EDITOR"
Josh Funk
OPINION
EDITOR
Mark Baldridge
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Lindsay Young
Jessica Fargen
Samuel McKewon
Cliff Hicks
Kimberly Sweet
Our
VIEW
A giver
of peace
Olson’s efforts will ,
live past her years
Lincoln has lost a true original and
the world, a champion of peace.
The woman who united cat lovers,
- anti-nuke activism, calendars and tire
less work died early Friday morning.
Betty Olson was a driving force
behind Nebraskans for Peace. Current
members credit Olson for keeping the
group together in its early years.
Now the group, soon to mark its
30th year, is the oldest peace and jus
tice organization in the country.
Cancer killed Olson, 70, before she
could celebrate that anniversary, but
her work for peace will long outlive
her.
In addition to fighting against wars
and foreign occupation, Nebraskans
for Peace, under her leadership, came
to champion the poor and disadvan
taged and has become an outspoken
critic of die death penalty.
In the late 1970s, Olson organized
opposition to the Indonesian occupa
tion of East Timor. Before her death,
. she was to see the Indonesian govern
ment recognize the small island coun
try s independence.
Olson always let her voice be heard
whenever there was injustice. She will
be remembered as an early local sup
porter of the NAACP.
And for the past 16 years, Olson put
together the “Cat Lovers Against the
Bomb” calendar on her home comput
er.
j Urging people to “combine their
love of cats with a social conscience in
the crusade against nuclear weapons,”
the calendar brought in about $10,000
each year to support work for peace.
We extend our condolences to
Olson’s husband, Paul, an English pro
fessor at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, and their three children,
Andrew, Lars and Ingrid.
Betty Olson should be remembered
in death as she was known in life: for
her activism, her accomplishments and
her drive.
She did not want flowers, asking,
instead, that any remembrance in her
honor should be spent in support of the
goals she cherished.
Memorials may be sent to the
Nebraska Peace Foundation or Bread
for the World.
If we live, tomorrow, in a better
world, it will be because of the work
and love, the noble lives and coura
geous deaths of people like Betty
Olson.
Rest in peace.
EMtarial PiHcy
Unsigned etiforiais are the opinions of
the Fall 1999 Da8y Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraskfr±inooln,ite
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 pubfisher
of the Daily Nebraskanrpolicy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Edtorial 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 fies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
laMrhfei
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the edtor and guest columns,
but does not Guarantee their pubficalion.
The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to
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Submitted material becomes property of
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Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 20
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tetters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Obermeyer’s
VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
Emu in the News
I am writing in response to the
emu shooting that occurred last
Monday.
I happened to be driving into town
and saw die frightened bird along the
side of the road At the time I saw the
bird, there was a sheriff onsite, and the
livestock that were apparently “pan
icking” were nowhere in sight.
I understand the need f6r Mr.
Homolka to protect his livestock, as I
would want to protect mine because
they are an investment. But please
remember, this emu that was shot was
someone else’s livestock!
Was it not possible to simply shoot
the emu with some sort of a tranquiliz
ing dart and transfer the bird back to
its rightful owner?
Heather Stewart
graduate student
distance education
Emu E-mail
Quoting the Thursday Daily
Nebraskan, page 6: “But the [emu]
were unpredictable and difficult to
comer, Bjelland said, making killing
loose birds a wise option.”
If it is difficult or inconvenient,
just kill it. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
No, there’s nothing (or nobody)
“wise” in this article at all.
Tom Eads
Information Services
Sore Loser
Coach Solich ... quit whining
about the officials down in Texas ... I
was taught many years ago that an
official’s call won’t win or lose the
game for you unless you, yourself,
have played a perfect game.
And NU certainly didn’t do that.
Look to die two fumbles inside the
10-yard line, which would have given
us a minimum of six or a maximum of
14 points. We needed five to win.
Bob Horstman
UNL1948-49
First-Name Basis
Until last Wednesday, I held some
respect for you, Mr. Obermeyer, as
both a journalist and a person. I found
the majority of your “views” some
what entertaining.
Every ounce of that respect is
gone.
In case it hasn’t registered in that
diseased, demented brain of yours, I’m
referring to your attempt to twist the
Payne Stewart tragedy into humorous
content for your cartoon.
As I sit here watching the memori
al service for Payne on ESPN and see
the huge gathering of people who
knew and loved him, it amazes me that
it could enter into anyone’s mind to
“poke fun” at this terrible tragedy.
How would you explain your
actions to the Stewart family? What
would you say if confronted by 10
year-old Aaron, 13-year-old Chelsea
and Payne’s widow, Tracey?
Todd Carstens
graduate student
journalism
Ubermeyer
In regards to Obermeyer’s View
(DN, Wednesday), I found no humor
or political satire in that ill attempt to
make a joke out of someone’s death.
Payne Stewart was an honorable
man who gave countless amounts of
money to charities.
He was respected and valued by
his family and peers.
I think Obermeyer should just
stick to making fun of the greek sys
tem (which raises thousands of dollars
a year for local charities) and the foot
ball team (which has earned respect
from across die nation), since ith what
he does best
Jayson Schmolke
senior
advertising
Drink Drank Drunk
As the social chair for Phi Mu
Sorority, I would like to respond to the
Oct. 21 article, “Drinking accord
sparks discord.”
According to the Alcohol Policies
for Student Events, student organiza
tions — when having an event where
alcohol is present — should have the
event at a licensed liquor establish
ment with a third party vendor.
Attendance at these events must be
primarily people over the age of 21.
The agreement signed on Sept 28,
1999, by all of the sorority presidents
and social chairs simply reinforces
these rules. Furthermore, UNL is a dry
campus. Having a dry campus means
students will not consume or possess
alcohol on university property. No
exceptions are made for greek houses.
Finally, according to federal law, it
is illegal for anyone under the age of
21 to consume alcohol..
By signing the alcohol agreement,
we agreed that we would follow these
rules.
No new rules have been created.
Old rules have only been reinforced.
When you join a sorority, you
pledge to uphold the ideals of that
sorority. These ideals include leader
ship, community service, and, yes, an
active social life.
However, the “animal house”
image of the greek system is a thing of
the past.
Shannon Snow
junior
political science
Waiting for Columbus
I am writing in response to the let
ters of both Nicole Walden and Steve
Hunt, Oct. 25.
The problem isn’t that you or any
one else happens to be of European
descent. The problem arises when you
take a murderer, hold him up as a hero
and declare a holiday in his name.
By doing this, the federal govern
ment takes a knife and reopens a
wound in the hearts of the Native
American people every year.
And what happened between the
Europeans and the Native Americans
wasn’t war; it was slaughter.
As Americans, we should all won
dor why a person who committed such
horrific acts is held up as a national
hero.
Rebecca Bustamante
junior
speech-language pathology
Columbus Re-Discovered
First of all, I want to welcome
Nicole Walden to the beautiful world
of “racism,” where everything your
parents told you about America being
die land of die free and equal opportu
nity is not entirely due.
I do agree with your words of wis
dom by quoting Gandhi. But didn’t
that get Martin Luther King shot?
In response to Steve Hunt’s letter,
how in God’s name can you say slav
ery was an accepted trade in any time
period? Oh, I forgot. It must be the
“white” man’s opinion.
Open your eyes. You have a degree
in history. It took hundreds of years to
abolish slavery, and it is still a problem
today in regards to racism and dis
crimination.
Shaun Dahl
second year undergraduate
CBA
