The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 13, 1995, Page 4, Image 4
Qhnon Monday, February 13,1995 Page 4 r Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln JeffZeleny.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 Bull curve Sit-in an effective response to racism Rutgers University President Francis Lawrence, at a November faculty meeting, said minority students lacked the “genetic heredi tary background” to perform well on entrance tests like the SAT. Lawrence’s statement, regardless of the fact that he claims to have misspoken, shows the high level of racist sentiment that ex ists in our nation. In fact, it is the cultural bias that exists in these standardized tests that leads to the difficulties faced by people of other ethnic backgrounds. Lawrence himself would have quite a time taking a test that was standardized against a backdrop of African-American, or another different, culture. Lawrence’s comments, publicly released two weeks ago, elic ited a sit-in protest at last by more than 150 students at last Tuesday’s Massachusetts-Rutgers basketball game. The sit-in caused the game’s suspension, and will result in ei uiei a pusipuncmcm ui [ Rutgers’ forced forfeit. It was an excellent demonstration of the methods advocated by Dr. [ Martin Luther King Jr more ( than 30 years ago. His policies of non-vio lent direct action, like sit-ins i and boycotts, were the driving force behind the desegregation movement and civil-rights gains of the 1960s. It is great to see that many people still feel strongly i a® (m ® enougn aoout tneir Deireis to . ® .T. .J take action and support them. Amy Schmicft/DN It is unlikely that a simi lar comment made at our Uni versity of Nebraska-Lincoln would be enough to break the layers of apathy that hang over the campus. And to disrupt a sporting event would seem like sacrilege to this community. Unfortunately, the crowd at the Rutgers game had different pri orities than the protestors. The sellout crowd of mostly whites shouted “Get off the court!” and “We want hoops!” Too many people blindly follow socially insignificant activities like sports, sitcoms and Simpson trials, while prejudiced attitudes continue to be reinforced. Eye-opening protests like this one hopefully will stir up enough non-violent emotion to bring about some much-needed change in this country. Lawrence publicly apologized for “the damage and the pain” his statement caused, and said he could not “explain a remark; that said precisely the opposite of my deeply held beliefs.” It doesn’t really matter if Lawrence felt this way or not. He made this announcement to the faculty of his university. It is many of the privileged whites in power who are, continuing the oppression of people of color in this nation and are trying to Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1995. .Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editori als do notnecessarilyreflectthe views of the university, its employees, the students or the NUBoaidofRegents. Editorial columns represent the opin ion of die author. The regents publish the Duly 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 edito rial content of the newspaper lies 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 publication 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 the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub lished Letters should included the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted Submitmaterial to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R SL, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. ^ ML ) iTi EITHER ^ EH CHIEF < THE HVNHM ^-J Daily Nebraskan readers say: Send your brief letters to: i 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. mmmm: ■? Touching column This letter is in response to Yousuf Bashir’s column “Distance doesn’t lessen love” (Feb. 8). I admit that I do not read Bashir’s column very often, but this time it was different. I was on my way back from a class when I was gripped by the letter he wrote to his mother. My first impression about it was that Bashir was out of materials or ideas, which made him publish his private letters instead. With a smile on my face, I began reading, and gradually his words started to move the feelings inside me. The smile disappeared and instead warm and salty liquid rolled down my face. I had to stop reading, knowing that I would sob in a second. I moved my face toward the shuttle window and gazed hundreds of miles away. Bashir’s letter made me think of my own mother and family, especially in these blessed days. It is hard not to be among them. I remember them every evening when I break the fast on my room floor and, with a hurry, run to my classes. This time Bashir’s words made me picture them closely and I felt how much I love and miss them. I wonder how many persons read Bashir’s column and have been touched by it as I was. Sahar Abdalla graduate student community and regional planning Censorship In reply to the “Offensiveness” letter in the Daily Nebraskan (Feb. 10): Censorship is a complicated issue. So perhaps censoring the “Strip Pool” ad is not a solution to the AmySchmidt/DN problem of negative stereotyping of women, etc., but the fact is that while someone chose to run this ad, other things, were being censored elsewhere in the Daily Nebraskan. When people apply for jobs as columnists, censorship takes place when Jamie Karl is hired and somebody open-minded isn’t. Censorship takes place when the Daily Nebraskan covers certain stories and not other ones. If this ad had contained naked men instead of women, or if it was for a KKK rally or a neo-Nazi newsletter, would the ad have been accepted? The issue isn’t whether censor ship is good cm- bad — it is why certain things are censored and others not. I recently helped to put together a ‘zine in which a graphic of a vulva was shown. The company that was going to be paid to photocopy the ‘zine refused because they found this graphic offensive. This was censorship, but more disturbing was that a vulva was 1 found offensive. Would a swastika or penis have been found offensive? Nell Eckersley senior women's studies Liberal ideology What was Todd Elwood thinking in his column “Poor tots torched for science” (Feb. 9)? It’s liberal ideologists like Elwood who can see the big picture, that they are sending this country down the pipes. Does Elwood think sociologists work for free? Has he ever heard of research grants? Does he think research grants come from the sky? Not only does the taxpayer have to provide the food, housing and clothing for Elwood’s “suckling newborns,” but now we taxpayers have to pay an overeducated, overpaid sociologist to babysit these runts. Personally, we’d rather fork out the $70 a kid to the welfare mother than a couple hundred bucks to some observationalist who couldn’t find anything better to do. C’mon Todd, we know the only reason you want these “Elwood Research Babies” is to give yourself a job when you finally decide to graduate and join the real world. Stop thinking of yourself and start thinking of all the babies’ lives you’ll ruin forever. Matt Aerni junior biology Patrick Waymire junior chemical engineering