Thursday, February 3,2000
Page 4
-*■ ^ v Editor: J.J. Harder
I (402)472-1768
Getting rid of
minor loopholes
LB975penalizes minors who
drink, while keeping those
who don’t from trouble
Pay attention, kids! You can’t just set down your beers
anymore.
You may be used to seeing the cops at a party and
avoiding the “possession” part of the MIP by dropping
your glass, even if you’re completely hammered. If the
state legislature passes LB975, state law will prohibit
consumption of alcohol by minors.
No longer will underage drinkers be able to tie the
hands of law enforcement officials with one of the state’s
legal loopholes. If you’re drinking - you’re screwed.
And you should be. /
If the
legislature
passes
LB975,
designated
drivers will
be protected
and
underage
drinkers will
get
hammered
with more
than booze.
The present law has been problem
atic. Sure, every once in awhile a few
kids get caught Bud-handed, but most
of the time they dance around the law.
The police are wasting their time bust
ing parties full of kids that are too
quick at putting the can on the coffee
table.
Not only is the law ineffective, but
it’s also not administered impartially.
Police in some parts of the state will
give an MIP even if they don’t actual
ly see a minor in possession.
But the lawman shouldn’t be pun
ishing kids that aren’t drinking. Some
of them are designated drivers. Others
are trying to be examples to their
peers by not drinking. So possession
should really mean possession.
If the legislature passes LB975,
the designated drivers will be protect
ed, and the underage drinkers will get
hammered with more than booze. But
if the bill is defeated, then more and
more of the law enforcement will con
tinue to try to punish minors who they
may not have actually seen in possession.
So we definitely support the bill.
But if it isn’t passed, then the judicial branch should
step in and help out Joe Policeman. How? The Supreme
Court should look for a case in which it can rule that the
word possession means having a certain percentage of
alcohol in one’s blood.
Because if .01 ain’t possession, what is?
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel
McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay
Young
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three. , t
Obermeyer’s
VIEW
H m caPitol,...-, l
i . . —1—r
Putting the I in you
lean be used in various contexts
I have to tell you something
before I begin. I is the opposite of
you. I is first person. You is second
person. If I can use I in a way that
relates to you, you might assume the
identity of I because you see yourself
in I, and thus, I will become you. I
like that.
I am now going to tell you a few
things. I think you might be interest
ed in what I am going to say. I hope
that I will impact you.
I woke up earlier today. I left my
room. I went to the bathroom to
brush my teeth. I picked up this
paper. I started to read.
I sat down. I was not sitting down
earlier, but I really wanted to sit
down. I don’t like to read standing
up. I usually read sitting down. I
want a donut, and I would like some
milk. I wanted to relate that to you.
I is the most commonly used
word in the English language,
I often use I, to express who I
am.
I am many things: “I’m every
woman.” “I am your worst night
mare.” “I am your father.”
I love you.
I hate you.
I can’t live without you.
I think many songs imply who I
am.
I am an all-star. I am a rock-star.
I am a superstar. I’m a ghetto super
star.
Or express what I want.
“Damn, I wish I was your lover.”
If I were your lover, I would not
do what the song says. I would put
your needs before mine. I would
think of you before I would think of
myself. I would never ask you to sac
rifice your needs for me. I would
always be there for you. I would let
you go if you needed me to. I would
trust you to go out at night I would
always call.
I am single.
I left Boston, in the summer of
’76.1 left a good job, my wife and
three kids, but I did take my dog Rex
with me. I also took a bottle of
whiskey and a picture of them, so I
wouldn’t forget. I wanted to see what
the open road was like and what was
going on in the West.
I got off track. I’m sorry. I am
not perfect. I make mistakes. I am
human. I know that sometimes I am
going to fail. I know that sometimes
I am going to succeed. I have to take
a break. I am going to the bathroom.
Occupation in
life has nothing
to do with what I
know, because as
a 22-year-old
social drinker,
sports-car owner
and occasional
pot smoker, I
don’t really
identify with
titles. I identify
with being me.
I’m back.
1 am going to make a statement
about the paragraph I got off track
with. (I left Boston in the summer of
’76.1 hope you understand.)
I mentioned earlier that I is first
person. I know that many authors use
the first person I to tell their stories. I
have read many of these stories, and
many times I have felt that I have
become the narrator of the story. I
tried to make this point earlier,
because I like when I am put in this
position.
I often feel, though, that 1 can get
overwhelmed with the word I when I
is used outside the context of a story.
I have friends who use I a lot. I
went shopping, and I had to get some
eggs for a casserole. But they didn’t
have grade A eggs, so I had to go to
another store where I saw Jill. I
talked to Jill for 40 minutes, then I
had to come back home. But I had to
get some gas before I got home, so I
went to the gas station, and I got
some gas, and..
I don’t care. I feel bad that I don’t
care, but, I, still, don’t, care.
(I, just, used, a, lot, of, commas.)
I know that 1 often use I to
explain things about myself.
“I’m not aware of too many
things, I know what I know if you
know what I mean.” (I did not write
that line originally. I forgot who did.
I would appreciate it, if you know, if
you would send me e-mail telling
me).
I is also used for people to
defend their positions, by using it to
make statements about themselves.
1 commonly see, and hear, people
use a form similar to this one: “As a
21-year-old mother of four, I know
that birth control does not always
work.” Or possibly: “As a psycholo
gy professor at the University of
Nebraska, 1 see directly that many
people have severe emotional prob
lems.”
As a 22-year-old waiter, student,
social worker, uncle and journalist, I
know these things as well. I often
think that my occupation in life has
nothing to do with what I know
because, as a 22-year-old social
drinker, sports-car owner and occa
sional pot smoker, I don’t really
identify with titles. I identify with
being me.
I identify being me with being
you.
I am almost done with this col
umn.
1 have somewhere to go soon.
I have to go to sleep tonight.
I am
I am obsessed
with
I am obsessed with
the word
I.
Trevor Johnson is a Junior secondary education and English major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist