~ EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
I
Quotes
OF THE WEEK
“Freedom is not yet free.”
Rudy Smith, photography assignment
editor for the Omaha World-Herald, on the
continuing struggle for liberty in the
United States
l “I was not sure he was truthful. I
thought he may be having trouble with
his medication.”
Karen Brown, former Lincoln Regional
Center teacher, on Tony Galligo s confes
sion to murdering Michael Schmader and
why she did not report it
“The only two people who know the
truth or any part of the truth of what
happened in that tunnel is you and Mr.
Galligo.”
Kirk Naylor, Galligo’s attorney,
addressing Timothy Hopkins regarding
Schmader s murder t
“Well, we sure made it interesting,
didn’t we?”
NU gymnastics coach Dan Kendig, on
his team’s win at the Masters Classic on
Monday
! “It’s going to be a challenge for them
to rally their supporters again.”
Marlene Beyke, ASUN director of
development, on the runoff in the ASUN
election next week
“This isn’t the type of place where a
guy has to walk in with $20,000 in his
pocket”
Mark Simpkins, co-owner of Guitarted,
on the store s cozy feel
“I think you have to make the whole
city 2 a.m. or none of the city.”
Committee Chairman Sen. Stan
Schellpeper of Stanton, on the proposed
bill that would extend the closing time for
Lincoln bars to 2 a.m.
“I’m still reacting. I can’t tell you
when I will stop reacting to this. I was
born into this world under him.”
Rakan Khirfan, an undeclared UNL
sophomore, on the death of King Hussein
of Jordan
“There’s no way in hell Best Buy will
buy back used CDs.”
Travis Mills, manager of Disc Go
Round, on used CD stores and their advan
tage over corporate chains
“When you get a couple of wannabe
gangsters together with a gun, you get a
wannabe homicide.”
Tom Casady, Lincoln police chief, on
the Pickinpaugh murder case
“I think he’s sorry he got caught.”
Monica Lewinsky, former White House
intern, on the validity of President
Clinton s apology
“I owe it to Him upstairs.”
Andy Markowski, NU senior forward,
on his participation in the Huskers ’victory
over Texas A &M
«-.
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 column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as publisher
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the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNI Publications Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility tor the editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
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but does not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
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Submitted material becomes property of
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Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
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letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Lupo’s
VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
One side
As I looked at the Daily Nebraskan
over the past few days, I couldn’t
believe what I saw and read, and I have
never felt humiliated, angry and... sad
at the same time.
Since when did we, the Vietnamese
students, become the perpetrators of
the fraternity guys who were “just
looking for some fun” by throwing at
least five snowballs at an innocent
Vietnamese guy? I thought at the open
forum that we held on Monday night,
with the only purpose of understanding
and bridging the gap between the cul
tures, we could have a chance to dis
cuss and share our beliefs about what
happened, so maybe we could avoid
the same situation happening in the
future. I guess I was wrong.
At the forum discussion, if you lis
tened to Due Tran talk about how his
family, like many other Vietnamese
families, was trying to escape the
oppression of communism in Vietnam
to seek freedom in a new country, in
hoping for a “better life,” maybe you’ll
understand that we’re not trying to seek
unnecessary troubles or attention, or
making a big deal out of nothing
because we don’t have anything better
to do. We have had enough.
I’ve been here for seven years, and
I’ve tried to avoid as many interracial
conflicts as possible. And the recent
incident when Tran finally spoke up, I
thought here’s our chance to be heard at
last about the ignorance in die acts with
“racial motivation,” and the unfairness
to minorities here. But the truth was
greatly distorted in the three pieces
(DN, 3/1 and 3/2): “Fraternity cited for
snowballing” (a news story) written by
Brad Davis; “The snowball effect:
University proves itself scared of the
‘racist’ cry” (a column) by Sarah
Baker; and Lupo’s View (an editorial
cartoon by Joseph Lupo). These make
me feel like our efforts were in vain.
The voice that we raised failed
straight through a chasm of ignorance
that nobody heard, and it’s only us who
listened to our own voices. It’s emo
tionally exhausting.
Let’s take a look again at the article
by Davis. He wrote: “One snowball hit
Tran in the leg— Tran said he thought
the snowballing was racially motivat
ed.”
To Brad Davis: Will you please get
the facts straight and maybe more
clearly before you put them down on
paper to inform everyone about this
incident. It was more than “just a snow
ball,” it was five snowballs repeatedly
targeting Tran. Also, after Tran came
out again with a group of Vietnamese
guys, they were pelted with more
snowballs before they could actually
talk to the fraternity guys.
To Joseph Lupo: I’m so disgusted
with your twisted and mocking sense
of humor toward us while we were just
trying to raise our opinions. I don’t
think (your editorial cartoon was)
funny at all, and I’m ashamed for what
a “college-level mind” could deal with
in such an important matter of diversi
ty; and yet, you treated it like a joke.
To Sarah Baker: If you wanted to
know more about the whole story
before you wrote your column, you
could have contacted Due Tran or any
members in the VS A and ASA group
to find out more about the story,
because it was not just “a snowball”
like you repeatedly said
Maybe it’s not a big deal to you
because you were never treated with
such “ignorance” before. Quoted from
your column: “The Vietnamese student
is getting a lot of pity and a lot of sup
port from the sympathetic majority.”
Is “pity” what you think we’ve
been looking for by raising our opin
ions in what we believe in? I can tell
you that we’re not a charity case! I’m
writing this not to claim we’re the vic
tims, or pinpoint anyone here, but I just
hope that this “snowball” will wake
everyone up about racism and diversi
ty
educated.
To the members of Phi Gamma
Delta: You were having a little fun that
got out of hand. No problem. But when
someone approaches you, don’t run
and hide. Deal with it
Due Tran: I am not naive enough to
think that there aren’t racial conflicts,
but realistically, flying snowballs are
going to be the least of your problems.
Why didn’t you just walk to wherever
you were going? The issue should have
been that the fraternity fellas engaged
in an activity that may have been dan
gerous to anyone. Nofbecause you are
Asian, black, Hispanic, disabled,
female, blind, deaf, mentally incapaci
tated, vertically challenged, weight
sensitive or more mature in years. We
all have a reason to complain at one
time or another. Cross burnings, racial
slurs aimed directly at someone, not
being hired because of race or gender,
etc., etc. Snowballs aren’t one of them!
There is an old saying that I shall para
phrase - “to win a war you must pick
your battles.”
Nathan Trosper
junior
finance
Jasmine Bach Tang
junior
criminal justice
Treasurer,
Vietnamese
Student Association
And another
I am writing this in reference
to the “racist” incident that
occurred earlier this week.
I am an American stu
dent born in Vietnam a
who was raised in a^
small town in the
Midwest
(Columbus). I am a
bit irritated with the
whole situation - irri
tated with the students
who were throwing the snowballs
for not dealing with the situation
right away and irritated
Due Tran for turning it into a
racial eVent. I was handed
one of Due Tran’s papers
explaining the situation.
After reading it, I started to
laugh because all I could pic
ture were a bunch of 10-year-olds -
one running to mommy telling her that
the bullies across the street were throw
ing snowballs, and the other five (or
was it only three?) hiding out when
confronted with the situation.
Come on, fellas, you are all in col
lege now! Young adults. Supposedly MattHaney/DN
