Opinion
Friday, February 10,1995 Page 4
Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeff Zeleny. Editor, 472-1766
Jeff Robb.Managing Editor
Matt Woody..Opinion Page Editor
DeDra Janssen.Associate News Editor
Rainbow Rowell.Arts & Entertainment Editor
James Mehsling.Cartoonist
Chris Hain.Senior Reporter
Tough read
Female faculty numbers are sad story
Forget whatyou’ve heard about the chilly climate for women at the
University ofNebraska-Lincoln.
According to a study released this week, there are hardly enough
women to get chilly.
The report, which was written by the Chancellor’s Commission
on the Status of Women, said UNL ranked ninth out of 11 peer insti
tutions in its percentage of women faculty.
This is unacceptable.
Only 28 women at the University ofNebraska-Lincoln are full
professors. This is the lowest number in UNL’s peer group.
Only 17.7 percent of UNL’s faculty members are women, com
pared with 21.2 percent at the 10 other peer institutions.
To bring it up to the peer-group average, UNL would have to
increase its number of women faculty members from 194 to 243, the
report said.
It’s hard to believe that this is the case and that the year is 1995.
The facts tell the stoiy, and the story is not a fairy tale.
Sure, the results of this»study make UNL look bad. But these
other 10 universities don’t have much about which to brag. A fac
ulty composed of only 21.2 percent women also is unacceptable.
The only solution is to hire and retain more women. Of course,
qualified male applicants should not be ignored. But neither should
the truth.
Quotes off the week
“There’s a lot of anger among Native Americans that
they’re studied as specimens in academics.... It’s im
moral for us to apply a storage attitude toward Indian
skeletons.”
— Karl Reinhard, UNL assistant professor of anthropology
“My ultimate goal is to get on the (Daily Nebraskan)
quotations of the week list.”
— Petar Malesev, NU high jumper
“They (police) have harassed us... more than any other
bar in the city of Lincoln.”
— Chris Kugler, co-owner of Montigo Bay. 1435 O St.
“It’s not something I would try to live on. It is a marked
improvement for those individuals.”
— Sen. Tim Hall of Omaha, on his proposed minimum-wage
increase in Nebraska
“This is not a power grab.”
— Gov. Ben Nelson, on a proposal that would have members of the
NU Board of Regents apjx)inted by the governor instead of elected
by voters
“Where’s the KA-BOOM! There was supposed to be an
earth-shattering KA-BOOM!!! ”
— Marvin the Martian, a Warner Bros, cartoon character, on the
UNL computer system Herbie
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent the official
policy of the Spring 1995. Daily
Nebraskan. ft>licy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board Editori
alsdonotnecessarily reflect the views
of the university, its employees, the
students or the NUBoardofRegents.
Editorial columns represent the opin
ion of the author. The regents publish
the Daily Nebraskan. They establish
the UNL Publications Board to su
pervise the daily production of the
paper. According to policy set by the
regents, responsibility for the edto
nal content of the newspaper Ires
solely in the hands of its students.
Letter policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the
editor from all readers and interested others. Letters
will be selected for publican on on the basis ofclarity,
originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily
Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material
submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit ma
terial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether
material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and
guest opinions sent to die newspaper become the
property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub
lished. Letters should included die author’s name,
year in school, major and group 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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Nebraskan
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Send your brief letters to:
Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St,
Lincoln, Neb. 68588. Or fax
to: (402) 472-1761. Utters
must be signed and include a
i phone number for
^verification.
Women’s basketball
As an avid Nebraska women’s
basketball fan, I have enjoyed the
Daily Nebraskan’s player profiles and
interviews. Most of the year, the Daily
Nebraskan has had good coverage of
the Lady Huskers, but recently it has
not had any stories or scores of their
recent road trip to the two Kansas
schools.
I hope the Daily Nebraskan will
have the women’s basketball scores,
stories and the Big Eight standings in
the future.
The women’s team is working just
as hard as the men’s team. Our women
play a great brand of basketball. Their
games are exciting, especially with
the spotlighted, music-enhanced in
troduction of the Nebraska starting
five.
The team deserves the coverage.
Donald D. Cunningham
Lincoln
\ . -
Responsibility
Abortion is an extremely delicate
and controversial issue, but up to now
nobody has mentioned the key work
associated with it: responsibility. It is
undisputedly valid that women have
the right to decide if abortion is or not
an option for them, but there is also an
inherent responsibility in the utiliza
tion of the right, as implied with any
other civil right. Somebody who gets
pregnant just for the fact of not prac
ticing safe sex (and disinformation or
naiveness are NOT excuses) will very
unlikely be responsible for the child.
What really bothers me is the pe
dantic and pretentiously superior at
titude of those who declare their op
position to abortion based on their
“religious beliefs.” I definitely agree
with Michael Justice’s definition of
“religion.” I do respect those for who
religion is an answer and I expect the
same respect from religious people
about my position.
I quit the Catholic Church because
it did not give me a satisfactory an
swer to my existential doubts; accept
/ . ..
Amy Schmidt/DN
‘Fetus’
OK, once and for all. Would any
abortion supporter pleas answer a
question for me? How does a “fetus”
miraculously transform into an ac
tual human being at the moment of
his or her birth?
It seems that the definition of life
has become an issue of location.
If any abortion activist believes
that these unborn do have souls, then
who gives us the right to decide their
fate? These children have done noth
ing wrong—they haven’t even been
given the chance to do something
wrong. Their only crime, once again,
comes down to location. They are in
the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s time to stop rationalizing and
start telling the truth.
Karen M. Benes
freshman
undecided
Offensiveness
To the women deeply offended by
the “Strip Pool” ad: we do not under
stand why you are so upset. Or rather,
we can see through your game, though
you may not.
Without such ads appearing, what
would you do? What crusade would
you have? (For the existence of this ad
gives you the opportunity to separate
yourself from “them.” If there weren’t
“bimbos,” how could you be a “non
bimbo”?)
I am sure your eyes lit up at the
sight of the ad, as you saw an oppor
tunity to proclaim your political be
liefs and lay your claim to victimhood.
Nevermind that the ad had noth
ing to do with you. Nevermind that
the women consented to the ad, and
others are willing to buy the product.
You are being victimized!
Apparently, some people cannot
tolerate being offended. Why, we ask,
are they so afraid of being called a
bimbeaux?.
But perhaps in this era of political
correctness any offensive speech
should be banned. So, we will not call
you bimbos, as you would probably
gain too much satisfaction and self
righteousness from the “abuse.”
But we adamantly urge the Daily
Nebraskan to not censor ads based on
content. Are these women that help
less that the right to print the “Strip
Pool” ad should be waived so that
they can be shielded from its offen
siveness?
Eric Funkhouser
senior
philosophy
Jeremy Ripley
junior
art
Mitch Grady
junior
* art