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
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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.
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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
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