Opinion IM/y Nebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Samuel McKewon Managing Editor Bradley Davis Quotes of the Week “We thought it would be close. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine it would be this close.” Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, on the tight race in his home state between his brother, George W. Bush and A1 Gore, which has yet to be decided; A recount is underway - delays and revotes may be possible. “We’ve received literally thousands of tele phone calls and inquiries and reports of irregu larities like ballots appearing and disappearing, voter intimidation and the totals of this election sort of mysteriously disappearing and growing overnight” Florida Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe WI thinkyou can be a bulldog, but you’ve got to be able to work with other people. I hope to be able to demonstrate that those who think parti sanship is the only way to get anything done in Washington are just false prophets.” Nebraska Sen.-elect Ben Nelson on how he’ll attempt to serve his next six years in Washington “There has been a slight degree of irritation in my voice in these last days.” Nebraska 1st District winner Doug Bereuter, on recent attacks from his opponent Alan Jacobsen “We obviously had some jitters, but that does n't explain the continual missed block-outs and the mishandling of the basketball.” Nebraska Men's Basketball Coach Barry Collier on NU's opening exhibition loss to Global Sports TUesday night “I think (Brett) realized how little he knew. There was a lot he needed to learn about the technical side. A lot of people want to be the artist -not worry about the technical side. But the two, they go hand in hand. It's like a painter only painting with one kind of brush, that's the analo gy I'd make.” UNL Assistant Professor Rick Endacott, on film student Brett Simmonds “I want our guys to wrestle to their potential, not to the opponent's. Our guys understand that if you take anybody lightly, they can jump up and beat you.” Nebraska Wrestling Coach Mark Manning on opening the season “That’s right The Lord did it” Supporter Guyla Mills on Initiative 416, which will insert language into the Nebraska Constitution saying marriage can only be between a man and a woman “I knew way back in July we were going to win either way. We’ve started a movement, and it's great We were going to win because things were going to be talked about and issues were debat ed” UNL junior political science major Angela Clements on the opposition of 416 “God isn’t interested in a change in our behav ior so much as He is interested in a change in our hearts. “And yet something in the back of my brain keeps pricking at me like a needle, asking: ‘If I vote against 416, am I saying that homosexuality is okay? Couldn’t I use the same reasoning to jus tify legalizing rape, drug use or theft? “Am I being swayed by the fact that while I can see why rape, drug use and theft are wrong, I don’t understand why homosexuality is wrong apart from ‘God says so?’ ” Columnist Betsy Severin Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Bradley Davis, Josh Funk, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Dane Stickney, Kimberly Sweet I ftnlifa t Letters roncy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes briefe, letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not gu» artee their puMcation. The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daly Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions wi not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by none, year in school, major and/or group aWation, if any. Submit material ta Daly Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. E mai: lettersOunlnfo.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-Ltncoin, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is soieiy the opinion of its author; a cartoon is soieiy the opinion of its artist The Board cf Regents acts as pubisher of the Daily Nebraskan; poli cy i6 set by the Daily Nebraskan Edtorial Board. The UNL Pubfcations Board, estttolished by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsi blty for the edkorW content of the newspaper ies soieiy in the hands of its employees. examples 0f vonrazs \aMo$£ TWE (9,000 RfOtfT To RIGHTS VIOLATE? Ok NOVzMgft^ -j7 iqqq THE faftfiim Mo 7uw lUey msa VoT£2> Wfofs^y# Nm'THwig) 70 voteagaikj x /m c&rrmix UflEiTx \\ ( For fe^SoN/,..' \ 5o COME OU,W$T&V£ FWRlPIfiNS WHO W0$£ p£Ni0> vote ff&sipevr mu / I fT>5 a *\ f eiPA#msAKj5ysm ' \ sox vora>^Tuo/ / V xsT \J** A S&WD CHANCE? Tile kjoN-FLORID*5 UlHOSf VOTING- BlVHDeRS pBofLB A]Wl>* Uf£K£ UNJUSTLY MANIFV' *^^waK^'K“’r ^w»«aasp Neal Obermeyer/DN Letters to the editor Uh, dun My gosh, do you think maybe the DN staff could hire an editor who knows hiow to spell? I refer to the headline “Nelson eecks out victory.” I believe you meant to say “ekes.” Lane Phillips computer engineering Class