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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1992)
• K • • Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chris Hopfensperger..Editor, 472-1766 Dionne Searcey..Opinion Page Editor Kris Karnopp.Managing Editor Alan Phelps.Wire Editor Wendy Navratil.Writing Coach Stacey McKenzie.Senior Reporter Jeremy Fitzpatrick.;... . Columnist Good idea Spanier encourages worldwide business Nebraska — the state and the university both — stand to gain from UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier’s proposed corporation to help state businesses make their way into international markets. Compared to the rest of the United States, Nebraska has been able to avoid the more serious drawbacks of the ongoing reces sion. The state has been able to keep negative statistics, such as unemployment, low partially because of its agriculture-based economy. out Nebraska can t alford to be satisfied with its comfortable ; position. It needs to be aggressive and search out whatever avenues of business improvement it can find. That is what Spanicr’s proposal would do. The corporation, which would be run by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, would help state businesses make their way into international business markets. They could tap into the university’s resources in specific programs and areas of study. Spanier said the university’s programs in modem languages, international affairs, agriculture, trade, cultural exchange and study abroad would work into the creation of the corporation. The proposal isn’t designed to help the university as much as state, businesses, but students interested in international business or studies would directly benefit from whatever organization is set HP i Hopefully, the committee examining Spanicr’s proposal, state businesses and the university will-see what they stand to gain and come together to support the idea. Two-faced comments Kerrey's view of military ban wishy-washy Sen. Bob Kerrey has revealed a new side of himself to women and homosexuals. Kerrey said Thursday that President-elect Clinton should lift the ban on homosexuals in the military. Then he gave a two-faced statement that neither homosexuals nor women should be allowed in combat. That’s just weird. His wishy-washy response comes as a shock to many liberal Democrats who look to Kerrey as a young leader in the Senate who will fight to represent their views. These arc the same Democrats who pushed for Kerrey to become president hoping he would back civil rights in this country. Kerrey justified his response by saying those sex-starved iiuiiium.auui> auu wuim.ii wuuiu jum mmp up 111 luimwi. “Military commanders in the armed forces have not had to think it bout sexual issues, not in the combat situation,” Kerrey said. “Am 1 going to gel somebody to do something as a conse quence of saying, ‘OK, you’ll do it if you do something for me,’ that son of thing.” Sounds like that’s where the problem lies. Men, homosexuals , and women who would consider bringing those attitudes to work with them don’t deserve to hold a job anywhere. This issue must be viewed in an individual sense. If someone *>' causes problems in combat, kick them out. Don’t collectively ban entire groups. Keeping homosexuals and women from serving in combat simply because they arc homosexuals and women is wrong. Kerrey should have kept his mouth shut. The United Slates doesn’t need a compromise. Women and homosexuals shouldn’t have to be forced to settle for one. I Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Hdilorial Board. Hdilorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university,its employees,the studentsorthe NU Board of Regents. Isdilorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will he selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to editor reject all material submitted. Readers also arc welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should included the author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. .Submit material to the Daily . Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588 0448. tt\ H &w'. pki \04o*j \\\u>r^ iveRE tv* wx \s — HS ^eR-w^voN'mcrm ^ Haw ^ \ ji Twoovn \ r SRVj TRW PROP \ l <s«ae Peanuts. ' v—r=zl Sigerson responds to attacks What has the state of this cam pus come to in our lives? A? we follow these incredibly turbulent times, we wonder where oui future lies, and if we can survive in i world of misunderstanding and ha tred. College, for many of us, is oui dream. Our generation is the.first tc require a college degree to even com pete in life. We come to a university to open our eyes to new ideas and tc receive an education on things tha will help us be productive members ol the community. College shapes oui attitudes and opinions in everything from politics to sex and all things ir between. Those experiences we hav< that arc negative or hurtful are the experiences we will remember th( most. For the last week, myself, Jin Gricsen, vice chancelloY for sluden affairs, and scores of others have beet accused of blatant racism. The accu salions come from a limited numbe of students who have rejected lh< system and working within it. Thesi students present their side of the cir cumstanccs, expecting others to taki it as fact. They quote great leader from our country’s past, forgctlin] even the thrust or reasoning bchini these leaders’ actions. They preacl division and haired as their vehicle o attention, all the while knowing tha only by working together can we brinj about positive change. Two years ago I was a young, 19 year-old