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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1995)
—————————^, I , Ill - ■ ■■■ ■ ~ ,v • ' - . , VI* ■ * f. s . • • • . . • ✓ * , ■ - . . .... ' .— — ■ . .. — Daily 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 Wilted lettuce Party’s river of ideas seemingly stale It is a good thing students who aren’t in sororities and fraternities haven’t been in control of ASUN in anyone’s recent memory. The dominant group at UNL never has been able to lead anyway. Until you prove you can lead, don’t try to get elected to ASUN. This is the same view that is seemingly doomed to dominate ASUN year after year, election upon election. This is the same view that has led to nothing but a sliver of the student population being repre sented. This is a view that was once again represented at an ASUN cam paign debate. But the party spouting that attitude this time was LET TUCE, a group that purports to sell itself as outsiders to the ASUN machine. In Thursday’s debate, Chad Pekron, ACCESS presidential candi date and, apparently, one of the two true outsiders in this year’s campaign, said greeks had overrun ASUN. LETTUCE vice-presidential candidate Andy Smith, who com mented that his party was 99 percent greek, rebutted that until other groups proved they could lead, greeks would remain in charge. What happened to “drinking from the river of new ideas,” as LET TUCE said it would do? What happened to reinvigorating ASUN with new blood? LETTUCE’S appeal is based on the idea that it would do things differently. Bringing the view posed Thursday to ASUN would hardly do that. Students have seen hope in this party. LETTUCE doesn’t take campaigning too seriously, and they can be blunt at times, which is refreshing in a climate of jargon, double-speak and public relations. But the latest display of bluntness could reveal who LETTUCE truly is. If so, that is unfortunate. This again? UNL doesn’t need new grading scale Last week, six UNL faculty members introduced a 12-point grad ing proposal for consideration by the Academic Senate. This policy would expand the current grading scale to include minus grades and eliminate grades of A-plus. The reason for this proposal is, in the words of one proponent, that UNL needs to “get with it.” The question this raises is what, precisely, “if’ is. Perhaps “if’ is the system used at contemporary universities, which often include minus grades. Perhaps our system makes us less competitive with these institu tions in situations where national job or graduate placement are con cemed. If this were true, however, it would be safe to assume that the call for change would have been a unanimous clarion that came long ago rather than a muddled suggestion from six faculty members. Or, “getting with it” could refer to enhancing the academic envi ronment on campus. A concern is that stricter grades should reflect a more rigorous curriculum. By analogy, a new grading scale would be a cart placed before our horse. In this context, “it” should most certainly be the will of the stu dents. Quite simply, the new grading policy is not only unnecessary but also unwanted. The recent ASUN vote on the issue demonstrates this. Similar proposals have come up and gone down numerous times in the past and as recently as the last academic year. This current proposal should follow the other ones into oblivion. 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 notnecessarilyreflecttbe views of the university, its employees, the studentsortheNUBoardofRegents. Editorial colimans represent the opin ion ofthe author. The regentspublish die 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 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 of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right toedit 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 I 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. Submitmaterial to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union. 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. VJV\KT WAS tuat? I - Send your brief letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588. Or fax to: (402) 472-1761. Letters must be signed and include a phone number for permeation. Jamie Karl The Daily Nebraskan is truly lucky to have a writer like Jamie Karl! I will admit that sometimes his opinions and writing style are inflammatory and extreme, but more often than not, he confronts the liberal intellectual elite with truths they simply cannot deny. His latest column, “Ladies, men have it bad, too” (Feb. 16), is an excellent example of this. In this column, he points out the undeni able truth that men and women are different. The liberals and the feminazis will scream bigotry and chauvin ism, because they, in their pompousness and high-mindedness, have become too arrogant and blinded by their own egos to acknowledge another point of view, or even a simple truth, which contradicts their own point of view. Ryan Grone freshman general studies Biological facts In their letter (Feb. i5), Jo Dilallo and Dennis McGucken agree “biological facts” prove that “a fetus is both a living and human organism.” I’ll bet they’re glad their mothers thought so too. Martha Miller UNL Alumna Shaky argument In Dilallo’s and McGucken’s let ter (Feb. 15), we heard exactly what many abortion proponents believe. We are told that an unborn child cannot be considered a person be cause “any parasite in the body can claim uniqueness.” The truth is that even this pro abortion voice could not overpower the unborn cries from those who had no choice. For “it is perfectly obvious that a fetus is both a living and human organism. These are biological facts and no one disputes them,” Dilallo and McGucken wrote. I find it quite hard to swallow that they could make such an evident er ror, unless of course, there is a hint of internal struggle over their own be liefs. Jeff Fulton freshman elementary education AmySchmidt/DN Satire This letter is in reply to the letter “Liberal Ideology” (Feb. 13). I am not a supporter of Todd Elwood’s sociological research scheme, but I have to admit the column was quite humorous. I just don’t understand how two people like Aemi and Waymire can actually believe something like that. I just have one question for both of those two spout-offs: Have you ever heard of satire? I believe Elwood was making a deeper point than what was actually written. Come on, wake up and smell the coffee. Erik Montemer freshman modern languages Women The article entitled “Women in abusive relationships need plan of action for safety” (Feb. 10) ne glected to mention the departments on campus that are available to assist victims of domestic violence. The Women’s Center has support groups and counseling available to women who are victims of domestic abuse. Along with medical assis tance, the health center has counse lors available to students. The Employee Assistance Program has counselors available free of charge for staff, faculty and family members who are affected by domestic violence. Along with these programs is the Victim Services Program. Although the Victims Services Program does not offer counseling, it does act as a central place where victims can receive information and referrals to other departments and agencies on campus and in Lincoln. The Victim Services Program provides information about report ing incidents to police or medical personnel, assists in obtaining protection orders and also assists with getting back into the routine of classes or work after an incident of domestic violence. An important issue pointed out in the article is the change pro posed by Sen. Hillman to include people who date or have dated in the domestic abuse act. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (1992), 51 percent of the victims of intimate violence were attacked by “boy friends or girlfriends.” UNL is not immune from this type of violence. Sen. Hillman’s bill could directly affect students who need to report domestic violence or obtain protection orders because of violence in a dating relationship. Lisa Cauble Victims Services coordinator