j Weddings performed in five minutes or less
I By Aian Phelps
Staff Reporter
The days of late-night knocks on
the door of the justice of the peace are
over.
Justices of the peace no longer
exist in Nebraska. However, because
most any judge can legally do the job,
it is still possible for today’s impa
tient couple to get hitched with a
minimum of time and effort, said Jim
Foster, a Lancaster County judge.
“Until a couple of years ago, there
was a waiting period for marriages in
Nebraska,” Foster said. “Now, you
can grab someone, get your licence,
and if you already have a blood test,
come up to my door and, if I’m not
not doing anything, I perform a mar
riage.”
Foster said about five marriages
take place every week at the City
County Building. And he said most of
these marriages are between people
who have been married at least once
before, he said.
The ceremonies are brief, but Foster
said he likes to inject a little some
thing personal into the rite.
“It doesn’t take more than five
minutes. It’s not a production,” Fos
ter said.
“It is really short unless people
have their own things to say,” Foster
said. “I say a few things, I make them
say a few things.”
He said the most important part of
the ceremony is when the partners
acknowledge that they are taking each
other as husband and wife. This must
occur in front of two witnesses, not
counting the judge, he said.
“Sometimes, we’ve gotten people
from the building to come in, but
usually they’re here with at least two
people,” Foster said. Foster said most
of the couples give him a “token of
their esteem” but a fee is not required.
Most of the weddings Foster per
forms take place in his office or court
room. However, he said that he has
brought the proceedings to more
romantic locales such as the Sunken
Gardens or private residences for
friends of his.
“I haven’t been asked to do one in
a hot-air balloon or something un
usual like you see on TV or what
ever,” he said. “I did one at the Elk’s
Club once.”
Many students explore other options
before making marriage commitment
By Adeana Leftin
I Staff Reporter
Before hearing wedding bells, stu
dents today are listening for the sweet
sound of success.
Alan Booth, a sociology professor
at the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln, said surveys show that the pat
tern among students today is to delay
marriage.
He said many people are waiting
until they graduate or establish them
selves in careers before making mar
riage plans.
“They just want to explore a lot of
different options before they commit
to a marriage,” Booth said.
Sue Ellen Wall, director of the
Lincoln-Lancastcr Commission on the
Status of Women, said she agreed
that young people today have more
options about marriage.
She said even getting pregnant is
no longer a reason to get married.
“It’s up to them. It gives people
options to do what’s best for them,”
Wall said.
Booth said he thinks waiting is a
healthy trend.
“The later people get married,
there’s a tendency to be more stable,”
he said.
One reason waiting brings stabil
ity, Booth said, is because behavior
patterns are more established when
prospective newlyweds are older. If
people are compatible when they are
young, they may not be so later, he
■ •1 .. " i
said.
To avoid a formal, legal commit
ment, Booth said, there is a greater
tendency to live together as a substi
tution for marriage.
However, people who live together
before marriage tend to have unstable
marriages, Booth said.
IUNL Student Marriage Trends
__# Students % Married
Fall 1988 23,984 14
Fall 1989 23,926 13.5
^ Fall 1990 24,453 13.6
\\J //
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