page 4
daily nebraskan
friday, September 8, 1978
opinioneditorial
Jaycees bylaw throwback to Dark Ages
The U.S. Jaycees' resolution to
prohibit women from being voting
members in the organization is a
throwback to pre-19th amendment
days. Another anti-women restrict
ion in the resolution includes not
allowing women the right to hold
office.
These Dark Ages ideas are absurd
when women contribute a great deal
to communities through the Jaycees.
The status women will be able to
hold in the organization after Dec
ember 1 is a token position. The
Jaycees term this as an associate
members.
U.S. Jaycee president Barry
Kennedy, a Nebraskan will probably
defend and uphold the organization's
bylaws.
But Omaha Chapter President
Doug Perry will not. Perry should be
aplauded for his stand to keep wo
men as active members, even if this
action means the Omaha chapter will
lose its charter.
Perry mu lealize that giving wo
men a token rank and taking away
their rights as members will damage
the Jaycees' relationship with other
community organizations and rob
them of viable active members.
The urban areas will be hit the
hardest by the bylaw since the
majority of women members reside
there.
The resolution takes away any in
centive women may have to join.
And it is the organization that will
suffer for its actions rather than
women.
Omaha Jaycees member Carol
Weisenkamp, said, "Having women
in the organization provides the
Jaycees with opportunity for growth
and common knowledge."
The Jaycees will notice a defici
ency in growth after December 1.
etters
Primate enters primary, runs for governor
I had a phone call the other night from
a press agent who claimed he'd just seen
that Harvard-educated gorilla swinging off
through the trees in Hollywood Hills with a
gorgeous rock star under one arm.
"Oh, my God!" I said. "He's running
for governor.
Sure enough, the very next morning the
charismatic primate called a press confer
ence to throw his figurative hat into the
ring. The first question he was asked, of
course, was whether, like the governor of
Oklahoma, he would open his campaign by
swearing on the Bible that he wasn't gay.
"Gay?" cried the straight-shooting
contender indignantly. "I'm not even
reasonably content."
Qualifications
That issue disposed of, the broad
browed intellectual modestly listed his
other qualification for the governorship.
"Like all the major candidates," he said, "1
arthur hoppe
after all, been a middle linebacker for the
Des Moines Cowhawks, a movie star in that
hit picture Queen Kong, and a well-known
tee-vee personality who was under consid
eration at one time to replace Barbara
Walters as anchorcreature on the evening
news. I therefore feel I have a great deal
am emphasizing my experience. I have
more experience than either of my oppon
ents who have devoted their lives solely to
politics."
If elected, the unassuming, barefoot
candidate said he would refuse to live in
the Governor's Mansion. "I plan to sleep in
a tree in Capital Park without so much as
an air mattress under me," he pledged.
Mobile moped
"As a further economy measure, I'll get
everywhere that I have to go on a chauffer
driven moped. Actually, I'd drive it myself,
but I don't want people to lose respect for
the high office of governorship."
The fresh-faced challenger freely con
ceded that he had no plans to launch a
state-financed space program. "I used to
be into outer space," he said. "But that
was before the passage of Proposition 13.
Now I'm into inner space and Sufi
dancing."
Formerly a vigorous opponent of
Proposition 13, the open-minded thinker is
now one of its most fervent supporters.
"I've had several long talks with my disci
ple, Howard Jarvis," said the stocky, five
foot battler for tax relief. "And I'm glad to
say we see eye-to-eye. Yes, sir, Howard's
one of my kind of creatures. As I've said all
along, we fellow passengers on spaceship
Earth must be willing to lower our expect
ations." In fact, said the keen-minded student of
political strategy, he expected to ride this
very theme to landslide victory in
November. And with that he unveiled a
sample billboard bearing his likeness and
the slogan of his campaign:
"If you really want to lower your
expectations," it read, "vote for a gorilla."
My name is Ted Weiner and I am pres
ently incarcerated in Green Haven State
Prison for possession of Quaaludes. This
being my first offense, the tension and
loneliness of prison life has taxed my
control to the limit.
I wish to correspond With anyone will
ing to write and help ease a troubled spirit.
Thank you.
Ted Weiner
76A-3002-E.5-273
Drawer B
Stormville, New York 1 2582
Direction needed
In last Thursday's Daily Nebraskan we
read that ASUN passed a bill that would
help AUF finance projects on campus.
ASUN President Marienau stressed that
money should go to hiring students for the
Sports Complex. A good idea, since it
would allow more student use of the com
plex. But, sponsoring political speakers,
which has been an issue with so many
students this past year, was only "men
tioned" by Marienau.
I'm glad to hear that ASUN will set up a
committee to suggest projects. I would like
to be on that committee and I'd like to see
students of all kinds have a voice there.
ASUN needs direction and it's clear to
me that the president is unable to provide
the needed leadership.
