EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks" EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte i Our VIEW Where’s our music? Corporate merger will hurt bands, fans When corporations start to lose money and downsizing hits the fan, the 40-hour work-week folks tend to be the first ones to get the pink slips. The record industry is losing money, and as a result, downsizing has begun in the big-bucks and tight-pants set. A recently announced $10.4 billion merger between Polygram and Universal Music has sent waves through the industry, and a whole bunch of 40-hour-work-week folks certainly will face the chopping block soon. But on a more visible plane, several artists who are the equivalent of working- ■ class will be without record labels. The effects of this new type of down sizing have yet to be seen, but most indus try soothsayers believe it won’t be good. According to the latest issue of “Rolling Stone,” about three-fourths of the labels’ artist rosters for 1998 will be dropped. That s a lot of out-of-work bands, and a lot of shelved new releases. It won’t be a massacre by any means. Many of the artists will most likely head for the slightly less green pastures of independent labels, and others will opt to release their albums on their own. Many of these artists will receive pay cuts, and some less-resilient bands may choose to dissolve rather than soldier on. The real casualties of this recording industry jumble will come further down the line - in the stores. More specifically for the music fans who don’t have the good fortune of living in a major-market metropolitan area. You may think it’s hard to find the lat est release by your favorite non-Top-40 band now. Just imagine the horrific quest you will be forced to undertake in a few short months when that band is on the ros ter of a company with two or three employees and strictly mail-order distrib ution. If you live in Norfolk and you don’t particularly care for Celine Dion, you may be out of luck. If you live anywhere in Nebraska out side of Omaha and have less-than-con ventional music tastes, you may be out of luck. When your only option for new music is the local Wal-Mart, your choices are already limited. In the coming months, those choices will dwindle significantly. So the record industry’s latest attempt to increase profits and drop the dead weight artists - the ones who don’t move millions of units - has hurt the artists, the employees and the countless fans who keep the industry afloat. It’s not too surprising, but it still hurts. We’ll know how much it hurts soon enough. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1999 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 coiumn 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 of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of toe newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. Letter Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to tee editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains tee right to edit or 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 must identify themselves t^fiame, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. Lupo’s VIEW DN LETTERS Celebrate King’s message I can understand Professor Harbison’s frustration with what he refers to as “diversity.” There are exam ples of failed attempts to establish equality everywhere. However, I feel it necessary to defend King day celebra tions. We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day because of what he did to help bring freedom and equality. Since these ideals are still far from being achieved, it is crucial to have some reminder of how important it is to keep striving. We need a reminder and an inspiration. Martin Luther King Jr. provides that inspira tion. He is celebrated as a civil rights leader and martyr, not as a writer or scholar. Focusing on his failings as a writer only diminishes the more impor tant message that society can be improved, even if die effort begins with just one person. Society can’t afford to lose the role model and inspiration King can be to so many people. Leave the study of King’s papers to the appropriate scholars, and leave the celebration of his life and dream to a society that is still in need of much improvement Efthimia Papastavros graduate student geosciences Don’t make war I was reading over tiie meetings sec tion of the classified advertisements on the last page of the Jan. 19th edi tion when something disturbing . caught my eye. An ad read: | “College Republicans: Declaring ^: ^ war on the Campus Left. Come' $ enlist in the Right side.” I had to Y reread this in shock. Declare p war?! If there is something all S Americans can learn from the / t mess in Washington, it’s that no \ I one wins when sides are at war \ 1 with each other Throwing insults \yf and threats around does no good. | Jk I will admit I am a registered Democrat, but I also see the :]