Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, April 3, 1987
o n of
Jeff Korbelik, Editor, A 72-1 766
James Rogers, Editorial Page Editor
Use Olsen, Associate News Editor
Mike Reilley, Night News Editor
Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief
Mcnooap is rnwsi. modchip is American.
WW SEE ANY KFEERENCE BHMEN AND?
CFCttJRSEMCJE NOW VOU KNOW YW QSFPR WEINBERGER,
WANTS TO FRCP UP CUR MICROCHIP UMJSTKY.
Univmity ol Ntbraska-Llncoln
(a)
TUMSTA
Fate now lies
iuc ocnuui oi leciuuca
Agriculture at Curtis may
havfl hppn tfrxr.torl nnnthoi-
chance at continuing its exist
ence. At least its fate lies in the
hands of the Legislature.
The Legislature's Education
Committee amended the bill,
LB656, that would have given the
Board of Regents the authority to
close the school.
An amendment offered by
Indianola Sen. Owen Elmer, would
require that the legislature pro
vide $1.3 million to keep the
school operating for two years.
The school then would separate
from the university and be gov
erned by its own board. THt
amendment needs 25 votes frLj
the Legislature to be attached to
the bill.
NU President Ronald Roskens
has recommended the closing of
UNSTA to help reduce the NU
operating budget by $3.1 million
for 1987-88 as mandated by the
Legislature. He said the school
did not fulfill the NU mission
because it is a two-year and not a
four-year program.
Humanistic bias in texts
misrepresents culture
Few activities these days are under
taken with less responsibility than
the criticism of judges. Judges
seldom respond to media criticism, so
their decisions are usually easy targets,
requiring neither serious research nor
consideration of the evidence presented
to the court.
An example is the recent Alabama
District Court decision written by Judge
Brevard Hand, which ordered that 52
textbooks widely used in the state's
public schools be withdrawn from use.
The text of the opinion runs in excess
of 100 pages, and deals with the evi
dence presented by numerous expert
witnesses. The case basically presented
two issues: 1) Is secular humanism a
religion? and 2) Do the Alabama public
school textbooks in question promote
secular humanism?
Guest Opinion
There were several named defendants
in the case, some of whom were willing
to agree that secular humanism is a
religion and that it would be a violation
if the textbooks promoted it. The
Mobile County School Board took this
position, apparently relying on the
Supreme Court's declaration in the
1981 case of Roy R. Tore as o, a humanist
who sued the state of Maryland, that
"among religions in this country which
do not teach what would generally be'
considered a belief in the existence of
God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical
Culture, Secular Humanism and others."
Leading humanists themselves admit
in many of their writings that theirs is a
religious belief system. The Humanist ;
Manifesto, published by the American i
Humanist Association (AHA) in 1033,
refers to its belief system as "religious
humanism." The Humanist Manifesto
II, an updated version published by the
AHA in 1973, refers to itself as "an
expression of a living and growing
faith."
Judge Hand rightly ruled in favor of
the plaintis on the first issue. "For
purposes cf the First Amendment,
Escuhr humanism is a relicus belief
c;-t:m, entitled to th8 pretsctiens c ;
safe?
in Legislature
Sen. Elmer's amendment ob
viously is advantageous to UNSTA
and is a good idea. The Curtis
school is the only one of its kind
in the state. But Roskens and
others have got to be asking the
question; If not UNSTA, then
what do we cut?
Although Roskens seemed to
make the proper choices in find
ing cuts, he really may have not.
What we find is a vicious circle.
Popular programs statewide like
intercollegiate athletics, the
Division of Continuing Studies
and UNSTA probably will not
find themselves on the chopping
block April 11.
Several of these programs have
been threatened by cuts before,
but public sentiment has won
out.
Where does that leave the
university? Most likely with more
horizontal cuts that diminish
the quality of education all the
way around. The DN has sup
ported vertical cuts and still
stands behind its postion. It's
time the state also takes a stand,
one for quality education.
and subject to the prohibitions of; the
religion clauses."
