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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2001)
i Opinion Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, February 28,2001 ■■ —— ...— ZM/vNebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Jake Glazeski Managing Editor Bradley Davis No new tax cuts Bush speech touts fiscal irresponsibility In his first address to Congress and to the nation Tuesday, President George W. Bush touted a list of his campaign promises. He hit the same note he’d played over and over during the campaign: lower taxes - a lot. Unfortunately for Bush, the House floor isn’t a campaign stump. It’s time to get to specifics instead of detail ing a bunch of empty - and impossible - promises to the American people. Most Republicans and Democrats agree it’s time for a tax cut, but Bush’s $1.6 trillion tax ax is simply irresponsible. Bush detailed programs he wants to bolster by injecting as tng- them with federal funds. name Education, defense and Social companies, Security topped the list of Bush like priorities. Amazon It seems idealistic, though, to and Union think the country has the Pacific, money to pay for these pro announce grams to be successful, while vlans to also kav*n81*1e money to cut tUoir taxes substantially. 5 asn inei jt's eSpecjapy fiscally irre payrolls, sponsible to cut taxes so dra and as , matically when some signs economists’ point to a slowing economy. eyes are (Bush’s incessant ramblings increasingly about a faltering economy, inci on the dentally, also seem irresponsi Federal ble. The nation’s top executive Reserve should play the role of an eco Roard’s nomic cheerleader, rather than naysayer. But that's another willingness issue for another day.) to tinker As big-name companies, like with Amazon and Union Pacific, interest announce plans to slash their rates to payrolls, and as economists’ spur a eyes are increasingly on the slipping Federal Reserve Board’s willing economy ness t0 tinker with interest rates talk of ’ t0 sPur a Upping economy, talk j 1.. of dramatically cutting taxes is dramatic- simplyoutof4e. ally cutting What happens if Bush’s fore tax^5 is out casts on which he based his tax of line. ” cuts are wrong? - Right now, the U.S. economy is running in tne black - a tar cry from the huge deficits run up during the years of trickle-down Reaganomics. It seems silly to squander most of the budg et surplus on a tax cut. Instead, the money could be used, as some suggest, to further pay down the national debt, secure Social Security and fully fund other government programs. After taking care of fiscal necessities, law makers could perhaps then look at giving tax payers a modest tax cut. Otherwise, if a good chunk of the surplus is used to fund a massive tax cut and the econo my actually does go down the tubes, we’ll have to go back to the days of spending money we don’t have to fund government programs. Or, we’ll have to cut programs - something that Bush has pledged, generally, not to do. But he can’t have it both ways: Taxes pay for government programs. Bush wants to lower taxes; Bush wants to increase spending on government programs. Something tells us that economic dog doesn’t hunt. Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Jeff Bloom, Bradley Davis, Jake Glazeski, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Kimberly Sweet Letters Policy The Daiy Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guaran tee their pubicatioa The Daly Nebraskan retains the right to edtt or reiect any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of the Daiy Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions wi not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major anchor group affiliation, if any. Submt material to: Daly Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE 68588-0448 E-mat lettaraOdalyneb.com Editorial Policy Unsigned edtorials are the opinions of the Spring 2001 Daiy Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Uncoln, its employees, its student body or the Universityof 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 pubfeher of the Daiy Nebraskan; poi cy is set by the Daiy Nebraskan Edkoriai Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervisee the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, response bttty for the edkoriai oontart of the newspaper les solely in the hands of its employees. 