Daily
Nebraskan ,
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J. Christopher Haiti..Editor, 472-1766
Doug Kouma. .Managing Editor
Doug Peters. .Opinion Page Editor
Sarah Scalet. .Associate News Editor
Matt Waite. .Associate Neyx’s Editor
Michelle Garner. .Wire Editor
Jennifer Mapes. .Columnist
Changing times
Evolution needs to be taught in schools
In 1925, a schoolteacher in Tennessee was tried, convicted and
fined SI 00 for the offense of teaching evolution.
Seventy years later, Tennessee lawmakers arc making another
attempt to restrict me leacmng
of evolution. Tennessee state
senators recently passed a bill
that would give local school
boards the authority to fire a
teacher who presented evolution
as a fact, rather than a theory.
While the Tennessee bill does
not completely ban the discus
: sionofevolution, its vague word
ing will prompt many teachers
to avoid the subject of evolution
altogether, rather than risk los
ing their jobs.
Tennessee is not alone.
Biology textbooks in Alabama
must carry a disclaimer labeling
| evolution as a “controversial
7 1(_J77 theory that some scientists
ret ottsc a n SUpp0rt And a school district in
Georgia has approved the teaching of creationism as a science.
These incidents are only the latest in a scries of attempts by the
religious right to hijack the public education system in the United
States. Radical, right-wing Christians have won seats on school
boards throughout the country. Their agenda includes censoring
textbooks and banning “offensive” material from school libraries.
They want to eliminate or severely restrict sex education and ban
discussion of abortion and homosexuality.
They also want to dictate what teachers can say about evolution.
Evolution is a scientific theory. As such, it has a rightful place in
science classrooms. Creationism is a religious belief. Its place is in
homes and churches. .
Our public education system is facing a number of very serious
problems. Funding for the schools is threatened by shrinking state
budgets. Teacher salaries are ridiculously low, and school buildings
are crumbling because there is no money to repair them. American
children are falling behind the rest of the world academically.
In many places, the religious right has turned what should be a
discussion about these and other important issues into a holy war,
where children arc used as pawns in an increasingly ugly ideological
battle. They want to tell our children what to think, not teach them
how to think.
Schools should provide a positive learning environment where
teachers help children acquire the tools they need to understand the
world around them. The theory of evolution is one of those tools. A
child who knows the biblical story of creation loses nothing if he or
she also learns the theory of evolution.
Editorial policy
Staff editorials represent die official
policy of the Spring 19% Daily Ne
braskan. Policy is set by die Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials
do not necessarily reflect the views of
the university, its employees, the stu
dents or the NU Board of Regents.
Editorial columns represent the opin
ion of the author. The regents publish
the Daily Nebraskan. They establish
the UNL Publications Board to super
vise the daily production of the paper.
According to policy set by the regents,
responsibility 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 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 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 the
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
material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union,
1400 R SL Lincoln, Neb. 68388-0448.
fA^HS/W(27^ir%!5PA5^lJ
Snow Job
Blizzard, what blizzard? I
managed to ice skate back to Lincoln
on Sunday just fine in the gale force
winds and the blinding snow, but for
many of the travelers coming from
the west they did not. And do you
think the university would have the
sense enough to cancel classes
because of the lack of students able
to make it to class because they are
trapped in their car waiting for
someone to rescue them? No. Come
on. To cancel classes here once in a
couple of snow storms would not
cause massive stupidism to occur.
Why was it that UNK got canceled?
Michael Consbruck
freshman
agronomy
BretGottschall/DN
accident, you’d know that there were
a lot of other freaky factors involved,
like how they somehow managed to
drive through the only narrow space
that had no trees to stop their
horrifying descent into the lake.
Jacob Behlen, Tina Dyer, Ryan
Gragert and Eric Kudron were meant
to die that night, though I don’t think
anyone will ever understand why.
Their being “legally drunk” is just a
scapegoat for people like yoti to1 ^
blame the cause of the accident on.
So don’t you dare use our friends as
an example in your article when you
don’t even know who or what you’re
talking about. They were good
people. Some of us would like to
remember them that way.
Julie Demuth
freshman
meteorology
Ad choice
questioned
I just want to briefly express how
disgusted I am at your putting the
anti-abortion insert in today’s paper.
It demonstrates your editor’s
* complete lack of journalistic ethics.
Sure, special interest groups buy ad
space in major newspapers all the
time. The problem is that this is a
learning institution, and you have a
special audience and thus a special
service to provide — primarily to
provide fair representation for all
sides of an issue — especially for
such an important issue as reproduc
tive rights and abortion. If the K.KK
could pay the price, would you
distribute an advertisement for it as
well? Shame on you for selling out
so cheaply.
Ironically, the inserts are littered
all around the newspaper stands
making a big mess. I guess the
students decided to abort them.
Lynda Williams
graduate student
physics
i
Respect memory
of victims
I’ve read a lot of articles in the
DN that have made me mad. But
Kasey Kerber’s article entitled
“Sober Up” (March 26) not only
made me mad, it hit a more personal
note, and for once, 1 had to write in.
He may have made a lot of good
points about drinking and driving,
and yes, the article does make you
think — but he had no right using
the four teens that died last week in
Columbus as examples.
Tell me, did you even know
them? Did you even know their
names? Did you say “hi” or stop and
talk when they walked by? Did you
attend high school and graduate with
them? Because some of us did. And
we will not forget them in a week or
two as you probably will. Nor will
we go on with our lives as normal as
you will. Time will never shut them
out of our memories.
And the question you posed about
whether they’d be alive today had
they not been drinking — well it’s
my belief that they still would not
have been. If you knew anything
except the generalities of the
Find a new name
I am writing in response to the
March 25 Daily Nebraskan editorial
“Ultimatum” concerning the
Catholic Bishop of Lincoln. Have
you ever wondered why so many
people are asking for an “open and
healthy dialogue” concerning
Catholic teachings? Groups such as
“Catholics for a Free Choice” desire
only one thing — to change Catholic
doctrine. It seems rather obvious to
me that if you want to belong to a
religion, you should believe what
that religion teaches. Seriously, what
would you think of a group called
“Buddhists who don’t believe in
Buddha”?
The Bishop of Lincoln is simply
telling Catholics to stand clear of
groups that are contradictory to their
common faith. Those who choose to
belong to these groups basically
excommunicate (or cut off) them
selves, for they no longer hold to the
same Church. I would implore the
members of these groups to find a
new name for your beliefs — the
name “Catholic” is already taken.
Michael Dalton
junior
broadcasting
---
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