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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
Opinion ZMvNebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Samuel McKewon Managing Editor Bradley Davis Quotes of the Week “They are like idols here in the program. A lot lately he (Cook) has really been going back to them and using that team as examples. We watched film on what we do in games com pared to what they did in 1995.” Nebraska middle blocker Amber Holmquist on the 1995 national champion Nebraska volleyball team “We are first and foremost an educational institution. We educate not only in the class room but in how we enforce our code of con duct. “Students sometimes make mistakes, and we feel it is our duty to help them learn to function in the community.” UNL Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James Griesen on keeping records of punish ment confidential for students who go through Judicial Affairs “Every current and prospective university student has the right to know the most accu rate information about the safety of their campus and any precautions that may need to be taken. “The concern for the overall safety of the campus outweighs the privacy rights of stu dents already found guilty for violating the student code of conduct, especially when their violation is a crime of violence or a sex offense.” Daily Nebraskan editorial on why the records should be released “Clinton didn’t make a choice between UNK and UNL. It’s about the archway - that’s the reason he’s coming.” ASUN President Joel Schafer on why Bill Clinton’s first visit to Nebraska in eight years as president will take place in Kearney, not Lincoln “Once President Clinton comes in, we’ll lose one of our precious resources - our Clinton-free air, our Clinton-free water and our Clinton-free land.” Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Chuck Sigerson on the dismay that Clinton is visiting at all “This is terrible. I had four turnovers (and) went three out of 10 at the line. That’s some thing I need to go to the gym and work on. It’s back to the drawing board on that one.” Nebraska center Kimani Ffriend on his performance in a 65-44 win over Winthrop on Monday. Ffriend still had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots. “It’s not that I mind so much having to stop every hour to scrape ice off the inside of the car windshield as I mind seeing my breath the whole way home and having to wear a hat, gloves and a snowsuit. “The heater was broken when I bought Floyd and, as always, I was too broke to fix it. My mantra for the winter's travels soon became: ‘You’re not alone; no one’s heater works. You’re not crazy; that was an ele phant”’ Columnist Karen Brown, on her old Bronco, Floyd “Why exactly do I care about a team full of players that I will never know and never really care about after they’re gone? But it’s not just me, it’s an entire state, an entire world on some level.” Columnist Dane Stickney on the overem phasis of football at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Bradley Davis, Josh Funk, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Dane Stickney, Kimberly Sweet Letters Policy The Daly Nebraskan welcomes briefs, letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guar antee their pubfcaBon.TTie 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 wi not be published. Those who submit tetters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major anchor group affiliation, if any. Submit malariaI to: Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R SL Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. E mal: letters0unfnfo.unl.edu. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the FaH 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 pubfcher of the Daily Nebraskan; poli cy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edrtorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsi b«y tor the edtoriai content of the newspaper Ses solely in the hands of lts employees. hHene "we tug things w ?o<z:ioai{ mopuor anp moRe supwr Ocveume^' ^•'So who e^r®R-fo OSgORlJE! WM U(JH6^ (itf R£I<SN AS F°ar6fii'L' Cornu, COSTS PoG. -ncKers $k/rpc&i&> AKJD I Gof THP 5ova?^,JTlb$J|<£ SCHelARSHlR-ro fWRPtJS! y ■» A. weaiuoenneyer/UN Letters to the editor Whose side? I am curious as to why the Daily Nebraskan only prints one side of any story. Instead we as readers have to read their one sided propaganda and interpret things for ourselves. Take for instance in the Nov. 29 edition: On the front page it says that Bill Clinton is coming to Nebraska. This is just a trivial thing, but the only quotes it prints are those of people who are glad he’s coming. Quite a few people whom I have spoken with aren’t in agreement at all He hasn't even looked at us for the last eight years and now at the end of his term he just decides: “I haven't been to Nebraska yet, let’s go see what kind of damage I can cause there." But the DN prints quotes from people about how wonderful it is and how educational he’ll be. I would personally like to see the