Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Monday, October 13, 1986
V7"1
On O
Nebraskan
JifT Korbeltk. Editor, 471-1 766
James Rors, Editorial Pafe Editor
Gi'iie (icntnip, MnmyiiHj Editor
Tammy Kaup, Asstx-iutr St'ivtt Editor
Todd von Kaniprn, Editorial Air Assistant
I'VE BEN DOING IT 5q'
LVtR SINCE I Ic
WHAT THE
EH3PEAL?
Unlvtrilty of Ntbraika-Llncoln
Boos on eaiEpiis
Alcohol policy needs scrutiny
Last year, UN L students Steve
Henning, Tim Burke and Tim
Brogan ran a semi-serious
campaign in the ASUN elections
with a very serious platform.
They wanted to legalize alcohol
on campus. Turn a "relatively"
dry campus into a wet one.
At last week's ASUN meeting
Teachers College Sen. Richard
Burke again brought attention to
the touchy issue of alcohol by
introducing a bill to establish a
committee to study and suggest
changes in UNL's current alco
hol policy.
Burke said the current policy
is inadequate and promotes the
use of alcohol. If one took a look
at campus now, Sen. Burke is
justified in his remarks. For a dry
campus, the alcohol seems to be
flowing freely among fraternities,
sororities and residence halls.
UNL's current alcohol policy
states that no alcoholic bever
ages are to be carried across UNL
property, nor are they allowed in
any fraternity, sorority or resi
dence hall.
Burke presented six points to
the senate including the present
lack of enforcement and the
WIfo&t's in
KSC should keep
There's an Iowa State, a Kan
sas State, an Oklahoma State,
even a South Dakota State.
But Nebraskans don't need a
"Nebraska State" which is
what some people at Kearney
State college would like to give
us. ,
It seems this matter of chang
ing Kearney State's name has
gained the propulsion of a turn1,
bleweed since Kearney radio
personality Paul Wice asked Helen
Boosalis and Kay Orr about it at
their first debate. Since then,
the college's student and faculty
senates have voted overwhelm
ingly in favor of calling KSC a
"university," leaving it up to col
lege president William Ne$ter to
decide whether to pass the
proposal on to the State College
Board of Trustees and the Le
gislature. With all due respect to our
fellow students at Kearney State,
changing the name seems at
best a waste of time and at worst
a risky move. The actual name to
be chosen Nebraska State
University, Kearney State Uni
versity or the University of Ne
braska at Kearney isn't as
much the issue as the irrelevan
cies and pitfalls of giving KSC a
"promotion."
Kearney State's student body
of about 8,000 makes it the third
largest campus in the state after
UNL and UNO. That, plus Kear
ney State's graduate program
offering master's degrees in sev
eral fields, are the usual reasons
cited for making KSC a "uni
versity." Such a relationship, however,
is far from automatic. Nebraska
promotion of drunk driving be
cause the current policy forces
students to drive off campus and
drink.
In light of what happened to
Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, maybe
it wouldn't be such a bad idea to
look at the policy and make
some changes. The fraternity, in
an attempt to avoid members
from driving drunk, used buses
to transport members to a party
off campus, only to get stopped
and ticketed for minors in pos
ession and procuring for minors.
Such problems could have been
avoided if the party had been on
campus.
The Daily Nebraskan is not
advocating the use of alcohol on
campus, we merely want the
administration to strengthen its
current policy or write a new
one.
The bill was moved to the
Campus Life Committee for
further study. Let's hope that it's
not swept aside in red tape. A
problem exists and it's about
time the administration recog
nizes it and tries to do some
thing about it.
a name?
name not NSU
Wesleyan University, with a stu
dent body less than one-fifth
that of KSC's, offers no graduate
degrees at all. Wayne and Chad
ron State Colleges offer graduate
degrees, but most would agree
they shouldn't be called "uni
versities" either. Large student
bodies or master's degrees do
not a "university" make.
Proponents of the name change
are probably right that Kearney
State would appear to be more
important if they were called a
"university.". In that case, chan
ces are that KSC would be equated
with the three NU campuses at
budget time and each cam
pus has been paying the price for
that higher status. Given NU's
resulting drift toward medioc
rity, Kearney State might be bet
ter off as "first among equals" in
the state college system.
But the reason for killing the
name change was given by State
College Board of Trustees Chair
man Tom Morrissey in the Sun
day World-Herald: "Higher edu
cation and the state colleges are
faced with many more important
decisions to make than this, and
proposals like this deflect away
from issues of greater impor
tance." Maybe that's why Boosa
lis and Orr largely ignored the
question at the first debate.
Regardless of what KSC Pres
ident Nester and the Hoard of
trustees say, such things have a
way of reaching the Legislature
anyway. But with hundreds of
bills to consider in a short time,
the name change might die from
lack of interest. Frankly, that's
the fate it deserves.
FIBSTIGIVEMOt)
DISINFORMATION.
J L
V
Playing with firewater
Joe Student joins alcohol-on-campus debate without thinking
It's an axiom of modern psychology
that people worry about matters of
everyday living and lifestyle before
they think about more elevated issues.
In short, as Abraham Maslow aptly
termed it, they follow a "hierarchy of
needs."
Consider the things that pass for
student "issues" at UNL. A few student
leaders get their danders up periodi-
cally about a student regent vote or the
composition of student organizations,
but their constituents do little more
than yawn. Change the topic to tuition
hikes or putting a fast-food restaurant
in Union Square things affecting
students' pocketbooks and stomachs,
respectively and Joe Student wakes
up, says "What?!" and joins the debate.
