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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1981)
n monday.aprit 27.1981 lincotn, nebraska voL 106. no 71 ri (o (ofl fen Speaker: Incest is common problem in nation By Beth Headrick Nebraska is one of three states in the countiy with the highest number of reported instances of incest. National ly, one in every five women and one in every 1 1 men were sexually victimized as children, and 60 percent of the girls in homes for runaways are incest victims. These statistics may just be the tip of the iceberg in dis covering how prevalent incest is, according to Katherine Brady, an incest victim and author of Father Days: A True Story of Incest Brady read from her book and told her story to about 150 people Friday night at the Nebraska Union as part of Women's Week at UNL When Brady asked how many people knew someone who was an incest victim about half of the audience raised their hands. "Incest may be the last frontier of child abuse, Brady said. Because of its nature it is usually covered up by the father, who obviously doesn't want anyone to know; by the child, who is confused and ashamed, and by the whole family, which wants to maintain a normal and healthy family image. S years old For Brady, the incest began when she was frightened and crawled into bed with her father while her mother was at work, she said. She was 8 years old. She said she was trusting, and when he told her there was nothing wrong in his caressing her body , she thought because he was her father he must be right. He also made her promise to keep "their secret from her mother. The beginning of real sex between the father and daughter started when Brady was 14 years old. It lasted until she was 18 and became engaged to escape her situation. One of the worst effects of incest on its victims is Research director predicts economy will grow in 1980s By D. Eric Kircher Nebraska's economic outlook for the early 1980s is good, a UNL business researcher on an economic panel said Saturday. Donald Pursell, the director of the Bureau of Business Research, told people attending the Nebraska Press Asso ciation convention at the Lincoln Hilton that if President Reagan's proposed tax and budget cuts are passed by Congress, Nebraska's economy wont grow as fast in 1981 . But computer models of Nebraska's economy indicate that the cuts would cause the economy to take off in 1983 and grow 4 percent or 5 percent faster, he said, the package of individual and corporate income tax cuts and less federal government spending is called "supply-side" economics. The "supply-siders" say the cuts would stim ulate business by encouraging investment. The business growth will provide jobs for people cut from federal aid programs and taxes from increased in come to replace lost taxes from the lowered rates, pro ponents say. Pursell said the cuts initially will slow the economy because of the uncertainty during the changeover. People won't invest as predicted until they feel the program will last and have some benefit to them, he said. Even without Reagan's supply-side package, Nebraska's economy will grow as usual, Pursell said. The industrial and retail economy grows by a few percent a year, he said, with the agricultural sector either moderating the increase or making the growth larger. Prices should improve Grain prices are higher, Pursell said,, and livestock prices should improve as people purchase more meat with increased real income from the tax cuts and the business upswing. Nebraska's economy isn't totally insulated from nation al and international affairs as is commonly believed, Pursell said. The just-rescinded Russian grain embargo affected Nebraska's economy, he said. The most important factor affecting agriculture prices and the economy is weather during the growing season, he said, A drought changes the agricultural outlook. Agriculture directly provides 10 percent of Nebraska's economy, Pursell said. As the money circulates through other businesses, that percentage doubles, he said. Panelist William Gangwish, president of the Nebraskan Farm Bureau, said the indirect effects of agriculture are closer to 40 percent. The agricultural economy also is unstable, he said. Continued on Page 2 making them feel helpless and out of control of their lives, she said. "I felt powerless to control my situation and I was con fused and depressed, she said. "I knew it was wrong but he was my father and I needed his approval. 'Kept it secret Brady said she refused to face the fact that sex with her father was routine-two to three times a week-and pretended that every time would be the last time. "I kept it a secret from everyone, Brady said. "He would say, 'If nobody knows, who are we hurting? Of course, totally discounting me. Brady said she wondered why nobody seemed to notice that the doors were always locked in the after noons when she and her father were alone, and why he was always in the bathroom when someone did come home. But by that time, Brady said, the whole family was in the game. "Everyone was playing their part, pretending we were a happy nuclear family," she said. "1 felt it was my re sponsibility to make the family look normal. Brady said she felt guilty and wanted to tell her mother, but knew her mother would think it was her fault. She also was angry with her mother for not protect ing her from her father. She said she realizes now that her mother was powerless to do anything because of her own situation. 'Pleasant facade "I kept up a pleasant facade with Mom, Brady said. "Here I was, living in this family, dying inside, and my mother would come and show me her ceramics. It was so superficial. For the past 10 years of her life, Brady said, she has been working through the damage incest has caused her. In the five years it took her to write her book, she said, she battled with her father to get him to admit that what he had done was wrong. "I'm not willing to say he's sick, she said, "I was avail able, handy, and he saw me as his possession. She said that her father must have a hatred of women to do what he did to her. In her work with, other incest victims in New York, Brady said she finds most women need to have their, fathers admit to them that they were responsible for then actions, and that it was not the child's fault. Confrontation is important, she said, adding that after confronting the issue with her family, her mother has changed, too. "She doesn't laugh anymore when I say I'm a femin ist. Incest isn't just a rural problem, nor does it happen only among families in lower-income brackets, she said. "Incest is the status quo.' With the cuts in funding for child-abuse programs, Brady said, society has a long way to go to combat the problem. "There are 25 million incest perpetrators," Brady said toward the end of her speech. "We can't put them all in jail." Someone from the audience yelled, "Yes, we can." i " II It . 'xTd u frails- f m Photo by Jon S, Natvig r f Jv Photo by Jon S. Natvig Left: A late afternoon sun casts long shadows as it sets the stage for the Student Alumni Association Oozeball championship game. Dippy Ponut won the tournament. The picture was taken atop the Gamma Phi Beta sorority roof. Above? mud-covered Kim Kiefer smiles after a successful game. Counsel to advise regents on ruling NU General Counsel Richard Wood plans to advise the NU Board of Regents this week on whether a recent court ruling requires the university to give UNO professors an interim raise, he said Sunday, The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that employers must pay employees who are in the process of negotiating a contract the same raise they gave non-bargaining employees until negotiations are settled, UNL and NU Medical Center professors received a 10,4 percent salary increase and an extra $7 a month medical care payment last July. The UNO professors didn't re ceive the raise because the American Association of Uni versity Professors is bargaining for a separate contract. Wood said he would notify the regents before making public his determination on whether the court ruling applies to the AAUTregcnt3 negotiations, Ks said he hasn't notified them yet.
