Tuesday, February 11, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
" O 01
ditonai
Nebraskan
Daily
Vicki Ruhga, Editor, 4721766
Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor
AdHudler, Editorial Page Editor
James Rogers, Editorial Associate
Chris Welsch, Copy Desk Chief
Urvef Jity o( Nebraska-Lincoln
SraeaEt yfl
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Budget input
The time has come for stu
dents at UNL to speak out
about the proposed 1986
budget cuts, which were released
Sunday by the administration.
UNL's vice chancellors have
come up with a list of reductions
and eliminations that total $2.68
million. That figure, along with
another $1.1 million in cuts pro
posed last spring, brings UNL's
total reduction-elimination plan
to about $3.8 million.
The vice chancellors will pre
sent the more recent cut propos
als to an Ad Hoc Budget Review
Advisory Committee Wednesday
from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Great
Plains Room of the East Union.
Students should plan to be there.
Although the vice chancellors
already have deciced how much
of the total university cuts each
department will share, the pos
sibility remains that students
could have some input on how
each department handles those
cuts.
For example, the decision al
ready has been made to cut
about $900,000 from the Insti
tute of Agriculture and Natural Re
sources. The ad-hoc committee,
which will consider students'
comments will review proposals
on how the college should deal
with that cut and recommend
any changes to UNL Chancellor
Martin Massengale and the NU
Board of Regents. The committee
has requested student and facul
ty input, only in 10 page written
form. Few students can or would
take the time to respond in such
a way.
But there are other possibili
ties. The Academic Planning
Committee will sponsor a stu
dent forum for ASUN senators
and their constituents, in which
heaper
Enjoy ii while you
Tumbling oil prices could
boost the U.S. economy. But
consumers should remember
the l essons of the 1974 and 1981
oil price hikes.
In the early 70s, the Organi
zation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries cartel produced more
than 60 percent of the world's
oil. The group now claims only
about 38 percent.
When the OPEC cartel raised
the price of oil from $2 per barrel
to $34, the United States felt the
crunch. Americans traded in gas
guzzling cars for smaller, more
ftiel-efficient models, added in
sulation to their homes and
switched to less expensive fuels.
Experts say OPEC's latest
price drop and increased output
is an attempt to recapture its
falling share of the market.
If that happens, Americans
could be caught in another oil
guzzling trap.
As foreign oil prices drop, U.S.
producers in Texas and Okla
homa could suffer. Companies
will be less likely to drill and
necessary
students can voice their opin
ions about the proposed cuts.
Student and faculty input
shouldn't stop there. Professors
shold take 10 or 15 minutes of a
class this week to inform stu
dents about the cuts and how
they can react to them.
ASUN is planning a pamphlet
or questionnaire for students,
asking for input on the matter. If
such materials are printed, stu
dents should't shrug them off as
ASUN election-time propaganda.
They need to read everything
about the budget issue available
to them. They need to make a
phone call or two to their regents,
or take the time to fill out a
questionnaire. Student apathy
will only make the regents' final
decision easier. If students don't
appear to oppose the cuts, the
board might not think twice
when it comes time to cutting
programs.
As the budget battle boils,
regents should listen to responses
from every group administra
tors, faculty, taxpayers and
students.
True, students don't under
stand the workings of the UNL
system as well as administrators
do, but they can provide extra insight
about programs and classes that
administrators know little about.
Students' opinions should be
taken seriously by the regents
and Massengale. They represent
the largest body that will be
affected by the cuts.
UNL cannot avoid its $2.7 mil
lion budget cut. It's reality.
But students, faculty and ad
ministrators need to work to
gether to find the best possible
ways to handle the cuts.
The student voice is essential
in this process. Make it a point
to be at Wednesday's meeting.
oil
can it won't last
develop new sources of oil. Em
ployees will lose jobs, companies
will lose money and the United
States again could find itself at
the mercy of OPEC.
On the bright side, plummet
ing oil prices could help curb
inflation, which continued at a
pace of 3.8 percent in 1985.
Economists say the price cut
also could help consumers by
lowering prices in all oil-related
products, such a plastics, trans
portation and energy.
Perhaps the most important
benefit of the oil price cut is its
effect on the U.S. trade deficit.
Economists say price cuts could
cut the deficit and pump $10
million into the U.S. economy.
U.S. consumers and compan
ies should take advantage of low
prices, but be careful not to
allow OPEC to regain its power.
By continuing to conserve oil
and develop new projects, the
United States can enjoy low price
benefits without worrying about
the consequences.
D00NESBURY! EVE.RY-
. . . THING WAS FINE UNTIL
DUKE TUIMD INTO A
ZOMBIE !
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JjjlmAU --Jxy ... . ijj M
Readers' Representative
BN's coverage of 'Hail Mary'
not perfect, but mostly accurate
The cancellation of the film "Hail
Mary" at the Sheldon Art Gallery
commanded a lot of attention and
press over the last week. Some people
think it attracted more of both than the
issue warranted. Others think that the
attention and coverage it did attract
were, as has been alleged of the com
plaints againt the movie, quite dis
torted. Several people have questioned the
Daily Nebraskan's handling of this
story. First, why was the film cancella
tion worthy of so much coverage? Sec
ond, why were no officials of the
Catholic Church contacted or quoted
concerning the official reasons for the
condemnation of the film by the body?
