Opinion An honest debate Legislators acted correctly by removing LB1405from session Fetal ’tissue Routid One is finally over. Today, after three hours of floor debate, the Legislature ended its discussion of LB 1405, the fetal tissue research bill. But the fight over whether the university should use fetal tissue from elective abortions in its research will continue. In this debate, there were threats from Sen. Ernie Chambers to “own” the Legislature during debate. There was a bastion of Catholic ladies in the gallery. Media filled the sides of the chamber. And debate on the bill finally ensued. Practically all the senators put on their lights to talk. Each had his or her own two cents to throw in. Some sena Kegaraiess of your position on the issue, this bill was not what Nebraska needs. iuis ueienueu uieir positions. Others added new facts. Still oth ers told personal stories, support ing their stance on the bill. But in the end, Sen. John Hilgert, the man who introduced the bill, was tear fully forced to pull LB 1405 from consideration. And for good reason. On the floor Tuesday, several senators argued that the bill was unconstitu tional. This was not a good bill. Rptrarrllpoo nf \;mir nncifinn An —©--* j-r the issue, this bill was not what Nebraska needs. There are many other pressing issues our legislators must deal with in the next nine days, such as finalizing the budg et and a possible ethanol mandate. Now the Legislature can take a break from this fight and step into the ring on the many other pressing issues left this year. The end of LB 1405 also gives the University of Nebraska Medical Center some valuable time. In the midst of criticism for its use of aborted fetal tissue in research, the Medical Center pledged to find alternative tissue sources. UNMC administrators should not see this as a victory. This is a mandate from the Legislature to pursue those options. And the Medical Center does not have a choice. In the interim period, this bill will be rewritten. And next year, it will be reintroduced. So UNMC needs to use its time wisely and head this future debate off at Jhe pass. Because if the researchers can find a way to get tissue from sources besides elective abor tions, the Legislature will have nothing to worry about. If not, we’ll be forced to endure this fight again next session. Editorial Board Josh Funk (editor) • JJ. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay Young 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 sub missions. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous material 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: letters@unl.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 Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A col umn 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, supervises the publication of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsi bility 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 coverage; any corrections or clarifications will be printed on page three. Obermeyer’s VIEW / PEfipftSflS Op\ i Acflperoc ff&poM- ] \ m 0£W 1 pa /veawse. m\ (PBBL YOUR work \ IA/AS UNETHICAL 41 MjhpMdt -M. ResPecT our h /VOW SfmB\ / HAVE UJoRkED\ , 1 ON ABORTED r\ Fetal Tissue j ^\WS1EAI>. A~~~ Letters to the EDITOR Private persuasion As the heated arguments continue about honors programs and residence halls, I feel the events unfolding before us neither hurt nor help our campus’s well-being. The addition and expansion of hon ors programs is making the value of my degrees a little more valuable. However, don’t let the screams of “private funding” persuade you into believing these additions are coming to us for free. As we all know, building residence halls requires land, and the land that is being used was formerly student and staff parking lots. The lack of parking lots creates a parking prob lem. To return the campus to the same number of parking lots, the remaining lots are building up and tightening into tiny spaces rather than spreading out. So, for all you “regular” students out there like myself, parking rates increase to build parking garages. Why? Honors residence halls. Stephen Kroening senior meteorology and communication studies DN kissing It takes a big person to kick a guy when he’s clown. Or at least the DN must think so. The DN has decided in its infinite wisdom that the student body wants to relive the entire ASUN campaign from start to finish. Except this time, they get to write how it “really” happened. I noticed a pattern while I read the articles. The Empower article was about Heath Mello. The Impact article was about Heath. The Fishpond article was about Heath. Just about everything written in this series somehow ties back to Heath. It is not flattering, to say the least. Somehow, the Daily Nebraskan’s Editorial Board doesn’t think it was enough for him to lose. It felt the need not only to rub his face in it, but to make him out to be some sort of evil person, which I assure you he is not. The message this sends to all stu dents is clear. Kiss up to the DN. Agree with everything it says, and sure as heck agree if you want to run for an Association of Students of the University ofNebraska office. Because if you don’t, they’ll slither back to the DN office and use your student fees to come up with some subtle but effective way to make you into a public mockery. JakeWobig junior political science and international affairs We’ve come a long way I write in response to Sharity Czologos’ (DN, Tuesday) letter about gays in the military. Czologos shows some of the military’s aspects I didn’t know. Czologos asserts that gay soldiers threaten military cohesiveness and teamwork, and that threat undermines the possibility of successful mission completion. TTris breakdown is caused by the “stress, tension and hatred” resulting from “straight” soldiers’ intolerance of homosexuality, Czologos argues. Czologos concludes, “The military would break down if homosexuals had the right to serve.” (As if that would be a bad thing.) “For now, we must stick with the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.” What did I learn about the military? Except for its homophobia, the military has brought tolerance and solidarity between soldiers of different sexes, eth nic groups, class backgrounds and gender expressions. Wow, as long as someone is hetero sexual, the military must be a paradise of accord and teamwork, a paradise where “straight” soldiers live together harmoniously accomplishing their var ious missions. My, our glorious mili tary industrial complex has come a long way. Robert Aguirre graduate student English ‘Share the burden’ There is great depth in the editorial about allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Let them defend this land equally like the others and share the burden of defense against our enemies, foreign and domestic. Do not discriminate or harbor these bitter hatreds because they tear at the fiber of our communi ties. Mario A. Benfield 8th district vice commander past post 448 commander San Francisco Voice your jg_j__ opinion here. The Daily Nebraskan is now accepting The Daily Nebraskan applications for the fall semester. Any major field eaitor’ ?ss,s®nt weD edttor- wji| up hirinn rnli imntetQ and class standing will be eligible as long as you mana°'n° edrtor- ■*■“» news ™JmiIlStS are taking at least six credit hours and have a 2.0 editors assignment edrtor, copy and Cartoonists for the gpa or higher. ^chw. cow editors, spoite fall semester very soon. Pick up an application and job description and edd0.r’".fE ed'tor’0p n'01?edltor’ Fine tunp vnur x/ipw