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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1975)
thursday, October 16, 1975 dsi!y nebraskan page 4 editorial (pififi - 3 3 J 11 PL Dear editor, The issue of selling alcohol on campus is not a matter of morals or ethics. It is simply a matter of good business. Remodeling the South Crib of the Nebraska Union, creating a new, beautiful drinking establishment, could benefit both the taxpayers of Nebraska and the students at UNL. The profits from such a lounge in the Union could be channeled to worthwhile, student-determined activities, which are always the last priorities of state tax money. Let's take the advice of more than 100 colleges and universities in America that allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on their campuses, and begin supporting the needs of students with profits from a student-operated establishment. It's a matter of good business, our business. , Jeff Searcy Wasted water Dear editor, Why are they wasting water on the lawns this time of year? They will soon be brown anyway. To me, it's like giving Vitamin E to 80-year-old ladies. D. Nelson Editor's note: Jay Schuckebier of the UNL Grounds Dept. says grass needs to be watered throughout the fall if it is to stay alive. Blades of grass, like leaves, turn brown in autumn, but that does not mean the lawn is dying. As for your simile, we have no idea what you mean by your reference to 80-year-old ladies, but medical authorities assure us Vitamin E has nothing to do with it. Toy money Dear editor, We write to you today with much satisfaction, for we have finally figured out where money for traffic fines is going. , At one time during this semester, we were naive enough to" think money was going to paint lines on the gravel lots, so one could see where to park, or maybe to put in a cross walk in front of Abel Hall so students wouldn't have to risk their lives every time they cross 17th St. However, we now see the light. Money for fines has gone to the purchase of Rhino Boots. We want to congratulate John and Gail for putting the money to such a worthy cause and we would like to wish them luck and happiness while playing with their new toy. David R. Kirshenbaum Steven Scheffel More than jungle Dear editor, ' Being a foreign student in a big university like UNL, and an African student for that matter, can be a very gratifying experience. You are sometimes asked questions by your fellow stu dents, questions that may range from the totally ridiculous to the sublime. During my brief stay here so far I some times have a feeling that I can see pictures people have in their minds after I tell them where 1 am from. This has led me to conclude that the picture in the average young American's mind about Africa is naked people running wild with blow guns, rubbing bodies with wild animals in the jungle and scrambling for food and shelter. To some it is a safari, with car loads of tourists and lions climbing all over them as they drive through towns and villages. I don't think I can blame young people for this and I would like to use this opportunity to ask my African brothers not to blow up should a fellow student ask them . questions of this nature. Perhaps the blame should go to the most powerful means of communication mankind has ever been exposed to, the American media, for spreading ignorance to the youth of America on that line. Young people may be forced to believe what they see on television or in the movies-like Africa being all jungle and animals-just as we may have been forced to Lelievs that America was a nation in perpetual warfare, cowboys and Indians on horseback shooting at each other with guns and bow and arrows. We have a lot of animals in Africa but they don't roam wild in our cities and towns. They are a natural resource that modern technology has not wiped out yet. Find out for yourself that we are not all jungle. A.A.Opo Loose ad hole? Dear editor, On the other hand, perhaps your editorial page problem is a loose ad hole. B.R. actsneede Fear is at the root of the Sherdell Lewis case and it threatens to branch out into the entire Lincoln community. Fear, whose seeds were misinformation, mis understanding and misdirection, prompted me poorly led and ultimately tragic raid on Lewis s home. Fear; according to deputy sheriff Rod Loos's polygraph test, prompted the shotgun blast that took Lewis's life. Read County Atty. Ron Lahners' report (Daily Nebraskan, Oct. 1 5). The fear is there. Fear of the black community is shutting persons in their homes, windows closed, doors locKed. hear in the black community has sent persons to the d to halt fear IS street corners armed with spiked clubs. Fear breeding rumors, wiuui uw icai. Fear is making us ugly, and it must stop. The incident sprang from misunderstanding and half-truths, so let us have all the truth. Let us have "some factual matters" that Ron Lahners has "indicated cannot be revealed." Let us have the file that Lahners says he has not yet decided to release If it takes a grand jury to get at the truth, tlien let