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.
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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
