Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Uncoln
Amy Ld wards, Editor, 472 1766
Lee Rood, Editorial Page Editor
Jane Hin, Managing Editor
Brandon Loomis, Associate Mews Editor
Victoria Ayottc, Wire Page Editor
Deanne Nelson, Copy Desk Chief
...—-1
Sticks and Stones?
Hate may never end, but violence must
The words, bleached into grass near the Capitol
building, are too large to miss: “Die fag.”
They send a clear message of hatred to Lincoln’s
gay/lesbian community. A message too frightening for
anyone to ignore.
And yet, while homosexuals continue to be badgered,
ridiculed and beaten, a safe majority rests in the shadows,
confident in the fact that they are “straight.”
What do they care if someone scribbles death threats to
homosexuals?
What does it matter to that majority if a group of men
- filled with that same hatred - should crash a party on a
Saturday night to harass a group of people about their
sexual wientation?
What does it matter that in the early morning hours
following that patty, a man lay dead - the victim of a -
) bullet wound to the heart?
Why should they care about that 27-year-old man with
his life ahead of him? Or his family? Q* his friends? Or an
entire community of Lincolnites who may now be won
dering if they could be next?
The hatred against gays and lesbians may never end. To
end it, society would have to eliminate ignorance. But the
acts of hatred against gays and lesbians cannot be tolerated.
Students, lawmakers, police and judges cannot sit idly
by, doing little to protect the basic rights of another
individual. Nor can they allow others to get away with the
degradation, intimidation and violence that continues —
they need to be punished.
How soon before a bleached scrawl on someone’s lawn
escalates into the murder of another innocent human
being?
for Ike Daily frebraskan
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‘Big Lips’ better than R.E.M.
After reading your article about R.E.M. tickets (DN, Aug. 17) and finding
the statement, “Good God, no one can tell us that they would prefer big lips
over true talent,’ ’ it became obvious that you don’t know the facts, so here are
some for you to chew on: R.E.M. has had one No. 1 single and seven No. 1
albums. The Rolling Stones have had 18 No. 1 singles and 37 No. 1 albums.
These numbers do not include individual efforts.
R.E.M. ’s first and only No. 1 single, * ‘The One I Love,’ ’ lopped the charts
for nine weeks, whereas the Rolling Stones’ first, “Not Fade Away,’’ was at
the same position for 48 weeks.
I thought you needed to know that big lips is true talent.
Jason Henning
Junior
Math
CmRMN MOKCOPRAh
LATE t*16HT YUTH
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Underground organizations exist in defiance of university rules
Groups could cause problems
Attention potential
LEADERS,” read the per
sonal in big, bold type in the
last issue of last year’s Daily Nebras
kan. “We know you have been con
tacted and it is not from us so don’t be
misled. Keep working and you may
be contacted by the real sub-rosa. The
Men of Theta Nu Epsilon.”
And so this summer, while hun
dreds of freshmen went through fra
ternity rush, a few fraternity upper
classmen began to wait quietly for a
rush of a different kind. But the fra
ternity they would be seeking to join
would not be any legitimate, above
board fraternity. This rush would be
for Theta Nu Epsilon (TNE) - a
sub-rosa,’ ’ or secret society - and it
would be conducted in secrecy.
TNE and its fellow secret socie
ties, Rho Delta (a sorority) and Senior
Scroll Society (another fraternity),
are underground organizations com
posed of anonymous campus “lead
ers” from various fraternities and
sororities. They exist in defiance of
university rults. And, in the past, the
groups have “cxcrt(ed) a great deal
of control in campus politics,” as a
former TNE member once put it.
Few students know that these
groups exist. Even fewer care. But
they should know, and they should
care.
Secret societies historically have
caused problems for the university
community. And they still may be
causing problems today.
Ask most knowledgeable frater
nity or sorority members these days
about TNE, Rho Delia or Senior
Scroll, and they’ll quickly change the
subject - like a family member asked
about the aunt with the third eye in the
middle of her forehead, or like a Sicil
ian asked about the local Mafia don.
