EDITOR Josh Funk OPINION EDITOR Mark Baldridge EDITORIAL BOARD Lindsay Young Jessica Fargen Samuel McKewon Cliff Hicks Our VIEW Let it ride Fines for casino punishment enough OK, the government has made its point. The State of Nebraska has said it will continue to fine the Santee Sioux Tribe $6,000 a day for operating the Ohiya Casino on its reservation. The tribe’s crime? Refusing to shut down a business that adds a $400,000 payroll to a reservation struggling to become self-sufficient. Too bad that business happens to be a casino. Federal law dictates that unless state law allows the gaming activities, tribes cannot practice those activities on their reservations. Last Friday a federal judge sur prised many by dismissing a civil con tempt lawsuit against Santee Sioux leaders, who were sued for refusing to close the casino. The judge ruled the leaders no longer had the power to shut the business down and should not be held accountable for it because of a recent tribal vote. On Aug. 3, Santee members voted 66-11 that the tribal council could not, under any circumstances, close the casino without permission of the tribe’s members. Even though the judge agreed to release tribal leaders from liability, state and federal officials will continue to penalize the tribe with the daily fine. The tribe is breaking the law, and whether a law is enforced cannot be dependent on who is breaking it. But no further action should be taken. Let it ride for a couple of years. The government must remember why the casino is so important to the reservation. When the people voted to gain control over the casino, they voted to help sustain their livelihood. The tribe runs the casino out of an old cafe, a small blue building that looks like a shack compared to the big time casinos in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The casino’s less than $1 million in profits may seem like pocket change to major casinos, but Ohiya provides 23 reservation jobs and attracts tourism dollars into the community. The casino is a clear asset on a reservation with about 77 percent unemployment. The reservation cannot make much improvement without aid. It needs some way of creating revenue. Unless the government gives the 750 tribal members who live on the reservation a boost, they will have to rely on their casino. The word ohiya in the casino’s name means “to win.” Right now, nobody is winning. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 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. Obermeyer^s VIEW "'SoRR'f p/S, VJE’R'c #5 MILLION ^ 0V6R &X&T So SomW&'S \Znrt wef moFLuMy Kiss Your $ Goodbye The Stadium parking garage has some serious problems with the way it is run. I, along with many others, had to wait in line on the fourth floor for at least 35 minutes, and then I was not given a refund for that time period when I asked, after finally reaching the window. “I can’t give refunds,” said the gentleman at the ticket office. “And I’m gonna need another dollar,” he smirked. I informed him, because of the half-hour wait, that it wasn’t my prob lem and that I would not pay it! I escaped from the garage only after forking over the extra dollar that I would not have owed except their incompetence. Suffice it to say I’m not going to give the parking garage a penny more of my money! I will gladly go to a competitor, or seek alternative parking. The more people who defect from this daily ‘proctology visit,’ the less money they will get! Park elsewhere, and let ’em know how you feel! Nancy Berg senior history You Can Pick Your Friends, and You Can Pick Your Nits In Wednesday’s editorial, the DN stated that unless a person (Shevin Wiggins) “is found guilty, he is inno cent, period.” Of course, that’s not correct. If it were true, then all of the mur derers, rapists and thieves who haven’t been caught yet would all be innocent. And if they’re all innocent, then clearly no crime was committed, and obviously the police are wasting their time looking for these “innocent” people. I think what you meant to say was that in this country a jury must con sider a defendant innocent until a prosecutor establishes guilt. A guilty person is always guilty whether or not he’s caught and con victed. I realize this sounds like nit-pick ing, but I think journalists (especially opinion writers) need to be held to a higher standard, and slip-shod writ ing has no place in any newspaper. Curtis Bright UNL class of 1990 DN LETTERS co » w 1 Mind-hive Your Own Beeswax I am one of the J.D. Edwards scholars - the people who will be liv ing in the Kauffman Center once it opens. The concerns expressed in your Thursday editorial, though well founded, are nothing that I or the pro gram’s directors haven’t considered. A common living area does not a “mind hive” make. Despite the pro gram’s computer science and man agement focus, there are almost as many different majors as there are students. And as we all realize, computers are important only as they relate to people. Despite what your editorial (and the previous day’s cartoon) might suggest, we’re as different from each other and involved in the university as any other students. Matthew Beermann freshman computer science , Three Cheers! Lazy and slow, not to mention unenthusiastic, is how I would describe the mentality of the current Comhusker fans. Instead of cheering and yelling for that great team we all love (you know who you are), they hav