student senator from Omaha In second and ninth grade I wasparto the now-delunci integration of race through the school districts. I playci and lived with students of differen cultures and races. It all seemed si simple then as we could treat on another as friends, not separate peopl with diverse backgrounds. All my life I have talked openly : with people who I hang out with. If I was ignorant or unsure about some thing, I could ask an honest question i without violating politically correct language or offend ing someone. Those people and I realized that education begins with honesty and trust. When i I arrived on campus, I did not change these feelings of openness and hon esty because I wanted to continue to > educate myself as much as possible. I When Florencio Palomo and I had ' our talk that Sunday night at the Cul ture Center, the talk that has been reported on two occasions no w, I made i an analogy. I asked him if he was : calling meawhitcxacisl,and was that : the same as me referring to him with : araciajslur. Needless to say, the story has gained many other details as time i has passed, but I realized something t that will always be valuable to me. i Different people are sensitive to different things. It hurts me greatly r that Palomo believes the only way to ; rectify this situation is to criticize and ; defame others in a form of retribution. 1 have explained my side of the * story several times to those who be » lieve that someone is innocent until ; proven guilty, and that you treat oth I ers as you would like to be treated, i Was the comment I made to Palomo f insensitive? Sure. Was it an honest t question in an effort to understand his ; perspective? Absolutely. 1 wanted his background and experiences shared - with me so I could educate my self and . those around me about his opinions f and attitudes. •> Unfortunately, the happen mgs over i the last week have probably ended t any hope I had of reconciliation. ) I believe I have represented all I student on his campus in the belter^ ; ment of this university. We cannot agree on everything, but student gov cmment does the best it can in the situations presented. I referred earlier to the notion that those experiences that have a negative impact on our campus arc the ones that stick in our minds. In my position you learn to forgive, forget and hope in the future your paths will cross in a more posi tive manner. It’s my greatest fear that you, the students who watch and read in the perimeter, will give up hope of work ing to make this campus belter for all students. That you will not take the time to befriend a racial minority and talk openly about prejudice and ste reotypes. That you will see only the negatives and not the many positives that happen every day, but go unre ported. As to Palomo, my comment two years ago may have seemed to you like racism, no matter what context you portray it in, but it was an honest question. In your own way, you edu cated me far beyond the negative consequences of your malicious re marks over the last few days. It is obvious that we will never concur on what happened that night. However, as we agreed several weeks ago, working to make this campus a better place for all students should be a goal we can accomplish indepen dent of each other. It is a goal that can only be won through cooperation, honesty and mutual understanding. You, the slu dents, are the only ones who can make it happen, because as brothers and sisters, we are one. Andrew Sigerson is the president of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska-Uincoln and a senior economics major. Sculpture I am so glad to sec the University of Nebraska-Lincoln put its money to good use. The sculpture being erected is what this university has needed and is essential for the quality of life here in Nebraska. There has always been something missing in that vast space between Love Library, Morrill, Andrews and Burnett halls. I am absolutely convinced that re gents or whoever makes these ultra significantdecisions have considered how essentially wonderful this “art” will be. They have also taken into consideration the new classic sur roundings, which will complement, no, enhance this little, but not insig nificant, corner of campus. Happiness fills my soul to think our facilities are so perfect and our economy so strong that money used to make our library better is not needed. Who would read those dusty old books anyway? It would be a blatant misuse of Nebraska’s tax dollars. Give me a good million-dollar statue any day. Spare no expense. I know every pa triot agrees. Simeon S. Magliveras graduate student anthropology Choice This is in response to a column by Jennifer Ernissc (“Choice key to sus taining rights,” DN, Nov. 4). Emisse said in her piece that her body was her property, and therefore she should have the right to do with it what she pleased. She makes it sound like the right to life side wants to take over her body and force her to do things she docs not want to do. That is not true. What the right to life side wants her to do is take responsibility for her body and her actions. By this I mean that a woman needs to make her choices before she becomes pregnant, before she even has sex. The choice comes when she is contemplating having sex with someone. If the woman chooses to go ahead then she should be ready for all of the conse quences. If she is not ready to have a baby, then she needs to prevent that from happening. After she is pregnant it is too late. She already made her choice when she decided to go ahead and have sex. Mary Bayc sophomore secondary education, English