Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2000)
Opinion /M/vNebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Samuel McKewon Managing Editor Bradley Davis Big business Future megaplex poses big change for downtown If Douglas Theaters and some executives from various development agencies from Lincoln have their way, downtown Lincoln may be sporting a new look in upcoming years. A gigantic megaplex, which could feature 14 16 movie theaters and 75,000 square feet of retail shops, could dominate downtown, possibly putting small businesses out of business. It’s likely the megaplex would consist of many corporate chain stores, which would put the squeeze on Lincoln-owned downtown busi nesses. Small coffee houses may have to close their doors for good because they couldn’t compete with a brand-new Starbucks. A Novel Idea could be gone forSver because a Walden Bookstore stole its business. Avant Card could give way to a Hallmark. The list is endless. While some downtown businesses such as Homer’s have a strong enough following to con mmmmmmmmmmm tinue to stay open even if a new Before Tower Records opens in the Douglas megaplex, many others may not jumps ship, The result could drastically it needs to change the face of downtown, already taking it from a quaint collection have other of off-beat stores to a corporate businesses collection of businesses that sac ready to rifice quality for quantity and take over. lower prices. Otherwise, The creation of the megaplex the could pose another problem: megaplex Empty buildings. would be What will happen to the all for not- buildings the old Douglas downtown Theaters leave behind when they would look move into the megaplex? Will no better. they just be dingy concrete shells? That sort of development would make downtown Lincoln look silly. One side of the block would feature a shiny, window-laden megaplex, while the other would display broken bricks, piles of trash and dirt Before Douglas jumps ship, it needs to already have other businesses ready to take over. Otherwise, the megaplex would be all for not - downtown would look no better. There are certainly good things about a megaplex. It has the potential to make down town Lincoln a viable place to shop, eat or just hangout That would be especially good for college stu dents who want to go out at night but don’t want to drink. They wouldn’t have to drive all the way to SouthPointe or Gateway malls. And, if downtown begins to thrive, we might actually get a grocery store near campus, so we could shop without die commute. But lasting popularity may be a problem. Sure, initially, people will flock downtown to see the new stores and better movie theaters, but will they continue to come on a regular basis to keep the megaplex open? If the past is used as a precedent, then the answer is no. The Centrum, which was located at 11th and O streets, was the late-1970s version of a megaplex. The shopping center lasted for about five years, but businesses began to leave the location, making the project an overall fail ure. Perhaps downtown Lincoln has progressed since then and is able to provide the basis to support such a project But until the city is positively sure and can answer all the questions, there is still reason to be skeptical of such a project Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Bradley Davis, Josh Funk, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Dane Stickney, Kimberly Sweet Letters Policy The Daly Nebraskan welcomes briefe, letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guar antee their publication. The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any materia) submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions wN not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or ^oup affiliation, if any. Submit maters* to: Daly Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln. NE 68588-0448. E maH: lettersOuniinfo.uni.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-Lincotn, its employees, its student body or the Urwarslty 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 publsher of the Daily Nebraskan; poli cy is set by the Daly Nebraska EdHorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to poCcy set by the regents, responsi bflty tor to edtorial content ofthe newspaper ies solely in the hands of to employees. SPfTE OF 36NGr Cunz,CMli2tf£N <XU£.fimu WROXS'! CJ&. IK/ poihJT- CHILDREN 7£U.6a«RNflEwr (&FJ<H-\0S THEY VDN'TUSZ PfUt&S b&msf of m$i£,mniM,mst<#Ts-proof they m> out gwwkf m> muxnou (AUSlt IS AtMIfUS BETTER y/H&J iou'tB sjoiitp! fawu/ iSivpRe FutJ \UHEN'ffW'RE VRuutf fW SfofiTS ARE ffiut W l^est/ws- mu stempsl 5ES if w voH’THm Mi m<ney for vM6-s, msr &o steal CHRISTMAS VecoF/moNSIW TRADE THEM FORPRtRrS." NealOtameyeryDN Letters to the editor Community relations I am writing in response to the Daily Nebraskan editorial of Nov. 29 which referred to the forthcoming visit of President Bill Clinton to Nebraska. It has long been my contention that Nebraskans benefit significantly more from work ing together and acting as citizens with common interests than from the pursuit of divisive and parochial interests. As a small-population state, the key to our success is maximizing our potential by working cooperatively toward goals that will benefit the entire state. And, what is true of the state of Nebraska is likewise true of the state’s public university, the University of Nebraska, and our four campuses. Our success in maintaining the support