7 DaVou ktfoWWHeYou’Fte \ 6o)KGrToVor£ For Mm I ^ V ashnJ / ^^Vrr's Ju^vuH- -thisN yh ('iM- £V££fo& '* S<? ] _/A> L APAwn£,,.r mi L^fYi Sr \ 3UST V&TE pbA-Hte r^/' // V Vfi'JBiTf. _/ y7, //, /fysrilM CA^T JU5A ^i-^1 / Vote For sou&we \ B^AUSE you Fr(NP -=^1 -THFM imHAB*£? / fcl V 1Wrr’5 a Moa^Ry / \0F te&lOCKAC'f! / /ioUt'R£ £i6Ht... £ Guess\ ( z1i-l ]/oT£ fi>fi -JotlKi \Mftrz0V /ws-Tew-/ \foT£ mZ£U' Ar ISA ST APWir? Ml? CAWfilM IS A cfefelg NealOtameyer/DN Hurrah for the orankstor • Matzen is a clear alternative to the carbon ic copy candidates that every year seem to decide John Matzen is the best thing to happen to they need that extra line on their resumd. ASUN in a lone time He may displease many mvolved students who It seems time after time, we have the same Uve die by the workings of student govern three or four candidates promising sweeping ment’ b“*1 b?beve m“‘ of the students of this changes, oniy to leave us disappointed once they campus back him, or at least find Jlim entertain r6cich office ^8* Honestly, can you say that your campus life has , Unfortunately, we are those who don t normal been even slightly affected by any of the elected Vbte ^or tbese elections, so his chances look officials? blei£* , • u r u The only thing I even remember student gov- However the sight of the upset candidates ernment doing was changing Columbus Day to squirming whenever he does something stupid American Indians’ Day (which was stupid, by the mi?bt just be enough to get some of the silent majority to take the 15 seconds it takes to vote. Finally, we have Matzen, an amazingly differ- . ent candidate. How many others would pull such Mlke lntt ^et . ' stunts as imitating William Wallace? . sePior biochemistry Where perception begins Have you ever seen a palm tree? Picture one in your mind. Does it look like a palm tree? Shaggy, with the dead leaves hanging down? Or is it more of a cartoon of a palm tree, the kind that grows, auaigiii aiiu duuiai^ uii itiui rv desert islands so the cartoon Baldridge castaways can eat coconuts? Not that it matters to me. My real question is: - Where, exactly, is that mental picture of a palm tree? Point to it. If you pointed to your head, why, that's where you're wrong. What’s in your head is 4 pounds of meat, some kind of gray matter, “neurons” - which is just another way of saying “whoosits.” There is definitely not a picture of a palm tree in there, nor is there anything else you are used to thinking of as being “in your head” - algebraic for mulae, the memory of your eighth-grade birthday party when you spewed root beer actually out though your nose, yom idea of a good time... noth ing like that. So my question (my other question) is “Where is all that stuff, really?” * I’ve puzzled over that for some time and I’ve decided, long answer short, that it’s actually their own little dance on the paper, moving into positions that traced the effect and even the shape of the field. But when you disconnected, the filings lay down and you shook them into randomness again. Hook it up again and, whoosh! Disconnect and, whump! You know the field is “there.” You can see its effects, measure its changes. But where does it go when the current is cut? And let me ask you, as you asked your Mum and Dad when your hamster or your grandmother was laid to rest: What happens to you when you die? That’s right. All our species’ dreams of a just reward or a ter rible punishment waiting for us after death are all moot. There is no “where” for “you” to “go” after “death.” Like the palm tree. OK, you can stop thinking of it now. (Oops! Where did it go?) All right, start thinking of it again. But wait, is that the same one? Or a different one? Hook up the battery and the electromagnetic field springs back into life. Start the music and the dancer dances. But is it the same field, the same dance? Do you see how these questions fail to address the true nature of the events they are supposed to be interrogating? nuu/ncnz. Nowhere you can point to with your little fin ger, at any rate. ^ But don't let that throw you. The whole world, or rather more of it than you might expect, is exactly the same. ^k What you call yourself is the same. fl It's not an object or even an image. It's an event, something happening. fe“r To paraphrase Bucky Fuller: You w seem to be a verb. Hi That is, you are an activity. As long as that activity continues to unfold, | you live. \ The day a truck, out of control on \ m the icy streets, careens into your right I of way, the activity that is you stops, ft J and another one we don’t like to think \ i about begins. 