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
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the regents, supervises the production
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the regents, responsibility for the editorial
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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
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Submitted material becomes property of
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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
■ '
