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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1997)
EDITOR Paula Lavigne OPINION EDITOR Matthew Waite EDITORIAL BOARD ... Erin Gibson Joshua Gillin Jeff Randall Julie Sobczyk Ryan Soderlin Our VIEW you Students who stay deserve respect If you are reading this, you should be commended. It’s Tuesday, the last day before Thanksgiving break. Three days plus a weekend of no classes, no worries, glut tony and home cooking. Shangri-La, we have come. But the urge to binge on the cozy con fines of parental confections has pulled some of our fellow boys and girls a little too hard. Some of the little Pilgrims around campus have pulled away from Plymouth Rock, destined to head their Mayflowers back to the homeland for a brief visit. But here you are, in class, around campus, in the union, at the library. In other words, you went to class. You stayed for Tuesday. Bravo. You are a better person for it. You are stronger willed than some of your fellow students. Look to your left. Now look to your right. How many people are in your classes today? Fewer than Thursday, we’re willing to bet. Fewer than any day, we reckon. Momma’s call is strong, and while we can fully understand the overriding sense of guilt that comes with an e-mail mes sage or answering machine plea from the parentals saying, “We hardly see you anymore. Come home early,” we must remain true to our calling. * - - mistime pf giving thanks, we thankTl you hardy students who came to campus today and slumped into class to hear the last lecture before slinking out of town. We thank you for being farsighted enough to see that a short day on campus is more valuable than, well, a whole day of vacation. It ain’t glamorous. It ain’t sexy. It isn’t any fun to say, “Yeah, I went to class” instead of, “Yeah, I went home, sat on the couch, ate Cap’n Crunch and watched ‘Montel’ until Mom came home.” At a time in our history when the old timers of the world are crying that our generation has no discipline, here you are. You could have left. Without a test or quiz to hold you here, why did you show? Discipline. It’s refreshing to see. And we realize this is shouting into an empty room, but shame on all. of you who aren’t here to absorb the waves of wisdom , bestowed upon you by your instructors. But if you are out there to read this, thanks. Thanks for showing up today. Thanks for showing that work ethic and discipline still exist. Thanks for showing that instant gratification can take a back seat in this time of now, now, now. We just wish there were more of you to read this. May your travels be safe, and your holiday warm. Happy Thanksgiving. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A odumn is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as publisher oHhe Dail^N^^kairpolrc^ set by UNi?PuWications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. Latter Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters 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. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. Haney’s VIEW jTfihe W MlWf “fate 1o ^ " : fpn. 'pu^Hfe Uaupjg„,lUBi HT gNouss rtgftt f t-V- rt***w-: V ... and stay out! Government shouldn’t have easy access to data CLIFF HICKS is a news editorial and English major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. If you thought the days of wiretaps, constant surveillance and the FBI pok ing its nose into every aspect of your life were over, think twice. The FBI wants the ’Net - now. Not only it,-but the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as any one else who thinks your life is a matter of national security. Sure, Sem McCarthy may be long dead and the Red Scare a thing of the past, but the government does n’t seem to learn from its mistakes like the rest of us'. Let me explain. Chances are, most of you have never purchased something over the Internet, fearing as to whether or not it is safe. If you do, most people will tell you you’re taking your life into your own hands. It really isn’t that bad. See, almost every one of those transactions is encrypted. Unfamiliar with encryption? When you encrypt something, you use a specific mathematical formula, which is nearly unbreakable, to scramble the data and make it unread able to anyone without the key. The government isn’t happy about this. On the Internet, it’s hard to tell the difference between a 9-year-old looking at the Disney home page and 37 armed terrorists looking for the ideal location to place bombs near government buildings. On the ’Net, everybody’s just little ones and zeros. What the government has been trying to do is halt the sale of encryp tion technologies by American com panies to overseas companies, thus protecting national security. This plan is called the Commerce Online in the Digital Era (Pro CODE) Act of 1997. Another plan dealing with simi lar issues is called the Secure Public Networks Act, supported by our own Sen. Bob Kerrey. Hello, McFly? As if this weren’t bad enough, here comes the really bad news: The gov ernment wants each encryption com pany te-design ar“key” to each encryp tion they design, which will enable the keyholder to unencrypt anything using that encryption. Then the government wants those keys. This too, it tells us, is for national security. Uh, what? So, you’re thinking, “Let me get this straight: Not only does the gov ernment want to restrict free trade of technology on the grounds of National security,’ it also wants an easy way to read every encrypted document, view every encrypted file and listen in otf everycncrypted chat taking place through the Internet?” Yeah, that’s about the size of it. I don’t know about you, but me personally, I think it’s none of the government’s damn business what I’m sending through my e-mail. We have this Handy thing called the right to privacy. It says that we as . private individuals ar$ not to have our -fife gone through at tfie government’s vSftnm without proof of some kind. The government, no matter how much it might suspect you’re peddling crack from your back door step, isn’t supposed to be able to go in and search the house without probable cause. -Those words are important, so let me repeat them: “probable cause.” Probable cause won’t be an issue if we turn keys over to the government. It will be able to use and abuse the power at its leisure. We won’t know every time someone opens e-mail - which brings me back to the Red Scare. I’m certainly not old enough to remember it personally, but it fasci nates and disgusts me. i— There once was a senator named Joseph McCarthy who hated commu nists so much he began a witch hunt, calling anyone suspected of being a communist before his committee. They were grilled over and over until they confessed to being a com munist and pointed fingers at every^ one they knew. Those who refused were blacklisted and found them selves unable to get jobs, unable to find homes and often harassed and arrested for no reason at all. Almost none of these people was a communist. It was a gross violation of rights. It was inhumane, brutal and illegal. It was done by the U.S. govern ment. Un, we ve learned, says the U.b. government. We won’t abuse the power, it says. B.S., I say. Nightmares like this are only supposed to exist in “The X-Files” - shadowy government people doing seedy things without our knowledge. Keys for encryption codes belong in the hands of the companies who develop the software. If the gov ernment needs to use them, it can ga ask for permission, much like getting a search warrant. As for not selling the codes over-1 seas, we do'business all the time all over the world. This isn’t any different. And if we sell them overseas, more than likely we’ll have a key for them, correct? If we aren’t selling them over seas, those countries will develop their own - and there goes your key. Luckily it looks like the good guys are winning this one and the , government is being driven back. J. Edgar Hoover’s days are gone, folks, and good riddance to them. Send a copy of my column to Sen. Kerrey, along with this note, and make a difference. • - —-i j I Sen. Bob Kerrey, i S 294 Federal Building , j ! 100 Centennial Mall North Lincoln, NE 68508 Stay out of my private life! I, as a voter of die state of Nebraska, reject ! the Secure Public Networks Act as the restrictive and dangerous piece of v! legislation that it is and want my voice on record as being against it. I do J not want the government involved in my private e-mail, or restricting com- ! i j merce on die Internet. Sincerely, ! '■ j J l-j ■ '
