Know your candidates
Voters should focus on more than campaign promises
Generation? often bond by thifik
ing about where they were during sig
nificant moments in history. Ask your
parents where they were when they
heard Kennedy was shot. Ask your
grandparents where they were when
we bombed Japan. Ask me where I
was when I heard ASUN had decided
to direct its Government Liaison
Committee to lobby against a state
legislative bill that would ban
research on aborted fetal tissue at
UNMC. •
It was my mini-Hiroshima of the
semester.
I was at a residence hall govern
ment meeting when the bomb was
dropped. I was very much opposed to
the decision. As I read angry letters in
the newspaper in the days that fol
lowed, I found myself wondering,
“Who are these senators? Who gave
them the right to speak for me? Who
elected this supposedly light-years
left-of-liberal legislature?”
Oh yeah - that would be me.
I voted for certain people because
they promised to develop a communi
ty network through Students At
Large, improve the Culture Center
facilities and practice environmental
ly responsible campaigning. Now
they found themselves forced to
make a decision on an extremely con
troversial issue.
And I’m willing to bet that last
spring during campaign time, no one
thought to ask the candidates what
they thought about research on abort
ed fetal tissue, or even what they
thought about abortion, or maybe
even if they considered themselves to
be liberal or conservative. Just like
parking your car without a permit for
a week, this is bad, bad, bad.
The point of a representative gov
ernment is to represent the students
on campus. Essentially, you are sup
posed to vote for people who think
like you. And while you and Impact
candidate Amy Ellis may agree that it
would be groovy to get the Dave
Matthews Band to play Pershing,
your thoughts on whether UNL
should ask Tom Green to come back
for next year’s Tailgate on the Turf
may be totally different.
Our knowledge about the people
we elect needs to go beyond cam
paign promises.
Because of the apathy of the gen
eral student population, it wouldn’t be
hard for a special interest group to
take over ASUN. Take for example a
group of extremist vegetarians. A few
slick campaign promises about
encouraging diversity and improving
greek/non-greek relations and voila -
no more meat in the cafeteria. No one
thought to ask the candidates how
they felt about killing cows.
This, of course, is an extreme and
disturbing example. But seriously,
ASUN could have been composed
entirely of liberal, pro-choice, regis
tered Democrats this year, and I
wouldn’t have noticed. Would you?
Regardless of whether you think
there’s anything wrong with liberal,
pro-choice Democrats, this would not
be a fair representation of our cam
pus.
This is why we need to be
informed on the values of the candi
dates.
I doubt you ’ll ever see 100 people
show up at an ASUN meeting because
they ’re against improving the Culture
Center.
If ASUN is going to continue to
represent the student body in deci
sions to support or not to support
things like domestic partner benefits
at UNL, then gee, I think it’d be nice
to know what individual candidates
think about homosexuality.
Instead of front-page stories on
what neat guys the presidential candi
dates are, how about finding out their
values? That is what I want to make
my decision on this year.
Because although each of the par
ties have some good ideas about what
they want to see changed around here,
I doubt you’ll ever see 100 people
show up at an ASUN meeting
because they’re against improving the
Culture Center.
We can’t know what controversial
issues ASUN will have to address in
the next year. But we can go to the
debates and talk to our college candi
dates and ask them questions like
“Do you consider yourself liberal or
conservative? How do you feel about
the way ASUN handled the aborted
fetal tissue issue? How would you
have voted?”
They’re big kids.
They shouldn’t crumble at a few
tough questions.
We tend not to get too involved in
campus politics because we don’t
believe ASUN does anything very
important anyway. But they do repre
sent us to the outside world. And
while ASUN’s aborted fetal tissue
decision may not go down in the his
tory books like Hiroshima and JFK,
we can still learn a lesson from it.
Don’t be led blindly. Become an
informed voter.
Betsy Severin is a sophomore broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
A touchy subject
Visit to Lincoln club proves possible nudity ban is misguided
“The state’s most talked about
entertainment,” reads the sign outside
of Mataya’s Babydolls on 56th Street
and Cornhusker Highway.
The strip club, pardon me, gentle
man’s club, has been making news
across the state with its recent battle
with the Lincoln City Council. Last
Tuesday the City Council voted unani
mously to ban sexual contact in busi
nesses and postponed a vote that
would ban nudity in public places.