Third, why did the cancellation of "The
Gods Must Be Crazy" at Sheldon last
year not produce the same coverage
and furor?
The questions are all legitimate,
worthy of response. I shall try to
address each of them adequately, and
in so doing I also hope to clarify some
questions concerning the nature of
news reporting in general.
First, concerning the coverage of the
story. The DN ran three feature articles
two of which were front page leads
a movie review, an editorial and an
independent editorial column concern
ing the matter. In addition, there have
been numerous letters to the editor
published on the subject. Of the fea
ture articles, the first was a page three
story on Monday that simply announced
the cancellation. Such an article would
be run concerning most newsworthy
events on the UNL campus of which the
DN is aware.
The first front-page article (Feb. 4)
was deemed newsworthy because of
responses received at Sheldon, largely
as a result of the Feb. 3 DN article. The
second was a story about the private
showing of "Hail Mary" to the Sheldon
Film Theatre Board of Directors so
technically it was a different, though
related, news story.
Letters
Hypocrisy, liberalism
I feel compelled to reply to the Feb.
4 Daily Nebraskan. This issue, more
than most, exposed the idiocy and
hypocrisy of DN views.
The front-page story concerned the
cancellation of the showing of "Hail
Mary," an obviously tasteless film
depiction of the life of Jesus, in the
Sheldon Art Gallery Film Theatre. The
story was unbiased and straightfor
ward. On page 4, however, one finds a
staff editorial blasting the decision as
censorship. Yes, liberalism is alive and
well in the offices of the DN.
The issue was front-page worthy lar
gely because of the constant denial by
Sheldon officials that such a screening
was planned. Yet when DN staffers
showed up at the place and time speci
fied in their information, the film was
indeed shown. At the very best, this
scenerio was puzzling. A vital function
of a free press is to report on matters
that bear public interest and yet for
some reason are denied public access.
f . ,
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i . )
1 i i ....
"it. J
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James Sennett
The editorials and letters to the edi
tor are different matters. Selection of
issues to be addressed and positions to
be taken in DN editorials are the deci
sion of an editorial board, composed of
five editorial staff members. Here the
editors are expressing the educated
opinions of journalists they are not
reporting the news. Reader response is
available through the letters to the edi
tor and occasional guest editorials.
The regular editorial columnists are
not regulated by DN editors. These
journalists are free to address any issue
they deem worthy. So no constraint was
exercised over the publication of the
column that ran Feb. 7 concerning the
cancellation of "Hail Mary." (Besides,
the column in question presented an
said alive and well
Next to that editorial was a column
by Scott Harrah titled "Gays Need Pro-
tection of Rights." In it Scott says, "It
nauseates me when I hear about people
using a warped sense of morality to
discriminate against human beings."
Turning back to the front-page, there
is a story about a visiting speaker to
address the problems associated with
gambling. Why are gamblers "curable"
whereas gay people are not?
The fact is gambling addiction,
homosexuality, as well as alcohol and
drug dependence are all psychological
opposing position to that in the official
editorial, and thus helped to balance
the treatment of the matter greatly.) A
similar policy concerns the reviews of
artistic events.
Letters to the editor are likewise
controlled very little. Only anonymous
and blatantly inflammatory letters are
excluded from publication. What stu
dents want to write about is what the
editors want to publish. If there is
great reader response on an issue, the
editors can only conclude that there is
great reader interest.
Concerning the second question:
Reporters who were working on the sto
ries did attempt to contact officials of
the Catholic church and were unsuc
cessful. One of the unfortunate but
necessary rules of time-constraint
journalism is: If you can't get what you
want, you have to go with what you've
got. This was the case for these repor
ters. There was no attempt to stereo
type or misrepresent the position of the
Catholic church.
However, this did lead to one distor
tion in the coverage. Concerning the
reasons why the movie might be offen
sive to the Catholic church and many
other Christians, the article mentioned
only the matter of nude scenes of the
actress portraying Mary. Yet conversa
tions I had with Catholic church offi
cials, other religious leaders and Chris
tians in general paint a broader picture.
The whole idea of a modernization of
the Christmas story in a contemporary
and vulgar genre is, for many sensitive
believers, a matter of sacrilege.
The issue is not simply one of the
appropriateness of nudity. It is one of
the appropriateness of what appears to
be deliberate desecration in the
name of art of that which a large
segment of this population holds to be
sacred. Whether one is a Christian, a
Buddhist, a Druid, or a card-carrying
atheist, the matter of freedom from
See READERS on 5
at Daily Nebraskan
illnesses that can and must be treated
for the benefit of the individuals as
well as society,
Perhaps it's time to popularly elect
DN staff members in order to obtain a
broader range of views. After all, UNL
students help fund the newspaper,
they should have a say as to how the
news should be reported. More or less,
UNL students want straight news, not
slanted views.
James Feyerherm
freshman
political science
