Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1993)
OPINION Net>raskan Monday, October 18,1893 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick.. Kathy Steinauer.... Wendy Mott. Todd Cooper.. Chris Hopfensperger Kim Spurlock. Kiley Timperley .... I m inui \i Sad but true . .. Editor, 472-1766 Opinion Page Editor ... Managing Editor .Sports Editor .. . .Copy Desk Chief .Sower Editor Senior Photographer Sports realities make equity impossible Gender equity in athletics is a hot issue at UNL and other universities and colleges across the country. In its August 1993 report, the NCAA said equity should provide male and female athletes equal opportunities for scholarships, benefits and services. The need for gender equity is obvious when some NCAA statistics arc studied. Men’s athletic programs received 70 percent of athletic scholarships and 77 percent of operating budgets. These figures show the idea behind gender equity in athletics is a valuable one that echoes a desire for equality throughout society. Women and men should be given equal opportunities in all aspects of life. But the reality is that this may be impossible to implement iivNU sports. The facts show that football makes more money than any other sport, especially in comparison to women’s athletics. This may be unfair and unbalanced, but it is reality. The idea of equal opportunity may be plausible at UNL and in other universities’ athletic programs. Men and women deserve the same type of scholarship programs, training programs and facilities. But the idea of having equal budgets and numbers of scholarships will be difficult to work out. For example, footbal I requires a larger number of athletes than any women’s sport, which automatically puts women at a disadvantage. Like it or not, football is a much more popular sport at many schools than many women’s programs and requires a greater number of scholarships and athletes than several women’s athletic programs combined. Working toward gender equity is a worthy idea. However, the realities of collegiate sports programs cannot be forgotten. Regent pets NU engineering programs study is a waste The NU Board of Regents approved a list of consultants Friday to study Nebraska’s engineering programs and suggest solu tions if problems arc found. That is the formal purpose of the consultants. But some regents apparently have already decided what the consultants should recom mend. Regents Nancy O’Brien of Waterloo and Rosemary Skrupa of Omaha both said they thought the study should be focused on providing the University of Nebraska at Omaha with its own engineering college. Skrupa proposed an amendment to have the consultants look specifically at establishing an engineering college at UNO. “If this study docs not address the particular issue of an indepen dent engineering college in Omaha, then it’s a sham,” O’Brien said. Regent Charles Wilson of Lincoln countered their arguments by offering an amendment requiring the consultants to look at separate colleges in other parts of Nebraska. “Why not put that in as well as the Omaha engineering college suggestion?” Wilson said. Both amendments failed, but the list of consultants was approved. The regents will proceed with their plan to study NU’s engineering programs. r The study is a waste of time and money. NU already has an engineering program at UNL. In a time of budget cutbacks, NU does not need an engineering college at UNO. The regents should terminate the study and turn their attention to issues that matter to NU instead of personal pet projects. I III H >l<l \l l’< >1 l< \ SufT editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1993 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. I I II I K l*< M I< N The 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, l.meliness and space available. The 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 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. Football Chris Dingman stated thathedidn’t care “which Huskcr suffered a hang nail in practice,” referring to sports articles giving injury reports. He then went on to say that he “and the other 23,999 students on this campus sim ply don’t care.” To my knowledge, Chris never called me and asked my op in ion. Ob v iousl y he d idn ’ t because I do care. The football team is interesting, and I like to keep up on what’s hap pening and who is injured, and I know that a lot of people share my opinion. Rick Tast junior criminal justice Capital punishment Maybe Mark Mercer (DN,Oct. 14) should enroll in a criminal justice survey course soon so he could stop misstating “his” facts. No consistent data exists to prove capital punish ment works as a deterrent, only as angry retribution. Furthermore, he may learn that there is a supportable argu ment that capital punishment has not been color blind. Maybe we should leave retribution to the Good Lord, and Mark could deal with an education. Pure and sim ple. Check the facts, Mark, not your opinion. Bryan McBride graduate student unclassified Triangles I’m going to put a pink