Opinion
&
Netjraskan
Monday, January 24,1994
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeremy Fitzpatrick... Editor, 472-1766
Rainbow Rowell.Opinion Page Editor
Adeana Leftin. ... .,.....Managing Editor
Todd Cooper.....Sports Editor
JeffZeleny ....".Associate News Editor
Sarah Duey. .Arts & Entertainment Editor
Stacie McKee ..... Photo Chief
I I>1 I OKI \\
Why ask dry?
Campus alcohol policy should be enforced
For years, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has relied on
fraternities to self-enforce dry-campus policies. The alcohol
related injury of Jeffrey Knoll gave UNL officials reason to
believe this system might no longer be effective.
“We’re not going to sit back and allow this to happen,” said
James Griesen, vice chancellor for student affairs. “It is a mission of
mine to establish a proper climate in the greek system.”
Could this mean a serious crackdown on alcohol use in fraternity
houses? Friday, UNL police responded to a tip and broke up a party
involving alcohol and female strippers at the Sigma Nu Fraternity
house.,
Earlier this month, Griesen himself broke up a party at another
City Campus fraternity.
A crackdown on the fraternity houses probably wouldn't elimi
nate drinking there, but it might scale down the drinking that occurs.
Technically, the fraternity houses should follow the same rules as
the residence halls. Although drinking still occurs in the residence
halls, there is a degree of control. A university housing employee
resides on every floor. The UNL police arc free to enter the halls
without warrants.
Students who illegally bring alcohol into the halls are less likely
to throw a full-scale party. It is too easy to get caught. It is too easy
to be fined or kicked out of the halls.
But full-scale parties do exist in fraternity houses.
The majority of students who live on campus and many who
attend these parties are underage.
These freshmen and sophomores arc away from home for the first
time, eager to push their new freedom to its limit and experience all
they can. This experimenting can get dangerous.
Ugly things can happen far too easily when 18- and 19-year-old
women walk from their residence halls and greek houses to parties
where women drink for free.
Tougher enforcement of dry-campus policies may cut down on
large, out-o’fircontrol parties.
Scaling down drinking in fraternities may also prevent another
injury like that of Knoll, a victim of hazing who fell from the third
floor of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity house.
When a freshman is seriously hurt in an alcohol-related injury on
a “dry” campus, parents and Nebraska citizens begin asking ques
tions.
Why was this allowed to happen? Is UNL a safe place for our
sons and daughters? Who wasn’t doing his or her job?
That’s all Gricsen will be doing if he leads a crackdown on the
fraternities — his job. Nebraska law forbids drinking on all Univer
sity of Nebraska campuses. Gricsen is a state employee, and it is his
job to administrate the law.
Some may argue that enforcing dry-campus rules may push more
students to off-campus parties that aren’t within walking distance.
This could increase drunk driving and could possibly be more
dangerous than just allowing students to drink in or near their own
homes.
If students want to drink, they will find someplace to do so. It
may be safer for students to party on campus where they don’t have
to drive home. But on-campus alcohol is against the law.
If cracking down on the fraternities does nothing to prevent
alcohol abuse on campus or makes the situation worse, it is out of
the hands of UNL administrators. If dry-campus policies cannot or
should not be enforced, changes must be made on the state level.
I.DI IOKI \l IN )l K \
Stall editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1994 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 I I I It IN >| K \
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, timeliness 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
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Unioi), 1400 R St., Liacoln, Nab. 68588-0448.
SUf?E THEV
COULD OfT HER
INTO OUTER
SPACE, BUT ZWa|
My CH/CKEbJS IF
WC CAN 6ET
HER THROUGH
A DOOR.
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Children don’t make good pets
Drool.
This sticky, slimy goop was
everywhere: on my hands, my
face, my shoulder and my hair. 1 was
slimed by a 2-year-old demon whose
parents were paying me less than min
imum wage to make sure their little
brat didn’t set the dog on fire.
That night I told him there were
piranhas in the carpet, and if he dared
even breathe outside his bed they
would eat him alive.
I don’t think he knew what a pira
nha was, but the part about being
eaten alive and the fury in my devilish
voice told him he’d better obey.
A long time ago, prior to my child
care hells, I swore I would never have
any children. Many maternally
charged friends of mine said I would
eventually grow a desire to “increase
the surplus population.”
I’m sick of people who say that I,
someone who can't even raise low
maintenance goldfish, should raise
children.
Sorry, God, I’m not maternal.
I have several reasons for not lik
ing the majority of human beings on
this planet shorter and less obedient
than my German shepherd.
My reasoning starts with this whole
pregnancy thing. Imagining a sepa
rate entity inside me, generating weird
desires for pickles and sardine ice
cream, revolts me.
