Unicameral defeats ban
on 'aberrant sex courses
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FRIDAY. APRIL 23, 1971
Boohan
'You are
by BART BECKER
Staff Writer
Because of the ecological
crisis in the world today, every
choice is a life-or-death
decision for someone,
according to a University
teacher.
Richard K. Boohar, assistant
professor of zoology and
physiology told an Earth Day
audience, "You are, in fact,
playing God. You cannot avoid
it, you cannot evade it."
Although he dealt primarily
with the problems of
overpopulation in the world,
Boohar used simple examples
to bring out the seriousness of
the problem.
He noted that organ
transplants and braces on
children's teeth are examples
of playing God. Because
defective organs and the
structure of the teeth are
hereditary they will be passed
on to offspring, forcing the
offspring to seek corrective
devices for the problem.
Someone, Boohar said, must
make a decision whether to
transplant the organ to the
person who needs the
transplant. That person is
playing God because .there
may be other people who need
the same transplant but for
whom a donor is not available.
The same process holds true
for the larger problems created
by overpopulation in the
world.
"We can feed ourselves,"
Boohar said, "but places like
India and Latin America can't.
Here, again, you have a choice.
Even if you choose to do
nothing you have made a
choice.
Boohar stressed the idea
that the choice may involve a
problem of practicality on one
hand, and a moral decision on
the other.
"If there is no check on the
population of Latin America
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
1
and India you are going to see
a famine that will make
everything else look like a
country picnic," he warned.
The problem, according to
Boohar, is this: if medicine and
other supplies are sent they
will contribute to the growing
population, creating more
overpopulation with a
subsequent famine and the
deaths which will accompany
it.
If medicine is not sent the
moral decision of causing the
deaths now must be faced.
Boohar agreed that it is not
an easy decision. He suggested
that the audience imagine an
infant relative in place of the
pictures often seen of starving
Indian babies.
44 It hurts clear into the
marrow of your bones and
back out and then some,"
Boohar said.
He also delved into the
problem of trying to raise the
world standard of living onto a
plane with that in the United
States.
The United States, he
claimed, with six per cent of
the world's population
consumes approximately 50
per cent of the world's
resources.
Attempting to raise the
world standard presents
another quandry, said Boohar.
"This planet cannot afford to
increase the resource usage by
a factor needed to raise the
world standard to ours. We're
not going to make it that
way."
But if help is not extended
to less affluent countries
"pretty soon they're going to
realize that there are more of
them but we've got the
goodies. Then you've got
war-the worst kind of war.
"In what fashion do you
choose to play God in this
case," he asked.
He outlined a loss of
KM
VOL 94 NO. 102
gGod'
individual choice in two areas
where freedom of choice is
assumed--44being what you
want to be, and living where
you want to live."
,4The first condition
Turn to page 6.
Even with all the Earth
Week activity, the Broyhill
Fountain has become the
target of unidentified campus
polluters.
Since the November
dedication, "12 or 14" acts of
vandalism have made it
necessary to shut off, dismantle
and clean the fountain of soap
and trash, according to the
director of the Nebraska
Union. Allen Bennett added
that each time this happens it
costs between $100 to $150 to
clean it up.
"What do we do now?"
Bennett said. "The thing that
has us bothered is that it costs
man hours which is
money-and we're all being
pressured to lower costs."
A fountain guard is
expensive, he said, adding "we
don't want to harass students."
He said he has considered that
the increased publicity may
somehow glorify the vandalism
and bring on more of it, but
we ve come to the point
where something must be
done."
Bennett requested public
assistance in. reporting any
vandalism, with the hope that
cooperation by mature young
people will prevent the need
for some kind of surveillance"
of the fountain.
A conviction of causing
more than $100 damage, under
the malicious destruction of
property law, can mean a fine
of up to $1,000. If the damage
is under $100, the fine upon
conviction is at least $100 and
can be up to $500, or a
sentence of up to six months in
county jail can be ordered.
A proposal to limit the
teaching of courses on aberrant
sexual behavior at state
colleges and the University of
Nebraska would be like "taking
books and burning them,"
State Sen. Richard Proud of
Omaha said late Thursday.
Apparently the majority of
:he State Legislature agreed, as
:hey axed State Sen. Terry
Carpenter's LB443, which
would limit such classes to the
NU College of Medicine.
The Legislature approved
27-15 a motion by Sen. Willard
Waldo to kill the bill. The
DeWitt senator said Carpenter's
bill "would go too far and
prevent even the mention of
these subjects" in courses
which touch on sexual
aberration.
Carpenter introduced the
bill in reaction to the
University's "Pro-Seminar in
Homophile Studies," offered
for the first time last semester.
In February the University
decided to drop the course
from the curriculum.
"Do you want to subject
your sons and daughters to
that?" asked Carpenter. The
homophile course could
promote aberrant sexual
behavior by "stimulating the
Local Democrats host Muskie
Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, possibly looking toward
Nebraska's 1972 presidential primary, will be the featured
speaker at Saturday's Democratic Jefferson-Jackson Day
dinner in Lincoln.
Although he has not officially announced his candidacy,
Muskie is considered the front-running Democratic possibility
for the presidency in 1972.
The Maine senator gained prominence in the 1968
presidential campaign as Hubert
. . . - i ul l t T-v
the 57-year-old Muskie emerged as a future presidential
hopeful.
About 1,300 people are expected to attend the $35 per
plate dinner, beginning at 7 p.m. at Pershing Auditorium.
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Earth Week drop-out. .
curiosity," he added.
A number of senators
Thursday noted that the bill
would interfere with the
constitutional authority of the
Board of Regents to run the
University.
Waldo said the subject is a
legitimate part of courses in
psychiatry, psychology and
social behavior. However, he
added that the homophile
course "should not have been
offered" at the University.
"We're not going to solve
the problem by hiding it under
a rug," Sen. John DeCamp of
Neligh remarked.
However, Herb Nore of
Genoa expressed fears that the
country is beginning to "give
dignity to the vices."
University officials opposed
LB 443 on the grounds that it
would interfere with academic
freedom.
Although the University
discontinued the homophile
course, Chancellor D. B.
Varner in February established
a committee, composed of
representatives from the three
University campuses, to
"consider curricular needs
designed to deal with the
expanded subject of human
sexuality."
Humphrey s vice- presidential '
. i , . 4 r s r 'Xi-
.the Broyhill Fountain
