Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1989)
Editorial I Nebraskan University of Nebraska-Lincoln Curt Wagner, Editor. 472-1766 Amy Edwards, Editorial Page Editor Jane Hirt, Managing Editor Lee Rood, Associate News Editor Diana Johnson, Wire Page Editor Chuck Green, Copy Desk Chief Lisa Donovan, Columnist U end a national conference in Nor^ Carolina?his 1. Prior to passing, the motion failed once. . I * ^ ] c&£ampu|* Since it usually allows greek or- '] | v _ x.x r x a chenustrf clpblo attend national convex 5 shouldn’t it allow thd||ay and Lesbian Student Organization to do the same? K plfcidem senators ha#|otne reason for disliking T r homosexuals, so|ieM®natt>%]®i|p|pl ebe, are S Quitted to theit opinir^s. BqMhen these senators took an oath of office to represent the best interests of UNO students, they committed to ttpesehting all of the univer- | sity’fsftidents -jpcjuding homosexuals. * rnese senators may try to hide wear otgotry oenma various rationalizations. Some may argue that some of the \ students they represent are not in favor of supporting an org^mddn UP of homosexuals. While this may be ] true* u is also probably true tha many students don’t favor spending student fee money on trips for greeks and 'iP&'brganizafton^^X'^l f ■■v"{ Everyone has his own biases. Senators should rise above these feelings. .. The real shame is that we will never truly know why these senators voted against the measure. None of them even bothered to say why they voted the way they did. Homosexuals have been part of society throughout his Ilory. So has their persecution. If homosexuals have the courage to come out of the cios$f| die least these senators || SlUte ^n>?'Wi%lM>phtions.. . i • Homosexuals pagjWame amount of student fees as <j heterosexual students. They are entitled to equal privi* §»! j Omaha | t Tonight the University Student Advisory Board has the 1 ipower to give dfflLesbian and Gay^udent AUltmce a ■ | board Seat, helping to improve campus sensitivity and rep resentation for a group that deserves it. be me alliance baa applied to a seat. In t „ U$AB - formerly die -„ ^ udent Extc_-... Council - has denied the gpUiaftbp^seataa many membirs questioned LGS A *$ legitimacy and called it a * 'special interest group. ” ... The needs of gay men ana lesbians ar~ unique and j cannot be accurately addressed by the v, rrent members on the board. Just as U SAB reco.emzes that m my groups on campus have special concents - be it a b ick student Off ■' ganization, women’s groups or stuc us involved in fraternities *- so should USAB et ^ uze that gay men and lesbians deserve a voice.... No one should have to live in fear bee .utse of who they aie. Homophobia — the fear pjf homosexuality — is a reality at the university... - 1>mH» Coitagltn ; Prnn Slat* L Hi v. n it \ Abortion right not guaranteed Craig Heckman (Daily Nebras kan, Feb. 3) maintains that to make abortion illegal would be “to deprive women of their fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution.” I think that this statement is false. First it should be pointed out that the right to abortion on demand is not explic itly guaranteed in the Constitution. In Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution is properly interpreted as providing women with the right to abortion on demand. There is a strong and a weak sense in which abortion might be made ille gal. Abortion could be made illegal in the strong sense by a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution ex plicitly granting the fetus the status of personhood, thus bringing the fetus under the protection of the 14th Amendment. Abortion could be madci^lcgal to the weak sense by returrfmg abortion legislation to the jurisdiction ol individual stales out regardless of whether abortion is made illegal in the strong or weak sense, it is false that women are then being deprived of some constitution ally guaranteed right. II abortion is made illegal in the strong sense then the Constitution would explicitly preclude the right to abortion on demand. If abortion is made illegal in the weak sense, then the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme ( ourl simply docs not provide any right to abortion on demand. I agree with Heckman that mak mg abortion illegal will not end abortions and the problems associated with it. Unfortunately, I think that the type of education he suggests (basically sex education) will also he of little help. Dave Rcner graduate student philosophy / fArs. DUKAKIS , SOMEONE Jfo Jj IS HERE ..."Kitts' THIS L IS NANCtf > SA.V NO t Kattv, sas» no ! Teachers deserve thank you Lack of legislative support for pay increases upsets columnist □uesday night almost 3,000 Ne braska public school teachers gathered in Lincoln to support a teacher pay raise. They came from each of the 49 legislative districts, many taking a day off without pay to attend the rally. The message the teachers left was clear and simple — salaries