of2000 The real truth Before quoting scripture in an article to the public and making a fool of yourself by stereotyp ing “Christians” as narrow-minded, uninformed, fundamentalist believers in blind faith, get your facts straight. Know what it is you believe. And know what the other side's true view is instead of making it up and filling the holes with your own ideas that you get off oflV and other arti cles that people write in to the DN. Open your eyes, and don’t put false truth in other people's heads. Cody Blocker junior film student Grumbling ...because I can They say we columnists aren’t supposed to abuse our position like this. They also say we columnists are sup posed to get paid for writing. TVust me, it’s not much, but the promise still remains. inereiore, Decause, iixe ^-1 Milton from "Office Space,” I Simon have not yet received my RingsiTUlth paycheck, I am going to stretch my license and use the DN for my own personal soapbox, or perhaps simply a footstool. Either way, I’m just going to complain. You know what really frustrates me about col lege? I’m betting that this also will frustrate many of you, my loyal subjects, or casual readers, and for that reason alone my faithful yet fearless editor will allow this column to run in print. I hate the fact our grades are determined on a completely arbitrary basis that has nothing to do with how much understanding, comprehension or sheer work went into completing an assignment. How hard we study and how much we try in school is irrelevant. Look north from the Nebraska Union, past the Broyhill Fountain, and you will see a new temple being built to honor and continue the mentality of unbalance in the school system. And most important of all, I’ve learned that the emperor, umm, I mean, the new chancellor, is per sonally overseeing the final construction stages of this Death Star. Honors dorm. Whatever. I’m not here to bash the Honors Program, but I do think it’s a crock. Mates, let me tell you that the people in the Honors Program are just like the rest of us, only they had the good sense to take the ACT five times in high school. You know how they say the average ACT score increases two points with every time you retake the test? Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you, the Honors Program, free books and all. I’m getting off the topic here, which is what I was hoping to avoid. To my homies in Neihardt, for give my bitterness, and please just hear me out. Afterwards come over to my frat, and you can share in the joy, free beer and hot wings with the rest of us. Allow me to use one of my classes as an exam ple. In this particular class, it is required that we do a lot of drafting-type drawings out- V side of class, x V which \ can take many hours to complete. I spent three hours on one drawing, and in the process I had to put my bottle of cream soda into the freezer to make it cold again. / Each of these drawings takes a similar amount of time to complete, and while I can't speak for the rest of my class, I know I put a lot of effort into mak ing sure everything is right: My handwriting is neat, and I erase my guidelines so they don't mess up the page. I do the best work I possibly can, but when I get the drawings back, all my work is shown to be worth nothing but a hill of beans. Filled with red ink, they are, and complemented by little “-V4” markings all over the place. I may spend a half-hour alone on drawing a simple door, but if I label it on the bottom as opposed to the side, I get no credit. My tears, sweat and blood are con tained within the fibers of each drawing, but it doesn't mean a thing if I forget to draw an arrow or label something inside the border instead of out side. It’s not just that one class. It’s any class. I spent similar hours memorizing a monologue for an act ing class, and when it came down to performance time, I forgot one line, which threw me off for about 30 seconds and ruined my grade. In calculus I can spend a half-hour on one prob lem, but if my answer is positive when it should be negative because I forgot about factoring out a neg ative one, it’s all wrong. Zero credit. Bam. Thank you sir, may I have another. Tuesday night, I was up incredibly late watching the nail-biting election results pour in (Dan Rather sounded like a carnie as he spouted about how we’d better not go anywhere lest we miss one second of CBS election coverage.) and working on a paper which was due the next day. I had already written a draft of the paper, taken it to the TA to have it looked over, written a final draft, gone over the final draft myself and ended with seven pages of writing (five using Trebuchet MS font), which could fetch anywhere from a D to an A. My efforts could be useless if I spelled a word wrong or if my references aren’t cited in the proper MLA style. You’re supposed to get out of life what you put into it, but in college you only get what the TA wants to give you. As I come to an