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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1992)
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 Take a stand ASUN needs to drop debate over prayer Prayer, for the time being, has been eliminated from the graduation ceremonies at both the University of Nebraska Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. That has not eliminated the controversy. Members of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and UNK’s Student Senate have protested the two school’s decisions with traditional, cultural and legal arguments. Student leaders disagree with the decision to eliminate the prayers because they might offend some students in the diverse - university community. “You can offer prayers in a way that won’t offend anyone,” said ASUN President Andrew Sigerson. “The regents need to take a stand on this.” Sigerson is half right; the regents do need to take a stand, a stand that will formally end this debate. Sigerson called the decision ridiculous because of religion’s important place in society and its traditional role in graduation. But the only thing truly ridiculous about the situation is that ASUN senators continue to drag out this issue. Some students, in fact a majority of students, may not like the fact that prayer has been removed from graduation. But they should understand that its inclusion, and the fact that student leaders arc fighting for it, offends other students. Religion has its place — separately and as a part of a person’s education. One religion should not, however, be selected for students of a variety of faiths to share at a graduation ceremony. Student leaders also continue to argue that the prayers should continue simply because they are a traditional part of commence ment ceremonies. That argument is fundamentally flawed. If the world were to operate on the basis of maintaining traditions, it would continually be looking backward instead of moving forward. Diversity dollars Administration progresses on vital issue Iowa State students have been given tangible proof that the university’s diversity dollars are working. The administration has hired Tom Owns, a graduate student and member of ISU’s Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Alliance, to act as a liaison to the administration and to work toward changing dis criminatory university policies. The need for Owen’s position, as well as for increased aware ness of discrimination against homosexuals, is undeniable. Contrary to the popular belief that the position serves only as a benefit to yet another special interest group, its merit goes much deeper. By improving communication between the gay/lesbian/bisexual community and society, many positive things happen. Homosexu als and bisexuals move increasingly closer to the ideal of social acceptance that we call equality. Stereotypes are broken down, along with evils such as homophobia and prejudice that feed on its strength. The worth of the individual is stressed. The same arguments could be used to justify improving conditions and equality of opportunity for any group that is discriminated against. The place to go from here is one where homosexuals and bisexuals will feel that their interests as students and people are already protected without the need for a fight, simply because they are tuition-paying, living human beings. — Iowa State Daily Iowa State University -1 _) Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial 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. Tne Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. 1 he Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are 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 relumed. 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. 1 Xu-tpwn snewmipp m\w> -AQVI t>tt> '■KM ' u? /_>». x‘ onzma? j\w\ '2/ / wAr \ | ASUN Reflecting on this last semester, this student is disappointed with the performance of the Association of Students of the University of Ne braska. As controversy surrounded our campus so far this year—Anthropol ogy-gate, the undercurrent of racism, budget crises, questionable behavior of some of our regents, the discovery of tremendous influence of Nebraska corporations on UNL, etc. — our student government was busy with ludicrous and contradictory issues such as Christian ceremonies being conducted at graduation ceremonies and removal of campaign spending limits. If ASUN is going to concern itself with the constitutionality of its poli cies at least it could be consistent. The actions of ASUN have had the net result of making it a more exclu sive body than ever before. This stu dent government is not our student government. I hope some members of the student groups and regularly uninvolved students can unite and wage a major battle against the status quo and make UNL a more stimulat ing educational environment for all students. Matt Burton junior political science, history Independence How many of you independent stu dents remember the relief you felt when you finally were awarded inde pendent status tor financial aid pur poses? Well, on Dec. 8, approximately 2,000 students should have received a lovely letter from the financial aid department stating that new regula tions have been defined by the general government on financial indepen dence. Now, you have to be 24 years old, an orphan or ward of the court, a veteran, a graduate student, married, have legal dependents or special cir cumstances. To make the circumstances even better, the new law “prohibits the use of a grandfather clause that would have allowed students who are inde pendent under (previous conditions) to retain their independence in future award letters.” The result: most of us will now have to come up with some God-unknown way to pay for school next year. I can really appreciate all of the assurance I received last year that I would never have to worry aboutprov ing myself financially independent m again. Aftcrcight months of worrying about where my future was going and trying to prove independence, I now find myself lost once again, buried in the paperwork of bureaucracy. What has become of our govern ment when they cut this form of finan cial aid to students? With the contro versy on how students in the United Stales relate with foreign countries in academia, I fail to see the government’s reasoning for leaving quality students with no alternative but to drop out of college. We really need to take a good look at our gov ernment and its views on this and similar issues. Maybe it’s lime to write our congressmen and express our views and frustrations. Scott Matthews sophomore electrical engineering Human rights In 1991, a Filipino man and his 15 year-old son were arrested without warrant simply for belonging to a group in opposition to the govern ment of the Philippines. The boy was forced to witness his father being beaten and tortured with electric shocks and by having his face covered with cellophane into which holes were made so that water could be forced into his nostrils. In June, Amnesty International is sued a report about police brutality in Los Angeles including evidence that higher levels of force are used than allowed in police guidelines. Kicks, punches, beatings with batons and other forms of excessive force some times amount to torture, causing more serious injuries or death. There arc unbelievable numbersof political human rights abuses all over the world, and there seems to be a resurgence of religious, racial and ethnic intolerance. The media opts to focus on specific cases, such as the riscof Neo-Nazism inGcrm any, while neglecting countries that perhaps for merly made headline news but are no longer considered selling material. For example, when President Amin of Uganda fell in 1979, the worldwide media turned their cameras elsewhere, ignoring the fact that Ugandans have endured much since Amin’s fall. Torture and killings arc still com monplace in Haiti, and yet thousands of Haitians have been intercepted by U.S. authorities in international wa ters and returned directly to Haiti without investigation; this is in viola tion of international law. President Violetta Chamorro of Nicaragua signed legal reforms on July 8 that will lead to one to three years impris onment for people advocating homo sexual rights or for practicing homo sexual acts between consenting adults in private. These are the realities of the world we live in, which makes it all the more urgent to counter balance the forces of injustice and hatred. Thurs day was Human Rights Day, and we ought to take some time to think about the abuses tak ing place; 1992 is not an especially good time for people who value diversity and human dignity. Be inquisitive and act on the injus tices you read about! Make sure you have a say, no matter how small, in the way the world operates. Ann Towns senior president of Amnesty International atUNL Civil rights Detention and torture. Do these words affect you on a regular basis? For many of us, these words do not. In other countries, some individuals live in a constant fear of political actions similar to these. Human Rights Day was Thursday. We should not only recognize it this day, but every day. Sometimes I wonder how many people realize that as a free country, we have rights others may never know. It is lime to change that. Individuals in countries not so far from our nation fight for their basic civil rights every day, rights that often, we lake for granted. I want students to take a minute to stop and think how your life could be different if the human rights we have come to know and believe in never existed. Did you stop to think? What would it be like? Would the media be censored? Could you leave your home at leisure and travel to another place at any time? Do you think public and private education would be completely bi ased? Could you speak your mind if you felt strongly on a certain issue? Would political actions like detention and torture be impressed upon you? Do you worry about disappearing in the middle of the night for your involvement with a certain organiza tion? Has you life been at stake be cause you wanted equality? These questions are the very lives that many live. Ask yourself and oth ers what are human rights. Learn as m uch as you can and become acti ve in the lives of those whose human rights are violated. Make an effort to recog nize human rights not only today but everyday. Melanie J. Arens sophomore art