Editorial
(Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University ot Nebraska Lincoln
Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
Lee Rood, Editorial Page Editor
Jane Hin, Managing Editor
Brandon Loomis, Associate News Editor
Brian Svoboda, Columnist
Bob Nelson, Columnist
Jerry Guenther, Senior Reporter
Backward reasoning
ROTC exclusion of homosexuals doesn't fly
The University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate voted
Monday for a resolution suggesting removing the
ROI C program from the campus if it does not
change its policy barring homosexuals by 1993.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials have not heard
many complaints about the policy’s application at Ne
braska, thus they are not concerned.
Maybe they should be.
Joe Row son, NU director of public affairs, said the
l policy barring homosexuals does not violate any univer
sity or Nebraska policies.
Wait a minute.
Just last summer, the NU Board of Regents added a
clause to the discrimination bylaws for the university,
stating that this university will not allow discrimination
on the basis of “individual characteristics.” The regents
definition of “individual characteristics” includes sexual
preference.
so kuil s policy may oe in order reaerany, and unoer
legal pretense, but the charade doesn’t wash on this
campus. It violates the regent’s bylaws.
Besides, the military’s reasoning for the policy is
backward.
Lt. Col. Robert Jacobson, commander of UNL’s Army
ROTC program, said those applying for entrance to the
ROTC program sign a statement that they have not com
mitted homosexual acts — which is the basis for the
military to know who is a homosexual.
The premise is that homosexuals supposedly are a
security threat and can be blackmailed.
That makes very little sense.
If you sign a statement saying you’ve committed
homosexual acts, the military labels you as homosexual.
So where does the blackmail come in? People already
know you’re gay.
The opportunity for blackmail arises when people are
trying to hide something. Someone who is homosexual,
and wants to participate in the ROTC program will mark
“no” on the questionnaire, and be admitted to the pro
gram.
Those are the people who can be blackmailed, because
they stand to be kicked out for their sexual preference.
But it’s a federal policy, so the federal government
should judge that, right?
Wrong. ♦
The policy should be abolished at the federal level, but
\ without universities demanding abolishment, that won’t
happen. The University of Nebraska should send the same
1 message to the Pentagon that the University of Wisconsin
| did.
Discrimination — even in the military — should not be
tolerated.
•• Amy Edwards
for the Daily Nebraskan
QPlfiion_
From conception, child has life
This Thanksgiving, I met my
nephew Maxwell for the first lime.
The little fellow is 3 months old,
weighs a whopping 18 pounds and
with just a little help, can keep his
own balance while standing. Though
Max constantly drools and occasion
ally burps up, the second he smiles at
you, you’ll love him. He’s quite a
charmer and as his dad says, “He’s a
cool little guy.’’
It’s a miracle that three months
ago a new living, breathing being
came from inside another and Max
was bom. Only nine months before
this, Max was simply an egg and a
sperm waiting to meet. Then, at the
moment of conception, Max was
simply a single cell. It seems that
there must have been something spe
cial about that cell and that moment,
for it became Max and gave him life.
Ending that life seems wrong.
Though women certainly should
have the rights to decide what hap
pens to their bodies, the right of the
child to live seems to be far above
these. It seems only a medical or legal
technicality to decide when life be
gins for the embryo or fetus. How
ever, 1 believe that from conception
the child is something magical and
also possesses life.
I took a nap with Max one day. As
he lay by mv side I just watched in
wonder as he stretched and his chest
moved with his breath, and, of
course, drooled by the gallon. It’s
definitely something special that he
was given life. That should be more
important.
Brad Jacobsen
senior
physics and mathematics
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1990’s ASUN joke has begun
But everybody has to wait until March for the big punch line
Except for a few minor contro
versies here and there, the
Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska hadn’t been
exactly in the center of the public eye
lately.
In fact, five whole people actually
have come up to your faithful colum
nist and asked," Brian, what’s ASUN
up to, anyway?”
Well, folks, I have the answer, Its
members are running for office.
The ASUN elections arc a mere
three months away, and the horses
already arc in the gate. ASUN Gov
ernment Liaison Committee Chair
man Deb Fiddclke and former ASUN
Senator and Student Foundations
President Phil Gosch both are said to
be planning to run for the coveted
ASUN presidency. And a Coalition
Party being formed by members of
Farly Warning! and Ecology Now
also has emerged and soon will nomi
nate us candidates at a party conven
tion.
If you’re like the 88 percent of
students who do not vote in ASUN
elections, you’re probably asking
yourselves at this point, "So what?
