Editorial
Dailv Amy Edwards, Editor, 472-1766
_ _ ^ J — Bob Nelson, Editorial Page Editor
\| A K O YjT Ryan Sleeves, Managing Editor
X, ft ^ JXdL J. ft. Lnc Pfanner, Associate News Editor
Lisa Donovan, Associate News Editor
Editorial Board Brandon Loomis, Wire Editor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jana Pedersen, Night News Editor
Barriers broken
UNL programs emphasize cultural unity
For the past two years, cultural diversity has been a
priority at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Student leaders and university officials have beat
their heads against a brick wall, trying to promote diver
1 sity and awareness to make UNL a more educated envi
ronment.
The programs they have installed, while insightful and
| informative for the students who attended them, often did
| little to reach the majority of the campus.
Two new programs could reach that majority. The first,
| a joint venture between the Office of High School Rela
| tions and the Mexican-American Student Association,will
| help to recruit Hispanic students from Western Nebraska
to UNL.
I Not only will the recruitment program keep Nebraska s
students in the state, it will increase the diversity this
campus desperately needs.
The second program, directed by the Office of Univer
sity Housing, should help keep minority students at UNL
once they enroll. Next fall, about 12 “diversity aides”
will offer counseling and advice to students of their own
ethnic background.
Minority students face special problems in the transi
tion from high school to college. Counseling from stu
dents with similar backgrounds will help them adjust and
help retain the minority population at UNL.
Both of these programs have unlimited potential.
Frank Sanchez, president of the Mexican-American
Student Association, said the counseling program also
| will put outstanding minority students into leadership
| positions and get them involved in campus activities.
“If we want to break discrimination barriers, we need
to get minority students into leadership positions,” San
chez said.
Nothing could be more accurate. The university de
serves a round of applause for implementing programs
with the ability to reach its cultural diversity goals.
-• Amy Edwards
for the Daily Nebraskan |
Scholarship fund, hope needed
M.
1 feel that it is imperative to clear
up some misconceptions concerning
The Rodney Allen Bell II Scholar
ship Fund for Gay and Lesbian Stu
dents.
First, missing from the article (DN,
Jan. 25) was my comment dial “straight
or bisexual” people could apply for
scholarships, but would be evaluated
on the same criteria (humanitarian
ism, volunteer work and financial
need). A board would make that deci
sion.
Second, the fund neither promotes
nor sanctions immorality. Frankly, a
well-intentioned avenue to success is
far better than the devastation of human
potential via homophobia. Many
famous gays and lesbians were schol
ars -- Willa Calhcr, Plato, Leonardo
daVinci, Gertrude Stein and others.
Their “immoral lifestyle” is ir
relevant in academia.
Third, the “straight’ ’ populace has
had added advantage since the begin
ning of time--social, economical and
political control. I think one fear of
homophobic people is that gays/les
bians might own too much of the
monetary pie. A survey revealed that
gays/lesbians have 19 percent of per
sonal disposable income in America.
Money is power.
I believe that the scholarship fund
provides an opportunity for minority
recognition and gay/lesbian pride.
Why haven’t UNL, UNMC, KSC,
WSC, UNO or any other state college
or university created a gay/lesbian
minority scholarship and assistance
fund? With the new regents’ policy,
the time is now to create hopes and
dreams for gay/lesbian people. We
could do this with scholarships, in
clusion in AA/EEO, the Multi-Cul
tural Affairs Office, a gay/lesbian
studies curriculum, inclusion of gay/
lesbian couples in married housing,
removal of ROTC, recognition of gay/
lesbian alumni and ultimately destroy
institutional homophobia.
Rodney A. Bell II
president
Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae Asso
ciation
Batman basher voices dismay
I am writing in response to the
Batman story (DN, Feb. 6). I wish to
express my dismay concerning your
sense of priority. Granted, the idea of
a modern-day superhero may appeal
to some, but not to the ex tent of a f ull
page write-up.
In publishing this article, you also
encourage the possibility of “copy
cat” incidents. There are enough
problems on campus without having
to worry about the forces of good and
evil battling for the sanctity of all
mankind. To those who feel that this
is only a college student with extra
money and a zest for adventure, I
urge you 10 rcmcniocr a icw years ago
when a “harmless” game called
Dungeons and Dragons resulted in
several incidents of death.
This Bruce Wayne of Smith Hall
should have taken this story to a psy
chiatrist rather than the DN. In con
clusion, I ask that you try to meet the
two minimum requirements of a
human-interest story. That is, it should
be about a human and be of some
interest.
John Heaston
sophomore
anthropology
I
Brian Shellito Daily Nebraskan
Husband afflicted with 6baby blues’
Thoughts of another child lead to thoughts of joy, debts, stress
Someone to play football with,
teach the rules to and carry on
the family name. It’s a senti
mental tunc: I’m almost 32, my hus
band has the “baby blues,” and he’s
longin’ for a son.
Hmmmmmm.