So now comes ASUN Sen. Richard
Burke with a resolution suggesting
repeal of the official-but-not-well-enforced
ban on alcohol on campus. I'm
not aware of an avalanche of letters on
the subject, but I'll wager everyone
instantly perked up their ears at the
news because few things are more
basic to many students' social lives
than the bottle or beer can. Chalk up
another hot "issue."
But does that not mean those think
ing on loftier planes are going to ignore
the upcoming debate? Hardlv. Alcohol
is a peculiar issue that way; it has a way
ot affecting everyone. Honor students
and more average types alike are equally
likely to defend their right to a night at
the bar or a beer-drinking session. And
if you don't drink, you're painfully
aware of the fact when you're around
those who do even if they don't
consciously belittle you.
Interesting thoughts, those, but so
what? They're important because often
too often, I fear the alcohol
Law takes morality into
fetal rights
These days the turf around the
courthouse in El Cajon, Calif.,
looks a lot less like solid legal
ground and a lot more like a slippery
slope.
This is where Pamela Rae Stewart
was arrested, charged and jailed for
neglect of a fetus. The authorities
claim that the 27-year-old mother didn't
follow the doctor's orders.
Stewart was charged with using
amphetamines during her pregnancy,
but that is not the primary offense.
According to Harry Elias, the deputy
district attorney, the woman had a
condition called placenta abruptio, a
tendency for the placenta to separate
from the uterine wall "She was advised,"
says Elias, ''that if she began to hemor
rhage she should go to the hospital
right away. Instead she waited 1 2 hours
and by the time she got there, the baby
was in fetal distrf"
THEN I GIVE YOU
DJINFORMfllON.
debate never reaches a very deep level.
The discussion on drug abuse is already
there, but drinking talk usually con-
fines itself to simple issues of alcohol
access: who's old enough to drink,
where drinking should be allowed and
where not, whether it's right to even try
to stop anyone from drinking.
Up above the gut level, however, you
reach the heart of the matter: what
does alcohol do to you, your family, your
friends, your fellow students or workers?
Do you gam long-term, lue-ennancing
benefits from drinking, or does alcohol
destroy health, relationships and even
your lire? quibbling about drinking
ages means little unless you bring
those questions to bear.
Todd
von
Kampen
I don't drink, and I'm not afraid to
admit it. It's not because my parents
are absolute teetotalers; they touch the
stuff only on the rarest of occasions,
but they have done it. They've also
made it clear to us that alcohol does
long-term damage, not all of it physical.
And I've seen enough already to ron-
vince me it's best never to start.
I think of families of two friends of
mine. They were very close, very happy
for many years. Then one parent lost
control of alcohol. One marriage ended
in divorce; the other didn't, but the
family hasn't been the same sine ? y'uu
fjiii. i .... .
can i neip Dut wonder H both faisuiies
would be happy still if that parent Hl
never taken the first drirk.
overshadow
Last Nov. 23, Stewart's baby was
born with massive brain damage, and
on Jan. 1 the baby died. Someone in the
hospital notified the child protective
services and someone there notified
the police, who in turn notified the
D.A.'s office.
V ,
Ellen CrVv
Goodman
The charge against her is a misde
meanor: withholding medical care.
Under California law, no parent can
"willfully omit to provide food, clo
thing, shelter, medical attendance or
other remedial care" to a child, and the
word "child" specifically includes the
v
To the "that won't happen if you
drink in moderation" argument, I'll
offer another example. I went to Europe
three years ago with a number of peo-
pie I knew. They drank "in modera-
tion" before, but that certainly wasn't
the case over there. Near the end of the
trip, one of my companions told me he
was at the point where he needed to
drink. He was only 22 or 23 at the time.
Most of you probably don't have a
physical addiction to alcohol like he
aid. mil h you tninK aiconoi and a
; good time" are inseparable, you've got
a psychological addiction that can lead
easily to tne other Kind. And if you still
can control your consumption? Given
what has happened to so many people,
you're playing with fire or "fire
water" with every drink you take.
It's the same with drugs (remember
alcohol was once used as medicine).
But few scream about alcohol like
they're screaming about drugs
because alcohol doesn't destroy you as
quickly. Alcohol use is widely accepted
today because it's viewed as "not that
dangerous." The numerous cases of
broken families and lives belie that
statement.
Let's carry on this alcohol-on-campus
debate with input from the brain as
well as the gut. The ban isn't a student
issue just because it supposedly mter-
feres with one's right to a good time
It's an issue because alcohol, like
drugs, has the potential to ruin stu-
dents' health and well-beings eventu-
ally. Come to think of it, that's basic
survival which puts it at the first
level of the "hierarchy of needs," doesn't
it?
Von Kampen is a senior news-editorial
and music major and is a DN editorial
page assistant,
own hands:
woman's
fetus. The clause was written in 1923,
largely to force fathers into paying
support to pregnant women. But in El
Cajon, it is being used in a way that fits
these times all too well.
In recent years, science has fixed its
focus on the fetus. We have learned
fascinating details about the complex
biology of pregnancy. We know a good
deal about genetics and even more
about the womb's environment. Today
our society allows a woman to choose
abortion, but at the same time we hold
her more respnosible for the fetus she
chooses to carry. There is a shared
belief that a pregnant woman has an
obligation to do what she can to ensure
a healthy baby. It is common now to
disapprove of a pregnant chainsmoker,
common to feel outraged at the agony
of a newborn addict.
See GOODMAN on 5