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
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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
