[Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Cun Wagner, Editor, 472-1766
Amy Edwards, Editorial Page Editor
Jane Hirt, Managing Eiiitor
l.cc Rood, Associate Sews Editor
Diana Johnson, Wire Page Editor
Chuck Green, Copy Desk Chief '
I.isa Donovan, Columnist
Quibbles and Bits
group campaigns against censorship
Look out Jerry Falwell, Fundamentalists Anonymous
is on the loose.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal,
Fundamentalists Anonymous is a support group formed in i
1985 for ex-fundamentalists. FA grew quickly as a self- J
help group for people hurt in any way by fundamentalists l
and has since branched out to campaigns against funda
mentalist censorship. '
The group’s latest campaign is a boycott of Pepsi-Cola
to protest Pepsi’s killing of a Madonna ad. According to a
co-founder of the group, it is targeting college and high
school students with the slogan “No Madonna, No
Pepsi!’’
The goal of the protest is to make Pepsi the soft drink
for losers, according to an FA press release.
Since Pepsi is now “the Choice of the Fundamentalist
Generation,’’ people who aren’t fundamentalists will stop
drinking Pepsi.
I* Protesters on two college campuses have prompted ne
gotiations between administrators and students.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education,
students at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque
continued a sit-in at the administration building last week
to protest a tuition hike.
At Wayne State University, students occupied the
student center, forcing it to close down on April 12 to
seek more resources for black studies.
About 120 black students at Wayne State occupied the
student center with demands involving the curriculum,
financing and faculty members for the university’s black
studies center. Negotiations between the students and ad
ministrators continued last week, with no word on their
progress, according to the Chronicle report.
About 50 students at the Albuquerque campus have
been occupying sections of the administration building
since April 11, when the university’s regents approved a
7.9 percent tuition hike. The students demanded a special
meeting of the regents to reconsider the tuition increase,
and the regents agreed.
Obviously, student action can produce results.
But what are the chances of this happening at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln?
•• Amy Edwards
for the Daily Nebraskan
Officer’s actions called racist
Will the ignorance ever end? It
seems that the ugly head of racism not
only continues to exist in the Lincoln
community, but among the ranks of
our law enforcement community as
well.
This past weekend at the annual
Sigma Chi philanthropy “Fight
Night,” a blatant example of this
increasingly prevalent attitude oc
curred. A member of the Lancaster
County Sheriffs Department took it
upon himself to save us from the
“savage intentions” of a young
black man. Because the man hap
pened to be black, well-dressed,
wearing a gold neck chain and carry
ing a Lincoln Telephone beeper, it
was readily apparent to the good
intentioned law officer that the man
was a drug pusher , doing his best to
ruin our lives; two nice, young
American white boys.
It just so happened that the young
black man was a good friend of ours,
who simply wanted to know what we
would be doing later in the evening,
and, if we had too much to drink later,
offering us a ride home. He had just
purchased the beeper, because he
works most of the day and wanted to
remain in touch with his family and
friends. When he gave the beeper’s
telephone number to us, the quick
thinking officer realized that an obvi
ous “drug deal was taking place,
and immediately escorted the man
out of the arena for questioning.
Both of us are deeply grateful to
the officer for saving us from the
horrible intentions of our good friend.
For it’s inherently obvious to every
red-blooded American that a black
person can’t associate with a white
person, unless of course it is because
of mutual participation on an athletic
team or to make a drug deal. Further
more, the two of us, not to mention
the entire Southwest comer of the
arena, slept immeasurably better
knowing that some of Nebraska s
finest are so in touch with the needs of
the white community.
As the 1990s approach, it is in
credulous that racism can continue to
permeate even the law enforcement
community. Maybe if law enforce
ment officials would examine their
own actions they could understand
the unresponsiveness of a certain
segment of the young black commu
nity regarding efforts to control gang
activity.
Jon C. Bruning
AS UN second vice president
sophomore, history
Grant D. Kauffman
freshman, broadcasting
Editorial
1 MrnI iiSirTll^IBttil]4
msaBBlImmBamBEKmM
Fear forces students to unite
Columnist suggests measles epidemic could be advantageous
My sweating body was glued
to the Scooby Doo bed
sheets. I was hot. It was ei
ther, the 90 degree weather or a lever.
I chose to believe it was a fever. I
rubbed my eyes. They began to wa
ter. I rubbed my face. It turned red -
kind of like a rash. The symptoms of
... measles!
It had to be. I was going to die. I
could feel encephalitis swelling my
brain. Sure, I’d be smarter for a few
hours, but then my brain would keep
swelling and -swelling until enough
pressure built up to blast my eyeballs
out of their sockets, through the win
dow and into my neighbor’s breakfast
cereal.
