OPINION
Nebraskan
Wednesday, March 30, 1994
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 Rage Editor
Managing Editor
Sports Editor
Associate News Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Senior Photographer
I.MIOKI \l
Try again
Congress can't deny immigrants welfare
Lawmakers in Congress arc considering cutting welfare
benefits to immigrants to make them more available to
Americans. They have a worthy goal — helping poor
Americans — but their method of pursuing that goal is wrong.
The Associated Press reported that moderate and conservative
Democrats arc joining 162 House Republicans in supporting a plan
to raise more than $21 billion by denying welfare to the increasing
number of immigrants receiving aid.
The money would be used to provide education, training, day
:arc and work for single mothers at risk of long-term welfare
dependency.
The Congress is addressing an important issue. The United
states needs more programs to stop the vicious cycle of welfare
dependency. If we can provide people with skills and jobs instead
jf handouts, the United States will benefit.
But robbing Peter to pay Paul will not work. Taking money
from legitimate immigrants to this country to help other poor
icople is a flawed idea.
The United States, as everyone knows, was founded by immi
grants. Almost everyone in this country has relative that came from
iomcwhcrc other than here.
We cannot strengthen this country by weakening people who
have come here to find a better life. Any immigrants who arc
receiving aid illegally — one of the chief concerns of lawmakers —
should have their welfare benefits revoked. But we should not turn
our back on immigrants who truly need help.
We do need new programs to fight welfare dependence — for
Americans and immigrants.But Congress should have the courage
and resourcefulness to raise the revenue for those programs from a
source other than people who arc poor but not American citizens.
South African pain
All-race election should unite, not divide
After years of conflict. South Africa is preparing for its first
all-race election.
This election has already been tainted by the blood of
the country’s people. The nation’s leading black group, the African
National Congress, supports the election and is expected to domi
nate the first post-apartheid government.
But Zulu nationalists fear they will lose their autonomy if ANC
leaders incorporate homelands founded under apartheid into South
Africa.
After a Zulu march in Johannesburg Monday, 53 people died,
including nine Zulus outside of ANC headquarters.
Zulu leaders now refuse to meet with ANC and government
representatives.
Buthclczi, leader of the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party,
described the bloodshed as “a final struggle to the finish between
the ANC and the Zulu nation.”
The black people of South Africa have long been persecuted and
discriminated against by their own government. An all-race elec
tion will allow them for the first time to control their own lives.
Zulu leaders should attend a summit with other South African
leaders. Silence could lead to more violence. And unless the matter
is resolved before the April 26-28 election, the event could become
a blood bath in some areas.
An all-race election should unite the South African people. It
should not be a cause of further strife and misery.
I DIIOKI \l 1*01 K \
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the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students
l.l II I U l*< H It \
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Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb 68588-0448
I AST YEAR. I
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Youth of Toiy,Y.
1)KB M( Al) VMS
Mv new semester’s resolutions
Something about school is ad
dictive. Maybe it’s a feeling of
satisfaction from accomplish
ing a goal. Maybe it’s the intellectual
high of enlightenment. I suspect it’s
stomach acid leaching into the brain
cavity. Whatever it is, each semester I
find myself repeating the same behav
ior that made me sociopathic during
the previous one.
1 started this semester the same
way I’ve started school since I was 5
years old. I got excited. I looked for
ward to reading my new, big books. I
was ready to use my expanded collec
tion of colored pens. I was flossed,
fluffed and tucked, and 1 exhibited
excellent posture. I was polite, quiet
and attentive. I was an ideal student.
Then I left the house.
Getting to campus was the first
obstacle. Lots of new semester enthu
siasm has been left in the park ing lots.
The Reunion lot looked liked a death
scene from “Mutual ofOmaha’s Wild
Kingdom.” Cars slowly circled like
vultures waiting for someone to leave,
then pounced on the abandoned space.
Because I drive a big, rusty, Ford truck
that screams “dent me, 1 like it,” the
parking lot never robs me of my opti
mism.
I threw my Scotch-guarded back
pack over my shoulder and headed for
class. I carried my schedule with me
so I wouldn’t forget where I was go
ing, wander back to the Ford, and
drive to a subtropical /.one where
people my own age were discussing
their gallstones.
Unable to lose my schedule, I went
to my first class and had to do as many
sit-ups as I could within a minute. Sit
ups after the holidays aren’t pretty. In
my next class, the instructor didn’t
speak any English, which I thought
was fair because I didn’t speak any
Spanish. Another class required a list
of materials that guaranteed the com
fort of the Eastman-Kodaks into the
mm
I carried my schedule with me so I
wouldn’t forget where I was going,
wander back to the Ford and drive
to a subtropical zone where
people my own age were
discussing their gallstones.
