The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 20, 1998, Page 4, Image 4

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    EDITOR
Paula Lavigne
OPINION
EDITOR
Joshua Gillin
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Brad Davis
Erin Gibson
Shannon Heffelfmger
Chad Lorenz
Jeff Randall
Quotes of the
WEEK
“I don’t fit in anywhejre. Not
back home, because I moved away,
and not here (at UNL).”
- Vernon Miller, outgoing presi
dent of the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Inter-Tribal Exchange, on
fitting in away from home
“People don’t leave the universi
ty because they can’t do the work,
but because of the environment.”
- Venita Kelley, assistant professor
of communication studies
“In saying we have created a col
orblind society, we have actually
created an all-white society. This is
clearly about excluding blacks.”
- Michael Combs, a pastor at Mount
Zion Baptist Church and UNL political
science professor, about LR314CA
“I never forget a face once I sit
down on it.”
- Rick Swank, master of cere
monies at the 1998 Miss City
Sweetheart of Lincoln Pageant
“Students have made complaints
in the past, and nothing has been
done. I think he should have been
fired.”
- Carole McMahon-Boies, attor
ney for Valerie Giunca, a UNL stu
dent who filed a sexual harassment
lawsuit against English Professor
David Hibler
“If you truly believe in some
thing, you must voice your opinion
and fight for it. Nothing beats a
failure but a try.”
- UNL student Adair Shanks
“I’ve done a lot of meditation,
and I think I’m a goddess. I think
everyone is.”
- NU swimmer Terese Alshammer,
who was once named her native
Sweden’s sexiest woman
“We’re going to miss old Harry.
He was always the life of the party,
the life of baseball.”
- Former St. Louis Cardinal Stan
Musial, whom Harry Caray once
called'the best player he had ever
seen, on Caray’s death
“We went into the halftime say
ing, ‘My heavens, can we play any
worse than this?’”
- Oklahoma Women’s Basketball
Coach Sherri Coale, about a 101-72
loss to NU
“Racism is still America’s
national shame, and I am still
.fiercely committed to fight for civil
rights and equality in education.”
— Poet Nikki Giovanni, who spoke
at the Big 12 Conference on Black
Student Government
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoin, its
employees, its student body or the
UnwersKy of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as pubfisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daly Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Publications Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsfcity for the editorial
content of the newspaper fiessoMy in
the hands of its student employees.
i _■ _- _
letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their publcation.
The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
Nebraskan and cannot be
Anonymous submissions will
not be publshed. Those who submit
letters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/br group
affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daly Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@urMo.unl.edu.
Haney’s
VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
Missing the mark
When 1 saw that the DN had
decided to promote a column on its
front page Wednesday, I thought I
was going to finally read something
with insight. Instead I got Josh
Gillin’s “Jumping the Gun,” which
can be summed up thusly: I don’t
want war because my high school
buddy might get hurt.
Yes, Mr. Gillin, contrary to what
you see in TV recruitment ads, those
in the armed forces not only get great
career experience, but from time to
time they are also asked to fight.
I realize, Mr. Gillin, that you
probably just got done reading “All
Quiet on the Western Front” in your
History 101 class, but things are a lit
tle more complicated than that.
Saddam Hussein is concealing
weapons of mass destruction, and his
warring history gives us no reason to
believe he doesn’t plan to use them. If
the U.S. takes no action, and Saddam
does, thousands could die.
But since they will have names
more like Muhammad Khedir Al
Tiae, instead of names like Lance
Cpl. John Smith, few in the U.S. will
care.
Gregory Tripp
U.S. veteran
Lincoln
Where’s the love?!?
In response to “Wilted flower
children” (Wednesday), I realize that
Ms. Ovcharenko wanted to seem con
troversial and prove to everyone that
she can write good articles, but
instead she proved that she doesn’t
have the slightest idea of what she is
talking about. More, she insulted (a)
whole generation of (the) greatest
people!
But what really got me is the fact
that the whole article is pure non
sense. She says that hippies’ philoso
phy was one of “... freedom, love and
peace.” And then she says that “...
there is no way you can do this unless
your ideas match this society in at
least a few respects.” Excuse me? So,
our society isn’t about love, freedom
and peace? Is that right? “... what’s
funny is that those concerts, which
usually took place somewhere in the
open air, caused the spoiling of
nature.” In what way?!?!? Hello, real
ity check!!!
Overall, I understand that if you
grew up in a little village in the mid
dle of nowhere you probably don’t
know a lot, and (die) Internet isn’t (a)
perfect source of research, but why
would you display your clueless
nature in front of thousands of peo
ple? I’m sorry; your article was a piti
ful attempt, as were all of your arti
cles, and it is not intelligent to the
point (that) it is not even ftinny.
Elena Pozdniakova
sophomore
psychology
Death threats
In response to the DN column
supporting Nebraska’s transition
from electrocution to lethal injection
(“Our View,” Wednesday), I find it
humorous that the DN uses the words
“civilized” and “humane” in die same
sentences as “killing” and “death.”
The words have no business being in
the same sentence.
The fact of the matter is, capital
punishment is racist and arbitrary,
targeting the poor (1997 statistics).
Half of national death row inmates
are people of minority race, even
though minorities are largely out
numbered by white people in the
United States. On top of that, 85 per
cent of the victims murdered by con
demned killers have been of white
race, which does influence whether
states will seek the death penalty.
And for those of you who think
that death is a good deterrent, you’re
wrong. The murder rate has held a
steady pace, even though the number
of executions has increased. Besides
that, the United States and Japan are
the only two “civilized” countries
who even have the penalty.
Killers are not heroes and should
not be given unpunished treatment,
but rather life imprisonment without
parole, a cheaper and supported alter
native to death.
Jeff Bangert
freshman
management Information
systems
Dammit, Jim •••
It is more and more apparent to
me now than ever that (Gerry
Harbison has) a problem with the
truth (“DN Letters,” Wednesday).
This country has never done anything
to boost any so-called “minorities’”
sense of self-esteem.
Your cultural filter has obviously
done what education in this country is
supposed to do: Make white people
feel good about being white. Well,
that’s just great as long as it stops
being to the detriment of other people
who have contributed as much, if not
more, than white people have.
Education in this country has pollut
ed the minds of all the people who go
through it, especially white people. It
is a travesty ana a aisservice ior
someone to think that only people
who look like them did everything
right and those other people are just
whiners and complainers.
America has convinced you and
many others not only to believe all the
lies, but also to be defensive any time
new and different information arises.
Let’s look at this issue of the “Real
McCoy” by answering a few ques
tions.
You are right that the “Real
McCoy” might have ties to Scotland.
Elijah McCoy was educated in
Scotland. However, that is where you
lose this argument. How could the
“Real McCoy” be attributed to
Charles “Kid” McCoy, who wasn’t
born until 1872, the year Elijah
McCoy received his patent for the
steam engine lubricator. Charles
McCoy didn’t even begin to fight
professionally until the 1890s and
didn’t win a professional champi
onship until 1897.
So, could he be the “Real
McCoy?” In a word, I think not.
John Leonard Harris
special assistant
office of the vice chancellor for
student affairs