EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
l---—
Our
VIEW
Better
to beware
Citizens need warning
ofY2Kproblem spots
The year of naught, 2000, is coming,
and the government isn’t going to be
ready.
This isn’t a real surprise, of course, but
it’s going to happen anyway, and so far,
the government isn’t doing much to help
people prepare.
Last month, it was announced that 11
of the 24 major federal agencies missed
the government’s March 31 deadline for
making their “mission-critical” systems
Y2K compliant. Last Friday, it was
announced that only 44 percent of the
nation’s electrical power systems partici
pating in the gov- 66
ernment s self
check program tveryone
were ready for deserves that
This isn’t a call warning. IJ
call for the govern- things are
ment to step for- going tO hit,
ward, tell us where u vi
the problems are Cl llKe tO
going to be and know a little
what we can do
about it. in advance,
As the clock
ticks closer to the
fateful first day of January, the govern
ment is working to try to get all the sys
tems ready for it.
And we, the public, don’t know which
ones or where.
While the announcement was made
that only 44 percent of the nation’s electri
cal power was ready, it’s not specified
which 44 percent.
The American people as a whole are
expecting a few problems. That’s been
well-documented in countless polls.
But they need to know what to be
ready for.
Families need to know if they should
prepare for a week or two without power.
They need to have time to save canned
food and figure out alternatives to the nor
mal way of life.
Everyone deserves that warning. If
things are going to hit, we’d like to know a
little in advance, please.
Our government is compiling a list of
what’s most likely to go wrong on that
cold January morning, and we, the
American people, should get that list.
If a disaster’s coming, or even just a
few minor glitches, we deserve to know.
There may be people who panic, but
that’s the way it goes, and the rest of us can
keep those panicky people from going too
far. Most of the folks who would be terri
fied already are.
The rest of us will treat a power outage
exactly as the situation merits: We’ll cope
and adapt.
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.
Acolumn is solely the opinion of its author.
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Hitch's
VIEW
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Mind benders
A reading list for deep thought
CLIFF HICKS is a senior
news-editorial and English
major and the Daily
Nebraskan opinion editor.
You ever wondered how to define
reality?
You ever wondered where all these
crazy ideas I have come from?
Last week, when I talked about the
Illuminati, grand conspiracies and a
higher plane of existence, lots of peo
ple asking me what the hell I was talk
ing about, so I sat down and compiled
a “must-read” list if you want to try to
follow some of the more interesting
theories I’ve been known to champion.
So, consider this Cliff’s
Recommended Reading List A lot of
this stuff will peel your skull open and
get you deep into the heavy metaphors
that make up life and start to tear open
what you thought reality was. Be fore
warned, however, none of this stuff is
easy reading, so be prepared to strain
your brain a little.
“The niuminatus Trilogy” - Robert
Anton Wilson & Robert Shea,
“Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy” -
Robert Anton Wilson
It’s impossible to describe these
two monstrous volumes. I read the
Illuminatus Trilogy when I was in 7th
grade and it really started to bend my
brain open. It’s fbll of violence, sex,
dimension hopping, reality theory,
number theory, surrealism, humor,
metaphors, conspiracies and chaos.
The plot starts with a newspaper
editor who stumbles on to a lot more
than he’s ready to handle. From there,
it gets too complex to explain.
It was my sophomore year in high
school before I was able to track down
the quasi-sequel trilogy, written by one
of the two authors, and, in many
regards, it superseded my expecta
tions.
Once you read “Schrodinger’s
Cat,” there’s no turning back.
This is the graduate level, here,,
however, and this is not where you
want to begin. You might want to save
these books for last. They’re some of
the most challenging readings you’ll
ever do.
“The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the
Galaxy” (series) - Douglas Adams
This is where you should start.
Adams is much lighter reading than
Wilson/Shea, and often a lot funnier.
The incredibly inaccurately named
Hitchhiker’s Trilogy comprises five
books, all of which are worth reading
in some respect or another (although
the fifth one is a little weak).
The story follows Arthur Dent, one
of the few survivors of Earth, which is
destroyed to make an inteigalactic
bypass, and his good friend, Ford
Ptefect, as they hitchhike across the
universe.
Trust me, you’ll love it
“The Invisibles” - Grant Morrison
Invisibles stands in a different cate
gory here because it’s ongoing. It’s a
comic book, and you can get it on a
monthly basis. There are three trade
paperbacks available already.
Before you get on your “comics
are for kids” high horse, let me educate
you about a few things: Comics are not
just for kids, and Invisibles definitely
isn’t a kids comic.
The whole world is at war, it’s just
that no one knows that yet, except for a
small group known as die Invisibles.
The characters? King Mob - a
writer turned philosopher/an
archist/sharpshooter. Ragged Robin -
a psychic returned from 2012. Boy
an ex-Harlem cop and martial arts spe
cialist, who lost her brother to a con
spiracy. Lord Fanny - a Brazilian
transvestite shaman. Jack Frost - an
ex-Brit punk who is the future
Buddha.
The whole story moves at bullet’s
pace, blending the speed of Hong
Kong action films with the heavy the
ory of Wilson’s works.
Morrison’s a genius. Do yourself
the favor. Become invisible.
“Mystery Play” - Grant Morrison
“Mystery Play” is a graphic novel
written by Morrison and painted by
Jon J. Muth. It deals with a murder in a
small English town, during a mystery
play. Mystery plays are re-enactments
of Bible stories.
During a play, someone kills God,
or the actor playing God, or both.
“Mystery Play” isn’t meant to be
obvious - it’s meant to make you think.
Morrison will rarely lead you
astray, so get your hands on anything
of his you can.
“To Reign In Hell” - Steven Brust
Finding this may not be easy, but it
is a monumental book and one of
Steve’s best (although he hasn’t written
a bad book yet. The Vlad Taltos Series
is just tun reading).
It’s another perspective on the
angels’ fall from Heaven, and is
required reading for anyone who
thinks about religion.
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead”/”Arcadia”-Tom Stoppard
Stoppard’s one of the sharpest
playwrights working today, and I have
a lot of admiration for the man. It was
his writing that eventually inspired me
to try my own hand at the medium
again.
“R&G” is Hamlet seen from the
eyes of the two, uh, less-than-bright
fellows. If you haven’t read “Hamlet,”
do that first. (Or wear the “I’m uncul
tured” sign for the rest of your life.)
“Arcadia” is almost beyond
description. At its heart, it’s a love
story, but it’s also a mystery, a mathe
matics theory lesson and an existential
diatribe.
Stoppard’s worth reading.
“Groucho & Me”/”The Groucho
Letters” - Groucho Marx
(also “Duck Soup, “A Night at the
Opera ” and other Marx Bros, films)
' Since this is a literary review, I
should stick to just books, but I am
going to digress a little.
“Groucho & Me” is the autobiog
raphy of one of the greatest comics of
all time, the infamous Groucho Marx.
It helps to understanding the genius
that was Groucho Marx.
“The Groucho Letters” is a collec
tion of letters to and from Groucho,
and they shine light on his comic wit
My Marxist fascinations are well
documented (I have three Marx
Brothers T-shirts, including one that
reads “Sure I’m a Marxist!” with
Groucho, his brothers Chico and
Harpo, as well as the unrelated Karl
Marx) and I push it to everyone. •
To get the whole Marxist experi
ence, however, you need to see “Duck
Soup,” perhaps one of the finest works
of sheer lunacy ever. All the other
Marx Bros, films are incredible, too.
There’s so much more I’d like to
tell you about - music, film and more
-but this is a start.
Now go read.