.
Foolhardy
attempts
People will buy lottery tickets
despite advertising restrictions
If certain folks have their way in the Nebraska
Legislature, fate won’t be making an appearance in
Nebraska lottery advertisements anymore.
It’s the supporters of LB1174, who somehow believe
that actors have conned foolish Nebraskans into buying
more lottery tickets than they normally would have had they
not seen a dark-haired man grinning like an emaciated
clown back at them.
The idea that actors somehow lure people to buy lottery
tickets is sublimely ridiculous. In reality, this bill seems
more like a veiled attempt to shut down the lottery altogeth
er rather than simply to curb the advertising rights.
For some of us, this wouldn’t be a problem. Not all of us
on the board are for the lottery, and if that were the issue,
7 maybe we d consider it as such.
lhe idea that But why take actors’ money
> away? What’s the point in that? We
UtlOrS might as well spread the wealth
SOftiehoW lure rather than pay the folks who have
already won to speak for them
people to buy selves.
la lr And likely, that’s what would
lottery tlCKetS happen if this bill passed. The lot
is Sublimely tery would use people who actually
y won, and they would repeat exactly
ridiculous. the same things that actors do now:
This could be your lucky day.
The bill’s supporters would have us believe that fake
actors present some falsity in the lottery.
Well, duh. It's an advertisement.
Advertisements are not meant to present us with all the
facts. Nor are they intended to tell the complete truth. We
would not expect the lottery advertisement to chronicle an
old couple who spent 20 years of their life buying lottery
tickets and never won once and died cursing the very day
they learned the joys of a scratch-off.
So no matter what, the advertisements are going to try to
pump up the lottery, while printing the actual odds of win
ning as small as they possibly can. It might be fair to say
advertisements should display those odds more prominent
ly, so people understand how little a shot they have at strik
ing it big.
But if the bill’s supporters really want to nix the lottery,
then that’s what they should try to do. We sense the state of
Nebraska might not be too keen on that. Bit by bit, the lot
tery attempts cut away at the state’s options for advertising.
We don’t think it will matter. These people will buy lotto
if they want to, and that’s the bottom line. Because, in truth,
it could be their luck}' day.
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel
McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay
Young
I
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor
and guest columns, but docs not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any
submissiojris.Submitted material becomes property of the
Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous mate
rial 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, Neb. 68588-0448 or e-mail to: let
ters(ojunl.edu
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the spring 2000
Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views
of the University of Ncbraska-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 acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, super
vises the publication 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.
The Daily Nebraskan strives to print fair and accurate cover
age; any corrections or clarifications will be printed on page
three.
• - . i ■ , '• - ■ 1 '
ft
Obermeyer’s
VIEW
RS-m! THAT’S
-the fifth time
Hi wo years !
J
i
i
Letters to we
EDITOR
Questionable judgment
As members of the UNL communi
ty and professional staff of the Minority
Assistance Program, we want to express
our objection to the Obermeyer’s View
cartoon in the Wednesday, Feb. 9,2000,
Daily Nebraskan. This cartoon depicted
a picture of Eddie Brown and compared
it to two well-known NU mascots,
Herbie Husker and Lil’ Red.
It is difficult for us to %f.
believe that only the day
before, your newspaper carried a
wonderful feature story on the same !
student as he was recognized for his UJ
leadership and contributions to the j ^
UNL campus. We re not sure what J
to make of this. j ~
The cartoon is in poor taste LZ
because it unjustly demeaned the
character of another UNL student.
Eddie Brown is not a mascot, nor is he a
cartoon character. Eddie Browms a liv
ing and thinking human being with feel
ings!
Moreover, Eddie Brown is not
unlike other students on this campus
making every effort to graduate. Eddie
always has been ready to give of him
self to the university and to the commu
nity at large. We in the Minority
Assistance Program are very proud of
what Eddie has accomplished.
