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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1995)
I' Daily Nebraskan Edtorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoin 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 Right turn But Johanns goes too far with cuts Lincoln’s government could be moving to the right side of the abortion debate in attempting to be on no side. Lincoln Mayor Mike Johanns made a bold decision by recom mending that the city take Planned Parenthood and Natural Family Planning off the city’s budget. But Johanns is only half on target. The mayor, in announcing his decision this week, said he wanted to put the city in a neutral position. But in effect, he is taking a side by cutting the groups’ funding. With a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic on the horizon, Johanns took a step in the right direction. Abortion does not deserve the public’s money. Should the city council support Johanns’ proposal when it sees the budget in June, Planned Parenthood would lose $12,000. That is about 1 percent of the agency’s $1.1 million budget. Natural Family Planning would lose $5,000. Planned Parenthood’s grant from the city went to its sex-educa tion budget for programs and materials. However, the money was only 10 percent of its spending in that area. The finding is not that significant to the area. If anything, a deci sion to remove funding has symbolic importance. Planned Parenthood does perform important andaffordable health care services, provides birth control and gives counseling. Those areas should be left untouched, and they will because the public’s money does not go there. But Natural Family Planning should not lose any of its funding. Natural Family Planning is about as far from abortion as you can get It is a worthy program and should continue to be supported. Quotes of the week “This perverted lifestyle is contrary to the laws of God and man. It is a crime against nature and will inevitably bring doom to those who practice it.” — Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., on homosexuality. “All of the sudden, you begin to see people wanting things the way they were in the Southwest Conference.” — NU football coach Tom Osborne, on SWC commissioner Steve Hatchell being named thefirst commissioner of the new Big 12 Conference. “We remain close and in great support of one another.” — Part of a statement issued by Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett an nouncing they were separating after 21 months of marriage. “People aren’t aware what the Contract With America entails. The more they are aware, the more they will be against it.” — Carl Klamer, member of the Nebraska Progressive Party, at a protest against the Contract With America. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1995. Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board Editori alsdonotnecessarilyrcflcctthe views of the university, its employees, the studentsortheNUBoaidofRegents. Editorial columns representthe 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. Accortfing to policy setby the regents, responsibility lor the edito rial content of the newspaper lies solely in the bands of its students. Letter policy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selectedfor publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains therighttoedit or cgectall 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 fished. Letters should included the author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted Submit material to the Doily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 RSt, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. -- ; ' _• = 7-:-: ■--:—;—;—: ;a , * •' f~vt tew) I rfs cmt> \ " \ \ awns m> stuff. I mm buMBAs\ / \\l \ mrM-wbm l I , V v. ,---J Li Send your brief letters to: Dally Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb. 68588. Or tat to: (402) 472-1781. Letted must be signed and Include a phonenumber for ^verification. ‘Bigoted display’ In my four years at UNL, I’ve seen some pretty asinine demonstra tions, ranging from neo-conserva tives to pot smokers. Of them all, I doubt any one of them could top the utterly stupid, moronic and incred ibly bigoted display for prejudiced faith I witnessed Tuesday evening across 12th Street from the Lied Cotter. Pastor Fred Phelps and his entourage of homophobic zealots put on a demonstration so sick and devoid of compassion and decency that I doubt Pat Buchanan or Jerry Falwell could orchestrate anything equal to it. Although the display itself was theological puke at its finest, what really appalled me was the age of some of these protestors. I spotted at least four children in the crowd who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old. What kind of parents turn their own children into hate mongers who use God to excuse their bigotry? A moral diet of prejudice ana extrem ist rhetoric is a deplorable way to raise a child. Scott Carpenter .■ senior English rlyVM First of all, the only things that can result from the “preachings” of so-called Pastor Fred Phelps are hatred, violence and people turning away from God in fear of being associated with fringe extremists like him. Second, God does not hate. God loves all equally, be you homo sexual or homophobe. God wants us to be free of sin, but since we are all imperfect, we fall short. To engage in homosexual acts is a sin, but God forgives sins, therefore even homosexuals can enter the kingdom of God if they choose the right path. Finally, Paula Lavigne’s one sided portrayal of the story (“Lied show sparks protest from anti-gay group,” March 29) is disgusting. Her interview with Phelps’ 7-year old daughter displays the same journalistic ineptitude as Connie Chung in her coaxing of Newt Gingrich’s mother. Robert B. Nickeson senior physics and astronomy AmySchmidt/DN ‘Kids won used’ I am writing in response to the article “Lied snow sparks protest from anti-gay group” (March 29). I find it truly pathetic how parents use their children to fight their battles or spew their beliefs for them. Instead of teaching their children to hate, Fred Phelps (a pastor, no less) and his church should teach the acceptance and love that God attempts to profess. As for the parents of those children, fight your battles on your own—with your opinion. And have respect for your children by allow ing them to have theirs. Kristen R. Johnson sophomore general studies Double standards This country was founded on the principles of justice, equality and freedom as written in the Constitu tion. Why is it that the act of an American citizen caught red-handed while illegally crossing international borders is termed as as an innocent mistake and that of a non-U.S. citizen is called a spying mission? What will happen if a Russian weapon contractor crosses the border of the United States ille gally? Will this be an “innocent mistake”? Everyone knows the answer. We would go to great lengths to find out all the secrets and details and make sure that justice is served. Why not take full responsibility for all the “innocent mistakes” we have committed and make sure to bring all those responsible to justice? The path of double standards leads to injustice, bigotry and hatred. Let us use our resources to make peace and prosperity in this world and not destruction and chaos. Abbas AM graduate student mechanical engineering Sin We are writing in response to the protests outside the Lied Center Tuesday evening. As Christians we would like to voice our disagree ment with the statement “God hates fags.” Although we do not condone homosexual behavior, none of us is righteous. Because all sin is equal in God’s eyes, we are sinners just as homosexuals are. God doesn’t hate homosexuals, he hates sin. We hope that the demonstration did not reflect the idea that all Christians feel the same way as the protestors stated above. Jesus died for our sins. We are saved not by our righteous deeds, but by God’s grace. Brook Janssen junior elementary education Rene Francis junior nursing