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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 1986)
Weather: hu t ly cloudy, hot and humid today with hitfli.s in thcftOs. A t liaiu'0 of thunder-showers this afternoon and tonight. Back to school with the arts Arts & Entertainment, Page 25 Youths aspire to play in NU football system Sports, Page 46 August 20, 1986 University of Nebraska-Lincoln OH Vol. 86 No. 1 'Hail Mary' proved to be a silent night Protestors march outside Union By Chris McCubbin Senior Reporter Fears of violence or demonstrations proved unfounded when "Hail Mary" was shown at the Nebraska Union Sun day and Monday. According to Dan Ladely, director of Sheldon Film Theatre, there were no problems during the film's run. The film's opponents held an "All City Christian Prayer Vigil" outside the Union both nights to protest the film's showing. The controversial film by French filmmaker Jean Luc Goddard was orig inally scheduled to appear at the Shel don Film Theatre last spring. The film is a contemporary retelling of the birth of Christ. George Neubert, director of the Shel don Memorial Art Gallery, cancelled the film after receiving a letter from State Sen. Bernice Labedz threatening economic sanctions against Sheldon if the film was shown. After cancellation, the Nebraska Civil Liberties Union filed suit against UNL. On June 16, U.S. District Judge Warren K. Urbom ruled that Senator Labedz's actions were improper and that cancel lation of the film was, therefore, uncon stitutional. The film was rescheduled to be shown at the Union, rather than at the Sheldon because of concern that vio lence might occur during the film's showing, jeopardizing the works of art displayed at the Sheldon, Ladely said. Ladely said property damage has resulted from disturbances when the film was shown in other cities. According to Bob Bruce, director of University Information, three uniformed UNL policemen and one plainclothes officer were in attendance at each showing of the film. Ladely said the Union Ballroom was equipped to handle 500 people per showing. A total of 915 people attended the four showings, he said. Outside the Union protesters sang hymns and prayed the rosary before each showing. Individuals carried signs saying, "Satanists support blasphemy," "Blessed be the great mother of God, Mary Most Holy" and "Why were you silent when they publicly blasphemed and disgraced my mother?" The vigil was organized by an ad-hoc committee which met on Aug. 11, said Del Ridder, a member of the commit tee. Riddersaid the committee included Roman Catholic priests, Protestant ministers and concerned citizens. About 200 people attended the first vigil on Monday, Ridder said. , .'- Ridder said the film was "sacrile gious, blasphemous, irredeemably offen sive." Protesters distributed Zerox copies of an article from a Catholic publica tion which described two scenes which the film's opponents found offensive. One scene cited shows Mary writhing naked on her bed. (She) complains to God for allowing her to become preg nant with the child, Jesus. . .. She says. . ."He (God) is a coward and a creep, Who is interested in me only because of my a- h- and my c--." Ridder said since state funds were used to bring the film to UNL, showing the film was "a direct attack on reli gion by government." Ridder said the protesters had no intention to interfere with the film. "We're here standing up for our own First Ammendment rights," he said. U r..fe. 0 Z ft . V J A. f 'tiJ f t M. f J r - -' ' f V , LJfU --fifip ' f ; Paul VonderlageDaily Nebraskan Here's the scoop Gina Ferony and Dawn Eby dish up ice cream in the HarperSchrammSmith courtyard Monday as part of FINK Week activities. FINK (Freshmen Introducing Nebraska's Kids) events will go on this week ending with "Freshman Friday" and a dance at HSS. Student g ambling addressed by committee By Michael Hooper Senior Reporter Illegal gambling is prevalent in all major universities, particularly those with student populations of more than 10,000 with a high interest in sports. Yet it is a problem that never has been formally addressed by any stu dent body and university staff, accord ing to Dr. Robert Custer, a psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., who specializes in the treatment of compulsive gambling. UNL has become the first, Custer said. Last semester, following the arrest of 11 UNL students for promotion of illegal gambling in the form of sports betting, members of ASUN and the UNL Health Center got Custer and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Art Schlichter to speak at UNL about prob lem gambling and to help organize the new Gambling Awareness Committee. Schlichter is a reformed compulsive gambler. Just because 11 were arrested and Custer and Schlichter spoke to differ ent groups on campus, "we're not naive enough to think the problems with gambling are gone," said Jeff Fishback, former ASUN second vice president and now a member of the Gambling Awareness Committee. The goals of the committee are to produce brochures about the effects of compulsive gambling, to let students know that anonymous help is available and to define the problem at UNL. "It's one thing to talk to the experts and read the books, but we really want to get a feel for what's happening with gambling here at UNL," said Margaret Nellis, UNL's community health coor dinator and a committee member. The committee, which includes more than a dozen students and staff from UNL Police, ASUN, the Health Center, Residential Housing, Residential Edu cation, Greek Affairs and Student Affairs, will give a presentation on gambling Sept. 24 in the Nebraska Union. Information about gambling will be presented and peakers from the local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous will share their experiences. UNL Police Lt. Ken Cauble, another committee member, said most people see gambling as a victimless crime, and thus pay little attention to it. But there are victims, he said. "If he's a chronic gambler, he usu ally loses and goes deep in the hole, gets desperate and begins to steal from his friends and family." Cauble said. The victims are those close to the gambler, Cauble said. Custer said gambling is a "very big problem" in universities. He said that probably 75 percent of students have gambled in some form and of those, five percent are in financial trouble. Cauble said sports betting is most common at UNL, most of it occurring during the football season. Custer said sports betting is run by a bookie and runner. The bookie has the money and makes out the game cards, which the runner gives to the bettors to fill out by choosing a team which the bettor feels will win, based on a point spread instituted by the bookie. If the score covers the point spread, the bet tor wins. If he loses, he has to pay the amount he bet, plus the bookie fee, which ranges from 10 to 20 percent. Bookies usually collect an equal amount on the teams bet, so that they can always get the 10 to 20 percent bookie fee, Custer said. Runners also get a small percentage of the collections, Custer said. "So the only loser is the bettor," who is always encouraged to bet again, Cus ter said. Lucrative business Custer said sports betting is "a very lucrative and high profit-making busi ness." In a recent sting operation in Washington, D.C., run by the FBI, undercover agents started out with no money and in three or four months they made $500,000, Custer said. Custer said bookies like to set up their operations in cities with big uni versities because they know that stu dents usually have access to a lot of money. "Bookies are usually bright math wizards who know how to analyze teams," Custer said. The ones in Lin coln are probably tied to others in Omaha who, in turn, have connections in Las Vegas, Custer said. More addictive Students also gamble by playing poker, like blackjack, five-card draw or seven-card no peak. But sports betting is probably more prevalent, he said, and it can be more addictive. This is because the bettor loses. Oftentimes the bookie will allow him to go double or nothing the next game, Custer said. If he loses again, the bookie might let him go triple or nothing. If he loses again, the bookie will probably ask him to pay up. But with poker, Custer said, students can play only until they run out of money. Custer said students who gamble to the point where they're deep in debt are usually people with high IQs, but who eventually can't handle the pres sure of being in debt and neglect their studies and often drop out of school to get a full-time job. Heavy debt Custer said he has treated problem gamblers who have owed between $5,000 and $65,000. " See GAMBLING on 6