need to increase and they have the voles to back it up. I was glad to sec this much support for the pay raise. Even in these trying times of budget cuts and reductions, the teachers of this slate deserve a pay raise. Teachers in Nebraska have worked for less than acceptable pay in less than acceptable environments tor far too long. I realize the problem of low teacher pay is not limited to Ne braska, it is a nationwide problem. But Nebraska is ranked 43rd in the nation for teacher salaries. Even compared to neighboring slates, the pay is low. But even ranked this low, Nebraska schools fare well in stan dardized test scores. What does this mean? That teachers in Nebraska arc doing a superb job with sub-standard pay. A pay raise would enable some show of thanks that is long overdue. How low is pay for teachers? A friend of mine recently graduated from the University of Nebraska Lincoln with a teaching degree. She has since decided that she cannot live on a teacher’s salary and is looking for employment in another field. In some out state districts, beginning pay for teachers is $8,(XX) a year. I almost make that much at a part-time job right now. I can’t imagine anyone starting for that level of pay. Another friend of mine has re cently gone back to school to receive his teaching certificate, after 20 years of being out of school. In the last cl) years, he has been able to reach a level of financial stability which now allows him to begin teaching. At the time he first graduated, teaching did not pay enough to support a family. These are just two cases which I know of. Everyone can relate to the low payment of teachers. Almost everyone I know believes that teacher pay is a problem which needs to be addressed. In a poll taken last year Nebraskans recognized this as a prob lem and said that teachers deserved a pay raise. So why haven't they gotten it? Part of the reason lies with some state legislators. Sen. Lorraine Langford of Kearney, my home dis trict. did not plan on attending the rally Tuesday night. She was in Omaha instead. My parents, both teachers in Kearney, and other teach ers from Kearney, were disturbed by this. But they do plan on making their displeasure known. In fact. I believe that all state senators should lake note of the voting power w hich the teach ers of this state w ield. Another reason lor the missing pay raise is the questionable support of (iov. Kay Orr. She has yet to take a stand on the issue. This show s a lac. k ol interest and a lack of support for education. II she truly supported education, she would not husiinu* in support this raise. But tnosc 01 us at the university are familiar with her “support” of education. Remember the engineering college surcharges and faculty salaries? Orr was unwilling to support SI.7 million for lab equipment necessary for accreditation. I fail to sec how she will support a $100 million plan to raise teacher pay and alleviate prop erty taxes, even though the financing of this plan has been shown to be feasible by a study sponsored by the Nebraska State Education Associa tion. They found that the money for this plan would be available through increased tax revenues from Orr's new tax plan. And it would not lake anything away from other areas. Seems like no problem, right? Wrong. At least this is what I feel. Education has traditionally borne the brunt of budget cuts and teachers have been underpaid for so long that it somehow seems OK to continue to pay them so little. Denying teachers this pay raise denies Nebraska of a chance for bet ter education. Teachers will not work year alter year for peanuts. The best people will go elsewhere and the professional level of teaching in Nebraska will decline. This is the worst thing that could happen to the suite and to America. Our luture depends on the children of today And these children depend on our schools to educate them. Without teachers, there will be no education Then where will we be? Support the pay raise most needed -- give teachers a break and tell them thank you. They deserve it. Milkman is a senior international allairs mainr inH a l)\ ifnr i.il «.*<»! II III 11 IS I. Campus Notes by Brian Shellito i ■ 1 ■ ™ i r -— in ___—i THC fWiNKi GfOfUb CC* B^*^SiAT4 OfP'CtS" » >*ST *N UNSU^CTiWO AFPlUAHT IS flK>>Al)tr> To y)IN TVfclR CUIT, ---V=r^~ imtN TUl r, HMD'JtD I AND **NV To K WTtM tNCTCtl I Wti r* IN SUUTW tWiMK rs* t* *** TVt BKaim <fcfVA(£D hfrb WON UlUVEfiV, TV\F PATIENT IS SENT INTO TBE FIELD _ W 4 u. CHJ 1 ^SflP Vt>0 ■> edUqrbAl^— - --1 Signed staff editorial* represent the official policy of the full 1988 Daily Ne bra.-d mi. Policy is set by the Dudy Nebras kan Editorial Board. It* member* are Curt Wagner, editor; Amy hdwards, editorial page editor; lane llirt, managing editor. Ice K»hkJ, itfsoi .le news editor; Li:,a Donovan, columnist; Diana Johnson, Editorials do not necessarily rcllia. the viewsof the university, iisernplnyv'1 s, the students or the NU Boanl Regents.