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
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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Proposal 158 should be repealed at next year’s convention.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
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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
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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