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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1999)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR CUff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte ,---— Our VIEW Justice served Hollywood righteously protests sellout s award In 1958’s “On the Waterfront,” Marlon Brando played a simple dock worker who slugged it out with exploitative union bosses. Culminating in a bloody fist fight, “On the Waterfront” was filmed as a harsh indictment of labor injustice and a monument to bravery and personal conviction. It won Brando an Oscar for Best Actor and Elia Kazan one for best director. It was an ironic triumph for a man who h^d sold his Hollywood peers down the river during the McCarthy scare of that period. Last night, Kazan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars to a tacitly hostile crowd divided over the “achievements” of Kazan. Actor Rod Steiger, who worked under Kazan in “On the Waterfront” had been open ly voicing his disgust for the director who knowingly offered names of “Communists” to the House Un-American Activities Committee, headed by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, in order to save his own career. Steiger told CNN that the director of leg endary films puch as “Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” did not have the courage or will to refuse to partici pate with the political witch-hunt. In fact, Kazan willingly blacklisted his industry peers and guaranteed himself a lifelong troupe of Hollywood enemies. with Kazan, 1 m angry because this man was very well-off in the theater financially,” Steiger said. “I could understand - even though I wouldn’t like it - a man panicking because he doesn’t have the money to feed his kids and in a moment of animalistic fear said, ‘Him, John or Bill.’” Steiger represents a significant portion of Hollywood’s industry crowd, some of whom have taken out ads to protest Kazan’s Lifetime Achievement Award and have plans to protest the ceremony by sitting on their hands. Hollywood’s indignation, for once, is righteous, and there is no escaping the irony of awarding a man whose “Lifetime Achievements” include ruining the careers of fellow filmmakers and contributing to the disease of cinematic censorship. Kazan, a brilliant director in every regard and responsible for groundbreaking passion in American cinema, is nevertheless responsi ble for his actions outside the studio. For this man, his life cannot be separated from his work. As a director and artist he was responsi ble, for the protection of his craft; instead, by blacklisting filmmakers, he was responsible for the prevention of unknown films and free expression in Hollywood. Last night, a few of the fabulously wealthy, beautiful and self-absorbed took a stand for their profession and, bearing in mind Kazan’s success, protested his award. Finally Hollywood has made a scene about something that matters, and they weren’t just acting. 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 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. Loner Policy 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 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 by name, 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@unlinfb.unl.edu. Brookins’ VIEW Fountain of memories New Broyhill water sculpture doesn’t replace the old KASEY KERBER is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. The BMX flies from one rock and then smashes into another. Suddenly, there’s a loud pop and the rapid wheezing sound of escaping air. “Damn man, it’s busted.” The kid picks up his bike and examines the front tire, which is bent and has a flat tire dangling from it. “Uh, crap.” I observed this scene a few weeks ago in the Nebraska Union’s Broyhill Plaza. The boys in question had been using the water structure as a moun tain bike ramp. And anyone who takes a good, hard look at what I like to call the “freak fountain” might wonder if it actually has any other purpose. It’s hard to lounge anywhere near it when it spews more mist than a scene from “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” And I’m not sure how comfort able it would be to lounge on jagged rocks anyway. So after watching the nex batch of our nation’s nuclear engineers destroy their bikes “horizontally ruled” boulders think back to the good old days. You know, the days when Broyhill Fountain actually was a fountain. You could sit on it without feeling like you’re ^ in the opening scene of “Star Wars.” You could even get thrown into it without having to worry about massive cranial injuries. Broyhill Fountain was a place where people met. It was designed so students could sit all the way around it, something you would have prob lems with on the new fountain unless you want to risk falling off the stage into the gorge-like moat. Fraternities, sororities and other organizations also took dives in the fountain occasionally, whether it be a rite-of-passage or a “Gee Bob, you look like you need a drink” affair. • Broyhill was also fairly beautiful at night. You could take your date to see the underwater rainbow colors and just talk. Right now it’s a good place to take bad first dates to scare them. And saddest of all, I think the original Broyhill Fountain could have been saved. But no, let’s spend thousands of dollars to transport big rocks from South Dakota. That’ll be much easier than building around the existing structure. And like we really needed the space. Let’s face it - the new Union’s face is so empty that you could park a Mack truck in the entrance and still have plenty of breathing room. Did we really have to destroy the fountain so more student groups could harass us with candy to fill out a credit card application? But you know what really bugs me? This entire situation is a shame because only upperclassmen such as myself will be bitching about the Broyhill of today. The freshman and incoming classes of UNL students won’t know what they lost. It makes me cringe to think that they may over time, sigh, grow to • love this freak fountain. They might even defend it to the death when the decides to expand into the green space to add a fourth overpriced store in which students can buy candy. But those of us who saw the orig inal Broyhill will remember. I know I do. I took a few sweet girls there once upon a time. Broyhill was an dating ice-breaker of sorts I believe; she commented on the lights and then you commented on the lights. In between all this “lights” talk, you got to know one another. I was also one of the folks that turned out for the “Broyhill Farewell Party,” where I sat down and talked to the daughter of the man who designed the fountain. She said if her father was still alive, he’d be sad to see the fountain go. After seeing what has now taken its place, I can understand why. Sure, the old Broyhill was a mass of unappealing rusted pipes in the winter, but at least it didn’t look like it was in dire need of extinguishing. And sure, it was old and outdated, but at least it wasn’t so modem that it looked like the rock-climbing class should take a field trip to it. And sure, it was a possible make out spot, but at least - hell, I guess there’s really nothing wrong with that fact... It was our Broyhill. , Maybe the new one is yours. It sure isn’t mine. Because I’ll never accept this freak i fountain over the ' “) T one I admired in the past. :4
