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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
Opinion ZM/vNebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Samuel McKewon Managing Editor Bradley Davis Taking note Regents'ban on Internet service misguided When it comes to posting class notes online, the NU Board of Regents and UNL professors need to do one thing. Lighten up. The regents conveniently passed a resolu tion last June - when most students were away from school - saying it is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct to participate in serv ices that pay students to post their notes online. The regents said that students needed to go to class to get notes - not just be able to peruse them online. The notes make it a bit too easy to slack off, in their view. One regent said the notes service discour ages the teaching and learning process. We think students are going to skip class, whether the notes are posted or not. If students can pass a test simply by looking at the online notes, maybe the professor needs to reassess the content of his or her class. And, most students will real ize that the notes don't serve as a substitute for the class. Those who think they do will quickly find out after failing their first test. If students can pass a test simply by looking at the online notes, maybe the professor needs to reassess the content of his or her class. The skippers aren't the only ones using the notes services. The notes can serve as a supple ment to those who do attend class but missed a point or need ea a cianncanon. Professors say posting the notes means posting their intellectual property - without compensating them for it. But it doesn’t seem to us that distributing information that is passed from a professor to students in this way violates the professor’s intellectual property rights. A professor passes on information to stu dents through word-of-mouth. Students are allowed to freely share their paper notes with other students whenever they want. They are allowed to tell other students what went on during class while they were gone. Students are passing on the teacher’s notes and lecture information through a variety of media. The Internet is simply the newest way to do this. It seems the real issue for many professors is that students are getting paid for this service. This isn’t the first time a service like this has existed, however. The bookstore used to be home to note service companies that paid stu dents to take notes. Of course, we don’t think students should be rewarded monetarily for attending class. But in this case, students are being hired and paid legitimately for time they take out of their schedules to perform a job they have agreed to dQv There's not much that can be done now that the Board of Regents has passed a resolution outlawing students from participating in online notes services. But maybe professors should take a step back and put the situation in perspective - note-taking services aren’t going to lead to the downfall of students’ knowledge or GPAs. They would just be a little richer. Now that this rule is in place, money will be taken out of good students' hands. Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Bradley Davis, Josh Funk, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Dane Stickney, Kimberly Sweet Letters Policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes briefs, letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guar antee their publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions 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: Daly Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union. 1400 R St Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. E mait: letterseuninfo.unl.edu. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 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 column is solely the opinion of its author a cartoon is solely the opinion of its artist The Board of Regents acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; poli cy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL F'ubtications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsi b«ty for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its employees. k % NealObermeyer/DN Rah,ASS! In reply to Mr. Ringsmuth’s article regarding the new fraternity on campus (Sept. 15), I would like to suggest a welcome party for this extremely worthy organization. The students of the University of Nebraska have long upheld a tradition of excellence in numerous sporting events. It is time we recognize we recognize excellence in its most tasteless form. This suggested party (of the largest possible mag nitude, of course) will allow freedom to ring through out the thin, hallowed halls of Alpha Sigma Sigma, rewarding its proud members and alerting all to the apex of tastelessness. It is time to honor the truly upstanding contribu tors to our society, those who have gone the extra mile to score twice in one night, or to pass the bong to an outstretched hand. Let us celebrate the triumph of all UNL! Alpha Sigma Sigma we salute you! NickTariowski Junior English ^ Boo,ASS! Greek bashing season has started again early this year. Simon Ringsmuth’s editorial in the Friday DN was an all too familiar article, inundated with hollow arguments and personal hate. I’m not going to spout off the facts about how many tens of thousands of dol lars the greek system donates to charity each year or how much higher their GPA is than the rest of the uni versity, but rather, I want to know why Simon has a problem with the greeks. Stereotypes are honored with reckless abandon, not a single idea is stated from first hand experience, and his vitriolic diatribe culminates to a downright insult in the closing paragraph. Simon, do you hate the greeks because they were the same people who beat you up after high school every day, or is there a logical, quantifiable reason that ' you could let us know about? Next time you pull you ideas straight out of your “ASS" with your DN editorial buddies, remove your beret, put down your Magic cards, turn off the X-Files and locate basis for your arguments. (Sorry about playing on stereotypes there.) t Kevin Sypal senior advertising Hypocrite, n. One who, pro fessing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises. -AmbroseBierce, *The Devils Dictionary” With Dennis Miller off Jeremy doing “Monday Night Patrick Football,” I feel justified in stealing his shtick. So I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but... My pet peeve is ignorance and hypocrisy in poli tics. I am frequently peeved. Recent events have not eased my discomfort. I was planning to write about the problems with Attorney General Don Stenberg, but my editors insist I have only 750 words, not 750 pages. Instead J’ll begin with his assistant, J. Kirk Brown. Recently, Brown applied to the judicial nominating commission for an opening on the Lancaster County District Court The commission is charged by state law with the task of selecting qualified applicants and forwarding their names to the governor, who makes the final deci sion. After the commission found Brown unqualified, he wrote a scathing column attacking it for operating in secrecy and for being biased against him for his work on capital punishment cases. (Interestingly, a secretary in the Attorney