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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1999)
EDITOR Josh Funk OPINION EDITOR Mark Baldridge EDITORIAL BOARD Lindsay Young Jessica Fargen Samuel McKewon Cliff Hicks Kimberly Swe,et Our VIEW Crime and DNA Taking samples against person s rights Half a decade ago, with millions of people watching, the use of DNA evi dence was debated by two lawyers regarding one man, O. J. Simpson. Flash forward to today, when the idea of taking DNA samples from every child born is under serious consideration in New York When the FBI is attempting to expand its national database of DNA tissue sam ples When Scotland police take DNA from anyone breaking the law, including traffic offenders — And when the International Association of Police Chiefs has asked Congress to require DNA samples from anyone arrested. Dare we flash any further forward? The concept of identifying criminals is not a new one. Fingerprinting marked the beginning; the usefulness of these near-unique markings to identify suspects and convict criminals is well known. Some people argue that DNA samples are merely the next evolutionary step in criminology. It is a dangerous step. Comparing fingerprints and DNA is comparing apples and oranges. They both involve your body, but DNA takes it a little bit further: The police want a piece of you, and they want to keep it. Most police have said they have no intention of destroying the tissue sam ples, even after the DNA information is in a computer. Many cite fast technologi cal changes as the reason the samples should be kept on file. This may sound a little like a scare tactic, and maybe it is, but the issue of invasion of privacy does arise. What if New York decides to take DNA samples from everyone bom in the state, and other states decide to follow suit? Currently, even prisoners already convicted of crimes must give their per mission for DNA samples to be taken as evidence in ongoing investigations of other crimes they may be suspected of committing. ~ c One’s right to one’s own body extends to cover cells removed surgically, which may be valuable for medical research; the cells cannot be used without permis sion. Lawmakers and the courts should not extend police powers infinitely, and court orders should be required to go over the inside of a suspect’s mouth with a cotton swab no more often than the premises of his or her apartment. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fat 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 pubfisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daly Nebraskan Editorial Board. Tne UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibly 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@unl.edu. Obermeyer’s VIEW the wtiaig- Powers of the — UNL Stupent RE&ENV MOTHER AMAUE-y Alright Rip, even though y«jVE\ only Got an EMPTY AIR RiFLE, YOU \ CAR Still,affect this Mission? ]/'-—x WE’LL EVEN Let you &o Best (How THAT’S ] because we value you So MwhJ \PRo gress 'l DN LETTERS Just the Factoids Fact: Abortion is legal in Nebraska. Fact: Abortion results in fetal tissue. Fact: This fetal tissue must be dis posed of. Choice: Should this fetal tissue be destroyed as “medical waste,” or should it be used for research in curing dis eases such as Parkinson’s disease or AIDS? I think the answer is clear. Jessica Flaijpgai|i|DN, Friday) can whine all sw&iuxts about abortion; until she makes it to die Supreme Court and manages to overturn Roe v. Wade, nothing is going to change. Jeremy Patrick first-year student NU College of Law Something Fishy “In other business, ASUN senators approved the parties for next spring’s ASUN election - Empower and Impact.” (DN, Thursday) Well, whoopty friggin doo. Two more temporary student organizations that will spend lots of money, litter campus, annoy anybody who might care and accomplish nothing. Wouldn t it just be better, since the platforms will be identical to last year’s temporary student organizations and to each other, to put up permanent signs with erasable name spaces? I’m tired of no-name AS UN politi cal parties with cookie-cutter plat forms; it’s boring. I’m going to start my own political party and give it a platform that makes sense. A platform that will appeal to all students. A platform NOT ripped off from last year (and the year before that).... A platform that is short: Put fish in Broyhill fountain. Yes, stock that pretty but lifeless rock pile and give it a soul! Who could oppose that? Candidates wanted. Josh Hesse FISHPOND Math-Banned I agree with Dr. Fabrikant (Letters, Friday) that this “new math” does not teach students what they need to know.. As a former math teacher, I’ve seen students in a college-level calculus class unable to graph a simple straight line or even do single digit multiplication without using their cal culators. I knew a college algebra teacher who started the first day of class reviewing addition and subtraction of numbers because she had too many stu dents who didn’t know this. This new math came about 10 years ago when the number of 18-year-olds in this country dropped. Colleges couldn’t recruit enough students who met the standards, which caused them to lose money because of declining enrollments. They solved this problem by throwing out the standards and making an effort to pass as many students as possible. Mathland has a nice exercise in it called Fantasy Lunch. Students make a list of their favorite foods, draw them on paper, cut them out and put them in a bag. That’s it. What has that got to do with math? And people wonder why every advanced country on this planet kicks our butt on math scores. Some of the newer textbooks are filled with everything except math. One of them has the United Nations declaration of human rights printed in it, in six languages, but the first equa tion doesn’t show up until well past Page 100. It also has students wnte essays about the importance of saving the rain forests, which is clearly a prerequisite to solving a quadratic equation. For those who want to know more, you might check out the (poorly orga nized and out-of-date) Web site www. mathematically correct, com, which will tell you about the problems California’s K-12 education has had with the new math, including Mathland. David DeWester ' graduate student computer science Fat Head, Protein Body Kasey Kerber (DN, Thursday) wrote a poorly researched column con demning what he calls a high-protein diet First off, to correct this media influ enced misconception, the diet is low in carbohydrates, so it should be referred to as a “low-carb diet.” I don’t think that Kasey, or most dietitians, have any idea what is hap pening to the body by restricting carbo hydrates. With a balanced diet (carbs, pro tein, fats) the body uses glucose as its main fuel source. When carbohydrates are restricted, the body is without this source of fuel. Since the body stores glucose in the form of glycogen in two places (muscle and liver), the body first accesses this for an alternate source of fuel while increasing its oxidation ojf fatty acids, both from the diet and stored fat When the liver glycogen is used up, the body makes a transition from using glucose as fuel for the brain to using ketone bodies. This metabolic state is referred to as ketosis, and these diets are called ketogenic diets. Ketones are the byproduct of fatty acid oxidation. This means that most of the fat that is consumed during a keto genic diet is actually used as an energy source instead of being stored as body fat. I can also provide references that dietary intake of cholesterol has little impact on blood levels of cholesterol. Most individuals on a low-carb diet experience an immediate drop in blood triglyceride levels and a decrease in blood cholesterol, which isn’t a very good marker for cardiovascular health risk, anyway. The most important reason that low-carb diets are catching on is that they work. The reason that they work for losing fat is because they are low calorie diets. Imagine going to Burger King for lunch at the union and instead of getting a bacon-double cheeseburger with fries and a Coke (oops, Pepsi), that you hold the bun/fries/Pepsi and have water to drink. You just cut almost 400 calories from your diet. The only thing that Kasey was cor rect about was that exercise is definite ly the best possible thing that people can do for themselves. One can spend as little as two days a week for 45 min utes and show marked improvements in, body composition in as little as eight weeks. The trick is to exercise the right way, and weight training is the single, most beneficial activity that one can do irrespective of diet. Brent Wilson graduate student mechanical engineering .p c | A/. :an, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 “R" St., Lincoln, T Wl ax to (402) 472-1761, or e-mail letters® unl-eckh be signed and include a phone number for verification.