Wednesday, September 19, 1934
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
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Gov. Bob Kerrey Tuesday proclaimed
Sept. 17 through 21 m "Sexual Violence
Against Women and Children" week. The
proclamation indicates the Increased con
cern and attention child abuse is getting.
But concern and attention are not enough.
Child abuse preventionprograms are
forming everywhere. But prevention pro
grams are not enough.
Some parents have become alarmed
and far more cautious than they thought
they had to be. They are suspicious of
practically anyone who looks at their
children. But alarm, caution and suspi
cion arent enough.
No matter how publicized the Issue
becomes, none of these efforts will ever be
enough because once child molesters are
conv.cted, sentenced snd eventually re
leased, they are often free to commit their
crimes again.
In Miami, Francisco (Frank) Fuster, 30,
end his wife Ileana, 24, owners of the
Country Walk Babysitting Service, have
been held without bond since Aug. 23.
USA Today reported Monday that the
Fusters are charged with 10 counts of
sexual battery of a minor under 11.
Most alarming is that while Fuster was
on probation from a 1082 child moicsta
tion conviction, the state did not keep
records of his whereabouts or his activi
ties. USA Today reported that Florida's
state Corrections Department did not in
form the Health and Rehabilitative Ser
vice agency of Fuster's conviction.
Fuster was licensed to care for children
after he was convicted of child molesta
tion. The Health and Rehabilitative Ser
vice agency, still failed to uncover the
details of Fuster's past after an anonym
ous tip two months before the Fusters'
arrest.
We can't ignore the events in Miami,
saying that it wouldn't happen here. Fus
ter could havo gone anywhere in the
country and opened a day care center
because no one bothered to keep track of
him.
We need to go beyond the prevention
programs, beyond the publicity, even be-
yond stricter sentences. We need to keep
track of every convicted child molester
released from prison in every state. It's
bad enough that child molesters are even
allowed near children. But it's not too
much to ask that they befkept from hurt
ing more children.
Frank and Ileana Fuster could be sent
enced to 25 years or life in prison. If they
are convicted end if they are paroled, I
hope that they are not forgotten. I hope
they aren't allowed to molest another
child. But the way the system works now,
there's nothing to keep molesters from
striking again.
Ei&dt Thomas
Daily Nebraska Gteff Editor
Woe, the trials of turning mushrooms into cash!
Jeff and John and Jean have
mushrooms growing in the
bathroom of their second
story Lincoln apartment.
Nestled next to their bathtub,
mushrooms regularly spring up
from the shag rug (ugh) next to
the 19th century water pipes.
Mona
Koppelman
The three of them have been
keeping the mushrooms around
for a conversation piece. Profit
minded as always with a wary
eye on the calendar for rent and
bills due I considered the pos
sibility of turning the fungi into a
cash crop.
"Fine," said Jeff and John and
Jean. "You can be our marketing
consultant."
Woe is me. That wondrous title
meant hours of unpaid research,
facing raucous laughter by pro
fessionals day after day . . .
The road to the pot of gold was
a long and winding one.
First, I considered the food
market. Visions of swiss steak
with mushroom gravy, salad mush
rooms and pizza mushrooms
danced in my head.
I called the UNL Human Nutri
tion and Food Service Manage
ment department. Four secretar
ies nearly laughed, me off the
telephone.
Eventually, I found out that
although mushrooms can be a
cash crop, messing with wild
mushrooms can be dangerous
business.
Those innocent-looking mush
rooms killers?
"Possibly," said Lora Lea Bren
nan, a registered nurse and co
ordinator of the Omaha Poison
Control Center.
"We dont try to identify mush:
rooms over the phone," Brennan
said. "It's difficult to do even with
a sample. As a safety precaution,
we routinely recommend that
people call their physician and
vomit the mushrooms up."
Trouble in Mushroom City. The
four most common poisonous
'shrooms Brennan listed were
false morels, amanita phalioides
or the "death cup," amanita mus
caria or the "fly agaric," and the
coprinus atromentarius or the
"inky cup."
Curiouser and curiouser. But
maybe food wasn't such a good
idea anyway. Too many compli
cations. Better put my cash crop
in the hands of experts like
pharmacists.
"Mushrooms used for medicine?
Is this a joke?" asked the secre
tary at Dorsey Laboratories of
Lincoln.
Dr. Robert Gibson, Dorsey's
clinical research scientist, pricked
my balloon.
"There are no medicines deve
loped commercially that are de
rived from mushrooms," Gibson
I
said.
But Dr. Gibson was a really
friendly person, and I learned a
little mushroom history.
"Folk medicines using mush
rooms may still be available in
older cultures a Chinese her
bal pharmacy or a Mexican her
bal pharmacy," Dr. Gibson said.