John Ways Jr., the operations man
ager of Babydolls, told the Daily
Nebraskan (Feb. 23) that the touching
between dancers and patrons at his
business isn’t sexual and that he does
n’t think the ordinance will affect the
way they do business.
“It’s a show,” Ways told the DN.
“It’s entertainment.”
Someone needed to get to the bot
tom of this, and I was prepared to
research this story for hours, or until I
ran out of one-dollar bills, whichever
came first.
I couldn’t help but notice the
stench of cigarette smoke and despera
tion when I walked into Babydolls. I
also had to go through Bobo, the leg
endary bouncer who asked for identi
fication and five dollars to get in. He
made me aware of the many signs stat
ing what patrons can and cannot do at
the club. 1
There is also a petition I could sign
stating displeasure with the City
Council’s actions.
I told him I wrote for the Daily
Nebraskan, and I wanted to know if I
could talk to the manager.
“Stay right there, you just stay
right there,” he said. Then he said
something into a microphone clipped
to his collar that I couldn’t make out
over Montell Jordan’s blaring “This Is
How We Do It.”
I started to get a little concerned
when he told me of his reputation in
Lincoln clubs and how I’d have to
answer to him for whatever I wrote (in
a joking, non-threatening manner -
wink, wink).
Then three large men who work at
the club came out and confronted me.
They asked me if I had identification
to prove I was actually a DN writer. I
had none. They told me they were dis
pleased with what the DN had written
about their club. I said sorry. Then they
told me to do what I had to do for the
story, but to remember my responsi
bilities as a customer.
All right, I’ll buy a $5 lemonade
and stare at breasts, I thought.
I tried to convince them I was on
their side. Frankly I thought I would
get special treatment (unlimited free
juice, lap dances) because I was trying
to tell their story. They had bigger
problems to deal with though, because
I turned around and one of Lincoln’s
finest was at the door.
That was the end of the interview,
and I walked into the club satisfied I
had been able to control my bladder
during this ordeal.
As I took a seat it was impossible j
not to notice the tension in the air. The j
crowd looked like they were anticipat
ing a raid from the FBI. The club had ;
done such a good job of warning {
patrons not to get too touchy-feely |
with the dancers that everyone k
seemed scared to participate.
I think the nervous energy affected
the dancer’s performance. There was
definitely a strong presence from club
employees making sure everyone was
keeping it legal.
Over the next hour or so, several
more dancers performed on stage, and
frankly I was disappointed. The crowd
wasn’t aroused, the dancers weren’t
doing anything too shocking and I was
kind of bored.
Then the club DJ said the magic
words, “Stay here, ’cause coming up
we got four ladies on stage for the
whipped cream and cherries show!”
Tlie table I was at lit up, and the
energy in the room increased. I knew
things were going to take a turn for the
better.
When Chantel, Princess Austin
and Andrea took the stage there was a
buzz in the room.
“Guys, break out the $5 bills and
see what’ll happen to you!” yelled the
DJ.
I was scared to find out for myself,
so I watched.
Basically, guys could lick whip
cream off various parts of the dancers’
bodies, or have the dancers lick whip
cream off them.
Sexual touching or entertainment?
To me it seemed more innocent
than the City Council makes it out to
be. Most of the guys who went up were
being embarrassed by friends in the
crowd. To be honest, the licking of the
whip cream seemed more mechanical
than sexual.
After that I went back to talk to
Bobo. This time he was extremely nice
to me. He told me Babydolls is being
unfairly targeted by the City Council.
If you are unhappy with what is
happening to this business, call the
Mayor’s office and voice your displea
sure or sign the petition at the club.
If the Lincoln City Council shuts
this club
down, is it going to be as tough on
businesses that send strippers to your
house for private shows? Isn’t there
“sexual touching” going on there? Is
this club any more shocking than
things you can see inside Cinema X,
right in the heart of downtown
Lincoln?
If you don’t think this is fair, let
your local leaders know and remember
the City Council plans on debating
whether or not public nudity is legal in
the near future.
Shawn Ballarin/DN
Tony Bock is a junior broadcasting major and a Daily Isebraskan columnist.
