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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1984)
Daily Nebraskan Monday, April 20, 1C34 .v. -r o ri o j v 1 i Pago 4 L. A- : A M S " J Fugitive miiiictsr cm eiKunarale of defiance forCIniciiiasi IiMg The glimmer of hope last week that the battle between state offi cials and supporters of the Faith Christian School in Louisville night finally be coming to an end appar ently was unjustified. Last week, the Rev. Everett S II even, who had been a fugitive since his failure to appear in Cass County District Court Nov. 23 for contempt hearings, said he returned to Neb r :raska ta"reconcile myself with the state courts." The school, which was operating in defiance of a court order, is closed and Sileven said it will remain that way until Nebraska's new school law takes effect July 10. The law will exempt teachers at church schools from certification requirements if they pass an examination or undergo an evaluation by state education officials. Sileven said he could "live with" the new law and that, in the mean time, the children will be taught at home. That's hardly a conciliatory gesture. By educating their children at home, parents still are in viola tion of the state's mandatory atten dance law. Thursday, Sarpy County District Judge Ronald Reagan, who is pre siding over the case, sentenced Sileven to eight months in jaiL While serving that sentence, Sileven will not be allowed to have writing or recording material except for personal corres pondence. Reagan charged that when Sileven was jailed two years ago, he wrote a pamphlet and sold autographed co pies of it for $20 or more a copy. Faith Christian School supporters have denied that charge. Although Sileven has remained quiet since the sentencing, the reac tion of his supporters is evidence that they are not interested in end ing the controversy by compromising. Supporters immediately called for Judge Reagan's impeachment. Accor ding to the Lincoln Journal, the Rev. Greg Dixon, head of the Ameri can Coalition of Unregistered Chur ches, called for Gov. Bob Kerrey and the UJ3. attorney general to investi gate Reagan and the state judicial system. Supporters told the Journal that the sentencing was "one of the most despotic, tyrannical and insensitive rulings in the annals of American, jurisprudence." Responding to Reagan's sugges tion that Sileven and his church leave Nebraska if they do not want to comply with its laws, Dixon said that Reagan is not "intellectually or morally capable of understanding our constitutional form of govern ment" That seems rather ironic coming from a group of people who haw broken the law for several years and now apparently believe that the state should just forget Sileven's past re cord since he returned to Nebraska willingly. The punishment was fair.-Sileven and his group knowingly violated state law by operating an uncerti - fled schooL Even worse, the pastor then set a poor example for the children he professes to be teaching by running from the law. Now that he has returned, he must be willing to pay the price. Olympians dedicated I cringe cvcrytime I think of a state ment made by Matthew Stelly in his column "End sports nationalism, then exploitation," (Daily Nebraskan, April 25). In it, he writes about the exploita tion of athletes by nations. Specifically, he alludes to the methods used by the United States in forming an Olympic team as "(the U.S.) goes to the ghetto, gets as many blacks as they can find and dubs them 'Americans.' " How dare you. Have you any idea of the time and hard work it takes to become a member of the U.S. Olympic Team? Olympic coaches don't care where you are from or what color you are. Nobody goes through the ghetto looking for Olympic athletes. The ath letes make themselves known by being the best and that takes hard work. They want people who can develop their natural talents to the" fullest extent. Nobody forces anybody to be an Olympic athlete for the U.S. For example, Mcrlene Ottey will be run ning for Jamaica. The dedication that Olympic hopefuls show for themselves and their country is not something to be taken lighth. Doug Allen junior life science Paper misses boat It is time someone call this sad situa tion to the attention of these writing for the Daily Nebraskan. You have allowed meaningless, trivial, opinion ated garbage to clutter or "fill" your newspaper. Host articles, excluding those on the sports page and adver tisements, are not making students of UNL aware of valid, meaningful issues. There are many things happening every day that are worth reporting. If you can't find them, I suggest you find someone who can. UNL students deserve more than a slam a day or a constant bias, degrading opinion. All student organizations need a boost of confi dence every once in awhile to encour age growth. You have the power to give it or deny it. D. Jay Wolverton sophomore animal sciencepre vet Greelcs hypocritical We would like to respond to Dan