Editorial j Nebraskan University ot Nebraska-Uncoln 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 Proposal supported Alternative rides are a must for campus senators of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska recently proposed a bill that * would provide drunk students with an alternative ride home. The proposal would create a shuttle bus service for students who have had too much to drink. The proposal is an excellent idea and ASUN should take steps to pass it as soon as possible. Drunk drivers are a major societal problem, one which is even more serious at the university level. With the recent push to ‘ ‘dry out” residence halls and greek houses, the shuttle bus service is needed to provide transportation back to campus from off-campus patties. Drinking and driving is no laughing matter. From 1981 to 1987, the number of deaths in alcohol-related traffic 1 accidents in Nebraska has fluctuated between 99 and 149, according to figures from the Nebraska Office of High way Safety. The implementation of a shuttle bus would spur more awareness about the severity of college students who drink and drive. The shuttle would provide students with an alternative. Funding for the service could come from alcohol dis tributors, who are required to donate money to alcohol awareness programs, so the installment of a shuttle bus system is feasible. A similar service has already been implemented at Kearney State College. Iowa State University also has a program that provides rides to discourage students from taking a risk they may regret in the morning. With all the pressure on the university to battle the alcohol situation, a safety feature like the bus service is a logical step. Nick Hodge for the Daily Nebraskan UNL still repressing gays The request for funding the Com mittee Offering Lesbian And Gay Events has created a lot of contro versy and stirred up emotions on both sides of the issue. I would like to address some of the misinformation andjpcesent an alternative viewpoint. Inis university is supposed to be an institution of'4higher learning,” a place where students re-evaluate their belief systems and discover who they are while preparing for the fu ture. Instead, I’ve seen this university reward mediocrity and homogeneity, while exacerbating the existing prejudices toward anyone who is dif ferent. Although the university has recently taken steps to reduce racism, it continues to be a problem, along with sexism and homophobia. The desire of others to hav6 a society where everyone is the same really scares me. How advanced could our society be without some sort of deviation from what is considered normal? Consider Einstein; he was a deviant because of his intellect, or Mozart, who was a deviant for his musical prowess. According to the Kinsey Institute of Indiana University, 10 percent of every population will be lesbian or gay. Burning us, putting us in die entencing us to death camps, us on moral charges, or getting a Fund A refund will never wipe us out. In the 1987 ASUN ballot, 2,649 students voted against us while 240 were in favor of us. I’m not a math major, but 240 people looks pretty close to 10 percent to me, especially since the NOFAG party was on that ballot and many gays and lesbians refused to vote or were unaware of that question on the ballot. The 2,889 who voted could in no way be considered a mqprity. In addition, the first of the three ques tions asked if the voter was homosex f- v *v ual. This could have caused some students to vote against a gay/lesbian programming committee out of the tear of being labeled a homosexual. I don't know of any gays or lesbi ans who woke up one morning and decided to whom they would be at tracted. Most of us have known all of our lives wc arc gay, but many keep it a secret for years or for lifetimes. A majority of us live in a world of fear because we know we can be fired from our jobs, kicked out of our apart ments, shunned by families and friends, or even killed for being who we are. We learn to doubt ourselves and our feelings, but most of all wc learn to mistrust the basic human emotion of love. Is it any wonder some gays and lesbians wish to change? They most likely want the rights of heterosexu als, or the chance to feel they belong to the rest of society. Research into the success rate of conversion is shaky at best, and often it is promoted uncritically by religious groups. We. the members of COLAGE, feel a student shouldn’t have to spend her or his time in this university living in a world of fear and loneliness. We want to provide alternatives to de pression, poor scholastic perform ance, alcohol and drug addiction, suicide, or any of the other symptoms of the repression of one’s identity and sexuality. College years can be the “best of times’ ’ for many people, but there are those for which it is a daily struggle. We want to reach these students. Wc want to give them a chance to be happy at this university, to accept themselves and to do the best they can. We want to be able to say to everyone, “We accept you for who you are.” David Whitaker senior. English Co-Chair of ODLAOE # ; * '^jp ': 'jlf John Tower'S personal /ife doesn't hs> joh J then shouldn't he he nowinoted? f ?c°ct oviX honeyhu*v>^\ I've apt to get 6orw* J \HPrt. done.j Stephanie Cannon/Daily Nebraskan Columnist fears graduation date ‘I’ve had friends who graduated; it’s really not quite like dying' / believe in the pure surrealist joy of the man who, forewarned that all others before him have failed, refuses to admit defeat... - Andre Breton It happens to all of us eventu ally. In the middle of an other wise innocent phone conversa tion, my mother asked: “So, how many more hours will you need to graduate