Author questions masculine role
By Kara Morrison
Senior Editor
Studying gender is not just a matter
of biology, but of improving relation
ships, which can improve almost ev
ery aspect of a person’s life, an author
said Friday.
Mark Gerzon, who wrote “A
Choice of Heroes: The Changing Faces
of American Manhood” in 1983, said
if men and women were not conscious
of their own images of masculinity
and femininity, they would not know
themselves well enough to maintain
good relationships.
Gerzon, speaking at Nebraska
Wesleyan University as part of its
Forum presentations, said relation
ships encompass physical, emotional,
social, financial and professional well
being.
Gerzon likened past gender roles
in America to a play in which men and
women were expected to read from
written scripts.
“In the ’60s and ’70s women said,
r
Wc don t want these scripts’ and
walked off the stage,” Gerzon said,
“But men kept reading theirs.”
Gerzon said when men finally re
alized that no one else was listening,
they began examining their roles, only
to be confused by messages that con
flicted with the American archetype
of masculinity.
He showed a number of advertise
ments in which men were depicted as
heroic, aggressive, rough and com
petitive — traits that culminated in
the most famous character in adver
tising: the Marlboro man of the
Marlboro cigarette advertisements.
The advertising images are power
ful, Gerzon said, because “they are
attitudes rooted in American culture.”
Gerzon said the first masculine
hero in American history was that of
the minuteman, a soldier who was
pictured with a musket in one hand
and a plow in the other.
Ge^on called: this “soldier and
breadwinner archetype.”
In early American history, Gerzon
said, war was something men were
expected to go through in their life
times, and boys were brought up in the
soldier archetype.
Gerzon said it was this image of
soldier-like, rough masculinity, which
made it difficult for many people to
envision homosexual men in the mili
tary.
Changes in technology and in
women’s roles, Gerzon said, have
confused the historic American ar
chetype of man as the soldier and
breadwinner.
“Men can’t prove their ‘manhood’
anymore by being a workaholic” when
their co-worker or boss is a woman,
Gerzon said, and technology in the
military has changed the role of the
soldier because long-range bom bs put
everyone in a battlefield.
Gerzon, who used to work in Hol
lywood as a film producer, said, “The
John Wayne monopoly is over, but we
are in a time when all cultural heroes
are conflicting.”
RHA approves smoking ban
for UNL food-service areas
By George K. Stephan
Staff Reporter
The Residence Hall Associa
tion approved a resolution Sunday
recommending a smoking ban in
food-seivice
of resi
areas
dence halls.
The resolu
tion created a
lot of discus
sion for resi
dence hall rep
resentatives before passing 18-5.
The RHA recommendation will be
taken into account by the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln Division
of Housing.
Brad Prall, president of Selleck
Hall, said that RHA needed to‘‘pro
tect minorities’ rights.”
Prall, who favored an amend
ment that would “significantly re
duce” smoking in food-service ar
eas, said he feared that a total ban
might strike too quickly and create
a sharp reaction from some resi
dents.
Most representatives, however,
said they believed that only reduc
ing smoking areas would defeat
the purpose of a smoking ban that
seeks to protect otherresidents from
the health risks of secondhand
smoke.
Other RHA representatives, see
ing the resolution as too important
an issue to pass without the partici
pation of individual residents, fa
vored leaving the decision on a
smoking ban to the individual resi
dence halls.
Lawrence Gibbs, RHA vice
president, said that smoking in the
East Campus food service may not
be affected by the ban because it is
inside the East Campus Union, and
any ban becomes the decision of
the student unions.
and 8oz. Coffee
Expires 2/26/93
Student Union Only |
BUSCH
LIGHTS
Big Screen TV for B-ball mi o St.
Coupon Strip
"9 mm mm mm ** mm mm *" "" ^ '
The Watering Hole
Big Monday--6:30-Close
Aunt Mable’s Hats
(wiih coupon)
These soft warm fleece hats are great for
biking or skiing. THE DINO HAT
(Exp. 3/15/93)
27th & Vine
15%
5*5"® ^
Audia<p^ylT
off stereo equipment from these brands (with coupon)
*a d s *Rlaupunkt *Clarion "“Sanyo *Orion
Volcano "‘Blues * Vltec Lansing *Titan Security
Professional window tinting available
2701 N. 27th ’ 466-5414
Geo^e^G^a^Gyro^tthe^y!!n!on
$1.99 Gyros
* >.99 Cheeseburger
$2.49 4 pc. Chicken Strips and Fries
Choose any of these items at this price
with $1 purchase and coupon
See us at 905 N. 16th 438-2262
We accept Call-in orders and cany-out
15% OFF
any purchase of
$10.00 or more!
THE.
r \
Paul Mitchell • Matrix •
Aveda • KMS • Redken •
Joico • Nexxus • Graham
Webb • Goldwell • Brocato
• and many more brands!
14 &P 474-2214
3-Years
Continued from Page 1
fore entering college than the typical
American student.
She said UNL students, with ad
vanced preparation and summer
school, could complete their degree
in three years.
I
I
But, she said, “there’s no program
available at UNL that can be pack
aged very well as a three-year de
James Griesen, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said several medical
schools in the United States switched
to a three-year program in order to
speed up the number of doctors enter
ing the work force.
“I think that every one of those
schools switched back to four years/*
he said.
