Tuesday, February 4, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
it
Nebraskan
D.iily
?ras
Vicki Kuhtfa, Editor, )?i!,l?66
Thorn Gabrukiewirz, Mnnnqiuq Editor
Ad Hudlor, Editorial Paye Editor
James Rogers, Editorial Assoriatc
Chris Welsch, CVj Jrslfc C7m
LOOKING AT IT.
B A MEMORIALS
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
THOSBASTRONAUJSf
5 T I jii 111 llhr I .r i in n
J
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Film cancellation shows lack of backbone
"Censor: One authorized
to exa m inefil ms a n d prin t
ed materials and suppress
what is objectionable. "
Webster's Dictionary
The Sheldon Film Theatre's
cancellation of the film "Hail,
Mary" deprives UNL students,
faculty and Lincoln residents of
their right to view a piece of art
despite its controversiality
and is censorship.
While the film has been con
demned by the Catholic Church
and Pope John Paul II because of
its portrayal of the Virgin Mary
and Catholics worldwide have
picketed the film, it also has
received praise and several in
ternational awards.
Godard, a leader in the French
New Wave film movement, is a
well-respected artist whose first
feature film "Breathless" stunned
the cinema world.
Sheldon Director George
Neubert said one reason he can
celled the film was to protect
Sheldon from outside supporters
who might try to cut the gallery's
budget because of the showing.
Denying people access to any
art to judge for themselves
the value of its contents is
outrageous, and to do so for the
sake of protecting finances shows
complete lack of backbone
especially from a man who has
made the arts his life.
Past experience proves that
film should be shown and viewed
for its aesthetic value, not cen
sored because of possible nega
tive community reaction. To cen
sor because of fear of denied
enSencioo
Reforms needed
Federal and state criminal
justice systems need a major
overhaul. Our prisons already
are overcrowded. The U.S. is
plagued by one of the highest
violent crime rates among West
ern nations. At the same time
criminal sentences vary greatly
across the nation, and injured
victims remain uncompensated.
The new U.S. Sentencing Com
mission hopefully will provide a
firm impetus toward solving this
potpourri of prison problems.
Our most basic sense of fair
ness is offended by wildly differ
ent sentences. A crime that mer
its a sentence tsi3x, months ;in
Alabama cannotraerlt rime' yfe'airS
in Oregon. The commission is
expected to draft enforceable
guidelines reducing the indeter
minancy of current sentencing
practice. States should be en
couraged to follow suit.
This change most probably
will increase the average length
of criminal sentences served.
More criminals serving more time
means more overcrowding. Thus,
a serious look at alternative sen
tencing approaches is mandatory.
The first step needed is to
eliminate prison sentences for
non-violent offenders.
financial backing of future gallery
projects would be plain black
mail on the supporters' parts.
Controversy is not new to the
Sheldon. About three years ago
Sheldon displayed a photography
exhibit that focused on the lives
of homosexuals. Sheldon sup
porters protested, the exhibit
went on as planned and Sheldon
did not suffer because of it.
Sheldon officials reacted un
appropriated to another false
alarm last year when the film
"The Gods Must Be Crazy," by a
South African filmmaker, was
not shown because some consi-,
dered it racist. The film later was
shown at a downtown Lincoln
theater without incident.
It's doubtful that "Hail, Mary"
would create much controversy
in Lincoln. The city's residents
are not predominately Catholic,
and many of those who are
Catholic are open-minded enough
to find value in the arts even
those that are controversial.
Godard is a film legend whose
career spans more than 40 years.
Most critics consider him one of
the 10 most influential and im
portant filmmakers of the 20th
century.
One of the saddest parts of the
cancellation is that Neubert did
not view the film before cancel
ing it.
Ours is a country based on
freedoms. We deserve the right
to view this film all films
and decide for ourselves whether
it deserves praise or criticism.
This time, we won't even get
the chance.
for fair system
The alternative sentencing
approach addresses this prob
lem by requiring community ser
vice or mandatory restitution
punishment more befitting the
nature of the offense.
The commission is reported to
be very interested in what U.S.
District Judge Warren Urbom of
Lincoln has done in pioneering
prison alternatives at the federal
level.
U.S. District Judge and Com
mission Chairman William Wil
kins indicated a widespread in
terest in incorporating "meaning
ful alternatives" to prison within
the sentencing guidelines the.
n cfommIssi6nwilI,be establishing; '
i He also said that the commission
wants to integrate restitution
into the alternatives.
We can only hope that the
commission will be successful in
balancing justice for the victim
as well as justice for the crimi
nal. Too often the criminal is
thoughtlessly sentenced to pri
son while the victim is forgotten.
Our current imbalance serves
the purposes of society neither
in punishing the criminal nor in
dealing with the impact of crime
upon the victim. Reform is des
perately needed.
Gays neod p
Incident at Union
My friend Linda (not her real
name) is an extraordinary
woman. She's intelligent, tal
ented, quick-witted, attractive and
always a pleasure to be around. She is a
business major who has managed to
maintain a high grade point average
throughout her college career, but the
future looks dim for her because she is
a woman and a lesbian.
Even with a college degree and an
arsenal of ability, Linda will invariably
have to deal with low pay because of
sexism in the work world. If her future
bosses ever discover her sexual orien
tation they will have the right to legally
fire her if they decide that "dykes don't
belong in business."
And even if she finds a job in a busi
ness run by open-minded, liberal peo
ple, discrimination could follow her
home after work. If her future landlords
decide that they can't "rent to some
homo," they'll have the right to legally
deny her living quarters.
