page 4
friday, October 6, 1978
daily nebraskan
opinioneditorial
I
ASUN should consider results before taking action
ASUN has taken "bold steps," as
senators have put it, to regain
control of student impact in govern
ment by recalling representatives and
not appointing new members to
UNL advisory committees.
ASUN's tactics have been ques
tioned. ASUN shot the bill through the
senate without the benefit of com
mittee consideration. And ASUN's
actions in closing the meeting is not
a case where the ends necessarily
justify the means.
ASUN had a public hearing after
the bill was passed, when it is usual
practice to hold a hearing before the
bill is voted on.
ASUN already has experienced
problems while leaving committees
in limbo. An ad hoc committee was
quickly reinstated by ASUN Presi
dent Ken Marienau to deal with
Nebraska Union Board problems
which were left pending. The Union
Board needed such an action to
make annual fund requests to
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor
of studen affairs.
These types of problems should
have been foreseen and plans should
have already been rolling to handle
such dilemas before the bill was
passed.
Yet ASUN is tired of student gov
ernment's inability to accomplish
much. Many senators have admitted
this bill could fall flat on its face,
and only time will tell if the bill is
going to have as much impact as the
senate hopes.
If the bill is going to be successful,
ASUN will have to make more quick
moves and stand firmly behind its
action.
A tentative proposal to establish
four major commissions that are div
ided into student fees, student acti
vities, university services and facili
ties and educational quality cover
the major committees that have been
put in limbo.
HSU
ARfclTT MOO iW? I
.1. ii
Rape: tool of oppression
- condoned inhu man legacy
WU3J...CJBMDtt"J0ONl f?
In the proposal, each commission
will have a chairperson and the rest
of the membership will be open to
anyone until Oct. 1 of each year.
Members also will have voting rights.
ASUN should consider appointing
members , and make them responsib
le for attending board meetings, be
cause it is doubtful students will
appear from nowhere and faithfully
attend meetings.
ASUN must also consider boards
that actually do have power, such as
the Parking Appeals Board. Hope
fully they will retain boards that
have more than advisory roles.
In its reconstruction attempt,
ASUN will probably have the new
committees work with faculty to
help form proposals for legislation.
ASUN also must be prepared to
defend proposals if there is a split
between faculty and students. The
full weight of ASUN should be used
when necessary.
There have been tentative plans to
form a committee of faculty, stu
dents and university personnel to
give proposals to the chancellor if
there is a split between the groups.
ASUN has taken a big step and we
hope that it is forward.
etters
Rape is a four-letter word.
It also is the fastest growing crime,
according to the FBI's major crime cate
gories (part of the growth could be caused
by an increase in reporting). That crime
category also includes murder, aggravated
assault and robbery.
kate gaul
Nationwide, about 55,000 rapes are re
ported annually, which means that a
reported rape occurs every 10 minutes. But
these figures do not include other sex
crimes and it is generally acknowledged
that the vast majority of sexual attacks still
go unreported. Even the FBI concedes that
their figures are low because of the stigma
and shame felt by many victims who are
therefore, reluctant to report the crime.
So, a rape could occur every two
minutes. If you spend 20 minutes reading
this paper, 10 rapes could occur by the
time you lay it down. Even at the lowest
estimates, two rapes will have occurred by
the time you finish.
Personal threat
Rape is a complex crime and not one I
find easy to write about in 70 lines or less.
The spectre of rape is a very personal
threat to myself and every other woman
whether she is a child of nine or an elderly
person of 82.
The possibility of being raped goes
beyond my chances of being robbed. Rape
is a tool of oppression-nearly every victim
is female, nearly every criminal is male
and it markedly alters my lifestyle and
makes me suspicious of half the human
population. I am constantly aware of my
vulnerable position in this society.
Despite the inroads made by the
feminist movement and the re-examination
of male-female roles, aided by the gay
movement, women still are largely in a
caste defined by passivity. Our needs and
desires have historically been defined by
males and subjugated to their historical
role of dominance.
