EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anne Hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
Matt Waite
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
I 11
“To be honest with you, I never wanted to
play football. I wanted to be a trash man.”
— Former NU running back Mike
Rozier, after a street shooting almost killed
him in his hometown of Camden, N.J.
“If I had known that my four offspring
would be spit on, their belongings de
stroyed. That they would be physically and
verbally abused because they had a
‘nigger-lover’ for a mother, I wouldn’t
have done the exercise.”
— Former Iowa elementary school
teacher Jane Elliot, on her decision to teach
her students a lesson in racism with her now
famous “blue eyes/brown eyes” experiment
“It always feels good to get back to Indian
Country. There’s just a different vibration
in the air.”
— UNL law professor John Snowden,
on his practice of taking his Native Ameri
can Law students to visit some of Nebraska’s
reservations
“We can look at death in two ways: as an
enemy or as a friend. As a person of faith,
I see death as a friend.”
— Cardinal Joseph Bemardin, on his
faith prior to his death
“The Giants are getting a steal.”
— NU defensive tackle Jason Peter, on
the New York team’s decision to draft his
brother Christian
“Our offense has carried us for 20 or 30
years. So 1 guess it’s time for us to start
paying them back.”
— Peter, on the No. 1 Husker defensive
team
“He gets involved so much that every time
he gets the ball, you hold your breath.”
— Nebraska Defensive Coordinator
Charlie McBride, on playing against Iowa
State tailback Troy Davis
“We’re killing the fly with a sledgeham
mer.”
— Lt. Gov. Kim Robak, on the federal
welfare reform bill passed by President
Clinton in August
“We want to detoxify corporate America,
extend the roof and be fair.”
— The Rev. Jesse Jackson, on racism,
sexism and hostility in the Texaco coipora
tion and throughout corporate America
“It sucks to lose.”
— Kansas State Volleyball Coach Jim
Moore, after Nebraska beat KSU for die 54th
straight time
“We don’t have much of a bench, but what
we have, we can work with.”
— True freshman Cookie Belcher, NU
guard, on die depth of the Nebraska basket
ball team
“Please respect our privacy and let us en
joy this wonderful and exciting time.”
— Michael Jackson, in a statement fol
lowing his marriage to Debbie Rowe, who is
carrying his baby
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are die opinions of the
Fall 1996Doily Ndxaskan. They do not nec
essarily reflect die views of die University
of Nebraaka-Iincoln, its employees, its stu
dent body or die University of Nebraska
Board of Regents. A column is soiey die
opinion of its author. The Board of Regents
serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. The UNL Publications Board, es
tablished by the regents, supervises die pro
duction of the newspaper. According to
policy aet by the regents, responsibility for
the editorial content of the newspaper lies
solely in die bands of its student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily NebralumwdcomM brief let
ters to the editor and guest columns, but
does not guarantee their publication. Tbe
£>aily Nebraskan retains the right to edit
or iqect any material submitted. Submit
ted material becomes die property of the
Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned.
Anonymous submissions will not be
published. Those trim submit letters
must identify themselves by name, year
in school, mqjor and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily Ne
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St
Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfonnl.edu.
---
f—— -—-1
Unfair
INCRIMINATION
When I think about the Daily
Nebraskan, I think about a bunch of
aspiring young people hoping that
one day they will write for big-time
newspapers. I think about individuals
with a heart for news and a desire to
get it right. I think about learning,
making mistakes and writing some
great pieces from time to time.
I must say that I was extremely
disappointed that the DN’s reporter
mentioned three former Husker
players in connection with Tyrone
Williams’ case. Shame, shame,
shame on you! These three men were
not on trial. Mr. Williams was. You
had no right—journalistic or
otherwise—to mention their names.
Mr. Brennan lost the case for Mr.
Williams and wanted to throw the
blame on others. Now these men will
have to face the scrutiny of an
allegation which is totally unfounded
without substantial facts.
Now, if the DN has facts, write a
story. If not, don’t implicate individu
als who are not on trial in a criminal
proceeding. They may have had bad
judgment if they were with him.
However, as far as we, (the public)
know, they did not do anything.
Tyrone Williams did. To mention Mr.
Brennan’s quote that they “influ
enced Williams’’ without more
information is wrong—not good
journalism. I would expect respect
able people to admit the mistake and
apologize immediately.
Learn now before all of the
writers reach the big time. It’s like
my mother used to say: “Something
you can do, isn’t necessarily some
thing that you should do.”
John L. Harris
special assistant
Office of the Vice Chancellor for
Student Affairs
Natalie Linstrom/DN
Gats in schools
A Wisconsin school district is
paying almost a million dollars to a
former gay student for not protecting
him from being repeatedly harassed
by fellow students. I hope this sends
a very strong message to school
officials all across the nation that this
serious problem must be addressed.
School is a terrifying and trauma
tizing experience for kids who are
gay or merely suspected of being
gay. I know, because I lived it. I am a
43-year-old man who has never
forgotten being a little boy of 9 who
discovered his”difference” and felt
so aldhe, and received verbal and
physical assaults during school.
One way we can make our schools
safer is to discuss gay issues in the
classroom. Otherwise we send the
wrong message to youngsters, gay
and straight: that gay life is not
worthy of discussion, that it is
permissible to make jokes and taunt
classmates, that gay people are not
real human beings.
Should such issues be discussed in
school? You bet That’s the function
of education: to open students’ eyes,
minds, hearts and souls to the world
around them. They don’t necessarily
have to agree with everything they
read or hear, but they do have to try
to understand it.
Straight students need to talk
about gay issues, just as whites must
learn about the civil rights struggle,
non-athletes must take physical
education and youngsters preparing
to live in the 21 st century must know
the history of ancient Greece and
Rome.
Like it or not, homosexuality
exists. It surrounds us every day.
Today’s students will be tomorrow’s
j world citizens. They will have gay
and lesbian co-workers, bosses,
neighbors. Perhaps they’ll even have
a gay or lesbian child. What better
place to begin hearing, discussing
and thinking about gay issues than in
school?
We need to clear up the STAG
GERING amount of myths, misinfor
mation and just plain propaganda
about homosexuality. We need to
substitute actual facts and informa
tion.
Some people will listen to the
question, “Should the schools teach
about homosexuality?” and their ears
will register only two words: “teach”
and “sex.”
We do not want to teach your kids
to have gay sex. That is absurd, and
that is propaganda. What we gay
people are asking is that schools
teach the following:
1. That we exist—an undeniable
fact.
2. That we have made many
contributions to society: Walt
Whitman’s poems, WiUa Cather’s
novels, Alan Turing’s invention of
the computer—again an undeniable
fact.
3. That families come in more
than one form and that some students
have gay parents—again a fact.
4. And finally, that anti-gay
activity hurts everyone, gay and
straight, as well as being detrimental
to education and to business. What’s
the worst that could happen if truth,
understanding and tolerance are
taught? That more kids would be
gay? Nobody believes that. But
maybe a little hate will be lifted.
William C. Stosine
Iowa City, Iowa
jPg-T J •
34 Nebraska Union, 1400 *R" St, Lincoli
to (402) 472-1761,pre-maiI<letter8@unlHifo:unLedu.
rigned and include a phone number for verificationj
