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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1997)
EDITOR Doug Kouma * &&&?* OPHTCOft EDITOR Anthony Nguyen EDITORIAL BOARD Paula Lavigne Joshua Gillin Jessica Kennedy Jeff Randall Erin Gibson DN Quotes OF THE WEEK “What did you charge him with? Masturbating? Is that a crime in Lancaster County?” — Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, expressing concern about LB323, the Sexual Predator Act “Finding O.J. Simpson liable of the murders and acting with oppression and malice was one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make.” — Juror No. 11 in the Simpson civil trial “Weird stuff can happen. One lady even drove a Neon into the Rio Grande River.” — Angie Kettler, a customer service representative for Budget Rent-A-Car “It hurts. We’re obviously out of the race for the Big 12 Championship.” —NU junior guard Anna DeFoige af ter the Huskers’ loss to Kansas State Wednesday night, “I feel compelled to emphasize that overt and implied acts of racial hatred and bigotry will not be tolerated at the Uni versity of Nebraska.” —NU President Dennis Smith “The scariest thing about this is the silence. Silence, as you know, indicates consent” — Eric Crump, chairman of campus advocacy and race relations for the Afrikan People’s Union “When you work on something for months, it tends to get redundant.” —Patty Diloon, member of the Theatrix “If there is any action that comes closer to infanticide, I don’t want to know about it.” — Sen. Dave Maurstad of Beatrice, who introduced a bill to the Legislature that would ban partial-birth abortions “A woman does not carry a preg nancy to that stage only to have an abor tion.” ; - — Kelly Groux, president of the Pro ? Choice Coalition of Nebraska “We’re going to Northern Iowa with one goal: to win the game—period.” —NU Coach Danny Nee “I want my tours to reach out and grab people.” —Gloria Witherspoon, Nebraska State Capitol tour guide “I had a gal ask for some rubber bi kini briefs for the men, that we didn’t have in stock.” — Audrie Sparks, employee at Priscilla’s, on some not-so-hot items for Valentine’s Day “ I thought we played like horseshit” — Nee, following the Huskers’ loss to KSU Monday night 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 en^iloyees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is solely 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 leners 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-mail: letters@unlinfo.uni.edu. Mehsling’s VIEW ?! M it totfOfnoli M \h te spirt of sr. MM-'s ^ WlTit CNRWST \S ' SMfrTHlS DN LETTERS Absurd Stance The letter from Mr. Robert A. Aguirre illustrates the problem with the efforts to censor insensitive speech. He interpreted the statement by J.J. Harder —-that he would like every 8-year-oId,in America to be able to read “not counting illegal immigrants” — to be antagonistic against all Mexicans — “rampant _ racism.” I had interpreted the same phrase as gentle sarcasm against Conservatives and Republicans. Anyone can attach any meaning to any phrase or symbol at any time. The danger arises when the govern ment, or any subunit thereof, insists upon a single “permissible” inter pretation. All other viewpoints then become thought crimes. Such is tyranny. I wonder if Mr. Aguirre would consider me to be a rampant sexist, since I refer to him as “Mr.” In America’s mad rush toward socialist totalitarianism (“liberalism”), any absurdity is possible. S. Duane England graduate student biology Making a Mountain I see that J.J. Harder expressed an objection to illegal immigrants. This should not be too controversial because most of us have a problem with people who break the law. Robert A. Aguirre, however, chooses to look beyond what was actually said in order to see racist comments that were never made. First, he claims it is an attack on Mexicans, when Mr. Harder said nothing about nationality. And even if a significant proportion of illegal immigrants are Mexican, he isn’t objecting because they’re Mexican but because they are here illegally. I..i*’" - Jim Mehsling/DN Mr. Aguirre then talks about “so called ‘illegals.’” I’d like to point out that an immigrant enters the country either legally or illegally. There is nothing “so-called” about this. I wonder what Mr. Aguirre instead suggests we should call people who break the law to enter this country. Finally, Mr. Aguirre says that Mr. Harder denigrated Mexican Americans. The fact is that Mexi can-Americans are either citizens or documented workers. Mr. Harder said nothing about them that wasn’t extended to all people who are here legally. If Mr. Aguirre expects to be taken seriously when he expresses his outrage against racism in the future, he’s going to have to do a better job of telling what is racist and what is not. Brad Pardee Love Libraiy One Night , Up to this point I have rarely, if ever, read a full opinion column written by Kasey Kerber, mainly because of lack of interest or complete disagreement. However, lo and behold, that old saying you can’t judge a book by the first few chapters holds true. Kasey’s column “No regrets” in Wednesday’s paper actually had a lot of good points and I was in total agreement. That is to say that I and a number of my friends share the same ideals as Kasey. I should think that anyone who would ridicule him or people who have chosen to wait for “the right time” should re-evaluate themselves. People who would look down upon or make fun of these ideals probably just aren’t secure enough about some choices they made in the past. Kasey is not alone — maybe in the minority — but not alone. It’s nice to find even one more person nowadays at this level who has kept to his ideals. I mean no disrespect to those who have already found their “right time.” However, those who are unmar ried, uncommitted and leading promiscuous lifestyles should really stop and think about what they are doing to themselves and their partners. You can become used to living a certain way and not see anything wrong with it. Yes, you are old enough to live your own life. I am just asking you to think before you end up hurting yourself or someone else. It’s a game of life or death in the ’90s and it only takes one time with the wrong person before you’re at the end of the line. Is one night with a stranger worth a thousand nights with someone you love? Edward J. Cargill sophomore animal science Ls\ ■. -