Once the first issue is decided, the
battleground moves from theory to
evidence. Both sides are forced to deal
with material that is both included and
excluded from the textbooks. One of
the experts, Dr. Paul Vitz, a professor
at New York University, recently com
pleted a study of public-school texts
funded by the Department of Education.
, His study, entitled "Religion and Tra
ditional Values is Public School Text
books," revealed systematic exclusion
of religion and especially contem porary
Protestantism. Vitz, a Roman Catholic,
was especially surprised that Judaism
and Catholicism received more sensitive
and frequent treatment than Protest
antism. In a recent speech at Doane
College, Vitz noted that the lack of
treatment of this country's Protestant
heritage actually gave a distorted
picture of history and would be un
thinkable if the omissions were racially
or sexually oriented
Scott Houser, spokesman for the
plaintiffs and their attorneys, maintains
that the textbooks "not only advance
the tenets of secular humanism, but
also systematically exclude mention of
our rich Christian heritage." The bias
against Christianity is so pronounced,
says Houser, "that we have such bizarre
things as a history text that devotes 32
pages to the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving
without any mention of God, religion or
prayer."
After viewing the evidence presented
by the experts for both sides, Judge
Hand ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.
Anyone can second-guess a judge
when the evidence can be avoided. For
anyone serious about understanding
why Judge Hand ruled as he did, I
would recommend either of two sources.
The text of Judge Hand's opinion will
be available at the Law College library
early this summer. Alternatively, Vitz
has published a book containing the
results cf his study, "Religion and
Traditional Values in Your Children's
Public School Textbooks."
Dave Fcrman
first year student
law .
Li I J
okYAMEROH MEUXMKSHJLD CPERAIS
AMERICAN WEAP3HS SYSTEMS
laoim
Car sl'Jb transforms
I have just moved into a new car. I
used the word "moved" advisedly. I
did not really hire a transcontinen
tal truck for this. There were no mas
sive crates to pack and unpack. Indeed,
I was determined to travel lightly into
this four-wheeler. All anyone actually
needs to move into a new car, I said to
myself primly, is the keys.
I have a history as a car slob. This I
admit. But as I unloaded my old car of
its burdensome past five years
worth of sweatpants, sneakers, T-shirts,
umbrellas, coffee cups, hats, tapes,
pens, parking tickets, receipts, maga
zines, notebooks, assorted pennies,
plastic forks and window scrapers in
various stages of disrepair I believed
that I could unload myself of old
habits.
This motor vehicle would be pris
tine. A clean slate. Passengers would
be able to eat off my floormats. People
who peered into my windows would
assume that my last name was Hertz.
For the first month, I did deal with
the car as if I were renting it. I felt like
a guest in a hotel who wasn't quite sure
how the shower handles worked. I was
incapable of driving and turning oh the
rear-window wiper at the same time. I
had trouble distinguishing the heater
push-buttonfrom the radio push-button.
I did everything but sign the register
when I entered from the car. And (this
is crucial) when I checked out each
day, I left nothing behind.
But, as I began to feel at home, I did
in fact move in. With all my belongings.
The sneakers, the sweatpants, the
hat ....
M
Nebraskans use imagination, humor
in continuing battle against boredom
hen a freelance writer for Rol
ling Stone magazine jetted in
to Lincoln from New York City
last Thanksgiving to meet the founder
of Cliffs Notes, he found just what he
expected: boredom, Nebraska-style.
In his March 25 article, Norman
Atkins described Lincoln as "a lack
luster spick and span cow town of
175,000." He figured no one in Lincoln
was cool enough to read Rolling Stone
anyway.
He also compared Lincoln's night
life to a visit to a pet store. Surpris
ingly, he never even made it to the Zoo
Bar.
But in a phone conversation a few
months after his Thanksgiving visit,
the 25-year-old Erown University grad
uate tells a little different story about
his Lincoln experience. He claims he
actually enjoyed it. And as he recounts
details of the trip he took nearly six
months ago, it's clear "The Star City"
made gome kind cf impression cn kirn.
