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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1989)
FT Fdifnrial Nefi&kan 4 JLj V41 IU1 idl Monday, January23,1989 I Curt Wagner, Editor, 472-1766 Amy Edwards, Editorial Page Editor Jane Hirt, Managing Editor Lee Rood, Associate News Editor Diana Johnson. Wire Page Editor University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chuck Green, Copy Desk Chief Lisa Donovan, Columnist Dispensers needed Condom machines would promote safe sex \ University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Division of Housing j needs to jump on the safe sex bandwagon by install- \ ing condom dispensers in residence halls. Director of Housing Doug Zatechka said he has no plans to install the machines because students would not \ become educated about sex. Readily available condoms, although not educating stu- \ dents about sex, would educate them about health risks while promoting safe sex. With the increased number of AIDS cases and unplanned pregnancies across the nation, I all areas of university, local, state and national govem : ments must work for that education. Zatechka said that students should continue to go to the University Health Center to get condoms, because doctors can give them guidance on matters of both physical and mental health. But students do not need to consult a health center doctor before getting condoms. Condoms are placed on the counter at die pharmacy, and students leave payment by the honor system. ■ Besides, if a student takes the time to purchase a con dom, then apparently that student is educated enough about sex to practice sale sex. And there are ways to educate students without requir ing the presence of a doctor. UNL could place educational pamphlets next to the machines* like the University of Iowa in Iowa City does. UNL could send informational brochures to each hall resi dent at the beginning of the year and package the con doms with detailed instructions, as the University of Wisconsin-Madison does. UNL’s housing division could sponsor special educational events, like UWM’s “Con dom Olympics.’’ And as Zaterhka has said, expense would not be a factor in the decision to install the machines because vendors would cover installation costs. The value of condom machines in the residence halls is indisputable. As long as the machines are present, the chances of a condom being used grows. If the presence of a condom machine stops one un 1 wanted pregnancy, or one case of AIDS, then it is worth Curt Wagner for ike Daily Nebraska* ppiftma Reader concerned by review i nc ncauiuic ui jiiii nanua » re view of “Mississippi Burning” (Daily Nebraskan, Jan. 18), notes that the movie may arouse anger in some viewers. But Hanna failed to address a very real anger that the movie is evoking. The film fictionalizes a real event, and its mis- or re-interpreta tion of that event may delude many viewers into believing that the FBI played a supportive role in the cause of blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. The FBI did as little as possible to support the black cause during that period, and in many instances played the role of oppressor and persecutor. It ap pears that the primary involvement the FBI had with the Civil Rights Movement was in iheir campaign against Marlin Luther King Jr. Last Tuesday Lcla Shanks spoke at a Marlin Luther King Jr. Day cele bration in Lincoln. She recounted her experiences during the Civil Rights Movement, which included Imving FBI agents harass her at home and her husband at work for refusing to send their children out of their neighbor hood to a segregated school for blacks. As Shanks noted, it is not that there wqe not whites who supported me muvemem, uui u; jam u ay uie i ui as an agency as being supportive ol the movement is dangerous. People need to know the truth about the Civil Rights Movement, even (or espe dally) if it makes them feel uncom fortable. To fictionalize and reinterpret the Mississippi summer into a vehicle foi an actor to get an Academy Award is reprehensible, and (in the words ol last week's Time magazine), <‘downplay(s) the roles of black and white visionaries who risked, and sometimes lost, their lives to help fashion a free America.” Hanna suggests that the “only” Haw in the movie is the graphic and frequent violence. I disagree. I think we need to know that people were beaten, tortured and violently killed because of the color of their skin, 01 because of their support of people whose skin color differed from theirs As the Time magazine article pointed out, "It is bad enough thal most Americans know next to noth ing about the true story of the Civil Rights Movement. It would be even worse for them to embrace the fabri cations in 'Mississippi Burning.'” Margie Winn senioi advertising . \ MOW 'BOUT | . ) A CRAVJL OR t ( tWBE A CREEP J Industry dumps ‘maturing9 figure tx-pinboy Koyko says Ketton exemplifies typical bowler image V • ■ ■ .1 J* J I. • _..I J 1 C I .j Waco l suuucu Hanging aruunu bowling alleys, it was obvi ous that nobody was giving much thought to the public image erf this ancient game. I was one of the pinboys, a scruffy mix of neighborhood kids, winos and drifters. We worked the pits, scoop ing up the ball and speeding it back on twin-rails to the bowler, then tossing the pins into the rack and slamming it down for a reset The air was usually heavy with cigarette and cigar smoke. The bowl ers’ language could be even heavier, especially when they left themselves a tough split in a money game. Most places had a memorable aroma: a blend of beer, sweat and smoke. This was before the