Opinion
Monday, October 10,1994 Page 4
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeff Zelenv.Editor, 472-1766
Kara Morrison. Opinion Page Editor
Angie Brunkow. ..Managing Editor
Jeffrey Robb.Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell.Columnist/Associate News Editor
Kilev Christian..Photography Director
Mike Lewis.Copy Desk Chief
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
Gettiii' peanuts -
Degrees don’t guarantee high wages
It’s a college graduate’s worst nightmare.
After four or more years of academic diligence, a degree could
earn us about $4.25 an hour at a temp agency or a clerking job at
a discount store. So much for being able to pay off student loans.
It’s happening more than many of us are prepared to admit.
According to The Washington Post, the low-wage sector is the
fastest growing part of the U.S. labor force.
Too often, low-paying jobs are a starting point for college
graduates who need an income while they look for something
better. But that “something better” is getting harder to find.
According to The Post, The Census Bureau estimates “low
earners” constitute 16.3 percent of the labor force. This number
has increased by a third in the last 15 years. About 14 million
Americans earn less than $ 13,091 annually. Women, the young
and the less educated tend to hold these jobs.
Though the trend is alarming, college students still have a much
better chance at advancement from the low-wage barrier.
But everyone ultimately is affected when an increasing percent
age of the population is stuck in a low-wage rut.
DN explained
News, opinion sections are separate
We would like to clear up some common misconceptions our
readers have expressed regarding the different components of the
Daily Nebraskan’s editorial page.
The most common error readers make is identifying columns as
editorials or as news stories or articles. Big differences exist
between these parts of the newspaper.
Editorials are the opinion of the Daily Nebraskan editorial
board and are printed in the left-hand column of the opinion page,
to the left of the editorial cartoon. They are written by members of
the editorial board, which comprises eight members of the Daily
Nebraskan staff.
Columns are the opinion of the individual columnist, not of the
Daily Nebraskan. A column appears on the opinion page under a
heading stating the columnist’s name. The varying backgrounds of
the columnists bring a host of ideas and differing views to the
opinion page.
Like columns, editorial cartoons are the opinion of the indi
vidual staff or syndicated cartoonist.
Most importantly, the opinion section of the Daily Nebraskan,
which includes letters to the editor, columns, editorials and the
editorial cartoon, should not be confused with the news section of
the newspaper.
News stories are not written to include the writer’s or the
newspaper’s opinion.
We hope this clears up questions our readers have expressed.
Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 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 thc-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.
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 arc 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
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affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily
Nebraskan. 34 Nebraska Union. 1400 R St., Lincoln. Neb. 68588-0448.
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the stupidity and homophobia we
deal with every day.
Liz Dodds
sophomore
undeclared
Homosexuality
As a 19-year-old lesbian on
campus here at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, I was disgusted
and a little alarmed by Jamie Karl’s
column (DN, Oct. 7, 1994) on
National Coming Out Day. Your
statistics from the D.C. Family
Research Council (headed by Paul
Cameron, who was kicked out of
the American Psychological
Association) were alarming.
However, I’d like to remind people
that “statistics’’ can be manipulated
to say whatever a particular group
wants them to.
From my personal experience, it
seems the only group of people
taking the AIDS crisis seriously —
by adjusting their behavior and
promoting and educating people
about safe sex — is the gay commu
nity. If you want to look at statistics
from the Nebraska Department of
Health, why are heterosexual
women and adolescents the fastest
growing group contracting AIDS?
Because ignorant fools like you
think it’s only a “gay disease.”
To my knowledge, my homo
sexual friends and I are not “creat
ing an unprecedented health crisis.”
I work, I go to school, I exercise, I
don’t smoke. I’m a vegetarian, and
I avoid frat parties at all costs. I’m
just like any other person walking
down the street, and if I walked up
to you and shook your hand, not
only would you not catch anything,
J'ou wouldn’t even know I’m a
esbian.
I don’t like to be defined or
stereotyped by my sexuality. Yes, I
am a lesbian, but I’m a lot of other
things, too. I guess that’s the
problem; we’re not visible. We are
your friends, classmates, teachers,
parents, neighbors, etc. But with
public opinion being represented by
people like you, who would want to
come out?
It’s unfortunate that among the
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services 1989 statistics
(from Report of the Secretary’s
Task Force on Youth Suicide) that
30 percent of all teen suicide
victims are gay, lesbian and
bisexual adolescents. Maybe this
tragic number would be lower if
they were offered a little support,
understanding and acceptance,
instead of the hate, ignorance and
bigotry represented by you in the
Daily Nebraskan.
National Coming Out Day is a
chance for our minority to find
support, be proud and counteract
Amy Schmidt/DN
ISO elections
In response to the letter (DN,
Sept. 30, 1994) from Boon Lee
Lim, the interim International
Student Organization president, we,
as international students, would
like to tell the university commu
nity how we viewed the last
election.
The election itself was not very
organized, but it was fair, because
all had an equal opportunity to
participate in the election. When
ever issues were brought up,
participants in the election dis
cussed them based on the constitu
tion and prior agreement of the
election rules.
we feel sorry about the interim
president, whose term expired April
30, 1994. Although he was ap
pointed by the Student Court until
the re-election, his term has been
too long. He said he was anticipat
ing having a new election in
November, but he has failed to set a
new time for the election.
Lim also mentioned revising the
current constitution. We believe he
does not have the authority to do so.
Lim was elected as the 1993-94
ISO president by the same proce
dures that were used at the last
election. At that time, most of the
students didn’t know what was
going on, and only a handful
participated. He won the election
with four votes out of 89 (89
countries on the campus), which is
not even close to the 16 out of 89
votes that the loser of a subsequent
election received.
Because Lim is not the current
elected president — only an interim
officer — we believe he cannot
change the ISO constitution. Since
complaints were brought up after
the last election, he simply needs to
hold a re-election. Future ISO
troubles should be handled by the
new officers.
We also believe Lim was
involved in the dispute of the last
election, because some of the
candidates were his friends.
Therefore, he didn’t defend the
organization at the ISO hearing and
before the Student Court. He
defended himself and supported the
plaintiff through the petition at the
court. Most of his statement was
not true, according to the people
who participated in his election and
the last election.
If he really thought the election
was not fair, why did he appoint the
election committee — whom he
later blamed — agree to the
election rules and let the election
through after the outcome? What if
the candidate whom Lim supported
won the election? Is he goipg to
deal with this mess?
Lim said the Student Court
initiated his continuation of the
term. But according to the Student
Court decision of May 18, 1994, all
the 1994-95 ISO elected officers
must be prohibited from the
installation of their office. But he
appointed some of these officers on
April 7. For example, he appointed
his girlfriend, who ran for vice
president in the last election, as
treasurer in his interim office.
We question where Lim’s
authority to act as current president
comes from, and we think he
should take responsibility for the
current problems, because he
appointed the election committee;
he has to defend ISO from troubles;
he criticized others, including the
election committee, after problems
occurred; he broke rules but asked
others to follow them; and he didn’t
live up to his responsibilities but
wanted the recognition as president.
In the best interests of ISO, we
ask Lim to step down from his
office immediately and let the
organization go forward. If he fails
to step down or to call for immedi
ate re-election, we will take our
cause to the general student
population in an effort to have him
removed.
Jung-ho Son
graduate student
• animal science