First, Atkins rented a car frcm
w
ma time anato mesi
new vehicle into lived-in mobile home
Now, I have come to the rationaliza
tion that my car functions in life as my
mobile home. And I am one of those
people who like things homey.
I say this defensively because my
husband has a different attitude and,
fortunately, a different car. I have,
however, consulted with any number of
friends on this subject. For a surpris
ingly large number of us, the car is the
modern equivalent of what Virginia
Woolf once described as a room of her
own. To mess up.
Ellen (
Goodman V
A nutritionist I know told me how
many of her clients, especially women,
kept food in the car. I do not mean
cookies for the kids. The car, she fig
ured, was the one place in which many
people are actually, from time to time,
alone. In this mobile room of our own,
some people do their best thinking
not to mention singing, not to mention
eating. Here we rehearse or rerun the
conversations of the day and make
them come out right.
I am not a fan of commuting or traf
fic. The car is also a great place for
raising blood pressure. But in the
nomadic life that many of us consider
normal, this is the home where we live
and travel between responsibilities,
between demands, between stops. .
National at the airport and was amazed
at how quickly he arrived downtown.
He said he immediately realized he was
dealing with a "different dimension"
than he was accustomed to. He checked
into the Cornhusker Hotel and took a
gander out of his window at the Back to
the Bible Broadcast building.
Olsen
Later, relaxing in his room, he
checked out the local TV news for more
entertainment He remembers a spot
on Lincoln's homeless that featured so
few people that the problem seemed
almost ridiculously small to Atkins.'
Hundreds cf hcmelsss live within a few
tbeks cf kis gpartmsr.t In New Ycrk
tL. ju-4.
My car goes to work and comes home
with me, and waits in the parking lot
like Mary's little lamb. It tags along for
errands and other assorted pit stops.
Sooner or later anything that can't fit
into a pocket or pocketbook takes
semipermanent residence inside its
doors and trunk. Because you never
know when you'll need it, you take it
with you.
Inevitably it begins to serve as a
knapsack, a locker room, a laundry,
workspace and a closet It's a reposi
tory for boots going to the shoemaker,
shirts coming back, sunglasses waiting
for the sunny day, umbrellas for a
rainy day and an assortment of Russian
language tapes. You never know when
you'll go back to Moscow.
In my defense, I am not without res
traint. I did not put bumper stickers on
my mobile home anymore than I would
add psychedelic posters to my living
room. I have pledged to remove litter
semiannually and empty the pennies
out of the ashtray on Arbor Day.
But quite frankly I have given up on
keeping the new car a showroom. The
people who have immaculate cars are
people who buy aerosol cans with new-car-smell
spray. They are people who
prefer to live in showrooms.
I am a nester, and I have the twigs in
the trunk to prove it. So, I have moved
in. I feel more comfortable with my
mobile home each day. It's got a real
look to it, you know. The lived-in look.
6137, The Boston Globe Newspaper
Corapacy Washington Post Writers'
Group
Goodman is a Pultixer prize-winning can
didate for the Boston Globe.
City. Sometimes he steps over them on
the sidewalks. He began to like Lincoln.
The tourist office was closed for the
season. On his own, Atkins toured the
capitol, ate celebrity sandwiches at
Barrymore's and sampled Arby's roast
beef.
He asked the inevitable questions of
Nebraskans he saw: "Did you see Bob
Kerrey and Debra Winger getting it
on?" And 'What do you do for fun in
Lincoln?"
Atkins joked that he looked for
Playboys at 7-Eleven (he didn't know
about the Citizens Against Pornography
campaign) and spotted churches at 1
12 block intervals.
Although his writing didn't reflect
it, Atkins said he appreciated Lincoln's
fresh air, clear water and open space.
He described it as a place where kids
can have swingsets in the back yard
and not be attacked by "slimes on the
subway."
Sea OLC-N on 5