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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1999)
EDITOR Josh Funk OPINION EDITOR Mark Baldridge EDITORIAL BOARD Lindsay Young Jessica Fargen Samuel McKewon Cliff Hicks i Our VIEW Just say ‘so what’ Candidate’sformer drug use not main issue Governor Bush will be in Omaha Tuesday afternoon. Among the press is probably one nosy reporter just itching to ask him to clarify statements regarding his former drug use: “When exactly did you stop putting all of your money up your nose?” As if it matters. George has hemmed and hawed on the subject: __ _ Not in the last 7 years? Not in 15? But the fact remains that he tacitly admits he did do drugs once upon a time and says it’s all in the past, it—— an assertion f no one seems (JUV ICOTIC CtUCK ,0 i™ not .ike says he didn’t anyone’s seen inhale. Would him lately, glassy eyed, we really prejer panhandling j* i ^ » spare change a Candidate who “fix;hrighn.?Xt saP he did (°r So why didn't) snort? does anyone ^ „ care? Do we realty The argu- care?” ment goes that * a man who would be president must show he has the strength of character not to fall into the drug habit in the first place - that a history of drug abuse portends some moral weakness in the man. Anyone who’s ever tried to quit smok ing knows that the tax on one’s inner resolve is a good deal greater than that required simply never to have tried it in the first place - a kind of fastidiousness no one finds terribly appealing anyway. And there is no “patch” for cocaine. Anyone who’s made a comeback from coke shows enormous reserves of willpow er. There’s the issue of credibility: Can we believe him on tax cuts if he doesn’t come clean on this issue? Our lame duck says he didn’t inhale. Would we really prefer a candidate who says he did (or didn’t) snort? Do we really care? Or is this just a way we amuse ourselves in election years: posing such questions to see how transparent the lies of politicians can be? Make ‘em squirm before they get all presidential and start putting on airs, call ing it “executive privilege” or something. George W. Bush has a record, as gover nor of Texas, which should weigh more heavily than any amount of “youthful indiscretion,” no matter how late in life he finally grew up. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Pall 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. Letter 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, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. So MSidAlUf OHIgF, IF lou mr\ -to keep Wk Casim® ofeM, we \ ftRf GdN6- To keep F7NIW6- You I L AND FINIKIfr- Nov). IT's CAWe \ DOW1 To A BATTLE OF VfWCtPies, Too see- ^ gPiTCr, HUH ' Vi 50 whaT's Tour Jj COSHER WHyvb!.: Vo ToU h5k?J rz DN LETTERS Non-Christian Values Okay. I'm sick of it. I’m sick of the Christian faith taking all of the credit for morals in this country. It seems to me that every one of these kids we’re hearing about in the news was raised by someone in a “Christian” home, and that didn't seem to do the trick. I haven’t heard of one parent of these kids that was an atheist, an agnostic, a Wiccan, a Dianist, or any other sort of pagan. I do know that paganism in gener al teaches you an utter respect of ALL life, and I, as an atheist, have never gone out and shot anybody, and nei ther has anyone at the three Unitarian Universalist churches I have attended throughout my life. So, what’s the deal? I lead a moral life and help others and do as much as I can, but every other day I hear some talking head (or columnist) saying we need to return to the Bible (insert “brotha” here). I think we need a return to teach ing our kids some decent values and morals, and that, my friend, has noth ing to do with what religion you are. Eric Rost Junior Mechanical Engineering Volleyball in the Raw Students are getting a raw deal. No, this time it’s not tuition or parking, it’s seating for Husker vol leyball games. Seating for students was bad enough last year. “Student tickets” (read: general admission) got you into a street fight for the few small sections of floor seating. Otherwise you were relegated to the rafters. It was particularly annoying to get there an hour before game time to find the general admission floor seat ing totally filled and be forced to sit all the way at the top, while the reserved seating had 10 or 20 people in it. This year they tried to help us out; they did away with the fight for the floor seating and sent us straight to the rafters. The only place the general admis sion ticket will get you is the few seats in the last three or four rows in the nosebleed section. An inquiry to the ticket office finds that students can still purchase the reserved seating, if you would like to pay the regular price of $90 .(that’s right, not even a student dis count) to get whatever is left over after all the good seats have been offered to the boosters. ~ Last year I saw every home game except one, mostly from the floor, for a grand total of $14. get offered a reserved seat twodhirds of the way to the top for $90. Let me see, seats that are half as good for six times the money. I’m not a math major, but that doesn’t add up. I used to think that getting seated in a corner for football games with the constant threat of being moved farther away was a joke. Now I can see an even worse side of a university that seems to have a tough time remembering it has students to think about. Jayson Bishop Junior Computer Engineering Blowing the Doors Off Comments on your editorial car toon (Obermeyer’s View, Wednesday) and editorial column (Our View, Thursday): Just to set everyone’s mind at ease, I double-checked the plans, and there are seven outside doors on the Kauffman Academic Residential Center. Four of the doors open onto the grassy courtyard space and two onto a front plaza. Your concerns about students interacting with others are well taken, but I assure you we have been careful from the beginning to address that issue in the design of * both the building and the curriculum. f Currently, the beginning group of 17 undergraduate students in the J.D. Edwards Honors Program represent eight different majors in three colleges. The students are taking M courses outside of their directly f required major courses in eight different departments and two addi tional colleges. Ultimately, the required topics in the honors program will span a range wider than any sin gle major. Students4n the program will only have about one-third of their classes in the Kauffman Academic Residential Center. The students living in Kauffman will eat most meals in Selleck Hall and will be interacting with many . people on campus, the same as any other major, group, residence hall floor, club or greek house. Steven R. Dunbar Founding Director, J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management