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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1985)
Monday, January 21, 1935 Pega4 Daily Nebreskan eeiO) HJ 1 Mi ikon si I (p(P"P bout 14 years ago the UNL Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and the United Ministries in Higher Education created a child-care center to satisfy the needs of stud ents. Thus, the University Child Care Project was conceived. Since then, UCCP has provided first-rate child care for the university community, educated preschoolers, cared for infants and toddlers and provided career training for university students. Over the years the UCCP's relationship with the university has changed. At first, it relied on university fundings as well as fees from families. Now it's self-sufficient for the most part. And now, the UCCP and its affiliate,, the infant and toddler care center at Wesley House, are in danger of folding. The university bought Commonplace, where UCCP had been housed free, to provide office space for student groups. The Union Board will vote on the future of the center Tuesday night. UCCP will be in Commonplace until the end of the semester in any case but the Union Board has been asked to extend its free tenancy lor an additional year. The decision should not be a difficult one. When you have something good, it's smart to keep it. UNL will always need a nearby child-care center. It would be foolish to lose the one we have. UCCP should be kept at Commonplace preferably for more than one year. Because UCCP is turning a small profit, it should be allowed to stay free of rent or utility charges. If the Union Board does let UCCP stay another year, the center will still be in danger. According to Ross Thompson, UNL professor of psychology and UCCP board member, finding a new home will be difficult. UCCP does not have the funds to build a new home or even to renovate an older building, he said. In other words, unless a grant of some sort is made, when UCCP moves out of Commonplace, it will be gone. UCCP undoubtedly serves its purpose well. On average it serves 72 families a semester. Because UCCP no longer receives university funding, costs have risen. As a result, fewer students use the center. However, according to UCCP information, its clientele is still 40 percent student as well as 30 percent faculty and 30 percent community. As a center for learning, UCCP has provided training for about 200 students in the last five years in the areas of psychology, nursing, speech pathology and educational psychology at no cost to the university. In addition, UCCP employs 50 to 60 students for work-study programs each semester. The non-empirical benefits of UCCP are as important as those that can be quantified. Knowing that one's children are safe and nearby makes life and work more pleasant for many members of the UNL community. Families who use UCCP are vocal about the idea of losing it. The Daily Nebraskan has received more letters about UCCP than any other issue this semester and a collection of letters from parents was delivered to the Union Board last week. Some excerpts: "My wife and I enrolled Aaron at the University Infant Care Center at Wesely House because of its excellent reputation . ..it would be a great blow to us if ike center is closed. " "The university center has a long waiting list. Also, some students can't afford it; several years ago the university provided some subsidy for students, but that lias been discontinued. Now, with the rise of non traditional women students, child care is needed more than ever. " N "Lincoln does not have an abundance of good child care facilities and quality child-care facilities such as UCCP are even more scarce. We as citizens have a responsibility to the children of our nation children are our future." Arid so on . . . EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS EDITOR CAMPUS EDITOR WIRE EDITOR COPY DESK CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSON PROFESSIONAL ADVISER Chris WtSteh, 472-1 7S3 Dsnfcl ShstiSI KatSse rint Pelieky Tom Bym Kt"y Mxngan ESevt Mtycr MSeteitSa thumsit Leu ft Hsppit Vicki Kutiga Chrlslof hr Eurisixh Chris Ctct'.s 472-87S3 Den V;a!tOfV 473-7331 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations. Readsrs are encouraged to submit story idsss and com ments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1 7C3 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also ha3 access to the Publications Board. For information, ca'l Chris Choste 472-8733. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 63533-0443. Second class postage paid at Lincoln, NE C3510. all r.ATr.;.L copyright 12:3 da:ly u SXAN 1 I x x- - w miA IN rKA v ! 4-4 ww . fc , 1 I JL: . mm skrerws cm, w wi mm) mm ,w m is ho wmm im.fmmm? No men Im &to3r&n ome call it heartless, coldblooded, premeditated murder. Others call it an unfortunate bvnroduct of our modern disposal-oriented society. Still others see it as absolutely necessary and they think society and the government have no right to legislate against it. V Cloempken Whatever your personal views on abor tion, some fundamental statistics tell us an interesting story about why people believe as they do. Kristen Luker in her book "Abortion and the Politics of Mother hood," provides us with a fascinating insight on the reasons women the subject of her study think the way they do. She gives us the distinct impression that there is more at stake than just the process of abortion. She shows us two totally divided groups of women, each fighting desperately to retain its own sense of self-worth in the face of advances made by the enemy. It is a war in every sense of the word. The women who are pro-choice tend to be educated with more than 00 percent of them possessing a college degree and 37 percent pursuing post-graduate work. In contrast, only 60 percent of