Willie Watters
I
mf'nl ii n i 'H'liiiWir'
9 1 -ZJiAjirv
Idyllic childhood depends upon parents' anger vent
This world is usually a pretty cold
place -foreign even in native territory.
There are so many phenomena which
happen outside of one's sphere of under
standing. World power, federal power, even
city government is vested in the hands of a
few whose selection may seem a bit doubt
ful (I mean, how many people will admit
to voting for Nixon other than my
mother?) Yet people of Nixon's caliber
usually govern not only our public but our
private lives.
Control over your own life is, sadly,
hardly more than a mental ideal. Most of
the control we accept is something we
must do in order to do what we really
would like to. But it is control none the
less.
Now, with that bleak picture of your
adult world firmly rooted, shake off your
responsibilities and your "I have to's" and
skip on back to childhood.
Idyllic childhood
Yeah. Remember that carefree time
when the biggest headache was the
mandatory 8:30 bath? Days were idyllic
fantasy for a lass (or lad) of five. Reality
didn't exist much for me then (and I
question the extent to which it does now).
Days seemed like endless voyages of
adventure, nights were mysterious journeys
alone in my room with evil creatures of my
imagination to entertain me and both days
and nights blended into an endless, amaz
ing dream world.
But, hey. was that childhood world only
idyllic because of your age? Did it just
suddenly vanish when you turned 18 or
was it ever really there?
What do you do if you're five and
hungry? Does a fantasy put food in your
belly? If you opened a cupboard for food,
what prevented you from gobbling down
something marked poison?
kate gaul
What if that mandatory bath wasn't
forthcoming? Would a three-year-old have
the sense or the ability to run a tub of
water, or would she waddle around in filth
because no one was there to put her in the
tub?
Adult control
A happy childhood isn't predicated on
merely being under age 1 8.
It's given to us by the adults who
control our childhood experiences. And by
the same token, it can be denied us.
The extent of parental control is
understandably necessary, but it is not
necessarily good or even decent.
The Nebraska Department of Public
Welfare reported 791 cases of child abuse
and neglect in the first 7 months of 1977.
Lancaster County accounted for 213 of
these cases (cases, hell! They're human
beings under 18) and Douglas County
reported 409 in that time period.
Of the 213 reported cases. 72 were 'Val
idated." which means they were proven
cases of child neglect and or abuse. The
remaining cases were in error or there was.
possibly, no way to substantiate the cases.
Want some more figures0 Hey, I've got
plenty!
During a Governor's Conference on
Child Abuse in Iowa, Richard Tompkins,
assistant Cerro Gordo County Iowa
attorney, reported that, according to
national child abuse statistics, "few of the
reports are frivolous or malicious."
His report, which I gleaned from a Des
Moines Register article, said that 80 per
cent of reported child abuse cases are
strong enough to investigate and in 60 per
cent of those, child abuse or neglect is
present.
"In 70 percent of the cases, yours will
be the first report. Don't say someone else
know about it and they'll call. You report
I wonder how many cases go unreported
because of the cop-out of not wanting to
get involved. Face facts, sugar. You were
born human, you're involved.
There were 2,300 cases of suspected
child abuse reported to Iowa authorities
last year alone. 60 percent0 That's 1.380
substantiated.
September 10 through 16 is Child
Abuse Awareness Week in Lincoln.
Don't think it applies to you?
Have you every felt so frustrated that
you slapped the cocker spaniel"1 Or in
anger, tossed the cat outside0
Don't have any children0
Anger vent
What happens when, as you grow older
and the pressures of adult life mount, and
you've pot a toddler anfund crying am!
eating up your hard earned cash0 What
prevents you from slapping hat kid0 A
hnck walP Hev things are tough and you
can't always vent your anger on the author
ity figure that caused it.
Don't be naive. All those cases aren't
out of abject cruelty, although that's the
result.
It's time to expand your awareness. It's
time to get involved with something more
than Psych 170. And National Child Abuse
Week provides an excellent opportunity.
Child Abuse Awareness Week is
sponsored by the Citizen's Coalition for
the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.
They've been organized since April of this
year, tying together the community efforts
to prevent child abuse and aid abuse-prone
parents.
Awareness Week
The Awareness Week shapes up with a
play about abusive parents entitled
"Dessie." It shows at 2 p.m. at Claire
McPhee School, 820 S. 15 St., and at 7:30
at O'Donnell Auditorium on the Wesleyan
campus. Babysitting will be provided.
Admission is one dollar.
There are workshops, open to the
general public, on Tuesday and Thursdav
at the Nebraska Center for Continuing
Lducation on 33rd and Holdrege streets.
They start at 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
In Nebraska, cases of child abuse should
be reported to the police. Sue Bean from
the Coalition, said Nebraska is the onl
state whose law has not been changd so
that abuse cases are reported directl to
the welfare department.
If you've got a problem there is Parent
Anonymous. It's a 24-hour service. Don't
hestitate to call.
And don't hesitate to answer.