But the few who are willing to talk
may tell you some stories. Stories
about alleged secret society infiltra
tion of the Association of Students of
the University of Nebraska, the Inter
fraternity Council, Panhellenic, and
the leadership of top greek houses.
Stories about beatings, threats and
reprisals delivered to those who give
TNE grief. Stories about initiations
where pledges are forced to give up
the secrets and rituals of their respec
tive houses, betraying their own fra
ternity brothers and sorority sisters.
No one knows (or can prove) if
these stories are true. On the surface,
they seem outrageous. But the history
of the university leads one to believe
that maybe they ought to be checked
out.
Books and newspapers say that
TNE first surfaced on campus in
1895, initially as a social group of
fraternity leaders from various
houses. However, as a 1962 DN edi
torial stated, “through the years, it
degenerated into purely a drinking
and political organization.”
Although banned by the university
and virtually all fraternities, TNE
continued to exert “a great and ter
rible power and force on campus”
through the first half of the century.
DN articles from the 1950s refer to at
least one act of violence attributed to
TNE. Campus walls and sidewalks
frequently were vandalized in those
years, painted with TNE’s trademark
red-and-grecn-cycd skull.
Much more ominous was the
power which TNE appeared to wield
in the shadows of student life. After a
run-in with the group in 1951, then
chancellor Reuben Gustavson was
quoted as being “amazed” at the
people who were active and alumni
members of TNE, expressing shock
at “the infiltration of TNE into the
faculty, athletics and student organi
zations.”
Now, almost 40 years later, TNE
still exists. Indeed, it seems as active
as ever. The group’s logo was painted
on fraternity and sorority doorsteps as
recently as last spring. Each of the
three secret societies delivers an oc
casional newsletter, saluting frater
nity and sorority members they like
and slamming those they don’t.
Yet most students don’t seem to
care. Some people have even sug
gested that the secret societies and
their newsletters strengthen the grcck
system. ‘Some said (the sub-rosas)
helped open the eyes of the grcck
system as to their faults and sug
gested ways to improve,” wrote last
year’s Greek Yearbook in a shock
ingly non-judgmenta) article on the
groups.
Thai’s ridiculous. There is nothing
worthwhile in the sub-rosas' newslet
ters which cannot be discussed
openly and honestly in the light of
day. At a minimum, the existence of
secret societies destroys bonds of
trust - trust between the grcck system
and the university community, trust
between students and the institutions
which govern them, and trust be
tween fraternity and sorority mem
bers themselves.
And if the rumors are true that
these groups still exert “a great deal
of control” in campus politics, they
exclude other students from leader
ship groups such as ASUN, 1FC and
Panhcllenic, preventing these groups
from being truly representative bod
ies and denying students the chance
to have a voice in campus affairs.
Long ago, the university’s admins
stralion, student government and
greek system made a conscious deci
sion that the secret societies were
wrong — that they were inconsistent
with the ideals of openness and hon
esty and the interests of the university
community. Yet one walks down the
street and still sees TNE’s skull, Rno
Delta’s black triangle and Senior
Scroll’s red ‘S’s painted on doorsteps
for all to see. And one neither secs nor
hears a word about the groups outside
the DN personals section. What hap
pened?
“We are students of this univer
sity,” wrote the NU Student Counci
in 1951. “It is we who must bear the
evil groups like TNE. It is we who are
the victims of any weakness by ad
ministrative officials in dealing wu
that organization, and who will bear
collectively the brunt of its oiKler
handed force on this campus, f oie
must not defeat university law a"
justice at this or any other time, a
that is decent, self-respecting an
open must win.” .
ASUN, I PC, Panhellemc and the
university administration shou
make a similar commitment and on
again lake seriously the threat tna
secret societies pose to campus lue. u
the worst of the stories going arou
campus arc true, the secret soc‘c*
represent an undemocratic, subv
sive and even criminal force on o <
campus. They should be shut dow_
Brian SvobJda Is a senior politlca! ***“
and Russian m^jor, and a Daily Nebr# ■
columnist.
