To the Editor:

As a Nebraska football fan, I must take issue with the editorial “Osborne a bad example” in the Sept. 14, 1995 issue of the Daily.

As a subscriber to the Husker mailing list on the internet, I have followed this case closely and will point out a few factual and interpretational errors that the Daily Editorial Board has made. Tom Osborne rescinded his banishment of Daily Nebraskan reporters from practice and gave them an interview the same day.

Tom Osborne has often been criticized in the local, regional and national media and has always been gracious both in victory and defeat. Osborne has never displayed a ‘holier than thou’ attitude, nor does Tom wish to cut his team off from its fans.

The Daily Nebraskan published two editorial cartoons, one depicting receiver Riley Washington (who is facing trial on charges of attempted second degree murder) practicing in prison garb and a ball-and-chain.

The second depicted (now former) running back Lawrence Phillips (who is being investigated by the NCAA) riding in a new car with money flowing around.

What Tom Osborne opposed was not the criticism of his football program, but the singling out of individual student athletes for ridicule and debasement by the Daily Nebraskan. African-American student groups at UN-L marched on the Daily Nebraskan to protest these cartoons as well.

While it is within the legal right of the Daily Nebraskan to publish these cartoons, they were in very poor taste and did nothing but send a negative message about these two fellow students.

It was well within Tom Osborne’s rights as coach to suspend the Daily Nebraskan’s privilege to attend HIS team’s practices. While his actions may have seemed rash, they were motivated by a genuine concern for the student-athletes he works with on a daily basis.

The rights of the press also include the responsibility to be above that type of sensationalism and petty mockery.

Unfortunately, the Daily Nebraskan crossed the line of responsible journalism (as do too many journalists these days) and the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board missed the point.

Paul L. Pearson

Ph.D. candidate in MCDB and Vet Anatomy