Under the
Influence
Journalists help public see
truth about politicians
Money loses. Good journalism wins.
On April 9, the Omaha World-Herald published a
scathing article about the past of Senate hopeful George
Grogan. It detailed a life unbeknown to the public. This
life included four wives, children he had never met before
the last few months and not one positive comment from a
business partner or employee. In a few inches of
newsprint, a couple of writers from Omaha brought down
the 58 Million Dollar Man.
And good for them.
This is what solid journalism is all about - a relevant
issue, hours of research, tough questions and tough
answers. It isn’t what some have thought was a targeted
The writers weren’t
trying to bring
down Grogan; they
were simply
looking for the real
story, behind the
fluff that is oft
printed in a race
for office.
in aim um. me wrners
weren’t trying to bring
down Grogan; they were
simply looking for the real
story, behind the fluff that
is oft printed in a race for
office.
And that’s a tough thing
for many Nebraskans to
take.
Grogan was gaining
ground on Stenberg and
looking to make a late push
like Johanns in the ’98 gov
ernor’s race. His expensive
commercials, campaign
Suburbans and high-paid
stair did what they were
supposed to: get him airtime and attention.
Some Republicans were eager for a candidate just the
opposite of Stenberg, and that’s what Grogan is.
Nebraskans can easily identify with his shiny head and
portly figure.
They like the way he appeared on his commercials: as
a regular guy in a vest at the gas pump. Grogan was on the
verge of taking on Nelson.
And then the truth came out.
During the interview for the story Grogan dropped out
of the race. Then he called the writers back and told them
he was back in. Then he reaped the ugly fruit from the arti
cle and officially left the race.
We should breathe a collective sigh of relief. He hid
marriages and children and bad business practices all over
the country.
Without this good journalism, who knows what he
would have hidden in the Senate.
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. 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
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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 dpinion 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.
Qbermeyer’s
VIEW
I-—
ACROSS:
IJhat which oqiodes
3.«koplilwlHr«(mfM
(Ktfapeckwertqaretian)
•.Great Grape_
'.flying me* thing
ltkFartw’a pacifier
13j»eodtobe*ay
HXBonicii lynim nr Lcnvn
15Jfeoce plate deafet #1
16jmo white on Greek row
17.*lat me be the one tint dance
with yon and we can_"
lgj)aniah male fint name (aor
Ab)
19. Sorority houae greeting (or
chart of the dwarves)
20. what ia a moave?
21 Julia didn’t “Lovett"
22xmergency room
23*sun 1* VP
25 it’s their week and they're
backwards
29 .title for divorced wanwn
30._Ferris
31 .wax on, wax_
32* good gig (for Jimmy Fallon
that is)
34. you will not find your bike in
the basement here
35. what you do with things
36-difference between scientists
and monkeys
37.SE
SOWN
2.wtae dgr corned mmdmmtD
3 Jiow city ooondl memben don’t
unottobekMcbed
4.whatyou aayto nmeanewUM
neat ab: “Hey._JT
5J4ordberg
*» *»-- -«- - - __ .
cusoooy newccmoc or a noo
7.“Doeny" to John DeCamp
HUwfbl grunge band or
|—mWi«I rmAWp
1 lJicence plate deripi #2
12-Tiill" *>dlcd backwards
24.what to prate* if you're young
and Up
25 Jaw you would sped kaaoo tf
we used l'a intend of z’s
2&AU Hallow's_
27 AdigUened Egyptian Youth
University (abbr)
28 JLeinfaard had one
3(XSoviet Socialist Meat Inspector
(«»r)
3 2.Wilfrid Laurier University
(abbr)
33.what you do to someone’s brail
to pin their wisdom
38.beast of burden (see 39 down)
39 .firmer hadrrthall coach (see 31
down)
40.Ma’s fir* name
41 .how Jesus would say “you"
For those of you who feel slighted from being denied a
crossword puzzle yesterday (md were consequently forced
to read the pyar in class insteadX here’s a bonus crossword
for you all about yesterday’s news (and some other random
words to fill space)
Letter^ to the
EDITOR
Punished deed
It’s easy to complain about a situ
ation. It’s much harder to take action.
The Mayor’s Concert and
Entertainment Task Force is taking
action to try to improve entertain
ment opportunities in the Capital
City. The effort was undertaken
mainly for the benefit of Lincoln’s
young people. For the campus news
paper to object to the effort (4/10 DN
Editorial) reminds one of the old say
ing “no good deed goes unpunished.”
The Daily Nebraskan’s main crit
icism is the makeup of the task force.
The fact is that this is one of the
largest task forces the mayor has ever
appointed. No one has been inten
tionally excluded.
We have had several people who
are not officially on the task force
attend nearly every meeting, and
guests are always welcome to partic
ipate. We plan to circulate the draft of
the final report outside the task force
for comment.
It’s also important to note that
student representation was not limit
ed to the Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska. The task
force includes two University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students, a
Wesleyan student and two high
school representatives.
The Daily Nebraskan did send a
reporter to our first meeting in
January. One wonders why these
objections were not brought up earli
er. One also can ask why the DN did
not continue to cover meetings of a
task force that was certainly of inter
est to its readers. And why did the
Daily Nebraskan refuse to run a con
cert survey as a service to the stu
dents?
Your editorial did a disservice to
the task force and others who are giv
ing their time and expertise to work
together to address long-standing
complaints about the lack of enter
tainment in Lincoln.
Jim Ritzman
chairman of the Mayor’s
Concert and Entertainment
Task Force
Exception to the rule
"v In response to Neal
Obermeyer’s cartoon
'hkjji of Greek Week
Ijilurl being a celebration
of “Rich White
J Kids:” Neal,
you wouldn’t
have to look farther than your old
high school for a greek student who
proves your remark wrong.
Justin Fulton: hardly rich, hardly
white, but greek and damn proud.
Justin Fulton
freshman
accounting
Alpha Tau Omega
Where’s the puzzle?
If there is one thing that I really
like about the DN, it’s the daily cross
word puzzle. It’s one of those things
that seems to carry me through the
morning, keeping me awake in all
those classes. So obviously, I’m very
grateful it’s there.
On that note, I’d just like to com
mend you on today’s (April 18) puz
zle. It was fantastic. I especially like
how you made it look just like an
advertisement for University
Housing jobs. Keep up the good
work!
Chris Botruff
freshman
mechanical engineering
Hawley of a good time
The Hawley Area
(Neighborhood) Association, in the
Malone Area, was able to improve
McWilliams Park at 25th and T
streets last week due to the volunteer
efforts of University of Nebraska
Lincoln students Sophia Yelkin,
Jenni Bogenreif, Brigette Hertlein,
Ben Knauss, Stacey Duncan, Cheryl
Heineman, Abby Sapp, Molly
Penney and Jennie Shamblin.
They worked hard digging and
planting flowers in the park. We
appreciate their help and want to
publicly thank them. It is good
___ for the neighborhood to have
these positive experiences
—with die students and the uni
versity.
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
Peggy Struwe
vice president
Hawley Area
(Neighborhood)
Association