23rd century.
Still, it was a new semester, and I
was enthusiastic. Then again, maybe
the Christmas candy hadn’t left my
bloodstream.
For some unknown reason, I had
decided to carry 14 credit hours and
work four jobs. 1 suspect it’s because
of the same impulse that kicks in
when my brand oftoilct paper goes on
sale. I’m compelled to buy enough
toilet paper for a chili feed because
“it’s such a good deal.” I kept taking
on more obligations because they
sounded like a good deal.
Four weeks into the semester and
obligated up to my nostrils, my pos
ture became impaired from carrying
various poundages of books that
seemed to induce coma each time I
opened one. I lost track of deadlines
because 1 couldn’t find the color of
pen I used to write down assignments.
I felt a vague urge to run a cash
register at a Texaco in a subtropical
/.one.
Eight weeks into the semester. I
looked like Neanderthal gal. Comb
ing my hair seemed like a waste of
lime. The gravel that migrated from
the sidewalk into my shoes every day
was giving me violent thoughts. I had
all the enthusiasm of a dead carp
except for when I periodically ranted
about giving it all up for a double
wide trailer, a drunk man and several
psychotic kids.
Finally, spring break arrived and I
spontaneously turned into an invertc
l.ll 11 Its lot III l-.DI I <>K
that its smallest hole is 10 times the
size ofthc HIV virus or that the Center
for Disease Control reported in Au
gust that leakage of HIV-sized par
ticles was detected in 33 percent of
condoms tested. However, inclinations
to worship condoms despite this evi
dence can be expected from those who
believe sex to be better than anything
on earth or in heaven.
It is the belief that nothing is better
than God that requires priests to be
celibate. The rest of us should learn
from their example and realize that
when we elevate sex above God, mis
ery is our destiny in this life and the
next. Despite the “fruits” of free sex
(AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases,
unwanted pregnancies, abortion, bro
ken lives, broken hearts), many of us
arc determined to believe, along with
brate. My boyfriend and I wandered to
a subtropical zone, where I used all of
my mental capacity to decide what to
eat next. Most of my physical endur
ance went into holding up a wineglass
longcnough for mybelovcd to see that
it was empty. One night, I actually sat
through most of “Body of Evidence,”
a sure sign of brain death.
The only thing I did with surpris
ing swiftness was adjust to a state of
complete inactivity. Even rolling over
on the beach required too much exer
tion, so we simply laid there and got
fried on one side. It made for a de
lightful evening of sticking to the
sheets.
Suddenly it was over, as if it never
really happened, except for the peel
ing skin. Back to the early mornings,
the late nights and the deadlines that
make tnc so enchanting to be around.
I may have fallen behind this se
mester, but it won’t happen again.
Next semester will be different. I’ll
buy my textbooks this summer and
read them in my spare time. I’ll jog to
school every day and avoid the dan
gersofparking. I’ll arrange a realistic
work schedule, and I may even try to
do my homework before 1 fall asleep
for a change. I’ll resuscitate myGPA
next semester, unless I happen to lose
my schedule, become confused and
wander off tosomedistant subtropical
zone. One can only hope.
McAdams ii a junior news-editorial ma
jor and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Rochc-Kclly, that destructive sexual
self-gratification somehow is “love.”
No, the true act oflove is the Catho
lic Church’s courageous stands on
sex, m arr i age. con t racept ion and abor
tion. While some arc angered by the
church's refusal to waver on these
issues, others arc real izing the Catho
lie Church is teaching the truth.
Of course, it all comes to an indi
vidual decision on sexual matters. It is
your call. You can put your faith in a
piece of latex or in the Catholic
Church, which hasn’t failed to pro
mote the teachings of Christ in the
nearly two thousand years since He
walked the face of the earth.
Steve Hotovy
UNL alumnus
Lincoln
Catholic truth
The editor’s note leading into
Edmund Rochc-Kclly’sguest opinion
(DN, March 17,1994) is not true. The
piece is not about “changes in sexual
ity and law in Ireland” but is rather a
spiteful and maliciousdiatribe against
the Catholic Church on the feast day
of one of the greatest saints in salva
tion history. It’s also an example of
misinformation masquerading as jour
nal ism to promote free sex as “love”
and vice versa.
Besides spreading prejudice and
hate, the article hails the condom as
savior of us all and champion at stop
ping the human immunodeficiency
virus. Never mind that its failure rate
at stopping pregnancy is one in five.