facts not get mixed in with some editor's opinions. Just the facts guys. Christopher Amateis Lincoln Editor’s note: The story in question did include two quotes from Nebraska State Republican Party Chairman Chuck Sigerson, who was against Clinton’s visit Stay away, Ointon I am saddened to see that Slick Willie is going to make an appearance in our great state. I don’t want that criminal bringing Nebraska down to his level. As far as I’m concerned, the closest he should be coming to Nebraska is Arkansas, or better yet-Leavenworth. T.J. Paulsen senior mechanical engineering UNL behind the times I have a confession that may result in my social banishment from Nebraska: I am in agreement with Dane Stickney’s column published Wednesday. I hold that football, as a center of American entertain ment and life, undermines the sophistication of modem humanity. Or, more locally, that Nebraska football, as it stands today, undermines the intellec tual focus of our university community. It seems that, with the mental stimulation of today's infinite scholarly sources and intrinsically rewarding activities we wouldn’t need brutal contact between two warriors to bring us a primitive satisfac tion of knowing that someone has been undoubted ly left in pain. Of course, to deny our primitive instincts is to deny the very nature of our humanity. Or is it? There are millions of people in poverty who con tinuously struggle to put food on the table. There are countless minorities who fight to have their voice heard in politics. But these “battles” are not physical, but mental - intellectual struggles within each per son to achieve his or her goal. We past the days when only the physically strong survive. Football, therefore serves as a form of nostal gia for the days when natural selection weeded out die physically weak and anatomically unfit Football is a time when we can all make the Saturday pilgrim age to Memorial Stadium to worship our manifested depiction of primordial instincts. So, if we wish to remain fixated in barbaric times, I’m confident together, we, as a cult, can defy the hands of time. “Go Huskers!” Based on the (lackof) quality in the reporting that the DN has done this year, I suspect that most stu dents are somewhat relieved that access to (whatev er) student records was denied. I would just li] ;or catering to the off-campus students so well. We even get presents from this fabulous establishment in the form of little white envelopes, just in time from Christmas... they happen to contain a note saying pay $25 tp parking services. “Huh?” I say to myself as I look at the ticket. “Why did I get this?” It seems as though the university has decided to take away a row of green permits and make them for faculty... Surprise! Why shouldn't the P&T services gods just make all commuter students fight for a spot in the perimeter lot and make the entire “campus” parking for faculty because faculty parking seems to be a huge problem at this school. I don’t know how many times I have walked by red lots and seen several spaces available. I pay my $ 150-plus for a spot that isn’t even guar anteed to be there. Yes, I myself have read the back of my shiny green emblem that dangles from my mirror saying: “This does not entitle you to a guaranteed spot.” OK fine... but at least let me have a chance to get a coveted green spot. Do not take them away over a break, and then out of habit, people park there, not realizing that the faculty has now invaded the stu dents’ spots behind the stadium. Beware commuters - it's not the holiday season in the eyes of Parking Services. Chris Ramey sophomore undecided Protect the students Joshua Hesse senior electrical engineering Rebecca Hoffmann senior Spanish and political science Columnist thanks her fans The Tuesday marquee at Studio 14 read: Jealousy Gets You No Where. Jealousy may not, but spelling does. Studio 14 changed it to “Nowhere” after almost two hours. Studio 14 signs make us laugh, despite the "snippiness” of this recent one. No one can avoid Studio 14. It is the club with three signs and a dress code. This is Emily Moran uncoin. i can unaersiana no logos, dui nusKer ararei I can’t forgive that. Studio 14 has no class and no customers for that matter. So I return to the jealous sign. Who is jealous, Studio 14? I have four questions I would like answered before finals. Studio 14 is the first one. Question 2: Clique \klik\ n 1: an exclusive group of persons 2: an exclusive club for crossword enthusiasts 3: an exclusive row of seats for those sporting the same let ters 4: an exclusive group of students who use the restroom in pairs and reject nonmembers. Why is that, Seat 155? Question 3: I have more critics than fans. Chrissy Ptacek wrote to the editor after 3 columns. She reported: 38 fragmented sentences. And exactly 2 paragraphs. Out of 15. That didn’t have a grammatical. Error. I find more critics, than fans, read these columns. I can write a complete sentence. I. Can. Write. A. Fragmented. Sentence. Too. Can you write a column? Question 4: ASUN, not APUN, proposed