomplishment. These students worked very hard and should be commended for they are the first UNL flag football team to win the national championship in the 18 years of competition in this event. Congratulations “Let’s Get It On!” Andy Kafka Campus Recreation Advisory Council president yggSE™riiep« .' >§S$i*i}k**£ •* iS lllCfltlOD ■ j;'-:^ 1 - - ■ - - - i Sfe W « ' :u W