days of air conditioning and armpit sprays. Today’s health vigilantes would call in a federal agency. Not that there was anything dis reputable about bowlers. To the con trary. They were working people, and bowling league night was a major part of their social lives. But most bowling alleys were no frill joints. A bar, a short order grill, and maybe a few pool tables. The paint on the walls might be faded or peeling and neighborhood idlers might be hanging around the pin bails, but as long as the alleys were properly oiled, the drinks honestly poured and priced, and the pinboy didn’t get his head in the way of the ball too often, the customers were satisfied. Of course, this was long before the bowling industry tried to gentrify it self. It was before bowling alleys became known as bowling lanes or family recreational centers. It was before automation replaced the pin boy, forcing thousands of youths out of the pits, where they developed agility and strong backs, and into McDonald’s burger assembly lines, where they develop high cholesterol. There’s no question that today’s bowling centers arc cleaner and more comfortable than in the past. And I can’t uuarrel with the business mo tives of the bowling proprietors. They now compete with racquet sports, fitness clubs, jogging, VCRs, video ^mes and dozens of other recrea UUIIJ> UUU U1UII I CA1M a tuujiic generations ago. Just prying (he po tato off ofhis couch is a challenge. But I think they may be cairying their image consciousness a bit too far. I say that because of the legal flap between Mary Lou Retton, the for mer Olympics darling, and a couple of national bowling organizations. After Mary Lou bounced into America’s consciousness, she signed a lucrative contract to hype the bowl ing industry. That’s the American Dream: You devote your formative years to perfecting the world’s great est back flip for your country’s honor and glory. Then you become a TV salesperson. If Thomas Edison were alive today, he’d be on TV pitching appliances. Alexander Graham Bell would be telling us to let our fingers do the walking. Although Mary Lou was not L' nmnn for bar kotnliMA tliAl rented her image of good, youthful, wholesome athleticism. But now they’ve dumped her, and she's suing. The bowling moguls argue that she is no longer a suitable spokesper son because her body has been “maturing.” They won ’ l come right out and say it, but it has been reported that she’s been maturing too much from east to west. In other words, she’s become kind of a pudgy young lady. That’s an image the bowling in dustry wants to shake. They want us to think of bowlers as lean and slinky. Sort of like pro golfers with greasy haircuts. It’s their industry, so I won’t give them advice, other than to say that they are kind of stupid. They overlook the polls that say the vast minority of Americans either weigh too much or think they do. They also ignore the fact that the ldM y v. y\ju wvaiu iuw iu? juui ojiu mean athletes is in a bowling alley. You bum off more calories having a dirty thought than by bowling a line or two. The office cleaning lady gets more exercise than a bowler. So if the bowling industry had any sense, it would welcome die new, broader-beamed Mary Lou. They would have her make a commercial in which she says: “Hi, remember me, the famous Olympic athlete? Of course you don’t. I’ve been eating a lot of Quar ter Pounders with fries. “But, hey, don’t worry. Do what I’ve done. Forget the back flips. For get pumping iron and eating tofu. Just go bowling. There’s nothing to it. Roll (he bail a couple of times, then sit down. And if that tires you, let someone else keep score while you eat pizza.” The bowling industry doesn’t real ise that it is going to drive away its traditional constituency -- the over weight, out-of-shape majority. If they’re determined to drop Mary Lou as their spokesperson, then they should get someone like my friend Slats Grobnik, who was elected to the Pinboy Hail of Fame for having been simultaneously hit in the head with a ball and pin, and not miccina a rorIr Slats could articulate the three things that make bowling unique among all participation sports. “Hi, I’m Slats and I’m a bowler. Why do I bowl? Because it is a great sport. You spend 99 percent of your time sittin’ down. * ‘ ‘More than that, it’s the only sport where the arena of competition pro vides the players with ashtrays. You ever see an ashtray in an aerobics class? “But best of all, it’s the only sport where you push a button and a wait ress brings you ail the beer you want. Billy Martin should have been a bowler.’’ My guess is that Mary Lou will win her lawsuit. All she has to do is set up the cameras in a few bowling alleys and film the athletes. And not their faces. © IVSV b) the ( hk'Hgu tribune ltllCfrnocYv Letters will be selected lor publi- Whether material should run as a let- be considered for publication. Letters cation on the basis of clarity, original- ter or guest opinion, or not to run, is should include the author’s name, ily, timeliness and space available, left to the editor's discretion. year in school, major and group affili* The Daily Nebraskan retains the right Letters and guest opinions sent to anon, if any. Requests to withhold to edit all material submitted. the newspaper become the property of names will not be granted. the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be Submit material to the Daily Ne Readers also are welcome to sub- returned. braskan. 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R mil material as guest opinions. Anonyn^us submissions will not Sc, ^in^pln, Nfcb. 68588-0448.