a grade resolution to heighten academic standards at UNL with a minus system. Sen. Mueller argued in favor, and I opposed it. It failed. Despite this, one question remains that should be answered. Does UNLs current grading scale inflate GPAs to the point it hinders graduate, law or medical school admittance? I shared an unusual moment with a stranger this afternoon. I was heading downtown when I stepped over a dollar bill on the sidewalk. I paused and looked up. There was a person nearing me, so I continued on. I didn’t want to look too desperate for cash. I passed him. I took two more steps and turned around. He turned around, too. Crap, he saw me. He hesitated. So did L He turned to walk on. So did I. I turned around a third time only to see him sprint toward the dollar bill. He looked at me. Bent down. Smiled. And stuffed it in his pocket. He was now $1 richer. I shelve books as a part-time job. In between shelving books, I read inside the back covers about the authors' lives. I check out a book based on the authors’ descriptions. If I ever write a book, inside the back cover it will read: Emily Moran graduated with a bachelor's of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is employed as a design editor for InStyle Magazine. She resides in New York City with her hus band. Punishing the rich and poor, equally “It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequali ty than the equal treatment of unequals” Justice Felix Frankfurter, Dennis vs. United States Jeremy PatricK Americans have an interesting atti tude towards wealth and equality. In many cases, they consider a tax or fine “equal” if, on its face, it applies to everyone equally, such as an across the-board 5-percent sales tax. Because the costs of basic necessi ties (such as food, shelter and clothing) do not increase as one's income increases, flat taxes like this clearly and disproportionately burden the poor. Most Americans simply don’t care. In other cases, such as our progres sive income tax, we’ve come to realize that taxes that are equal on their face are unequal in application. Finland has carried this concept of proportionality to its next logical step. Last week, Jaakko Rytsola, a Finnish dot-com millionaire, was fined the equivalent of $110,000 for going 43 mph in a 25-mph zone. Just a month ago, he was fined $44,100 for switching lanes dangerously. The fines set a new record in Finland, where traffic fines are assessed according to the size of the drivers’ income and how fast they were going; there’s also no limit on how high the fines can go. This idea seems radical at first, but it’s perfectly consistent with the point of imposing traffic fines. If we really believe traffic fines are necessary to deter dangerous driving, then we should apply the fines in a manner that will deter everyone equal ly A $200 fine for speeding may deter a poor college student, but it won't have any effect on a billionaire like Bill Gates. Because each poses the same potential threat, why not punish each one equally? Even more important than the inconsistent deter rence effects is the fact that flat fines can literally force the poor out of their apartments or homes; the same $200 fine that is an inconvenience for most of us, is life threatening to someone who only makes $800 a month working full-time at a mini mum-wage job. It’s not as if pro portional fines are unheard of in the United States. For serious criminal offenses, the Federal _ Sentencing Reform Act instructs judges to take account of “the defendant’s income, earning capacity, and financial resources” in imposing fines. Judges do the same thing when determining bail; they know that imposing the same amount on every defendant would simply pun ish the poor and fail miserably in pre A $200 fine for speeding may deter a poor college student, but it won’t have any effect on a billionaire like Bill Gates. Because each poses the same potential threat, why not punish each one equally? venting a wealthy person from fleeing. Any practical difficulties with implementing proportional traffic fines have apparently already been solved by the Finns. In a country like the United States, the real difficulty is that the people making the decision have to put them selves in a worse position than they’re currently in. Because legislators and their most powerful constituents are disproportionately drawn from the upper-middle and wealthy classes, they will suffer the burden of increased fines. As John Rawls would say, a just decision could be reached only by placing ourselves behind q “veil of ignorance,” where it is equally possible that we are rich, poor, or somewhere in the middle. It remains doubtful whether abstract notions of fairness and equali ty are sufficient to overcome sheer self interest. For what it's worth, Jaakko Rytsola took his record-setting fine with aplomb. "The drag was nice and wide, and I felt good. It’s great to drive when there's no one around,” he said. Presumably, he means that it’s great to drive when there’s no one, including police officers, around.