That’s not the worst of my horrors.
First, my brain will ooze out of my
ears and nose during geology class.
“Mr. Nelson,” my professor will
say, “please refrain from oozing your
brain?” Everyone will laugh at me
until they realize I’m contagious.
Then their brains will swell out of
their ears and noses until their eyes
pop out. I will not be popular. Maybe
a blast of hot lead will help my swel
ling brain. Oh, woe is me. Stricken
down in the prime of life.
But wait. I might have been over
reacting. I wasn’t absolutely positive
I had the dreaded disease that now
cripples our campus.
But that hardly matters. Fear is a
rush. It’s exciting. When was the last
time thousands of University of Nc
braska-Lincoln students united
against a single cause? Was it at a
demonstration against apartheid?
Was it a protest at a landmark abor
tion debate? No, of course not. Only
fear and self-preservation agitates
and congregates this student body
That’s just fine with me cause I’m noi
a fetus, I’m a student concerned aboui
my own brain. Oh, woe is me.
I digress.
The medical director of the Uni
versity Health Center said that ai
many as 15,000 students may have u
be immunized today and Ihursday.
Think of what fun 15,(XX) students in
one place could have.
We could vote on things. We
could occupy buildings. We could
drink on campus.
A group that large could recall
That Arrogant Twerp that a fraction
of this student body elected as ASUN
president. (Columnist’s note: The
Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board has
yet to place a single derogatory label
on the new ASUN president. Some
names I suggest should be consid
ered: That Arrogant Geek, That Arro
gant Nerd, That Arrogant Dweeb and
That Arrogant Toad. The name
“That Arrogant Twerp” is solely the
label assigned by this columnist^ We
could replace That Arrogant Twerp
with a real human being, maybe a
student version of a slightly sedated
Ernie Chambers with no chip on his
shoulder. The possibilities are end
less.
' —- 1
A group that large could occupy
the Capitol and demand the millions
of dollars our university desperately
needs to remain mediocre. We could
even get a little violent by demanding
the millions more needed to make
this university respectable. Maybe
dangle chintzy senators from the
sower by their toes. Maybe force
legislators to do upside-down marga
ritas until they vote with their con
sciences. Screw rational and prag
matic politics, this is a party.
Maybe I’m making too much of
this student unity stuff! Surely every
» one will be a little too concerned
► about the eight-inch hvnndp.rmir
needles used to immunize against the
measles. You can trust me, they’re
eight inches.
1 digress again. I just remembered
Downtown Julie Brown will be in
Lincoln Thursday to film Club MTV
starring UNL’s own Lisa Twiest
meyer and the MTV dancers. How
about a Club MTV/Mass Immuniza
tion beer bash on the steps of the
Administration Building. Kind of a
disco/public serv ice/an ti-dry campus
policy protest suitable for national
television. Also, a great way to lorget
about eight-inch needles.
Maybe the self-righteous bone
heads responsible for sending thou
sands of students away from campus
to get drunk and drive home would
buckle under the pressure of MTV
and the civil-calamity of dancing
Huskers, Maybe they would realize
that students don’t like driving drunk
just because university omcials are
frightened of liability suits.
Maybe officials would realize that
students like to drink and when they
drink at home, they have hangovers,
and when they drink away from
home, they have accidents. Maybe
parents of students would see
“MEASLEFEST ’89" on television
and would realize that their children
have a very legitimate point.
Maybe university officials would
realize the evils of a dry-campus
policy if their brains were swollen
from encephalitis triggered by
measles. We could infect them and
their brains would swell, making
them smarter. Then they would
change the policy right before their
eyeballs blew out the door into their
secretary’s coffee.
Very simple logic that even Julie
Brown can understand.
Oh, the joys of a swollen brain.
Now I’m positive I have measles.
Nelson Is a Junior news-editorial rn“ri1'
and a DN associate news editor and editorial
iuJlIMIlUt
- --:
Signed staff editorials represent the
official policy of the fall 1988 Daily Ne
braskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras
kan Editorial Board. Its members are Curt
Wagner, editor; Amy Edwards, editorial
page editor; Jane Hirt, managing editor;
Lee Rood, associate news editor; Lisa
Donovan, columnist; Diana Johnson,
wire page editor; and Chuck Green, copy
desk chief.
Editorials do not necessarily reflect
the views of the university, its employees,
the students or the NU Board o'
Regents.
The Daily Nebraskan’s publishers are
the regents, who established the
Publications Board to supervise the i a y
production of the paper.
_>-—■
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