Griesen said neither the students
nor the faculty at the medical schools
were satisfied with the three-year pro
grams.
“Too much of it was going by in a
big blur," he said.
Griesen said time to mature, grow
and assimilate knowledge was impor
tant.
He said with a three-year program,
students would miss out on valuable
things such as internships, campus
activities and part-time work.
Changing to a three-year curricu
lum would take away from these ex
periences, he said.
“I’ll not deny the economics of it,”
he said. “But it’s definitely not for
most students.”
| E-Mail
| Continued from Page 1
messages.
Increasing availability and other
developments will cause E-mail to
radically alter the way UNL operates
in the future, Liss said.
E-mail has developed far beyond
simply being a means of sending
messages, Liss said. In the future, she
said, professors will be able to stop
having office hours and will be able to
set up meetings, receive and grade
papers through E-mail. Such func
tions are known as “mail-enabled
applications,” she said.
Students also will be able to obtain
materials from the library through E
mail, Liss said.
As the price of the technology
drops, she said, students may even
attend classes carrying portable com
-ii
I'd like to see UNL, In a
couple of years, be at
the point where every
faculty, staff member
and student has E-mail.
— Spanier
UNL chancellor
-ft -
puters with a list of their schedules,
syllabi and assignments stored in
memory banks.
In a 1992 vision statement, the
UNL Academic Senate Computa
tional Committee also mentioned the
probability of increased use of laptop
computers by students. The statement
says that, as the use of facilities such
as E-mail increases, information re
sources “will become globally avail
able through worldwide electronic
networks making network access and
information display as valuable to
scholars as libraiy access."
This process has already begun.
UNL is a member of Internet, an
international organization for E-mail
users funded by the National Science
Foundation. About 5 million comput
ers are linked to the Internet system,
Liss said, providing unrivaled com
munication facilities to researchers.
William Lewis, chairman and as
sociate professor of mathematics, said
every member of the math depart
ment has an E-mail account. Many
use them for research project commu
nications all over the world, he said.
Stephen Hilliard, chairman and
professor of English, said faculty in
the English department also use’E
mail, but the department is “still on
the up-scale of the learning curve.”
Aid
Continued from Page 1
“It’s no longer to one’s advantage
to be independent. It’s to one’s advan
tage to be dependent,” he said. “Middle
(income) Americans are really going
to benefit.”
In contrast, he said, the financial
contribution expected of married in
dependent students without children
would increase. . .
The standard maintenance allow
ance for these students would be
$3,000 if both are enrolled and $6,000
if one was enrolled. These figures are
less than previous deductions, which
were at least $8,000 per student.
The expected contribution for
single independent students and inde
pendent students with children would
remain similar to this year, he said.
Borrowing limits for Federal
Stafford Loans have been raised for
all students after the first year, in
accordance with Congress’ attempt to
increase student access to financial
aid.
For 1992-93, sophomores could
borrow up to $2,625. In 1993-94 they
may borrow up to $3,500. Borrowing
limits for juniors and seniors will be
raised from $4,000 to $5,500.
Congress also implemented the
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan program.
The program requires no demonstra
tion of need by students, but requires
payments on the loan’s interest dur
ing the student college career.
Under the regular Federal Stafford
Loan program, the government pays
the loan’s interest while the student
remains in school.
Despite some initial confusion
about the new regulations, Beacon
said he expected the financial aid
process to operate similarly to past
years.
“We’re very comfortable we’ve
made correct assumptions,” Beacon
said. “We don’t expect students to be
impacted by it. We’re going about
business as usual.”
Beacon said the new forms have
been simplified and students need to
fill out only one application for all
federal loans, instead of separate forms
for different loans, as in past years.
“Hopefully, it will be a little easier
and take a little less time,” Beacon
said.
Budget
Continued from Page 1
to $4.7 billion in five years, according
to the General Accounting Office.
“If the system works, there would
be significant savings t> the taxpayer,"
Beacon said. “Yourve eliminated the
middleman.**
But Beacon said the .proposal
should be considered carefully.
Private banks are efficient, driven
by competition. A direct-loaning pro
gram would take the competitive edge
away from the student-loan business.
Beacon said national leaders should
consider the trade-off between the
loss of reliable relations with private
banks and the gain of savings for
students.
“Banks have been good partners
for us." Beacon said. ‘Take away the
competiti ve edge and arc you going to
get the kind of service and delivery
you get from banks?"
A final proposal, national service,
could be key in reducing the number
of students who fail to pay back their
loans, Beacon said.
The proposal would let students
work off their debts after graduation
through service to the government.
Beacon said the idea would be
good for some students who get out of
college and can’t find a job.
Those students would be given a
job, experience and a way to pay off
their debts.
But Beacon said the government
might be stuck with recent graduates
who are unproductive or try to “slide
by” until their debt is worked off.
A lot of details of the plan have to
be worked out, he said.
Beacon said he had some reserva
tions about one aspect of the
commission’s proposal, the proposed
increase in the money available to
students. All students would be a eli
gible for up to $14,000 per year in
grants and loans. Currently, the limit
for the first-year loan is $2,625.
”1 see these limits going up and up
and up,” he said.
If students are offered more money,
they'll probably use it even though
they could have gotten by on a lesser
amount, Beacon said.
“People have to see they have to
someday pay that back and not bor
row more than they need to borrow,”
he said.
