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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1994)
Opinion NetJraskan Monday, April 20,1994 Jeremy Fitzpatrick Rainbow Rowell. . . Adeana Left in. Todd Cooper. JeffZeleny. Sarah Duey. tVilliam Lauer. .. . Nebraskan Editorial Board - University of Nebraska-Lincoln ..Editor. 472-1766 ...Opinion Page Editor ....Managing Editor . .Sports Editor ..Associate News Editor . . Arts & Entertainment Editor .Senior Photographer KM I OKI \l Two steps back Loss of men s gymnastics solves nothing The University of Nebraska has won 10 national titles in its history. Two were in football, in 1970 and 1971. The other eight —— all in the past 15 years — have come under the guidance of Francis Allen, Nebraska’s men’s gymnastics coach. After a gutsy performance by Nebraska’s four seniors and three underclassmen, Allen got his eighth title Saturday. * But it may be his last. At this year’s convention, the NCAA passed Proposal 158, which states a sport must have 40 schools in it to remain a sanc tioned sport. Only 36 schools have men’s gymnastics teams. That means, after the completion of next season, men’s gymnas tics will more than likely become extinct as a championship sport. “For this team’s legacy to continue, the sport needs to continue,” Allen said. “They did their part. Now 1 need to do my part.” Allen has a tough task ahead. He has said Proposal 158 is just another prong in the process of achieving gender equity, but cutting a low-cost, low-numbers sports like men’s gymnastics does little to achieve gender equity. It doesn’t accomplish anything, except eliminate a sport that epitomizes the combination of power and grace. The NCAA seems bound and determined to achieve gender equity — no matter the cost. Gender equity is an admirable goal. But the concept was de signed to create opportunities for women, not destroy them for men. Proposal 158 should be repealed at next year’s convention. Otherwise, the NCAA will be eliminating a lot more than just another sport. “It will be a dam shame if the NCAA discontinues these cham pionships,” Ohio State coach Peter Kormann said, “because the gymnastics you saw out here was on par with world-class competi tion. “You don’t get that in any other NCAA sport.” <)l III l<v \ || w ast month, a federal judge correctly stopped the warrant less gun searches taking place in Chicago public housing departments. U.S. District Judge Wayne Anderson said violating the constitutional rights of residents was more frightening than the guns themselves. Violence during the summer led to the Chicago Housing Authority’s decision to request that police conduct random, door to-door gun searches. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the residents, arguing that people retained their constitutional rights while living in public housing. Violent crimes committed with guns are arc a terrible problem, not only in the projects but also in society in general. More than 300 episodes of gunfire took place in the Robert Taylor Homes project during a five-day period last summer. But the search of households without a warrant is unconstitu tional. No matter how worthy the desired end, we should not condone the suspension of constitutional rights for any group. Low-income people already suffer too many assaults on their human dignity. The upholding of their constitutional rights should be applauded. — University Daily Kansan University of Kansas I 1*1 I OKI \l POI l< \ StalTeditorials represent the olTicial policy ol'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 l< 1*01 It \ 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 should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property ofthc Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should included (he author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, ifany. Requests to withhold names will not be granted Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St,, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. 3 ©94 AKRON SSACPNajfc#. I I I I I K" MU III I'M mu Spanier I must agree with Regent Robert Allen in regard to Chancellor Gra ham Spanier and his agendas. I find nothing wrong with Allen coming out into the open with his letter. Just as many campus organiza tions come out publicly to decry what they perceive to be problems on cam pus and with the school’s administra tion —or to bleed over multicultural hiring or gay rights, etc. — Allen merely puts the issue into the public arena and allows us all to discuss Spanicr’s policies. What the state needs is excellent institutions of higher education and the abili ty torctai n these trained gradu ates i n the state to attract business and to expand the state’s prosperity. Instead, the current administration has involved itself with gay rights, despite the relatively low gay popula tion on campus, and it has been em broiled in the Mexican American Stu dent Association boycott over hiring inthcOPficeofMulti-Cullural Affairs (an ironic twist if ever one could be found) and an agenda to undermine the learning atmosphere for the sake of political correctness and, quite frankly, socialism. There is nothing wrong with multiculturalism