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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1995)
Qhnjon Thursday, October 26, 1995 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln J. Christopher Haiti.Editor, 472-1766 Rainbow Rowell.Managing Editor Mark Baldridge.Opinion Page Editor DeDra Janssen.Associate News Editor Doug Kouma.Arts & Entertainment Editor JeffZeleny.Senior Reporter Matt Woody.Senior Reporter James Mehsling.-.J. • • Cartoonist Sticky charges Accusers need to be held accountable There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about victim’s rights— maybe too much talk. This issue is not a PC issue. This issue is a civil rights issue! Half-baked references to U2 aside, victim’s rights is an issue everyone seems to agree on—victims of crimes should be protected, right? They should not be put on trial — criminals should be put on trial. Problem is, it’s just never that simple. Victims have to have the same rights thatthe accused have; anything less leads to the tyr anny of the accuser. T ake the example of sexual harassment. It’s a social problem whose time has come — our society is determined to shed light on it. No longer will bosses or teachers oranyonebeal lowed to keep to the shadows and con tinue to abuse or harass their employees, students — what ever. And there are some who sav that the victim should be Bret Gottschaii/DN granted the shadows formerly reserved for the perpetrator. This is not a good idea. If the accuser is protected, if his or her name is not printed in the papers that cover the story, if they never have to face public scrutiny, then the potential for abuse is multiplied. Don’t like me?—Accuse me. No one will mention your name, you will never have to answer to the damning attention which your accusation will inflict upon me and my family. Even if you cannot prove your allegations, you can hurt me, badly. Or I could do the same to you. This is not an acceptable way to run a society of equals. But there are obvious drawbacks to the system as it exists: Those most harmed by something like sexual harassment have to face almost unbearable scrutiny after the fact. ' They are forced to participate in the machinery of judgment they themselves have set in motion. And they have to live with the possibility that the perpetrator will go unpunished — that for one reason or another, they will go free. This is almost certainly why so many abuses of power go unre ported: Fear of the consequences of reporting outweighs the fear of continued harassment. And it’s too bad when those who have been victimized have to endure so much on top of the abuse they’ve suffered. But it is also unavoidable. Justice is hard to come by, in any system. Until someone thinks of a better way to do things, this is how our civilization runs. Hopefully. Because there a lot of ways it could be made worse. Editorial policy Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1995 Daily Nebras kan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebras kan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect die 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 the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of die paper. Accord ing to policy set by the regents, respon sibility for the editorial 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 to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit mate rial as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become die property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re turned. Anonymous submissions will not be pub lished. Letters should include the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Re quests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit materia] to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. g-0 f» V1ELC0ME TO THE ^ •< Pit of hell, for the M ' OF ETLRNm NOO WILL H TAKING SPANISH 201.... % li E /-jS/JAJ Cj Positive message You’ll never believe what I just heard on the news tonight. Appar ently, the university feels that the sanctions placed on Lawrence Phillips should be a positive message to victims. I agree wholeheartedly that this is a positive message. However, it is a positive message for abusers, not victims. This positive message says it’s OK to beat up women. As long as you go to counseling, attend all your classes, and stay away from her, it will all be forgotten. In fact, you may even get to play football again. Wouldn’t that be great? The university will let you attend a few counseling sessions to help you control your anger and then allow you to participate in the most violent sport in America! The message to victims of abuse is you should just grin and bear it. It is part of our society and you have to get used to feeling like you don’t amount to anything. As a woman I find this decision offensive. Apparently at “good old Ne braska U” an abuser not only has the right to continue his education, but he also is given the chance to ruthlessly beat someone again. Unfortunately, a victim may not get a second chance. Jenny Sievers Senior Family Science via e-mail Abortion Regarding Emily Poulsen and Zoe Triantafillou’s column (“Free dom to choose keeps women safe,” Oct. 23): There is nothing in the Constitu tion about “reproductive choice”. This was an interpretation by the Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade decision. The Supreme Court has been wrong before, like in the Dred Scott decision. It was wrong again with Roe v. Wade. David Oldham Junior News-Editorial via e-mail More abortion To “Our Special Guests”: If people would simply accept the responsi bility that comes with the funda mental rights of choice, there would be no need for drastic and deadly measures. Rosie Jimenez had those fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens by the U.S. Constitution. She had the right to reproductive freedom. She had the right to make the choice, the choice between having sex or refraining. What Rosie did not want was to accept the responsibility that comes with her fundamental rights. The ability to have sex is a right. To destroy life is not a right. No one has the right to decide that their life is more important than someone else’s, especially a defenseless little child. I feel sorry for Rosie and all the other women who have died due to complica tions in “back alley" abortions. But let’s not forget that since 1973 millions of innocent children have been legally killed. When we join in the rally in front of Broyhill Fountain to honor Rosie Jimenez what we should really be remembering is the death of the'child in her womb and the 5 year-old whom she selfishly left behind simply because she would not face responsibility for her own actions and wanted the easy way out. Brian Carlin Freshman Business via e-mail Culture vulture 1 am writing in response to Mr. Peters’ column (“Culture barons," Oct.24). I disagree with his attack on Ted Turner. What Mr. Turner has done is nothing short of fabulous. He does not destroy classic movies as Mr. Peters stated. First they are restored on black and white to upgrade their condition. After that, they are colorized. Contrary to belief, the films are still available in the original black and white. Those “bastardized” movies are then shown to a new generation of people and are available on home video. If not for the efforts of Mr. Turner, films like “Gone With the Wind” would have been lost a long time ago. Robert Brown II Senior Chemistry Head ditto Mr. Burger, who will find job hunting a bit frustrating, is obvi ously liberal (Letters, Oct.24). Those who I hear bashing Mr. Limbaugh can’t say they have ever listened to Rush for any length of time or at all. Rush is self-confi dent, well-read, and always right, in both senses. Reporters are notorious for taking a single statement out of context and characterizing him based on that statement alone. If your English pro fessors can teach you no more, get out. Rush did it on his own, perhaps you can too. Nolan Carson, B.A., M.A. College of Dentistry via e-mail
