EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD - **0?
N anc^ Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
[
Our W.
VIEW
We’ve been
here before
After a year of scandal,
little has changed
It’s been an uncomfortable year to be in
the media. It produced a fine crop of news
• events that enticed readers, but tough criti
cism for those behind the guns shooting
rapid-fire news at readers.
- We started the year running stories of
uncertainty in the Gulf, worries in the White
House and prospects of human cloning.
Twelve months later, little has changed.
In January, a full year will have passed
since Monica Lewinsky made her public
debut as the world’s most compliant intern.
She enhanced public knowledge about
President Bill Clinton, the Gap and the cigar
industry when Linda Tripp decided to air her
dirty laundry.
The Lewinsky-Tripp-Kenneth Starr trio
then ushered in the greatest political soap
opera in modem U.S. history, as well as a long
period of public criticism of the medjaL
covered the circus for^ ratings, not
ing place in the third tier of four-year colleges
and universities, as judged by U.S. News &
UNL received unwelcome attention on
other fronts, too, thanks to former English
professor David Hibler’s e-mail tirades laced
with racial epithets. Hibler pushed die limits
of so-called academic freedom by flouting
%|ijj§$is that q|any peopl^founjloffensive and
^r^tagingfap sessions in a£faninistrato?s?
Offices - the kind that get a person fired
somewhere down the line.
Faculty problems persisted when the uni
versity discovered a professor had spent years
di sposing of American Indian remains
improperly, then it issued a tremendous apol
ogy that could never be good enough.
UNL’s stalwart of academic rigor, the
political science department, had its share of
turmoil a&.well. Aprofessor resigned and
chaffed that the departmiht tolerated sexual
harassment and an Academic Senate com
mittee agreed. So the big folks on campus
called a second committee, which refuted the
first. In the end, few fears of whether harass
ment was allowed were calmed- 5-,
Controversy came to the sports world, too.
Mike Tyson reappeared. The NBA players
and owners all took their balls and went
home. And don’t forget Nebraskans, who
bawled like babies because their almighty
football team lost a whopping three games.
In the end, we must surmise: This year
was uncomfortable for almost everyone.
Thank goodness for the economy, John
5 Glehcrand the b&'sebalF season!^ Whehr
Americans sat transfiked;tp TV sCreehslas.,
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa assaulted; 1
Roger Maris’ home run record. Viewers then
witnessed the New York Yankees stake their
claim as the best baseball team ever.
Those few stories felt just as good to
report on as Mom and apple pie.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 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 publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Tne
UNL Publications Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
the regents! responsibility forthe editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
Latter Pellcy
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
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
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affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
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letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
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LETTERS
A different perspective
I wish to attempt to answer some
of the questions that Tim Sullivan
poses in his column, “The right to
choose ignorance” (Tuesday). First of
all, I would like to say that I respect
the way Mr. Sullivan uses logic and
rational thought to arrive at his opin
_ ion. So much of society’s attitudes
these days.lack this crucial element.
i^i§sv^yer, thereye a few J^ws in
hu^g^. It is not lgnoraaLfor pro-life
advocates to protest in front of the O
Street location of Planned
Parenthood even though they do not
do abortions there. Women go there
in the very preliminary stages of their
situation, perhaps even before
they’ve made a decision on what to
do. By the time they go to the South
Street location, they have made
up their minds and it’s all the
more difficult to change them. It
makes sense to have people on
O Street who cap make
women see the situation
from a different perspective
- that in Which life is cho
. sen.
As for just going Jo get
information on birth control,
this, too, is very much a part
; of the pro-life move- -
ment as birth control is
really just another
form of an abortion.
The statement, “So it
strikes me that
women who use
the pill are acting responsi
bly,” is a logic flaw; This is
: becalijse we 'hhve to'
remember1 thatsek isfo j
repfe(fii®r^’h^pleaf ^5 ^
sure. F'oiftliosb'bf hs ' 2
who “find ourselves
in positions in our lives that would
make parenthood impractical or
unwise,” we should not be having sex
in the first place.
The groups I have been associated
with use the logic and rational
thought shown here to help women
with education and prayer. I do not, in
any way, support violence as a means
to further our cause. This is the most
obvious absurdity of them all. I don’t
exactly support what they do at
Westminster Church either, but I do
know that intelligent, silent, prayerful
protest can be very effective.
Dave Janda
senior
computer science
The right to shoot
Your Tuesday editorial, “Decision
Time,” makes a valid point that the
Second Amendment is in need of
interpretation. And there is no ques
tion we have a national gun violence
problem. However, I am troubled by
your framing the gun control debate
as “the right to bear arms vs. the right
not to get shot.” Many Americans
believe that their constitutional right
to legal gun ownership is what pro
tects the goal, not right, of avoiding
being shot. Thankfully most of-us
will never face an armed crim- {
inal. Char
that if my
home is
bro
ken
** .xJ.MiiP •» jntb,
there will not be a
police officer waiting in the living
room. All that will protect me from
violence is the gentle consideration of
the invader, or one of my guns.
Neither option is infallible, but I have
more confidence in the latter.
Bill Hansen
San Francisco
UNL’88
Not all the greeks
I was disappointed to read in the
Wednesday DN (“Shame on you”)
that someone could be so ignorant as
to scapegoat the entire UNL greek
system for the university’s problems
because two members of a fraternity
stole a Christmas tree. I do agree with
you, Mr. Wolfe, that the action
reflects poor character; however, I
don’t see why you are giving the :
greek system a bad rap for the actions
of two people.
You refer to fraternities getting;
caught cutting down a tree, breaking
into sororities or getting caught with
minors drinking on their properties.
Let me correct you. You cannot catch
a fraternity doing anything; it is a life
less entity that cannot perform
actions on its owB..Howe?vejva mem
ber* or groups of members, of a.-t
fraternity can be caught
committing a crime. I
resent the fact that whenev
er someone who belongs to
a fraternity screws up, it is
pinned on the greek sys
tem, as if we were all
responsible for each other’s
actions. It is totally irrele-,
vant whether a person
belongs to a fraternity i
when he or she
^ commits
QSs'\ a crime.
tea n
0 Numerous
/ students
y who reside
* in residence
halls or off
v_^campus are.
caught break
ing the law, and
no one writes!
says that|
I me residency
Bast- tath. thpuM be '
•“••: abolished or that no on&,
should iive off campus. »
Before you take action to try to
abolish the entire greek system, let
me Teniind you of a few things. Both
fraternities and sororities consistently
maintain a higher GPA than the rest of
the university. Members of the greek
system are highly involved in student
organizations, constantly striving to
improve the university and its envi
ronment. Membership in a greek
house builds lifelong friendships and
helps people realize their full poten
tial. So before you blame the greek
system for all the problems here, take
a look at its positive aspects, and
remember it isn’t the whole system’s
fault when a few people that belong to
it do something wrong.
Eric Ford
junior
agronomy
Alpha Gamma Rho