Act of domination
Rape is an act of extreme violence, it
has nothing to do with a driving sexual
desire of the male. It is an act of domina
tion. And the myth still exist that the wo
man "asked for it" and the male reaction,
even by police and doctors, is too often,
"did she enjoy it?"
Enjoy it? Would you enjoy being threat
ened, being forced to submit to an act of
physical violence and violation against not
only your body, but your soul as well?
Would you want to go to court as a plaint
iff and have to defend your lifestyle and re
live in excruciating detail a personal viola
tion to an audience which condones the
male right to the female body?
That's the heart of the crime. Too often
the injury-physical and personal-is over
looked. An act of sexual violence is viewed
as an act of sexual fulfillment. Classical
rape paintings works by Rembrandt and
Rubens-are classified as erotica and the
portrayal of brutality is absent.
Human legacy
The historically romantic picture of
rape is part of the human legacy, the male's
right to take what he desires from the fe
male. Not too many states will recognize a
charge of rape brought against husband by
wife. Marriage is an institution that implies
female consent to male aggression.
Most rapes occur indoors and if a wo
man lets a man in, whether he is a stranger
or a "friend," courts tacitly agree that she
also let him into her body. But, if he robs
you, few will say that she consented to the
robbery and courts will whole-heartedly
plunge into prosecution.
Must a woman resist to the point that
she is murdered in cold blood or mutilated
before society will accept that she did not
ask for it and assume that she did not
enjoy it?
Broaden your horizons Saturday and
learn the dimensions of rape. Rape Aware
ness Day, sponsored by the Lincoln-Lancaster
Commission on the Status of Women
is in the Nebraska Union from 10 a.m. to
6 p.m. There will be films, lectures, work
shops and a demonstration of self-defense
techniques.
I find being a woman a great fullfill
ment, despite the hazards and the pre
judices, but it is unfortunate many in
dividuals find that being a man is a license
to practice violence and aggression.
When I talked to you last week, I
thought I made it specifically clear that I
was not the one who called the police (in
the case with Anthony Steels), the
neighbors did. I also specified that 1 was
not the one who filed charged against him.
The city attorney filed the charges. And
because of the story that was printed in
last Thursday's Daily Nebraskan, people
made the assumption that I had.
When I said that I would feel a lot
better if he went to see a doctor -I was not
implying that I thought he was crazy.
When discussing this whole situation with
Anthony's coach, the fact was brought up
that Anthony had been under a great deal
of pressure-which probably the reason he
acted the way he did on the night of Sept.
18.
I really don't understand why Anthony
should have to receive any more
punishment, for he's gone through enough
hell over this already.
If Anthony's scholarship is taken away
and he's kicked off the football team (plus
anything worse that might happen), it'll
be me whoU be paying for it. I know for
a fact, that IU be feeling guilty about it
for the rest of my life.
Terri L. Dickey
Editor's note: The Dairy Nebraskan
did NOT report that Dickey filed charges.
The Daily Nebraskan got information
about the alleged assault from police
reports.
I
Cheap shots
As a journalist, I am becoming a little
frustrated with the almost daily cheap
shots that the Daily Nebraskan is taking
at ASUN. I learned the same things you did
in J406, folks, but I think you are carrying
the "adversary relationship" a bit too far.
Journalists will always be fighting closed
meetings, but that doesn't color the fact
that they are occasionally a necessary evil.
When you are dealing with student
reporters (even for such a reputable
student paper as the Daily Nebraskan)
there is always the danger of people being
misquoted or quoted out of context on
delicate issues. I also can understand
ASUN's not wanting to open the subject
(recall of student appointees) to endless
and possibly hostile or personal debate.
In his editorial (Wednesday,), L. Kent
Wolgamott accuses the senate of ignoring
popular opinion. My observation is that
ASUN is soliciting popular opinion. That
was the purpose of the public hearing held
Tuesday night, Oct. 3.
The real issue here is what was done,
not how it was done. I would hate to see
what I feel is a good move by the ASUN
fail to gain the student support that it
deserves because the Daily Nebraskan has
confused the issue with their constant
complaints about a closed meeting.
Margy Meister