itself, but what is needed before a multicultural educa tion is an education in the basics and in the areas pertinent to succeeding in the job market. I applaud Allen for having the courage to come forward and express his concerns, which do not simply translate into his own self-aggran dizement, and for involving us all in this discussion and for opening the door for many of us to voice our wor ries. Jason A. Bemejee Lincoln Allen According to the April 20 issue of the Daily Nebraskan, Regent Robert Allen is critical of Chancellor Gra ham Spanier’s “liberal, sociological philosophy” regarding homosexual ity. For centuries our world has lived without tolerance and acceptance. Numerous wars have been fought for hatred. We cannot possibly under stand love and acceptance, because we are a fighting breed. 1 f I do not 1 ike my neighbor, I can claim he is a Jew, a wetback or a fag. I can even say it in such a manner as to make being one of those things seem bad, even evil. Spanicr is break ing tradition — a long tradition of hate and ignorance. Obviously Allen believes the world docs not need to be a better place, just the same place. Certainly Allen is correct in send ing his views to The Lincoln Star. Of course, when Allen criticized another university official for answering a reporter’s question regarding a sepa rate engineering college for the Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln, that was a different story. According to Allen, that man was wrong to share his views, because such matters are private. Speaking to the papers is a right reserved to Allen. Stephanie Call sophomore education James Mehslinq/DN ‘Sheer horror’ When I walked out of Selleck Resi dence Hall April 23,1 was mortified to sec the American flag by the Nebraska Union still at full mast. Never before have I gazed in sheer horror at such a blatant disrespect for human life. 1 found out about former President Richard Nixon’s death at 9:11 p.m. on April 22. The flag should have been at half-staff by 9:15 that same night. 1 expected the uninterested and uncaring comments l received from my fellow students about Nixon’s death. I did not expect the same from this university. It docs not take much for a person to get off their lazy butt and go lower * flag. This “it can wait until morn ing attitude displayed by the univer sity ridicules this entire nation and everything it stands for. 1 am utterly repulsed by this apa thy. Perhaps if Nixon had made a large financial contribution to this university, the flag would have been lowered that night. If the University of Nebraska-Lin coln wishes to show disrespect for the dead, then it should be done behind closed doors. So, go ahead UNL, take your time getting that flag down. It was around 11 a.m. when you finally got to it. This university disgusts me. Our former commander in chief deserves better than this. But then, what more can I expect from a university in Ne braska? Scott Knutson freshman English Beef In response to Jim Anderson’s April 21 letter dealing with the vegetarian lifestyle: Distorting the facts about beef production is a sad way to make a point. Approximately 50 percent of all land in the United States is devoted to grazing. Of the land being grazed, 85 percent is too high, rough, dry or wet to be farmed. By not using animals as a harvesting tool, more than 1 billion acres of grazing lands would be wasted and would not serve to lessen the world’s hunger. There is no basis for the argument that much of the grain fed to cattle could be used to feed the world’s population. Today, the United States alone has grain surpluses that could feed the world ’s populat ion. The prob 1cm is not of supply but of distribu tion. Starvation is often the result of i poverty, political pressures or defi cient infrastructures ofstrickcn coun tries. The cow s impact on grain sup plies is also minimal. Most of the grain fed to a cow comes in the last 90 120 days prior to slaughter. At least 85 percent of the jiutrients a cow consumes in its lifetime come from nongrain sources that are not suitable for human consumption. In addition, the impact ofbeefpro duction on the environment is over stated. It is estimated from scientific research that only 6 percent of all land converted from forest is ever used for grazing. Arguing that grazing causes soil erosion is contradictory to the principals of sound range manage ment, which arc based upon the use of grass and other perennial crops to hold the soil. The estimation that it takes 2,500 gallons ofwater to produce a pound of meat is severely overstated. Current estimates of 200 gallons of water per pound of meat are used for the produc tion of grain-fed beef. For al 1 beef (not just feedlot-fed beef) the average is much lower. Most of the water con sumed by the animal is not “used up but is recycled as a part of the natural hydrological cycle — as arc most of the so-called “pollutants” in the beef industry. What we choose to eat is a personal choice. However, trying to force or persuade people to choose a vegetar ian lifestyle by guilt and misrepresen tation of the facts is irresponsible. Brett Kirch Daren Rcdfeam Rob Mitchell graduate students range and forage sciences