Wednesday, April 9, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 5
Letters
Brief If tiers are preferred, and longer letters may be edited. Writer's
address and phone number are needed for verification.
Student asks for 'fair, equal' Greek coverage
I have been a member of the Greek system for
several years and have seen the system involved
in various philanthropy projects. The organiza
tions patronized by Greeks are diverse
ranging from contributing money to medical
research institutions to visiting children's homes
in Licnoln.
As a system, the UNL Greeks have helped
restore public buildings in downtown Lincoln
and finance air conditioning units for Morrill
Hall.
Many houses also work to support various
charities. Phi Mu sorority raises money to sup
port Project H.O.P.E., Health Opportunities for
People Everywhere, which provides doctors for
underprivileged nations. Acacia fraternity puts
on Melodrama each year and gives the proceeds v
to the Shrine Burn Institute. Delta Gamma soror
ity sponsors its annual Anchor Splash for the
Society to Prevent Blindness.
However, during this time I have seen little, if
any, coverage of these programs by the Daily
Nebraskan. As a student-run, student-supported
newspaper, I feel that responsibility of covering
community related programs that involve uni-.
versity students who are members of the Greek
community is not being met.
I realize that because of certain restrictions,
the DN is unable to provide coverage of philan
thropies before they occur, but the fact remains
that the Daily Nebraskan refuses to mention the
existence of such events even after they occur.
With all fairness to the approximately 3,000
Greeks who make up only 15 percent of the
student body at UNL, I am only asking for what I
feel we deserve fair and equal coverage.
John J. Lowry
UNL Greek Publications Chairman
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Nebraskan
would jeopardize its third-class mailing
license if it published stories about phi
lanthropies before they occur.
In addition, most philanthropy pro
jects are not news because Greeks have
always participated in them. Also, if all
philanthropies were covered, there would
be no room for other news.
To give the projects some exposure,
the DN previously has run stories that
deal with the projects in general.
Industry backs belts, sacks bags
COHEN from Page 4
Dole's compromise has put the states in a
real quandary, Seat belts sometimes save
lives; in a head-on collision, air bags almost
always do. By choosing the former, the states
all but rule out the latter. But worse than
that, the Dole rule revives the pernicious
notion that we are always the captain of our
ship. This was the advertising dogma of the
auto industry in its irresponsible pre-Nader
era: Safe driving was your responsibility and
any accident was either your or the other
guy's fault.
No mention was made of poorly made cars,
bad tires, roads designed by the mayor's
nephew or the fact, uncontested since time
immemorial, that accidents will happen.
People will be careless or drunk or silly or,
when it comes to men, distracted by some
young thing walking on the side of the road.
Now we are creeping back to that era. Of
course people are responsible for their own
welfare, but so, too, are auto manufacturers
and a government that (barely) regulates the
industry. Seat belts are now being touted as
some sort of panacea against injury. They are
no such thing. General Motors offers $10,000
to the heirs of anyone killed while wearing a
seat belt in one of their cars, suggesting that
such a possibility is remote. But by the first of
this year, GM had paid out $2.4 million to the
heirs of 240 former GM owners or passengers.
So now, it's Saturday morning again. The
kids are watching cartoon shows on TV and
there's tough Mr. T wearing his seat belt. An
adult watching has to smile. He or she knows
that in real life neither Mr. T, nor the bad guys
nor lots of other people, would ever wear a
belt.
The cartoon is like the Dole rule itself. It's
a joke.
1986, Washington Post Writers Group
Cohen writes an editorial column forthe Wash
ington Post.
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By Michael Hooper
Staff Reporter
The Red Cross Bloodmobile will come to the
Nebraska Union Thursday but Red Cross
nurse Phyllis Hatt is worried that some students
won't donate be cause they think they'll get
AIDS.
"There are a lot of myths out there, and one of
them is that giving blood might give you AIDS,"
she said.
There is no reason to fear getting acquired
immune deficiency syndrome when donating
blood, Hatt said, because the needles used to
extract blood are sterile and they are used only
once.
"One way of getting AIDS is sharing a needle
with someone who has AIDS," she said. "But we
don't share needles."
Hatt said the myth of getting AIDS by donat
ing blood has caused the number of blood donors
to decline. Blood is always needed in hospitals
everywhere, she said.
"We're hoping for as many students as possi
ble to donate, because the blood supply has gone
down because of the AIDS scare," Hatt said.
Donors don't need an appointment, she said,
just to stop in and register.
Hatt said donors must be at least 110 pounds
and must have eaten a good breakfast. They
should plan on being there an hour. Also, Hatt
said, students should not use medicine before
donating.
Some people think giving blood will weaken
them, she said.
"But as long as they don't come on an empty
stomach, they'll be OK," she said. After students
donate, they will be fed orange juice and cookies,
Hatt said.
"They're not sacrificing too much, and besides
you'll feel good about yourself for donating
something for someone else," Hatt said.
All donations help, especially rare blood
types, Hatt said.
"If those people that have rare types of blood
stop giving, then the ones who need it will be
endangered," she said.
Since March 1985, the AIDS virus has been out
of the blood banks. If a donor's blood tests to the
HTLV-3 virus of AIDS, then that blood is thrown
out even if it is a false positive, Hatt said.
'86 gives library funds
PHONES from Page 1
After researching and soliciting ideas, the
committee came up with four gift ideas: a distin
guished chair of teaching, which would have
been awarded annually; a fund for a lecture
series; kiosks, which are round, wooden, outdoor
bulletin boards; and the endowment funds for
the library.
Seniors then were asked to vote for their pref
erence. The library endowment won by 40
percent.
Sixteen UNL groups now are asking seniors to
donate $100 in four installments, Ash sid. The
first $10 installment is due six months after
graduation and $25 is due in the second year.
The third- and fourth-year installments are $30
and $35 respectively.
"We think $10 within the first six months of
graduation is not too much if someone genuinely
cares about the university," Ash said.
At one time, senior classes left gifts to their
universities as part of a longstanding tradition,
Ash said. But the tradition faded, he said, and
the Student Foundation didn't revive the tradi
tion until last year.
"It gets people in the mode of thinking of
giving something back," Ash said.
Since graduates receive an education from
UNL and they probably will base their careers on
that education, it is not too much to ask them to
leave something behind to benefit the education
of other students, he said.
"Our student foundation is educating our
student body, telling them that their education
is due largely from private donors," he said.
Last year's senior class collected $19,652 in
five nights, Ash said.
This year's class already has surpassed that
amount and hopes to keep mounting its total,
Ash said. But getting a hold of seniors has been a
problem, he said.
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