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.
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
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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