Someone kicking me in the gut
from the inside and waking me up in
the middle of the night doesn’t sound
pleasant either.
It’s like a bad segment of “Aliens”
where this hideous drool-spewing
creature rips out of Sigourney Weav
er’s belly. This is not a joyous cele
bration of life.
I’dlive as a walking advertisement
for the tent industry for nine months.
I’d also have to put up with other
annoying pregnant people begging
me to touch their tummies, feeling
their future soccer players kick the
living daylights out of their spleens.
Beyond the physical boundaries of
living the life of a stalled Buick for
nine months, this whole offspring is
I’m not saying people shouldn’t
have children. Go ahead, make a
million of them, but don’t expect
me to baby-sit.
sue has another side.
Babies smell awful. They burp,
cry, whine, drool, spit up and remain
uncontrollable until they’re 10 years
old. As they get older they’re always
trying to flood the bathtub or stick
bread into the VCR.
You can’t muzzle babies like a
barking dog or throw a Milk Bone at
them to quit their yapping.
My dog is satisfied with a card
board box, some old carpet padding,
fresh water, Purina, leftovers and my
cat. Children, on the other hand, want
everything they sec. The infamous
supermarket cry “Mommy l
waaaaaaaaaaant that!” is followed by
an car-piercing wail picked up by a
very sensitive dolphin 1,500 miles
away.
The biggest conflict with my life
and this whole breeding thing is what
children want most — time.
My Great Life Plan includes writ
ing, owning a car and apartment,
meeting the president, attending a
Pink Floyd concert, marrying the fa
ther of my nonchildrcn and ending
world hunger.
What I don’t see in there is chang
ing diapers, attending parent-teacher
conferences, puree ing carrots, attend
ing Lamazc classes and blowing nos
es.
The responsibility children bring
also factors into the problem. I have
enough trouble carrying responsibili
ty for my own actions. Having to be
responsible for this helpless being
who can’t reach the water fountain
isn’t something I could handle.
I’d always be worried about where
it was at and when it would be home.
Was it in a car accident? Did it fail
Spanish? Why did it put Jell-O in the
toilet?
Part of this distaste for a colony of
little mc’s also comes from my child
hood. I remember all the exhaustion
and turmoil my mom endured when I
would wander in around 2 a.m. She
did a great job, but she wasn’t too
happy.
I was the youngest sibling and the
only female, so I never had to deal
with children. Sure, 1 baby-sat, but
there was always a point when I turned
the little “sweeties” back to their
owner.
1 will grant there are a few “good”
children, but I still don’t want them
even if they come potty-trained, with
a handbook and a warranty.
Maybe I’m biased, but I still can’t
see why people need and want chil
dren. I mean, they look happy with
them most of the time. They brag
about them to their friends by whip
ping out the home video slides and
potty-training videos.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t
have children. Go ahead, make a mil
lion of them, but don’t expect me to
baby-sit.
Maybe it’s the companionship or
the desire to “sec what you could
create.” If this is the case, wouldn’t it
be easier to buy a dog or take a pottery
class?
Or maybe, heaven forbid, some
people actually love these smelly,
self-destructive, pipelines of drool.
I* a freihmaa aewi-editorial
major aad a Daily Nebraikaa columalft.
‘Ridiculous’
I hate to say it, but Sam Kepficld’s
latest column (DN, Jan. 19) gave me
hope. It gave me hope because his
arguments against abortion were so
ridiculous they could hardly be taken
seriously. •
Kcpfield started his arguments
against abortion by looking at racism.
He wrote that more black and Hispan
ic women have abortions than white
women. Did he ever stop to think
why? Maybe these women, ages 13
and up, need better access to birth
control and more knowledge about
I i i ii i<s i (> i ni Kim mi<
how their bodies work. Maybe their
male partners should wear condoms
and attend sex education classes.
These are several ways the abor
tion rate can be brought down. Unfor
tunately Kepfield and his fellow con
servative, paternalistic white males
are opposed to sex ed and easier ac
cess to birth control.
Kepfield’s final argument against
abortion amazed me. I’m planning on
keeping a copy of this column be
cause I ’m sure it will be the only time
in Kepfield’s life he will come down
on the side of a gay-rights group. He
wrote that someday we may be able to
test a fetus for a homosexuality gene.
If a test like that is ever available, you
really won’ t have to worry about abor
tions being performed to prevent a
gay child from being born.
it occurs to me that it's conserva
tive, paternalistic, white males like
Kepfield who are offended by gays. It
also occurs to me that it’s conserva
tive, paternalistic, white males who
are opposed to abortion.
Becky Boswell
• senior
teachers college