triangle on my door. Truth to tell, 1 really don’t want to encourage everybody I know to be entirely open about their sexual ity. I also fear the pink triangle will make me suspicious in the eyes of some. It may even have some impact on peoples’ perception of my wife and sons. Still, J don’t sec very many options. In sending out the pink triangle stickers, Eric Jolly forced me to choose. With the power of his posi tion, he held a hoop in front of me and every other faculty member and told us tojump through it. He can say all he wants about giving the freedom to choose whether or not to use the stick er, but there was no freedom. We HAD to choose. We could jump from left to right or right to left, but we had tojump through Dr. Jolly’s hoop. I could have decided not to put the sticker up and told my colleagues and my students that 1 am not open and supportive of all of them. Or I could put it up and hope that it is understood as evidence of a desire to be kind, fair and supportive — even if the same can not oe said of the University Affirmative Action Office. Peter Bleed professor of anthropology Li i 11 us in ihi I'm iok Gay rights I am sick and tired of the gay rights movement, and 1 feel that enough is enough. After hearing and reading about the protest at the Green Gateau (DN, Oct. 13), I am sickened and disillusioned at the current state of affairs in Lincoln and the nation as a whole. Every special interest group is screaming for special rights for this minority or that, and now there is a bill James Mehsiing/DN to “protect the jobs of homosexuals." Is this garbage really necessary? The only thing that this bill will do is give the homosexual community the power to scream prejudice and bias whenever a member of the gay and lesbian community is fired from his or herjob regardlcssofthc reason. Please don’t try to tell me otherwise. After the many years of the dcbaclcd Affir mative Action movement, the evi dence is clear. As far as I am concerned. Scan Boltc was fairly fired from the Green Gateau. I was fired from a university job because of scheduling conflicts because 1 needed a day off for finals. An associate dean later ruled that I was unfairly fired, but no one both ered to tell me. Did 1 have a special rights platform to stand upon and scream? No. Why? Because I am a young, white, heterosexual male. 1 am created equal with everyone else in this world whether they are red, white, black, yellow, male, fe male or homosexual. It becomes ri diculous that laws be created merely to service a small slice of the Ameri can population. Perhaps Sean Boltc should have tried harder to meet the needs of his employer's schedule. On a last note, 1 find it offensive to be served by effeminate waiters. Flam ing sexuality, regardless of the swing, has no place in the work en vironmen t. Jason A. Beineke junior English Kissing The College Republicans last Wednesday sold kisses to raise funds. If you think about the message, mon ey for a physical act, it hints of pros titution—or at least a transition to it, kind of like cigarettes being a transi tion to harder drugs. Free enterprise aside, doesn’t the Republican Party frown on prostitution? J.D. Makinson graduate student engineering Homecoming Jennifer Putensen, your sense of bewilderment on why minority lead ers do not apply for homecoming royalty (DN, Oct. 12) amuses me. As a “campus leader” and homecoming candidate, one might assume you would be more concerned with find ing the answers and solutions to why minority leaders do not apply than blaming their lack of participation in the application process. I can suggest one possible answer. Could it be that minority leaders and a large portion of UNL students can not imagine themselves justifying to someone why they should be home coming king or queen without laugh ing aloud? What exactly does being a mem ber of the “royal court” symbolize to our campus in the ’90s? A group of people who think they deserve to be honored? Docs walking on the field at halftime in all your splendor serve some purpose other than tickling your relatives and friends cheering in the stands? 1 can acknowledge that the court has contributed to the university through high academic standards and involvement in organizations. Per haps your time would be better spent in continued service to the many needy organizations and projects at UNL and in Lincoln than in filling out applications as to why you deserve to be honored. Your choice is your prerqgative, but maybe the minority leaders who did not apply did not have the need to blow their own hom. Perhaps the whole homecoming selection process needs to be examined. Maybe in order to include everyone, it should be a selec tion process instead of an application process. I have trouble believing that stu dent voters take into account the qual ifications and achievements when casting their ballots. 1 can only hope that in the future students will have solved these prob lems and homecoming candidates w ill not longer feel the need to defend their royalncss. Bradd Schmeichel senior psychology •