Opinion
Net?raskan
Tuesday, March 8,1884
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Rainbow Rowell. ..
Adeana Leftin.
Todd Cooper.
Jeff Zeleny.
Sarah Duey......
William Lauer....
.Editor. 472-1766
.Opinion Page Editor
.Managing Editor
.Sports Editor
.Associate News Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
.Senior Photographer
H)l I OKI vl.
Buying votes
Election s key should be ideas, not money
Two thousand dollars isn’t a fortune, but it’s still quite a
chunk of cash for most college students. Before spending
this much money, most students would think long and hard.
Some things should cost S2.000: a good used car, a personal
computer, tuition. And some things shouldn’t: ASUN campaigns,
for example.
VISION presidential candidate Andrew Loudon estimates his
party will spend about this much on its campaign. That’s a lot of
buttons.
Although this amount is about S500 less than last year’s victori
ous VOICE party spent, it’s still too much.
Individuals running with the VISION party were asked to give a
certain amount of money. Those running for senate were asked to
give S35, and those running for advisory board were asked to give
S25.
Some advertising is helpful in a campaign. There is nothing
wrong with making your names and ideas known to voters. But
should that cost S2.000?
RESUME presidential candidate J.B. Howell said his party had
spent only SI 5. Brian Fitzgerald, first vice-presidential candidate
for the LETTUCE party, claims it spent only $35. If nothing else,
this party has shown that creativity catches attention that money
can’t buy.
It’s good to see the VISION party spend less money than
VOICE did last year, but next year’s parties should try to spend far
less.
Considering low voter turnouts in the past, the VISION party
may spend almost a dollar for every student who votes this year.
If a party has good ideas and good candidates, it shouldn’t need
to spend this much. Enthusiasm and sincerity win more votes than
stickers and mailers.
<)lIII kv \ II \n
Once shunned and ridiculed, homosexuals arc now becom
ing an accepted part of our society. However, homosexual
couples still are denied a fundamental right enjoyed by
other couples — marriage.
Pope John Paul II recently presented a 100-page letter denounc
ing same-sex marriages. Although this attitude prevails in the
Roman Catholic Church, society has become more accepting of
homosexual couples.
States should act accordingly and legally recognize same-sex
marriages.
Some states recently have begun to afford homosexuals many of
the privileges of marriage, and certain religious groups recognize
homosexual couples with ceremonies similar to marriage.
These changes represent increased awareness and acceptance of
homosexual couples, but they arc not enough. Pseudo-marriages
arc mere tokens of tolerance. Only by allowing homosexuals to be
legally married can homosexual couples officially be recognized.
Homosexuals' love for each other is no less strong or true than
the love of heterosexuals. Many homosexuals are committed to
spending their lives with their partners. Allowing homosexuals to
be legally married formalizes their commitments.
Although many churches do not recognize or accept homosexual
couples, church and state arc separate. Religious tenets should not
dictate state policy. States now should include homosexual couples
in the ancient tradition of marriage.
— University Daily Kansan
* — University of Kansas
I 1)11< IUI M IN >1 l< \
SUifTeditorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1994 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set
by the Daily Nebraskan Hditorial Board Lditorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
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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 Accordi ng to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students
l.l III l< l'nl It \
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03KNSAUS
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Dirty home promotes equality
My philosophy of housework
is one of benign neglect. I
can wal k right by that bloody
booger on the dining room wall with
out batting an eye. Mud on the carpel?
No problem. Grape juice spills, dust,
leaves, grass clippings — all arc wel
come here. This is an equal-opportu
nity messy house.
My cleaning ideology matches that
of Phyllis Diller, who said, “Cleaning
your house while your kids are still
growing is like shoveling the walk
before it stops snowing.” It’s not that
I don’t care; I just don’t see the point
anymore.
When you have three kids and a
mailbox, clutter takesover your house.
Clutter is carnal stuff—always repro
ducing i tsel f w hen you ’ re not looki ng.
I just try to push it into closets, drawers
and the kids’ rooms and hope the
doors are shut if company drops by.
I try to think about the mountains
of laundry and the mammoth dustballs
as signs of life, as proof positive that
people actually live in this place.
i view me spiacr weo sircicmng
from the desk to the window as a
natural wonder seldom seen indoors.
And every day when my son dumps
half of the playground out of his shoes
and onto the floor, I try to remember
that he’s always wanted a sandbox,
and now he can have one right in his
own room.