To date, there is no nationwide law
that protects citizens against discrim
ination on the basis of sexual orienta
tion. Some cities like Los Angeles,
Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta,
Honolulu, New York and Detroit and
states like New Mexico and California
recently have enacted gay civil rights
laws that make it illegal to discrimi
nate against gays in employment, hous
ing, schools, public facilities and banks.
But elsewhere, including Nebraska,
there are few or no laws that protect
gays from being denied employment,
living quarters, credit, use of public
facilities and admission to most educa
tional institutions. Nebraska Wesleyan
University, run by the Methodist Church,
is the only local institution that has
enacted a gay civil rights law. In places
where there are no sexual orientation
laws, gays can be legally subjected to
the pious wrath of every bigot around.
You might think that that sort of
unjust treatment never occurs in this
ail-American city in this fantastic, "free"
country, but it does. In fact, a case of
gay discrimination recently occurred
in Lincoln. This case undeniably rivals
South Africa's abysmal apartheid prac
nclusive maternity policy needed
Aur friend isat ttye end of her last,
Vy toasting the imminent birth of
her first child with club soda and lime,
we wish her well. In return, she tallies
up her vacation time and maternity
leave. She will be out of work six
months; that should just about do it.
Later, the three of us who are already
mothers walk back across town together.
One, whose two school-age children
have been through a winter of flu and
measles, laughs sardonically and says,
"You know, I think I could use mater
nity leave, too." Another, whose son has
had a tough time launching himself
into high school, seconds that motion.
I tell them about my own fantasy.
While our pregnant friend was count
ing up her days, I wondered what it
would have been like to have such a
roveciion 01 r
m n
College brings discrimination home
tices,
According to an article in a local gay
magazine, The New Voice, Union Col-
lege's administration recently discov-
ered a student's lesbian identity. The
woman was given an "alternative" con-
cerning her situation: she would be
forced to go through a "gay rehabilita
tion" program designed to cure her
"immoral" desires. If she didn't she
would be expelled and receive no
credit for the courses she was taking.
She was also coerced into revealing her
sexual orientation to her parents and
the names of her sex partners. The
administration also asked her to pro
duce the names of any other gays she
knew on campus.
Scott
Harrah
As the author of the article elo
quently puts it: "The Union College
Seal of Office proclaims, 'They Shall Be
All Taught of God.' Isn't it a shame and think they are asking for special
what some do in the name of God?" treatment. And when gays engage in
True Christians love all people, as such politically inept travesties as "gay
the administration at Wesleyan can pride parades," our understanding is
attest. If the purported "Christians" at thrown off track even more.
Union College think homosexuality is We should learn to ignore the stereo
some "curable" illness, they may as types and fundamentalist fallacies about
well eradicate their art and English gays and accept all humans as individ
departments too. uals with rights. The time is now to
They can "cure" homosexuality by enact a national gay rights bill and
cutting out an English department that strive for an androgynous, open society
probably teaches literature written by where gender, race, sexuality, creed
such "immoral homos" as Oscar Wilde, and social class have no bearing on the
Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, Tennes- qualities and traits of individuals,
see Williams and Byron. And they'll If we don't, we may as well abolish
certainly have to get rid of art history the celebration of Martin Luther King
classes that teach the works of an Jr.'s birthday, because we're certainly
"immoral homo" named Michaelangelo, not standing up for what he taught us.
who indulged in such activities as the King would turn over in his grave if he
painting of churches. If the students
are exposed to art created by homos
they might, alas, turn out to be danger
ous or perverted.
It nauseates me when I hear about
people using a warped sense of moral-
finer "noofl of riavs in draw frnm
What a' luxury- for parents who might
use those months of leave, one day at a
time, over several years.
Ellen
Goodman
Our friend is lucky. Her company is,
by many standards, generous with leave.
And yet, we already know, it isn't
enough.
It occurs to me as we go back to our
separate offices how much attention
there is on infant leave these days. The
world that we all work in is being
wrenched into reality. Today half the
pregnant working women will be back
on the job within a year. There is much
,-21
. .
ity to discriminate against human
beings. Many psychological studies have
shown that homosexuality is merely a
sexual preference, not a mental illness,
That is why anti-gay psychologist Paul
Cameron was kicked out of the Ameri-
can Psychological Association. But
whether homosexuality is an "immoral
illness" or not is not important in this
issue. What is important is that gays
can't change their orientation. Any gay
I have ever met has said, "I was born
this way and I'll die this way." They are
also human, and all humans need to
work to support themselves, have a
place to live and a place to learn. When
we discriminate against gays, we are
denying them the basic rights every
person, male or female,, black or white,
straight or gay, needs to survive.
Part of the problem is caused by gays
themselves. They Live inaccurately
labeled their civil rights "gay" rights. A
better term would be "human" rights,
for that is exactly what they're asking
for: the right to be treated like everyone
else.
Society looks at gays with contempt,
so when we see gays lobbying for "gay '
rights, we immediately misunderstand
was aware of the sexual version of apar
theid still being practiced in America
today.
Harrah is a UNL junior in English and
speech communication.
H n
talk of birthing and bonding. - ,
' 'A bilPrn 'Obrtgress' proposes1 that we
grant new parents a minimum of 18
weeks of unpaid leave with job protec
tion. A Yale study recommends child
care leaves of six months with 75 per
cent pay for half that time.
And yet even those who lobby, even
those who fashion these vast improve
ments, know they won't be enough.
I wonder sometimes whether, in a
subtle way, the current emphasis on
parental leave creates another special
class in the work force. Will the atten
tion focused on those with newborns
allow employers and legislators to pre
tend that the conflicts between work
and family are temporary, limited to
the earliest months of life. "Six months
should just about do it."
See GOODMAN on 5