end here, allow me “just a few more seconds” to wax philosophical thoughts about life and the universe. Why is it that our suc cesses, indeed our failures, are determined by forces completely out of our realm of control? Charlie Brown may practice for days, but when it comes right down to it, his sue cess aepenas on Lucy s arDiirary decision to pick up the foot ball or leave it in place. At what point does effort become useless in college, as we discover that our efforts have no bearing on our final grade? Scott Eastman/DN Whoever wins race is still a loser Wow, what an incredible elec tion! Sure, this is the first presiden tial election I’ve participated in, but damned if my palms aren’t L sweating and my eyeballs twitch Seth Felton “*&• - OK, here’s the set up: As of 7:30 p.m. Tliesday, with 65 of 67 counties reporting, George W. Bush is still leading in Florida by an agonizingly slim margin of 225 votes. This is down from an earlier lead Wednesday morning of about 2,000 votes. Absentee ballots from overseas and elsewhere have yet to come in. This could tip the scales either way. Along with the recount has come a cacophony of accusations, protests and proclamations. Residents of Palm Beach County have complained that the ballot was so confusing that they may have inadvertently voted for Pat Buchanan instead of A1 Gore. Also, 19,000 ballots were simply thrown out because more than one can didate was chosen. The Gore campaign has said it will back the efforts of some Palm Beach resi dents in suing over the ballot in that county. The Bush campaign refutes the claims of people accidentally voting for Buchanan instead of Gore. It dtes figures from its own study that shows registra tion with the Reform Party increased 110 percent in Palm Beach county between 1996 and 2000. This throws into some doubt claims of mistaken voting, but keep in mind that Buchanan orchestrated a coup of the Reform Party earlier this year, making more than a few members furious. Just because people registered Reform does not mean they voted Reform. And, if it were five ballots that were thrown out because of improper voting procedures (more than one candidate picked), that would be one thing. But 19,000 invalid ballots in one county strongly suggests that the ballot, as the Palm Beach County lawsuit against the canvassing board and election officials states, was "deceptive, misleading and confusing” If that weren't enough, the Senate is now divided almost equally. The Washington race is still pending, with Democratic challenger Maria Cartwell trailing Republican incumbent Slade Gorton by 5,000 votes. Both claim that incoming absentee ballots will provide victory. Meanwhile, a recount is underway there, as well If Cartwell wins, the Senate would be split 50-50. But no matter who eventually wins the presidency, the Republicans will retain control of Congress. (The House is still in Republican hands, though less firmly than before.) rrn_L_a _■_ll_ 11 U LA <311 OllU Vj€U IffUl Will, U1V kA/lUlU/ will split 50-50, with Cheney's casting the tiebreaker vote, giving the Republicans a slight edge. If Gore wins, then Lieberman will step down as senator from Connecticut, leaving the Republican governor to appoint another to the post This appointee will (He said with tongue in cheek.) have a fair chance of being Republican, which will turn the Senate 51-49 in favor of the Republicans. Amid all this chaos and scrambling, a tiny, muffled voice asks: “Is either of them really up to the job?" No matter who wins, he will preside over a sharply divided America. If Bush wins, it will be despite the popular vote, not because of it. This irritates people, and makes them feel democracy has somehow been subverted. If Gore wins, it may wind up that he did win because he whined enough and because he tied up the courts with accu sations of ballot tampering. He would probably never escape the characteriza tion of being a sore loser. Neither candidate has shown so far (even through these long months of campaigning) that he has any true lead ership skills; all that has been proven is that both of them have the ability to memorize speeches and say exactly what their campaign managers tell them. Neither candidate has shown the force of character or charisma or quick ness of mind necessary to negotiate for what he wants in a host of situations, whether with a divided Senate or the leaders of nations embroiled in war. If nothing else, this may wind up being a dead term: four more years of Congressional bickering, partisanship, name-calling, useless probes and a dis gusted populace, with a limp wrist at the helm. Is either candidate up for the job? One man who was interviewed on National Public Radio on Thursday night said it best “With the race being as close as it is, I think it shows that neither man ever showed enough talent or skill to win the approval of the people. No matter who wins, he will only be governing as the loser he is.”