1 * But there are advantages to JL being a verb and not a noun. You did so well at the palm / Jf tree exercise; I feel bold N, '■ f gap enough to try another. f &JT So riddle me this: What N&S [ jJ!r happens to the dance when the dancer stops dancing? # 1 / I mean, while she’s danc- % € ing, you know you are seeing a dance - though you’d be hard \ pressed to point to it any more than to the palm tree. k But when she stops dancing, what then? Where does it, the dancing, go? §1 Well, we already know the answer to that, nj don’t we? % The dance doesn't go anywhere, it was never anywhere to begin with. Like all activity, it just lapses into potential. (Potential, where's that?) Or, for the more math and science oriented, imagine your ninth-grade experiment in electro magnetism. You wrapped that big old nail in wire, hooked up your nine-volt battery and all the iron filings did A life of unbridled j love I just got word that my friend’s sister was killed in a car accident. She was 18. She was in the middle seat of her family’s van coming home Josh Knaub rrom a recruiting visit to the University of Wyoming when a drunk driver ran a stop sign and hit them. I heard she had gotten an offer to ; play soccer. I won’t pretend to know everything I about Megan. I saw her when I was working at camp or when I’d visit her j family or when we’d run into each ] other. Two summers ago, I saw her almost every week when I hung out at her cousins’ ranch. Really, I saw her life in snapshots. A week here. A few hours there. Megan was the girl who teenage girls were always jealous of. She was very pretty, very musically talented and very athletic. Instantly popu- ™ lar and well- She didn’t liked almost think nf everywhere, I ' * U' saw her. (love) CIS Meg was anything soft-spoken and ■ i m a little shy, espe- Special. She daily in groups didn ’t Stop She wafsome- tO ask Why times embar- she should rassed and j h( sometimes ' rr,Ifc€C annoyed by the she COUld boys who were ga[n how inevitably smit- v ten with her. anyone No matter would her reaction, though, her react. would-be _ boyfriends only wanted her more. She was the kind of kid, really, more I recently, the kind of person I like to be . around. Because she put herself into | everything she did. Games, songs, !| chores, conversations, whatever the 1 moment brought, she was fully invest- I ed. Most of all, Megan loved. Meg's love showed in small ways, like how she tried her best to make sure everyone felt at ease, how she made a point to talk to anyone who might look left out. Once, when I hadn’t known Meg for very long, her older sister and cousin, whom I’d known for quite a while, were teasing me, saying they were going to throw the apples we were picking at ■ my head and then run away and hide while I was unconscious. Megan, barely half my size, would have none of it. “I won't let them do * that,” she told me. But Meg’s love showed in bigger ways, too. like the week I watched her refuse to snub or speak badly about or seek revenge on a group of girls who had singled her out as an object to tease, insult and gossip about during summer camp. I’ll never know if their abuse drove Megan to tears. Or what advice her sis ter gave her in private moments. But I do know that Meg’s love drove one of her tormentors to tears. The girl could n’t believe that anyone could repay such unbridled cruelty with heartfelt compassion. ; j What impressed me ana toucned me most about Meg’s love was that she didn’t think of it as anything special. She didn't stop to ask why she should love, what she could gain, how anyone would react. She just loved. Megan would say, at least to me, that there was one reason she loved the way she did: Jesus. It was natural for her: Jesus loves me, so I love Him. And, like everything else I saw in Meg, her answer was more than a pat response drilled into her by her parents or an overzealous Sunday School teacher somewhere along the line. She understood and acted out Paul’s words from Ephesians 5:1-2: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us ...” (New International Version) Meg didn’t repeat the verse like a mantra or instantly justify her every action with the idea. She didn't shout it or preach it or wear it on her shirt like a Nike logo. She quietly lived it. Because it was not a creed nor a philosophy she tried to apply to her life. It was her life. And on Saturday night, Megan Thurow got to see the object of her love, the reason for her life, face to face.