It upsets and disappoints us
that the Daily Nebraskan
chose to allow the depiction of
one of our students in such a nega- ^
tive and demeaning light. Herbie c
Husker and Lil’ Red may be recogniz
able and popular mascots here in
Nebraska, but here at UNL, we recog
nize Eddie Brown as a hard-working
and dedicated student leader.
Chuck van Rossum
Benita Douglas
Liz Carranza-Rodriguez
Helen Long Soldier
Minority Assistance Program
staff
Bathroom break?
I am an avid fan of Nebraska bas
ketball, and I have attended every game
this year. Please feel free to check my
season ticket card for verification.
This may sound slightly pathetic,
but I am a basketball lover and can’t
pass up a deal like $25 season tickets. I
read the article, “I went to Devancy and
saw a movie,” and a few points came to
mind. First of all, Brandon Schulte hit it
right on the head in saying there is a
whole lot of corporate crap and a lot of
unnecessary stuff going on during the
game.
All things considered, it is still just a
basketball game. But because atten
dance is dropping faster than Bill
Clinton’s pants at an intern party, UNL
decided to make Devaney more excit
ing. The new scoreboards with to-the
minute stats are nice for fans who appre
ciate the game.
However, as
Brandon so
kindly pointed
out, the never
ending commercials mixed in with hurl
ing dinos and chanting cheerleaders
take some of the integrity away from a
good, traditional NCAA basketball
game.
Which brings me to my point: musi
cal chairs. For some reason, you chose
to leave this part out of your column. I
am assuming you just made a bathroom
stop because otherwise you would have
mentioned the extravaganza.
So, I feel the need to shed light on
the greatest intermission in the history
of Nebraska basketball. Musical chairs
was designed so that every section had a
representative for the game. Well,
because a few sections had no contes
tants, the extravaganza organizers came
to the always-dedicated students for
replacements. They asked two of my
friends and me to participate in the half
tune fun.
To make a long story short, one of
the three of us studcnts-who-werc-only
npart ic i pat ing-to- f i 11-vacant-spots actu
ally won the contest. It was not what
most consider “quality entertainment,”
, as the end left two people on the ground
with a chair sliding across the “N” at
midcourt. But it was a victory for all stu
dents at our beloved university.
The triumph came at a time when
student seating is being diminished to
make more room for the under-enthusi
astic, non-cheering, cry-baby, whining
(you get the point) season ticket holders
and their fat wallets. Students, next
time you attend a home
b-ball game, stand up
and make some noise.
Never mind that the
poor people who
paid way too much
for season tickets
may actually have to
stand to support the
team. Go Huskers!
Kyle Sajevic
freshman
business administra
tion
We Want Wilky
I remember the “good of'
days” on Fridays. I’d eagerly grab
the DN and read Steve Willey’s goofy,
rpH.nprkpH ramblings. They were rip
roaring hilarious, especially his jokes of
life in Arkansas. But this semester,
p, you’ve really lowered the playing
field.
Betsy Severin, I am a practicing
Catholic, and I remember your letters
.... umes past, but your sugary, “God
will-take-care-of-all” attitude makes
me want to wretch. I’m sure the DN
brought you in for balance, but if you
want to shout God from the rafters, this
ain’t the place to do it, hon. This is a god
less institution. Why don’t you try look
ing into Grace University?
Chris Gustafson and Lucas Stock,
your columns arc even worse. Are you
trying to be wise, pithy, smart-aleck or
what? I’m sure last Friday’s column was
meant to be cute, but it wasn’t. Yep, I’m
one of those loser language majors.
Closed-minded and arrogant, you both
are. Get a life.
Obermeyer, you are the one bright
spot. Your cartoons give me a smile dur
ing an otherwise dismal day.
Keep at it, DN. I’ll be outta here in
three months, so it won’t matter to me
what else you crank out. I’ll just close
my eyes and think back to ’96, when the
paper was actually good.
Ann Kontor j
senior
French and european studies