women opposed to abortion have degrees, and only 6 per cent of these are post-graduate. Even more striking is the pro-chcice connection with labor forces. An overwhelming 94 percent of these women ere now employed and one-third of them report a household t$S. USA 1 : income of $50,000 or more. Compare this to the 37 percent of the anti-abortionists working, almost all of whom are unmar ried. Only 12.5 percent can claim a $50,000 income. Even more startling, however, is the connection between religious beliefs and a stand on this issue. Seventy-five percent of the prochoice women were raised in a religious home, but now 80 percent claim that religion does not play an important role in their lives. Moreover, 80 percent of the pro-life women claim religion is important in their lives, and 80 percent are Roman Catholics. So you can see that, although important, abortion is only one aspect of a broader issue. The revered topic of motherhood seems to be undergoing a transformation, and this is creating a conflict of values the things that each woman, as a person, holds most dearly. Unfortunately, each side regards any advances made by the other as an erosion or attack on its own way of life and responds by counter attacking. For in stance, women who think the traditional roie of a mother is to stay at home and take care of the kids, feel threatened by every advance the liberated woman makes when she becomes a little more equal and a little less tied down. Anything that threatens the primacy of motherhood is a personal attack and could result in a loss in self-esteem. The traditional roles of men and women, as well as money, religion and women in the work force, are all at stake. We must realize abortion is only a small Dattie in a great war. It is peculiar, however, in that it is the only one of the battles that deals strictly with women. Violence t abortion clinics through out the country has increased dramatically. Since May 1882, 30 clinics have been destroyed by bombs asid federal authorities warn that it will gst worse. The ironic thing is that these pro-life fanatics seem to be saying: "We believe in the supreme sanctity of human life. Nothing is more beautiful or noble, but if you guys don't stop, we're going to blow you away." True, no one has died in any of the bombings, but the threat is clear. Even more peculiar is the fact that all the people convicted for any of these bombings have been men. Why in the world would they do something like that? One defended himself by saying that his handiwork was done in the name of Christ. At this, I am instantly reminded of the Crusades and all the death and destruction caused in the name of Christ, and I cannot, help but wonder whether a loving and compassionate Lord would be sickened by it all. No, this is not the reason why these men feel the need to intervene. It is something else, something deeper. More likely, it is the feeling that, as women fight desper ately for some definition of motherhood f and who they are, men find it lncreasmiay difilcult to h2i on to their own tradi tional roles. Th man who was once the dominant figure in both the family and society is new being threatened by these advances in women's liberation and is fighting back, I know this feeling and I Continued ca Pa3 5 Letters Argmnmt neglects aborted fetus' view In defense of the unborn, I feel compelled to respond to Steve Campbell's pro-choice stance stemming from his con cern not for the presence of life, but for the quality of life, "a more humane way cf thinking" (Daily Nebraskan, Jan. 16). Abortion, he claims, spares the un wanted child from a potential lack of pre natal care (and thus perhaps handicsps) and from an unhappy, loveless home life. Adoption does not solve the problem, he says, of improper pre-natal care and may cause fedin3 of guilt in the biological parents. Apparently, the. love adoptive parents cm give a child, along with the chsnce of a bright future, is irrelevant. Abortion is the only "humane" solution to an unwanted pregnancy because it is marked by compassion, sympathy and consideration for all concerned This srsnnent, however, totally neglects cr.3 s:i3 cf ths atciticn issue that is what happens inside the womb. Different methods cf abortion m used, depending on the length of the pregnancy. Early abortions can be done easily by using a vacuum device that sucks the child out of the womb arm by arm, leg by leg, along with some of the blood that remains. Later abortions may require the dilation and evacuation technique, similar to the suction method, except this time the vacuum is replaced with forceps operated by the physician. The child is now too large to pass through the vacuum and must be crushed and dismembered before removal Another method involves the injection cf a ?ahne solution, which bana the child. kills it and eventually indices kb- The same solution can causa hemorrhaM cr lung and kidney damage in the mother if it enters her bloodstream. This is hup-e? It's unfertunats thit aborted children ccr.net pr.rcrIy th-;k their parents and th?. medics! tcrr.slr their compassionate, sympathetic means cf ending their lives. Or perhaps they wouldn't thank them at all. Perhspa they would ask why they did not take advantage cf ths many agencies willing to prcvide izi pay for pre-natal care, maternal care, counseling and adoptive services. One can only imagine f their laughter upon hearing the argu ments, In closing, I wo'jM like to answer a question that Campbell couldn't "Where j would you bs if your mother had had an. abortion?" Well, if you were lucky your? many remains ntigU have found their way j ints 3 cemei&ry pk? shared by other aborted xEIdreiL It. is mors likely ths! your bcij psrts. irssld hre long since? rotted sxzj in ssrsa g:il .dump isssc-.tu&cstf-ef sad humanely tot-i teryMaloneyi - junior s -. . escrche prcholcsf