of the peo ple of Nebraska and its state government depends in great measure on our acting as one academic community. I am proud that the President of the United States is visiting Nebraska and has chosen one of our University of Nebraska campuses for a major policy address. All of us should congratulate the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Kearney community for being chosen to represent our uni versity and our state in making a positive impres sion through the national news media coverage of this visit L. Dennis Smith UNL President No Nebraska big cities In quoting Erin Brockovich, “Do they teach edi tors to apologize? Because you suck at it” The Dec. 5 editorial, “See Cities Too” only rein forced the DN editors' naive view of western Nebraska. It appears to me that you, the editors, think that because you are from Lincoln and Omaha, you are not “small town hicks.” However, if you were to talk to any person from a legitimate big city, they would call you a hick for being from Nebraska, whether you are from Lincoln, Omaha or Kearney. Omaha and Lincoln are not the thriving metropolises that we would all like to think. In fact, they are merely a suburb of a Chicago, a neighbor hood of Los Angeles or a city block of New York City. I do not feel sorry for the “large number of Nebraska’s population misrepresented by that per ception that we’re all small-town farmers.” God forbid people think you are a farmer, someone with no college education who works all day in the dirt and doesn’t speak proper English. In fact, if the editors of the DN would travel west of Lincoln, they would be proud to be thought of the hard-working, college educated, well-bred farmer who feeds the world. Editors of the DN, I do not care where President Clinton visits, as I do not respect him as a man or a president. What I do care about is that the DN and people who read it know western Nebraska is nothing to be ashamed of, but the superior views as those living in Lincoln and Omaha is. Courtney Bieck senior communication studies petaluma watson revealed It’s safe, I think, to say you’ve completely, totally, suf ficiently screwed things up beyond normal human recog nition. Oh wait, check that... are you human? Just barely, I’d guess. Just barely. The dildo part of you is human. I am mad now, so I’m going to say it and mean it Consider, please, what petaluma watson you ve put me tnrougn during the course of one semester. And don’t try to persuade me of a message. Oh God, my sweet asinine creator, there is no message to be spread here. I’d know what you’d like them - whatever audi ence had not been repulsed by the end - to think. Oh, that it had a purpose by having none. That its descent into randomness, punctuated by a scene where you... RAPE ME... for no good reason is the reason itself, to rebuke any conventional ending and simply toss aside any coherence, and therein lies the coherence, the lack thereof, some sort of message that says “Hey! I’ll take you right down this road and simply plunge into crap.” Don’t even try and pretend you didn’t fly by the seat of your pants on this one! Consider the others who knew... Oh, you told them you’d this, you’d do that, that this twist was gonna happen, that twist was gonna, or whatever, and then it never did, and what? So you were lying? Or maybe telling the truth at the time and, oh, conveniently forgetting when you didn't have the material. There’s a row of my columns down there, in the bowels of your practical home, where some people - three girls, probably - wrote all over it smashing your ego to bits. One of them said: Get Therapy. Mmm... yes, get it. You need it And when you get it stay as far away from me as possible. Understand that I don't like you, I never have, though it’s not like it matters, me as your slave and all, like I have SIGNIFICANT CHOICES in the situation. You tell me I have pimples, bloop, I got them, I got an eating disorder, bloop, I got one, I got two names, then really one again, bloop, that, too. And then, please, for clarity's sake: who is petaluma watson? Could you, would you please explain to the person who’s supposed to know- me? I mean, I speak to her in some weirdo format you dream up and then it ends with “Give it to the ugly girls” (oh, so profound there) as if, what, you’ve thrown down the gauntlet on the sexual politics. It takes from here to here to understand what kind of artsy-fartsy crap you’ve created here, a real doozy for the kids to swish around in their brain and cuddle up to. You are quite impressed with your snap-snap phrases, I know. I suppose this is mercy, you giving me this time, in front of them to expose you. And see, there it is again, what is this you’re doing, pulling the curtain? Is this some statement? Is this the end? What is this about, you and me, and you’ve hijacked this space to hash out your own subconscious differences? I know what you heard from another columnist the other day, and it's kept with you since the first time your father said it You can’t count on other people for compliments. Yeah, but stories, too? This a one person, three mind show and while everybody was allowed to watch, what makes you think, or ever made you think, they wanted to? Was this a big screw you to the every day set, who want human interest features and soft, cuddly humor columns that make ’em feel good? A puffing of your chest, an exercise in self-indulgence. No, of course it wasn’t because I know your stock answer; it was