Levy's request (Daily Nebraskan, April 25) for "a Harper Eight shirt...so I too can wear it with pride!" There's nothing worse than hypocritical Greeks who whine about being unjustifiably picked on, and then pacify themselves by adopt ing artificial superiority com plexes in snubbing their noses at the dormies. What makes Levy think fraternities have a monopoly on camaraderie? We would warrant that there are many dormitory floors which have more of an atmosphere of openness and cam araderie than a great number ofGrcek houses. Moreover, residence hall cam araderie comes with the freedom to make one's own life. Since Levy chose to single out Harper Eight, he may be surprised to find floor members in nearly every student group or activity he could name. And we would put up our floor grade point average for comparison with any Greek house. Sorry, Levy, but we side with Bill. Perhaps your Phi Delta Theta "brothers" would be better off with Harper Eight T-shirts than drug in vestigations. James. P. Meidlinger freshman mathematics Kevin J. McCoy freshman journalism Actions racist All year we have seen angry letters going back and forth about Bill Allen's columns that question the high per sonal and academic standards ofUNL's Greek system. Maybe the Greeks wouldn't have to spend so much time defending themselves if their actions matched what they professed to be. Earlier thi3 year we saw many let ters defending the system against Allen's charges of racism, however, Tuesday afternoon I walked out of the Nebraska Union and saw one of the most racist acts IVe seen at the univer sity. The entire Phi Gamma Delta house was standing on their front lawns in brown body paint and grass skirts, tossing spears around and grunting. What do you boys think you're doing? Are these the academic elite and lead ers of this campus? Do all your ideas about people of color come from watch ing old Tarzan movies? Greeks, your racism is obvious, and it will take more than .letters to the editor to deny this one. Kate Moran senior women's studiespsychology Greeks: Bad attitude Mike Barrett's response (Daily Neb raskan, April 24) to Bill Allen's column "Greek Week: Dont Include Me" (Daily Nebraskan, April 23) is an excellent demonstration ofthe attitude display ed by a majority of Greeks that opens their organizations to ridicule. It's too bad that these "great" and "elite" Greek organizations teach young people to turn their noses up at others and keep these "individuals" from laughing at themselves. BradStepp sophomore natural resources Black Muslims claiming racial superiority Why doesn't Jesse Jackson publicly repudiate the inflammatory Muslim leader, Louis Farrakhan? The question reveals a lack of understanding of the muslim brotherhood. It is a fraternal blood-brotherhood more disci plined than any rel'gious order. t V ! -" ' Paul Qf Harvey The Nation of Islam of which Louis Farrakhan is leader is "an oEshoot of the black Muslim movement. - He was born Louis Eugene V'aIcott in Boston, a track star in high school, an Episcopal choirboy, A spellbinding calypso singer, he can rouse any black audience to emotional heights when he sings, "A White Man's Heaven Is A Black Man's Hell" Farrakhan has referred to whites as "devili He opposes integration. He vigorously criticizes blacks and whites who favor integration includ ing the National Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Black Muslims do not claim "equality." Black Mus lims do not seek equality. Black Muslims claim "superiority." When Louis Farrakhan threatened the life of a black reporter who dared criticize Jesse Jackson did he mean it? . Literally, he said, "One day soon we will punish you with death." The black rhetoric of the inner-city and the black rhetoric ofthe pulpit cannot always accu rately be translated literally. " Nor should its -potential effect on zealots be ignored. Muslim founder Ely a Muhammad was "a prophet" to his followers. When, Malcolm X dared to break with the Muslim Church in 1C3 I, within a year he was assassinated. It was Farrakhan,-by the way, who was sent to Harlem to take over for the assassinated leader, a iormer inena whom he denounced as a trai tor .. . worthy of death." The Black Muslims also identify with Palestinians against Jews. In a speech three years ego, Farrakhan described himself as "the voice of God to America and the voice of God to 30 million black people in America and to themiilions of black people throughout the world." From his south side Chicago pulpit Farrakhan has consistently told his followers not to participate m cur country's elections to withhold their votes until the Jackson candidacy convinced him that now is the time. Had any other supporter of any other front runner said anything favorable about Hitler it would surely have discredited the supporter and possibly have destroyed hb candidate. But Jesse Jackson, standing firm with his "brother," .appears thus further to have solidified his support. 1SS4, Lot Anjttn Units Syn'cs!