General’s office wrote a simi lar piece on the same day for the same newspaper.) The commission operates in secrecy because the whole point of a merit-based system is to avoid politi cal pressures; this is why we ho longer elect judges. Brown’s attack on the commission for being biased against him for his death penalty work holds delicious irony. Stenberg and Brown have done every thing in their power to keep judicial and legislative branches from acting on clear and nearly-unanimous research that demonstrates the use of capital punish ment as biased against poor and minority defendants. Brown only loses a job opportunity because of the commission’s bias. The men and women he kills have lost their lives because of society’s prejudice. Stenberg and Brown are not alone in the hypocrisy department. I first met Mike Johanns as he came to Chadron to campaign for governor. I remember asking him, after he gave the usual stump-speech, if he had any ration al, secular justifications for being opposed to same sex marriage. He mumbled and stumbled and finally admitted that it was for religious reasons. I could at least respect his sincerity, Johanns has often spoken of the impor tance of his Catholic faith. But Johanns likes it both ways. He condemns abortion supposedly based on his sincere religious beliefs, but enthusiastically supports the death penal ty (a position clearly at odds with the doctrines of Catholicism). Johanns refused to allow a clemency hearing for Randy Reeves, a clear break with tradition. I guess life is sacred only when in accord with the Republican platform. Similarly, after signing a state proclamation for a March for Jesus, Johanns responded to criticism that it violated the separation of church and state by promis ing he would not limit the proclamations to a single faith. But soon afterward, he refused to sign a similar proclamation for Wiccans because he personally dis agreed with it (Omaha World-Herald May 6,1999). Apparently its OK for government to sponsor religion, if its the kind of religion Johanns agrees with. Inconsistency I can forgive; blatant hypocrisy I cannot Even when some politicians have been clearly proven wrong, they won’t admit it. Once, while I was a Chadron State undergrad, Sen. Chuck Hagel spoke to our political science class. When I asked him why he and other senators were blocking the confirmation of openly-gay James Hormel as Ambassador to Luxembourg, Hagel gave a long spiel about how hav ing a gay ambassador would tarnish our country’s great reputation and harm sensitive diplomatic efforts. No surprise to hear that most Republicans are homophobic; but it’s not what they’d want you to believe. The Republican Party's 2000 campaign plat form states that gay people shouldn’t get special rights but that equal access should guarantee every person a fair shot based on their potential and merit. Hagel said the same thing when he spoke. He said he didn’t care what sexual preference a person had, so long as they could do their job well. Yet, when blocking Hormel’s confirmation, Hagel and the Republicans didn’t speak of his qualifications or lack thereof; they spoke of his being openly gay. This is not a fair shot based on... potential and merit It's been slightly over a year now since Hormel first assumed the post. By all accounts, he has been well received by government officials, fellow diplomats and Luxembourgers in general (Dallas Morning News, Aug. 9,2000). I’m sure Hagel is surprised to hear that the ever-so-important nation of Luxembourg is pleased, and if our foreign reputation has been tar nished, it cannot be traced to our having a gay ambas sador. Even the best of us make mistakes; only the worst of us will not admit them. Mr. Brown, please take a few minutes and watch “The Hurricane.” And keep your chin up about that whole judgeship thing; I hear Judge Wapner on “Animal Court” might be retiring soon. Mr. Johanns, when you decide to stop talking out of both sides of your mouth, please let me know - I’m curious to see what you really believe. And Mr. Hagel, when you have a moment, stop by. Ignorance and apathy discovered in Burnett Hall Now just so I get this right, the politicians are the bad guys right? I mean, they haven’t done meager folk late- Yasmin ly, and their McEwen pockets are lined with PAC money so why should we assume they might be real live actual people with real live actual lives? Politicians are a special breed, bom and raised to rob us blind while they live off the sweat of our toil all the while making broken promise after broken promise. Government is just some gargantu an enterprise made up of people who are in control focused on staying in control. ♦** Girl comes up to me in Burnett Hall after class and says, "So, I hear you work for a senator. Which one?” For a second I am taken in by her sunny smile, so I pipe up and tell her who I work for. Blank stare. Then she furrows her brow, “Hmm ... never heard of him. And what part of the state is he from?" “Uh, he’s a Lincoln senator. What part of the state are you from?” She starts to look seasick. I start to feel disgust brewing in my stomach. “Well, I’m from Lincoln. Is he a new senator?” “Actually, he’s not really. What’s your address?” She tells me, and I tell her she lives in Senator Diana Schimek’s district. Another blank stare. I decide it’s definitely time to wrap this one up, and our brief conclusion reveals that she has no clue who her senator is. and never the matter, this girl doesn't vote anyway. Nice. Bet me 50, the first time she gets called for jury duty she’ll know who her senator is Bet me 100, the first time her property taxes go up she’ll know who her senator is These are just little predictions this old gal can safely make hav ing had direct mass contact with the general voting and non-voting public. Apathy doesn’t disgust me -it pisses me off. If you have the gall to expect a favor from your senator, then at least have the decency to keep up on who that person is and what they stand for. There are 49 senators in this state, and not one of them took this job for the pay or because it looked good on a resume. This is not a glam orous job, and many times these senators struggle over issues that keep them from eating, sleeping My point, hiding behind my over inflated opinionated head, is that if you want to bitch and moan about the elections this year or cross your arms over your chest and perfect your pout with, 7 refuse to vote because Democracy is dead in America," why not take a little trip down to the State Capitol and go meet your Senator? dliu OCClIlg lllCll families, and they do it for all of us - even the apathetic non-voter. My point, hiding behind my over inflated, opinionated head is that if you want to bitch and moan about the elec tions this year or cross your arms over your chest and perfect your pout with, "I refuse to vote because Democracy is dead in America," why not take a little trip down to the State Capitol and go meet your senator? Find out about who they are, what they stand for, and start your quest .for democracy where it really counts. Most of you will ignore my sugges tions until you get a speeding ticket or some other local government ailment. So do you want to be ignorant like Miss Question Box in Burnett Hall or would you like to have a clue? Thanks for taking a turn on the car nival ride...