"But there isn't really any proven -basis
for the use. Kind of like
mustard plasters. You'd only find
mushroom medicines In places
where they dont have an FDA."
Some chemicals found in mush
rooms may be used by pharma
cists in small amounts, however.
"Atropine, for example, can
cause diarrhea and vomiting,"
Gibson said. "It's found in toxic
mushrooms. But taken in small,
controlled doses, it could be used
to clean out your system."
Well, you can relax Kaopectate
and Ex-Lax I'm just not cut
out for the B.M. business.
Of course, there was one option
remaining: illegal drugs. Not thst
I would ever consider it, of
course; I was just curious.
Steve Blum at the Valley Hope
treatment center said psilocybin
is the active ingredient in mush
rooms abused as hallucinogens.
Three different types of mush
rooms can be used as hallucino
gens: opsilocybe, panaeolus and
coney be.
Abusers can emt the caps of
these mushrooms from two to
40 caps, depending on the type of
mushroom. The effects last two
to four hours and are similar to
the psychedelic effects of LSD.
Blum said street use of psilo
cybin in Lincoln is usually con
fined to man-made chemicals in
capsule form. Street use is rela
tively rare, Blum said; abuse of
LSD is more common.
Obviously, not much of a market
even if I was foolish enough to try.
The primary market for those
'shrooms is in Central and South
America where it is still used in
obscure religious ceremonies.
Street value in Lincoln is sup
posed to be just $7 to $8 a gram.
And besides, I don't even have
the right 'shrooms: the three hal
lucinogenic 'shrooms are only
found in Central America and
the Pacific Northwest
And, the durn things are look
alikes for the toxic mushrooms
that make you vomit, or worse. So
be warned: do not mess with wild
mushrooms. i
The moral of this column is
this: if you have mushrooms grow
ing in your bathroom, don't call
the cops. Dont call your local
supermarket. Dont call your drug
gist. Dont call your friends.
Call your plumber.
"We call 'em wood-rotting fungi,"
said Dr. Wendell Gauger, UNL
( biology professor. The spores are
' nearly universal All they need is
wood to eat and some water. I
assume the water is coming from
the bathtub pipes."
Great. Some market analyst. I
was going to pay the rent. Now
the landlord will probably up the
rent to pay for new pipes.
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citation of women is not m
Once upon a time, in the nation-state of Rome, there
was a beautiful slip of a woman named Lucretia. She
had curves in the right places and carried them well.
Lucretia was a talented spinstress, she could weave. She
ran a tight household. She probably said the right things
at the right times. Above all, she was virtuous.
r
V Kl
Kent
Sederberi
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and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the
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ALL UATDJIAL COPYRIGHT 1S34 DAILY IXSSSUSXAH
Lucretia's virtue was something her husband could
bet on. Once, while hunting with the prince and other
men of high rank, he expanded on this (quality. His peers
could not believe it. They had been grumbling about
their loose wives who carried on while they were on
expedition.
A spy mission into the city found all was not well in
Rome. The women were garnered in jewels, tipping wine
glasses, talking socially and (gasp) feeling a new sense of
equality with men. , .
Not Lucretia, though. She was enjoying an evening
with her spinning wheel, visiting with her servants.
Though dressed plainly, she was a vision to behold.
When the spies reported back to camp, Lucretia's
husband said, "I told you so." He chuckled to himself,
rolled over and fell asleep. The prince, however, humped
it to Rome and knocked on Lucretia's door.
"Sleep with me," he said, admiring her hourglass
figure, "or I will bring a slave man in your quarters, strip
you both and leave the two of you to be found dead in the
morning.'
Virtuous Lucretia hat no choice but to comply.
However, the next morning she summoned her husband
and father and told t hem of the scandle. Then she did
what only a virtuous woman could; Lucretia killed
herself.
Once upon a time in the United States, there was a slip
of a woman named Vanessa. She w as judged by a panel
to be a "Woman Ideal in Human Form Vanessa had
learned to carry herself at an early age and was taught
to explore outlets for her talents. She had never done
anything illegal except to be exploited.
But the Prince of Porn, Bob Guccione, could not
control his greed. Ke sold her image and ruined her
career.
The panel scoured the land for a replacement a
good, old-fashioned girl who was the "right" color and
didn't smoke, drink or gamble. They sought someone
who didnt support abortion or (gmp) strive for a
system that would promote equal rights for women.
"I guess they were looking for someone like me,"
Sharlene Wells, the new Miss America said
Editorial
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Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board
of Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan's publishers are the regents, who
established the UNL Publications Board to supervise the
daily production of the newspaper.
According to the policv set by the regents, responsibil
ity for the content of the newspaper lies solely in the
hands of its student editors.