writing, it was art It was astory. Nothing more. Strung a tree with a few dangling leaves to it for plot threads. The first lines of it that said you knew no greater purpose, that this all about reading me, read ing you, a semester long game, a joke, an attempt Anyway I’m tired, though, my God, I know you’re not done with me. The name - petaluma watson - if it’s mine, that is, well, it’s pretty good. Original, all the rest Cutesy and weird, you heard one person say in a class. Yeah, that about comers it And, well, I guess you want them to go back, read everything in one sitting, get the full brunt of it, and then (you claim) a lot more becomes clear about all of this. Since this is your opinion section, though, and you’re the editor of it, you could and did plug this through the semester, and I guess I’m gratefiil for the publicity. You’re softening me on purpose, I know, because you want this to end on a good note, some thing positive, something like you’re a genius. Well, you’re not But neither am I, and maybe in a weird fictional partnership, we can dance together in semi-decency. Maybe, one day, pretty damn good. Just remember I’m beautiful. I have no use for ugli ness. You made me lilce that opinions wanted AnvfifyyourwwE.Getyowwoidsn ifyou^gotstrongpofitkalopinions^ We wantyou on the DN Opinion page Apply at20NebiasiQU(m(thebasement)tDda^ Bush's brains don't match up for leader At first I thought it was the deluge of caf feine in my sys tem, or the orgasmic joy of catching up on two months of readings in Russian history, but I finally have Seth Felton an explanation for my feverish palpita tions: A1 Gore will soon, very soon, shut up. As the Christmas season descends upon us, a big pot of glad tidings is being poured by our beneficent courts. A1 Gore is losing, the election is ending, and Bush will be president. All praises to God! Of course, there are sacrifices to be made. The most obvious is that we now must resign ourselves to the reality of a president with an IQ comparable to the atomic weight of hydrogen. Already, George W. Bush has kept us entertained with hilarious gaffes, enig matic fragments and various mala propisms like these gems: ■ “I know how hard it is to put food on your family.” ■ “The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case.” ■ "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.” ■ “If the terriers and bariffs are tom down, this economy will grow.” Bush may have inherited this trait from his father, who as president made such perplexing comments as “we’re enjoying sluggish [economic] times, and not enjoying them very much.” To be sure, Gore isn't the smartest tack in the bin either, but it doesn't matter. He’s not going to be president But I wonder if Bush Jr., who will be president, will have even a semblance of legitimacy in the eyes of the people. He will have won the presidency with out a majority, and many take him to be a complete buffoon as well. What is most troubling is that George W. Bush blatantly, though unwittingly, challenges ideologies and myths intrinsic to the American char acter. Americans still love the old Horatio Alger myth that in America, anyone can be rich as long as he or she works hard. It’s a nice coupling of capitalism and the Protestant work ethic, which basically says “If I work harder, bad shit won't happen.” Andrew Carnegie was the perfect example: A poor immigrant who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and amassed a fortune through shrewd business tactics, then gave a fortune in philanthropy to build libraries and the aters all over the country. Of course, what’s ignored is that Carnegie, in order to get rich, shafted his workers every chance he got, but nevertheless, he is still upheld as an example of the American dream because he worked hard and got rich. In contrast, Bush hasn't worked a day in his life. Every opportunity he received was not earned through hard work, but through name recognition, through Daddy’s CIA buddies, through connections. And most of those oppor tunities he squandered or screwed up until he got lucky in baseball. Until that deal, in which he made his millions, he used to say “I’m all name and no money.” I know the Horatio Alger myths are just that - myth. Aside from an isolated Carnegie, most Americans remain within their social classes. If they’re bom poor, they die poor. If they’re bom rich, they usually figure out how to stay that way. I understand this, but it doesn’t keep me from resenting Bush, whom I perceive as undeserving of his fortune^ For me and many others, Bush will be an illegitimate president because, in our eyes, he will not have earned his position by merit of intelligence or ability, or even through the will of the people. Strangely, I am beginning to see where the CUnton-haters are coming from. There are certain traits that people believe a leader should have in order to maintain his or her legitimacy as a leader. For Ciinton-haters, individual morality is most important. Since Clinton is a gross affront to that, the Ciinton-haters see him as having lost his right to rule, so to speak. Similarly, for me, intelligence, wis dom, knowledge and temperance are most important in a leader. Second comes hard work. Since Bush is an affront to all those things, he has in my eyes no right to lead. But I can’t hate him. I may mock him, ridicule his every move, but 1 refuse to hate him. After all, as George W. Bush would wisely say, “Welcome, Barbara Bush, and my fellow astro nauts.”