Why should I care?"
Here’s why: The ASUN elections
are a case study in how politics really
work. They’re an annual event
chock-full of intrigue, back-room
maneuvering and behind-the-scenes
dealing.
So wake up, friends, and follow
along as we take a guided tour
through the wonderful world of stu
dent government campaigns. Come
with me as we answer the following
burning questions:
1. WHERE DO THE CANDI
DATES COME FROM? There are
three people on an ASUN executive
ticket -- a president, a first vice presi
dent and a second vice president. A
person decides that he or she wants to
run for president and asks two
fricnds/associates/interest group
leaders to join him or her on an execu
tive ticket.
The three of them then merrily
cobble together in private a slate of
senate and advisory board candi
dates, drawn mainly from the greek
houses but usually including a sprin
kling of residence hall, off-campus
and minority students. By February,
the slate is filled and the real cam
paign begins.
That’s the way it’s usually done.
There are, however, exceptions. The
Coalition Party plans to have a full
blown party convention, where a
platform is drafted and candidates
nominated in true democratic fash
ion.
The ASUN office also maintains a
list where interested bystanders can
sign up to be approached by parties to
run lor office. However, in the end,
the candidates and parties decide w ho
runs for what. A person signing the
list is more apt to run for the campus
weed authority than ASUN second
vice president.
2. DO ISSUES MATTER?
What, arc you kidding? Of course
not. This is politics!
Seriously, (hough, issues carry
remarkably liille weight in the ASUN
elections. There is no mass con
sciousness to be melded, since only a
couple thousand people turn out to
vote. And since for many students the
Daily Nebraskan is the only source of
campus news, students do not have
access to a wide range of information
about the parties or the candidates.
The real way to win an ASUN
election is to network ~ that is, to
cobble together a base and get 1,000
of your closest friends to vote for you.
The ability of the greek system to
serve as such a base is a big reason
why ASUN picsidcnts always seem
to be in a fraternity or sorority.
One sign of just how insignificant
issues are in the election is the plat
forms of the parties. The platf orms of
the last three winning ASUN execu
tive tickets have been strikingly simi
lar, indicating that candidates feel
little obligation to say anything new.
And, in fact, they don’t have to. They
can still win anyway.
3. ARE THE ELECTIONS
HONEST? In 1941, after young
Texas Congressman Lyndon Johnson
narrowly lost a race for the U.S.
Senate, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt told him, “Lyndon, appar
ently you Texans haven’t learned one
of the first things we learned up in
New York State, and that is when the
election is over, you have to sit on the
ballot boxes.”
Franklin Roosevelt must have run
for ASUN president. Just like real
elections, the ASUN elections often
have been dogged by tales of fraud.
Past scandals prompted ASUN to
take extreme security measures to
prevent casting of multiple ballots.
And the existence of three politically
active secret societies - Theta Nu
Epsilon, Rho Delta and Senior Scroll
Society -- have added spice to the
rumors.
AS UN’s elections arc largely an
in-house operation, increasing the
opportunities and incentives for fraud
and bias. Rather than having an inde
pendent group responsible for the
ballots, ASUN instead has an Elec
toral Commission composed of ex
officio members (the first vice presi
dent and director of development)
and members appointed by the
ASUN president.
The Electoral Commission in the
past has appeared less than objective
to some candidates. The commission
in the past has turned down requests
by ASUN leaders to put polling
places in the residence halls, a move
which many thought would draw
hundreds of non-greck voters.
And ASUN executive candidates,
more often than not, arc drawn from
AS UN’s own ranks, making it diffi
cult for Electoral Commission mem
bers and the ASUN president to be
completely impartial. For example,
should she elect to run, Deb Fiddclke
would be the fourth consecutive GLC
chair to run for president.
By the way, the last three won.
So here’s the story, folks: The
ASUN elections are largely a closed
process. Candidates and parties are
formed far from the public eye, the
campaigns arc largely devoid of sig
nificant issues and the process is
governed by individuals who arc
much too close to the candidates for
the process to be completely impar
tial.
I he process should be cnangeu.
Students should be better informet
about the campaigns from the very
start, when all the backstage maneu
vering and formation of slates art
occurring.
And the job of enforcing electora
rules should be given to a group mort
removed from political pressures ant
personal lies to the candidates
People deserve the right not only tt
vote, but to make a meaningfu
choice when they do.
Isn’t that what democracy is al
about?
Svoboda is a senior political science an
Russian major, and a Daily Nebraskan col
umnist.
