Equality reigns in military, officer says
■
By Jana Pedersen
Staff Reporter
The contribution women arc mak
ing to the armed forces is increasing,
according to Mike Dunn, a com
mander in the U.S. Navy.
“Women arc playing important
roles,” said Dunn, who is also a naval
science professor at the University of
Ncbraska-Lincoln.“Thcy have all the
roles men have with only some excep
tions.”
Nationally in 1987, 14 percent of
the enlistments in the Navy’s selected
reserve and 10.2 percent of those in
active duly in the Navy were female.
At UNL, 15 of the 130 students in
volved with the Navy’s program are
women, which is above the national
average.
In 1972, there were about 7,000
women in the Navy. Today, more
than 54,000 arc enlisted.
Sophomore biology major Amy
Wood is a midshipman in the program
here. She said she joined the Navy for
the experience.
“I wanted to be exposed to many
different career fields because I
wasn’t really sure what I wanted to
do,” she said.
Dunn agreed that more women arc
getting involved because of the expert
training provided.
“Here, they’re trained technically
to lead people, which gives them a
good opportunity to succeed. The pay
is good, and the promotion is fair,” he
said.
Women have been given increas
ingly equal treatment and opportuni
ties for promotion over the past 20
years, Dunn said.
“(Women) arc moving beyond
whai used to be restricted. They’re
getting away from just shore duly,” he
said.
Currently, 10.1 percent of the
Navy’sofficers arc women, including
two recent appointments of female
Naval aviators to command air squad
rons.
Wood is optimistic about her
chances for promotion.
“That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I
want to develop my career and be
come a military officer.”
Despite advances in equal oppor
tunities for women, some restrictions
still exist according to Dunn.
“By law, women arc restricted
from combat,” he said.
Women arc allowed in combat
zones as part of support teams, he
said, but arc prohibited from taking
part iri actual combat.
As far as training is concerned,
however, women are given no breaks.
“Wc all have to do, for example,
physical fitness,” he said. “Women
have to do the sit-ups, the push-ups
and the running just like the men do.”
He also pointed out that required
times for running and required num
ber of sit-ups and push-ups differ
between men and women, but the
point schedule for which physical
fitness is determined is basically the
same.
“In reality, there are certainly
some differences between men and
women,” he said, “but there are no
breaks (for women).”
Wood agreed and said she was
glad no breaks were given to her.
“If I was treated differently, the
advantage would really be a disad
vantage because other people would
sec that I wasn’t being treated
equally. Really there arc no extra
advantages. I have to keep working
just as hard,” she said.
Equal treatment for both men and
women is an area that the Navy has
placed special emphasis on. In fact,
the Navy now requires all enlistees to
take a course on sexual harassment.
The course is required because the
Navy secs sexual harassment as a
waste of productivity, Dunn said.
“We have rcali/.cd that sexual
harassment has been a problem so we
arc trying to train people how to act
faculty senate gives support tor libraries
By Jamie Pitts
Staff Reporter
A resolution in support of in
creased funding for the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln libraries was
unanimously passed at a Faculty
Senate meeting Tuesday at the East
Union.
Faculty Senate President Robert
Diffcndal said the purpose of ihc reso
lution is to create interest in fundrais
ing for the libraries.
Diffcndal said Tuesday's rcsolu
lion was an addition to the one passed
last Feb. 2.
The original resolution states, “an
essential university priority must be
the protection, maintenance, and
support of the university library.”
“We, the faculty senate encourage
the administration to make the librar
ies a high priority in their request (to
the Nebraska legislature) for fund
ing,” Agnes Adams, collection man
agement coordinator, said.
“Basically we are running out of
room to shelve materials,” Adams
said.
“If Love Library continues col
lecting at the rate we are, we will
reach 100 percent capacity in about
four years,” she said.
If the shelves fill up, more shelves
will have to be added which will
reduce study space available to stu
dents, Adams said. •
Current study space available is
already 75 percent below American
Library Association standards, the
resolution states. The budget pro
posed to the legislature would require
additional monies to raise UNL li
brary standards to peer institutions
Diffcndal said the faculty senate’s
support is essential because UNL’s
libraries are, “important to everyone,
they’re not just a piece of hardware.”
Adams said copies of the resolu
tion will be sent to the administration
arid members of the NU Board of
Regents.
Adams said it’s also important to
let legislators know that no section of
UNL’s budget proposal lakes priority
over another.
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professionally,” he said.
However, Dunn said he does not
sec sexual harassment as a problem in
the program here.
“Of course, there will always be
harassment by peers, but it’s not at all
sexually oriented,” he said.
Wood agreed, adding that she be
lieves the group is very close.
“Everyone’s so supportive,” she
said. “We all support each other to do
our best and to reach our full poten
tial.”
This support has led to equal treat
ment, she said.
“I don’t feel that I’m treated any
differently by my peers. In the begin
hmg they were sort of testing me out,
but once they found I have enough
strength to stay with it, they treated
me more like a little sister.”
Wood said she doesn’t mind being
treated like a little sister by her peers
because she feels it develops a per
sonal relationship.
“I think they sec me as just like one
of the guys,” she said.
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