after this semester?” I haven’t bothered to check re cently. I was going to figure it out this afternoon, but I had to write some thing. Like Zonker in Doonesbury, there will come a time when, regard less of how carefully I register for next semester’s classes, I will meet the jirements for a degree. I aps the governor will grant a stay of graduation. I’ve had friends who graduated, of course. It’s really not quite like dying: Confirmed reports exist from the other side. Graduates usually disappear into the oblivion of a dull 9-to-5, largely inconsequential job. Sometimes they call to chat, usually in the middle of the night, often bored, depressed, lonely, drunk, or all of the above. “My bags arc packed, I’m ready to come home. Pick me up at the airport I’ll call you from Denver and let you know when my flight gets in.” “'You can never go home,’ Tho mas Wolfe,” I quoted heartlessly. At 4 a.m. I really wasn’t sure if it was he or Robert Frost, but I spoke confidently. In any case, “Home is where the heart is” would have elic ited an equally disconsolate response from someone whose heart was in a state some 80 degrees colder than his new state of residence. ’ ’Aside from that you really don’t like Nebraska. You gripe about the cold in the winter and the humidity in the summer. The mosquitoes out weigh the average family pel, and they are outnumbered only by the kinds of pollen that you’re allergic to. After three weeks in the bars, you know every single female in Lincoln, and worse yet, they all know you. Southern California can’t be that bad.” He wasn’t really sure. He hadn’t seen much of it except the strip of freeway between his apartment com plex and work. Even that was usually in the dark, or anyway, the light of a thousand pairs of halogen headlights. After risking time in hell by paint ing a rosy picture of his future (lying) in an effort to cheer him, I tried to sleep. No such luck. Mom’s question kept haunting me. But I really didn’t want to know how many hours I needed to gradu ate, so I did my taxes. I had thought that this would be a pleasant diversion. When I asked Dad if he had a spare copy of the federal tax table he laughed, “They don’t go that low.” They do now. The first income figure is $5. There is a tax rate beside it and an asterisk. At the bottom of the page is this notation: If $5 is your annual income, by the time you fill out the 1040 EZ, attach the relevant W-2 forms etc. you will have wasted enough time to earn another $5. To simplify the taxation process for you this year, we have includeda new IRS 1040EZ-2-PA.Y. envelope. We suggest that you en close the $5, write your name and social security number in the appro priate boxes on the outside of the envelope, moisten the glue strip on the flap of the envelope, seal it, and send it in. Do not send cash. Don't forget the stamp. With nothing left to do except study, I confronted the issue. How long will it be until I graduate? Will I ever? Is there life after graduation? After an hour or so of intense cal culation the answer at which I arrived seemed shockingly finite. It was a number of semesters fewer than those which I’ve already enjoyed, and fewer than the number of fingers on a hand. In a short time I, too, will pack my belongings and move to a state, where in all probability, I know not a soul. I'll send ever increasing por tions of my meager income off to the bomb factoty. And I may miss Ne braska, too. Sometimes, when friends call to express their dissatisfaction with the Outside World, I think about this, and it heightens my satisfaction with school. Where else is one encouraged to question the foundations of our society? (If you don’t identify college with the urge to question the estab lishment you’re probably in CBA). So I called Erin, who I remember from her college days as an eternal source of joy and cheer. She was a criminal justice major who graduated and moved to the city with the highest crime rate in the United Stales. She is now working as a cocktail waitress. Better Pay. Afterwards, to save myself from complete despair, I saturate myself in the misery of others - preferably art ists who died from alcohol-induced liver disorders. I listen to Mozart and read surrealist poetry. Or I have a beer and go to bed. Longstnc ta • senior political science m^Jor and a Dally Nebraskan editorial col umnist. Student objects to Early Warning! posters I feel the need to speak out against Early Warning! and more specifi cally, against Early Warning’s! “president” Joe Bowman. According to an article in the Feb. 9 Daily Nebraskan, Early Warning! received authorization to hang signs that said “Blacks Only’^ and “Whites Only.” I must commend Early Warning! for acquiring au thorization before posting the signs. However, I must enquire why it was necessary to post the signs at all 1 realize we have not achieved ’ ..r . . total equity between the races, but this is not the way to accomplish the goal of racial equality. If anything, your signs served to increase racial tension and to reduce the avenues of equality. Bowman said that “group members had doubts about the cam paign” and that he was “afraid it might even start a race riot. ’ ’ A “ race riot” seems a weighty price to pay, simply to “evoke a strong emotionai response and thought” , definitely lor equality. 1 feel as wrong when races, sexes, relig s..j. • • . ions, etc., arc discriminated against. But I don’t feel something so offen sive, from the minds of so few, should be forced upon the eyes of so many. Perhaps you, the righteous few, can succeed where so many before you have failed, and create a truly effective program to stop racial ine quality at the university of Nebraska* Lincoln. S.E. Fletcher sophomore finance