us have a grand jury. Above all, let us stop fearing each other. Blacks, whites, citizens and police alike can be cut down where they stand if we do not. Rebecca Brite ON 100R up, umitf S MX LITTLE BROTUtR GfWf m urns, mrrien IS FIMM I MOti up. I MtfTffflE WE new 70 7RLUM IT'S PRIM. innocent bystander Gender decides immoral acts By Arthur Hoppe When Private Oliver Drab (578-18-4454) heard that Leonard Matlovich, the gay sergeant, had been discharged for engaging in immoral acts with other military personnel, he immediately went to see Captain Buck Ace. "What is it this time, Private?" said Captain Ace with a sigh. "If you've come up with another phoney reason to get out of this man's Army, I don't want to hear it." "Oh, no, sir. It's just that I've got this problem. . ." The cpatain put a fatherly arm around Drab's shoulder. "I always want to hear the problems of my men, son," he said. "No matter how terrible they may seem to you, I'm sure I can help." "That's good, sir," said Drab, "because me and this sergeant over at division headquarters are living together in sin." Captain Ace whipped his arm away as though Drab had turned into red-hot, pot-beliied stove. "Good Lord!" he cried, backing off three paces. "We met in this bar," began Drab dreamily. "Right away there was this kind of spark between us. So we had a couple of dances and walked down the street holding hands to this motel where we. . ." "Stop!" shouted the captain, his face red. "I don't want to hear about what other disgusting, immoral acts you've engaged in. You'll get an automatic discharge out of this, Drab!" "I will?" asked Drab hopefully. "First, you're a security risk, A spy could blackmail you by threatening to reveal your conduct to your commanding officer." "Even if I just did?" asked Drab, looking worried. "Second, what mother would want her son to join an army with people like you in it?" "You're right, sir. My Mom didn't." "And what kind of soldiers would you people make? The Army will never tolerate obscene behavior. By God, I should've guessed by the faint-hearted way you shouted, 'Kill! Kill! Kill!' during dayonet practice." "I never could put my heart in it," agreed Drab. "Now give me the name of that sergeant, Drab. ThereH be two discharges here!" "Gee, that's great of you, sir. Her name's Cynthia Yosarian. And she's been wanting out of the WACs, too." The captain appeared stunned. He tentatively approached Drab, clapped him on the shoulder and beamed. "That sexy blond? Congratulations, son, you really scored. By George, you'll make a soldier yet!" "I'll never understand the Army," Drab later said glumly to his friend Corporal Partz as they peeled potatoes. "Isn't living in sin an immoral activity?" "It's like any other activity we do, Oliver," said Corporal Partz, spitting thoughtfully. "There's the right way, the wrong way and the Army way." (Copyright Chronicle Publlihing Co. 1975) 1 vH wi long hord climb Word labels affect neutrality TV By Marsha J ark "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-that's all." -Lewis Carroll, Through the looking Class But it is not so easy to master the meanings of words. The words we assign to objects and people have the effect of legitimatizing or illegitimatizing the things they stand for. Words are our symbols or labels, static repre sentations of the ever-changing. What "Monday" represents to a person today is not the same as what "Monday" represents to the same person Sunday night. What "morality" means to one person may be totally different from what it mean;; to another person. The language of psychoanalysis is an interesting example of the way labels can change a neutral situation into an "unhealthy" or neurotic situation. If you say that a person will not eat pork for religious reasons, the statement remains neutral. But if you sav that a person Iras an acute phobia of pork, a bad connotation usually results. i.,..i,i....i- 1..L..1- l. ..niitu that i ay tumuit; raoeis somcumei cause sutn - psychiatrists stop using them to prevent the misunderstand ings that develop over such words as "schizophrenic or "manic-depressive." One big headache In business Is the MissMs.Mn question. Some pocple claim that Miss and Mrs. are deriva tions of the word "mistress" (which has connotations of own) but that Ms. is the abbreviation for manuscript. However, business manuals since the 1950s have recommended using "Ms." as formal address for women whose marital status was unknown. "Ms." now is associated with 'Women's lib" so instead of being a neutral formal address, it has become a tmro category for feminist women. Occupational labels have changed radically mjjj people found that their jobs would seem nicer an important-sounding name. Therefore, "janitor beciwj custodian," then "maintenance engineer, J" undertaker" became "mortician-," which became fuiw director." ' There is no way to remain neutral. Even behavioriJJ find that operational terms like "positive reinforcernei and "negative reinforcement" may elicit nightmares om white rats pressing buzzers and running across tigww in cages. ft