EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
I
Our
VIEW
Testimony
of shame
Airing Clinton tapes
will hurt the nation
When President Clinton’s taped testimo
ny before the grand jury is released today, it
won’t sit idle.
Instead, most major TV networks and
national news channels plan to snatch it up as
quickly as possible and play it in its four-hour
entirety Monday morning, afternoon and
night to a nation of prying home viewers.
As of Sunday afternoon, CBS, CNN,
MSNBC and C-SPAN planned to show the
whole length of his testimony, while ABC
and NBC planned to air special news seg
ments with excerpts of his testimony.
Shame on them.
With the help of the media, with each
minute of our fallen president’s droning,
viewers will see the epitome of partisanship
and political terror.
Ken Starr’s report was explicit enough
for readers to know our president lied and
for impeachment proceedings to proceed, if
need be.
The testimony’s release is nothing but a
blatant partisan scheme to further embarrass
and weaken the president. It’s the gruesome
outcome of political vultures ready and will
ing to bury grubby beaks in a dead man if it
could result in their own political gain.
Nevermind their gratuitous action will
weaken the presidency in the minds of
Americans for decades to come. Nevermind
their action will further sour Americans on
our highest leaders by exposing their self
ishness and partisan abuses.
Clinton seemingly dug his grave, having
possibly perjured himself before the grand
jury. Now Republicans are digging him up
again for no reason other than to let voters
peek at his dead body.
Viewers also will see a dangerous legal
precedent, set by allowing supposedly
secret grand jury testimony to be released
and broadcast nationwide.
When mob top dogs testify against other
mobsters, they are told their taped testimony
before the grand jury will not be released.
Often - like Clinton - they are told the tapes
will be destroyed. Will they be willing to
testify, now they know some grand jury
tapes can be broadcast freely?
Viewers also will see a failure of journal
ists, members of the so-called fourth estate,
to fulfill their role as watchdogs of the gov
ernment and political process.
The release of Clinton’s taped testimony
is big news, and the media are responsible
for covering the news thoroughly so
Americans can form prudent political, eco
nomic and social opinions. -
But those obligations do not obligate
national TV news to broadcast the whole of
Clinton’s testimony.
The media should call Congress on its par
tisanship and refuse to air the taped testimony
in its entirety for the sake of the country.
If the media don’t help voters check the
rantings of politicians, who will?
Editorial Pallcy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 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 column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as pubfisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial 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 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 tneir publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
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affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
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Mook’s
VIEW
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Change of focus
Efforts of campus officers need to be reconsidered
RYAN HUNTER is a sopho
more news-editorial major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist
In an effort to make campus safe
for students, this highly motivated and
disciplined bunch patrol campus
ready and willing to “protect and
serve” at a moment’s notice. Of
course, I am referring to die highly
revered men and women of the
University Police. As I shovel die sar
casm from my computer screen, I am
forced to question die objectives of the
campus police.
I once looked at these individuals
as a nuisance, believing that the only
ability that they possessed was the
innate aptitude to appear engaged, all
the while accomplishing absolutely
nothing. I was convinced that these
jovial officers were nothing more than
improvisational wizards at imperson
ating diligent enforcers of die law. I
now realize that the community ser
vice officer is a hard-working individ
ual who simply follows the misguided
agenda of the dreaded “man.”
For example, last year after a
lengthy and exhaustive Saturday night
of weighing the pros and cons of a
Marxist economy on a society, I
strolled to my car to sample die sweet
nectar of a Bandit cigar.
After a few moments of torching
my lungs with its robust fumes, I was
accosted by two ofUNUs finest As
the two men in blue explained to me
that they had had a report of someone
smoking a foreign substance in the
parking lot, they politely asked to
inspect the contents of my last cigar. 1
obliged, suggesting that at least one of
them probably had something better to
do. And after I explained that I did pot
on Fridays and heroin on Saturdays,
they scurried off with my name and
social security number, never to be
heard from again.
This is exactly the kind of thing
I’m talking about
I had hoped that this would be the
year that set their proverbial priorities
straight Yet they stray from the path
of common sense, which apparently is
out of style, and attempt to curb drink
ing on and around campus. Being the
sincere and generous individual that 1
am, I have formulated a few sugges
tions for this misguided defense sys
tem.
Forget about slowing alcohol use
on and around campus. It is quite a
novel idea, but halting drinking in
these aforementioned zones is like me
trying to tackle Dan Alexander in the
open field; it ain’t gonna happen.
Despite administrative efforts to
purge the campus of alcohol and insti
tute academic rigor, UNL will always
be, to some extent, an institution of
and about football, a grossly oversized
greek system, and alcohol, among
other things.
Lincoln is chock full of highly
intelligent individuals who are beg
ging for more out of die “college life”
than a degree. They’re looking for a
good time while spending their last
few years outside the walls of the real
world. If that means excelling in
Intramural Binge Drinking rather than
spending many a lonely night study
ing for the next exam, then so be it
By taking a hard-line position on
alcohol use, administrators and CSOs
alike are simply exposing themselves
to the reality of a let down, even with a
grant
In attempt to thwart off the
inevitable massive parties, our lovable
CSOs have joined forces with the
Lincoln Police Department Teams of
officers will now strike fear into the
hearts of all party goers. The tandem
also will be implementing the use of
“undercover officers” at these parties.
Now, this is a blatant insult to my
intelligence.
Even in a drunken stupor I can
pick out the cloaked enforcer with the
large glass filled to the brim with a
“mixed” drink at a multiple keg party.
The stench made by die combination
of coffee, doughnuts and Preparation
H is wretched enough to send even the
most severely impaired individual div
ing for the bushes.
Take the joker who is poorly play
ing the role of a college student, give
him a uniform, and throw him into the
parking lots. Forget about ticketing,
the people in parking do a horribly
grand job at that Rather, insure that
my vehicle is safe from thieves and
the ever present hit-and- run.
More importantly, feverishly
patrolling these areas would add an
aura of security that is lacking. If die
little blue safety lights were doing it,
women wouldn’t have to fear campus
at night and pack their standard issue
pepper spray 24-7. They’re not
referred to as “rape lots” for no rea
son.
Cjo ahead and remove your focus
from parties and students drinking,
and firmly place it on that of drinking
and driving.
Folks, hoe is a true problem that
you can invest your time, energy and
grants toward. Not to preach, but the
number of drunken drivers on any
given weekend is sickening, and when
some clown who is well into a bottle
of Jack hops behind the wheel, he is
facing a very good chance of forcibly
placing everyone he passes into
harm’s way.
If you want to end something, end
that
To summarize, college kids are
going to drink regardless - any
attempt to cease alcohol use by stu
dents is foolhardy. Since every group
in America must have a cause these
days, go ahead and latch onto one, but
pick it wisely. Use common sense and
place a fatally sharp focus on extermi
nating genuine problems on and
around campus.
P.S. Write Back
Send letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 "R" St, Lincoln,
NE 68588, or fax to (402) 472-1761, or e-mail <letters@unlinfo.unLedu.
Letters must be signed and include a phone number for verification.