1 have not always been this way. It
has taken me years to lower my stan
dards to this point.
When 1 got married 1 kept my name
and my subscription to Ms., but 1 was
a transvestite feminist — Steinem at
work, Betty Crocker at home.
Women arc conditioned to 1 ink the
state of our homes and the cleanliness
of our children with love and self
worth. This is our art; this is women’s
traditional handiwork: shining fix
tures, spotless doors, squeaky clean
windows, color-coordinated offspring.
We measure our success in Berber
carpets and polished woodwork.
I have a love-hate relationship w ith
housework. I can literally get high on
clean lavatory fixtures. A feel mg comes
over me after my biannual scrubbing
This affliction is passed like a
beer can and a TV remote
control from father to son and
is culturally approved by every
major institution.
of the bathtub— I want to cordon it off
with a brocade rope with tassels like
they do in museums and invite every
one to a viewing.
“And to your left is a spotless white
porcelain tub done in BonAmi and
pumice by Cindy Langc-Kubick.”
I try to be Zen-like in my attitude,
to be fully in the moment as I sweep
the floor. I attempt to emulate the
Amish and keep my home plain and
simple, my stovetop shining and
grease-free, but what I really want in
my heart of hearts is to let the house
get really dirty and then move.
A lot of women share my frustra
tion. Here we arc in the 1990s full of
illusions about equality, and we turn
around to find that most of the men in
our lives are domestically disabled.
This affl iction is passed 1 ike a beer can
and a TV remote control from father
to son and is culturally approved by
every major institution.
Many men were raised in homes
where male children had to be over 21
and in possession of a food handlers
permit to use the stove. And although
they were deemed perfectly capable of
running a lawn mower, somehow op
erating a washing machine required
something they lacked—presumably
female genitals.
These are the same men who swear
there is an 11th commandment deal
ing with clean toilets and gender:
Thou shall have a poor aim, but fear
not, for your wife shall wield a sturdy
brush and lots of Comet.
We need to wake up and smell the
dirty socks. How can we address ine
quality in society if we ignore it at
home? If children only see their fa
thers flipping channels and their moth
ers flipping pancakes, what message
are we sending them? And how likely
is it they will perpetuate these models
in their adult lives?
My husband and 1 both secretly
wish that the other were more domes
tically inclined. But he doesn’t tell me
I’m a failure when the smoke alarm
goes ofTevery time 1 turn on the oven.
I keep my mouth shut when he folds
the towels the “wrong” way.
I’ll admit sometimes it feels like a
sick game of chicken, with both of us
waiting the other out to see how long
we can go without a clean dish in the
house. Right now 1 have my eye on two
empty tubes of toothpaste in the med
icine chest — will he ever notice
them? Will he ever throw them away?
Ditto for empty shampoo bottles, half
eaten bowls of popcorn, used toilet
paper rolls ... they say it’s the little
things.
Honestly, I figure if 1 stopped pick
ing up after everyone, in three months
the kids wouldn’t be able to get out of
their rooms; in six, we’d all be trapped
in the house and they’d have to deliver
pizza through the window and within
a year, the place would be condemned
and we would all be carted away to a
home for unrepentant slobs.
I hope it doesn’t come to that, but
if it does, could you stop by and see us
sometime? And could you bring some
clean clothes?
Laage-Kabick I* a ltaior aaws-adltortal
a ad sociology major aad a Dally Nabraikaa
coluaiaist.
I I I II l<s I o I III II111 lull
ASUN’s joke
All Ihe hype over the Association
of Students of the University of Ne
braska is a joke. People should learn
that they don’t need ASUN or any
thing like it. Everyone should vote for
themselves and therefore for nobody.
This campus doesn’t need a body of
would-be politicians any more than
Lincoln does.
What it needs is people power —
people who are not will ing to sacrifice
their power to someone else but are
confident in their ability to govern
themselves.
People use ASUN to get references
and experience in status-quo politics,
and we support it. I want no part of an
unrepresentative hierarchy of aspir
ing power-politicians representing me.
1 vote for myself.
I’m not taking part in this charade
of so-called representative dcmocra
cy. Why sacrifice your control to this
body when you know full well that you
don’t need this?
Don’t give these power-hungry “All
I care about is my career” people the
satisfaction of seeing a 5 percent turn
out.
I’m not voting. Do what you think
is necessary.
Doug Pleskac
junior
international affairs
