Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1998)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte Our VIEW Leaning to the left Kerrey should run for nation s high office If it’s possible for an entire state to have a multiple-personality disorder, Nebraska should be signing up for some counseling. In this most conservative of conservative states, recent polls have shown that Democratic leaders Ben Nelson and Bob Kerrey are toppling their Republican rivals in approval ratings. And in a recent Omaha World-Herald poll, Kerrey has received the go-ahead from 58 percent of Nebraska’s residents to run for the presidency in 2000. High approval ratings are understand able for Nelson, who has straddled the party line with minimal subtlety, shadowing his affiliation at nearly every turn. But Kerrey has stood out in the U.S. Senate as somewhat of a figurehead of Democrats’ ideology and even occasionally as a bearer of unabashed liberalism. In his ill-fated 1992 presidential cam paign, Kerrey extolled the virtues of health care reform to the point of exasperation, at times sounding as though he would favor socialized medicine. In Chicago, Massachusetts or any other hotbed of liberal ideology, such a position might gamer some praise and a narrow mar gin of support. But Nebraska? A state in which Hal Daub and Mike Johanns head up the two largest cities, and four-fifths of the congres sional gang are staunch Republicans? Maybe Kerrey has found a way to win over his home state not by bowing to the majority of his constituents’ whims but by holding true to his own beliefs. In a two party system, Kerrey has forged his career by crossing party lines in terms of appeal, not voting records. And so Kerrey, a true Democrat from a truly Republican state, is seriously consid ering another run at the nation’s highest office. Well, good. Only time will tell if Kerrey is the coun try’s best choice for the esteemed office. And only the electoral will decide if he deserves it. But in the meantime, Kerrey has proven himself to be worthy of at least try ing. Two years from now, a relatively unknown state might be cheering one of its native sons on to legitimately contend for the presidency for the first time since the days of William Jennings Bryan and pop ulism. ! And if - at the very least - Kerrey does succeed in making himself a nationally known politico beyond Capitol Hill, all of Nebraska will benefit ... even our Republicans. After all, we can produce more than com and football. Maybe it’s time the rest of the country found that out for itself. Run, Bob, run 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-Uncoln, its employees, its student body or the Unwersjty 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 UNLPublicatidns Board, established by the regertis, supervises the production of the paper. According to poNcy set by the regents, responsibility for the ecfitorial content ofthe newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. i *- .* ^ -- Letter Policy The paly Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to thS editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee tnSir publication. The Dtity Nebraskan retains fie right to editor 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 tnustkfentify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. ■ ■ / : t Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. •. * . K . . 4 A ' W 4 A X • C . m J> i t* J * Mook’s VIEW c ^ 1> hwhsih (M. SEASGl, bEAL! I GOT TO 1 Xm> mi 1)0 I TIHE5IV10NC l TM DN LETTERS j eMTpyV I would like to applaud Mr. Forkner for his insightful piece “Obituary for Individuality.” Last year, I met two girls, one from Wilber and the other from Curtis. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why they were wearing Gap and American Eagle outfits as opposed to tight Wranglers and cowboy boots. I am from Tulsa, Okla. Last year, when I transferred to UNL, the lack of fash ion gradient really perplexed me. I knew that many students were from farming communities where a Wal Mart is seen as a shopping mall, so where they derived a sense of style was puzzling. Mr. Forkner answered this ques tion, which ate at me. I now see MTV as the ultimate trend guide here in Nebraska. I guess this is where the ironic issue or coniormity comes to light. Kids throughout Nebraska watch TV in hopes of catching a / glimpse of a style that will allow (■ them to appear unusual or dif- \v ferent. However, when you allow a nationally televised program to be your guru of individuality, I think you are somewhat defeating your purpose. I guess, like Forkner portrayed, cable television has helped deplete conti nental fashion indi-" viduality. Luckily, in the South, we gener ally still dress for comfort, and we aren’t big Spice Girls fans (however, Hanson is pretty big.) Some day, maybe Nebraska will learn to be true to itself and dress according to its cultural identity. (I know platform shoes can’t be helpfUl in detasseling.) Tim Mabaffey -senior psychology Birthing a nation My parents have always taught me to be responsible for my actions. Everything I do has a consequence: some are pleasing, and some are not so pleasing. However, I know that once I have made a decision, I must accept the consequences of my actions as an adult. I opened last Thursday’s Daily Nebraskan to the Opinion Page, and noticed the article entitled “Know the risks: Contraceptive pill not replace ment for responsibility.” My initial emotion was delight for someone hav ing stood up in favor of the unpopular stance of birth control not being the answer to undesired pregnancies. Imagine my disap po int m e n t upon reading the arti MattHaney/DN cle and discovering it was not really about responsibility, per se, but about using a birth control pill called PRE VEN in the event that a pregnancy occurs after sexual intercourse. Since I did not know how PRE VEN worked, I called up Planned Parenthood on O Street I was told that PREVEN is a higher dosage of a birth control pill. It is used only for emer gencies and must be taken within 72 hoursafter sexual intercourse. In 75 percent of.the cases, the woman will have a periodwithintbree weeks. So, I further asked how the chemi cals in this pill function. The woman from Planned Parenthood told me that if the woman taking PREVEN has not yet ovulated, the pill works to prevent the egg from being released by the ovaries. But, of course, this may fail and she may ovulate anyway. If, how ever, the egg is fertilized, it renders the uterine lining unfavorable for implan tation of a fertilized egg, which is commonly accepted among ordinary doctors, obstetricians and gynecolo gists as a baby in the very, very earliest stages. Hence, this pill does cause a very early abortion. Perhaps now it is more i s clear why anti-abortion v fr groups are opposed to the availability of this ‘ agent. It will not decrease the number of abortions, as / Chris Funk, execu tive director of Planned Parenthood of Lincoln, wants us to believe. It will only increase the number of unre ported ones. ||Hpr Indeed, the mother often does not even know she has had —an abortion. . . . .. ine same goes ior birth control pills in gen eral. They have three func tions. Yes, the primary one is to inhibit ovulation, and the sec ondary one is to render sperm unable to fertilize the egg. But as a third and final resort, the chemicals in the pill make the uterine lining unfa- j vorable for implantation. It is this third purpose that causes the birth control ' pill to be called an agent of abortion. f True responsibility, therefore, lies in deciding before you have sex if you are really ready for the child with which God may bless you. It is indeed a big responsibility, and if someone does not feel they are ready to have a child, he or she should truly consider whether or not it is wise to be sexually active. Olivia B. Clark senior f meteorology p, ^ ’.£112 f 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 "E" w> kwz) 4 /2-1761, or j^inaU ^tters@unlii^b.' .. rs must be signed and include a phone numl ' £ ^ __ _I