“Okay, okay, I want that too, but
not right now, hon. We’re just too
busy, just too tired, just too broke, ya
know? Let’s wait a while.”
1 squirm.
“Okay,” he concedes, that makes
some sense -- to wail awhile.
Whew. Relief floods through my
veins.
You see, it’s my last year of col
lege, and all my thoughts are spent on
studies, on graduation, on “making
it” — and not on making babies.
I feel I’ve earned my freedom from
the chains of single motherhood.
After raising two daughters between
seven years of full- and part-time
school, full- and part-time jobs and
several failed relationships, 1 guess 1
feel I’ve earned it.
It was my freshman year of col
lege, 12 years ago, when I first dis
covered motherhood. A careless,
passionate accident produced my oldest
daughter Valeric. Married for the first
time to a man I barely knew, I silently
slipped away from college and high
school friends, attempting to raise a
family. A sad mistake for both of us.
One year later we had another child,
and three months later a firm divorce.
It’s history.
So my fuzzy-warm dreams of a
“Brady Bunch” family were tossed
out the door many years ago, replaced
today with priorities of having more
freedom to do the things I’ve always
wanted to do: pursue a career, earn
lots of money, build a dream house,
read more books, meet more interest
ing people and have more time to
spend with the children I already have.
Perhaps I’m being selfish, but I
feel that through the years I’ve never
really had that choice before. I’ve
been too busy just existing — day by
day - rarely enjoying the time I had;
spending most of my hours doing
things that 1 had to.
To survive.
Like working as a secretary for a
CPA who paid me $700 a month for
60-hour work weeks, which after
paying a sitter $70 a week for day care,
didn’t leave too much left to even pay
the rent, let alone to save or splurge.
Credit cards and student loans were
my salvation.
More kids to me today equate higher
debts, lower backaches and greater
stress. In my old age, I’ve actually
grown a bit realistic. A bit. And I just
don’t know if I could handle it.
Well, try and tell that to my dimpled,
boyish-looking husband of 23. In
August of 1988,1 didn’t think I could
handle a lavish, traditional-whitc-dress,
candelabra wedding cither.
“Let’s just elope, take the money
C.J.
and go to Mexico,” I demanded.
He insisted on a big wedding.
‘‘Rather than wasting our money
on a few hours of tradition, we could
buy a sleeper sofa and some oak end
tables,” I retorted pragmatically.
He agreed, this was true. He also
disagreed. We wouldn’t have the
memories, his parents would be dis
appointed and 20 years from now,
we’ll wish we would have had a tradi
tional wedding and reception.
He added as an aftertaste that our
friends were looking forward to a
wedding dance.
At the time, I likened his sunny
persuasions to a swirl of cotton candy
at the circus - all fluffy, rosy and
substantially sweet; nice, yet kind of
sickening.
We finally reached a middle ground
with a private, subdued Sunken Gar
dens ceremony followed by a rau
cous, rowdy wedding dance. (Great
memories, although I really don’t
remember much of It. I had nervously
gulped down four or five tall glasses
of cheap champagne on the way to the
dancehall.)
Afterward, I must admit that I never
once reflected on the tropical trip
we’d missed or the living room furni
ture we could have lounged on. With
certainty, I can say that yes, the cost
of the wedding tradition was well
worth the fortune we spent.
Because I am close to eight years
his senior, I feel that I understand
more about life than he does, and can
come back with practical “tried-and
true” answers to life’s big and little
perplexities. I have to admit, though,
his sunny persuasions have somewhat
soaened my hard-boiled complex
ion.
But I still don’t think it’s practical
for me to have another child when
I’m finally ready to cross the college
finish-line.
Then again, there’s Mike and his
irritating optimism.
I tried arguing the cons of preg
nancy. It costs ux) much, we’ll gel
lime sleep, i ii luive illuming
everything will stink of baby food I
and formula, there’ll be sibling ri-fl
valry, further commitments and extra g
stress and an expanding shot for stretch I
marks to pattern themselves on my H
yet scarless stomach.
“Think about it, Mike, I may never ■
wear a bikini again.”
He ponders this one for a while, ■
then pipes, “You haven’t worn a bikini 9
since we got married.”
Okay, okay, okay. But what if I 9
want to wear one again?
Then we gel to my career. I tell a
him that I don’t know if I can deal I
with a new career and a new baby. A |
realistic point.
“You did it before; you can do it
again,” he assures me, and sooth
ingly, “besides, the girls and 1 are
here to help this time.
Often I lay in bed, toss and turn,
and envision myself starting a family
again. An image of a tousle-haired,
dimpled baby makes me whisper
thoughts of joy. And yet this other
unfriendly vision of reality intrudes:
of scarred stomachs, swelling hemor
rhoids, ulcered nausea and dispos
able dreams.
Sometimes, the two blur together.
Schepers is a senior news-cditoaial major and I
a Daily Nebraskan news reporter and colum- I
nist.
L-i&r—,—_ _~zl
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