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EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
AnneHjersman
Paula Lavigne
Joshua Gilhn
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
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DN Quotes
OF THE WEEK
“What such people really need to learn
how to do is keep their nose out of other
peoples’ crotches.”
— Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha on
the issue of same-sex marriage
“We must keep our old democracy for
ever young. Guided by the ancient vision
of a promised land, let us set our sights
upon a land of New Promise.”
— President Bill Clinton, inaugural
address
“We certainly don’t need to redefine
marriage to accommodate homosexual
couples.”
— Doug Patton, executive director of
the Nebraska Christian Coalition
“The message is that we can all be
friends, that we can all work together.
It’s important for kids to overlook color
and sex and continue doing that when
they’re adults."
—Carrie Nunez, floor supervisor, Lin
coln Children’s Museum
“We should never lose by 37 points. They
just completely took the wind out of our
sails."
—NU wrestler Tolly Thompson on the
Huskers’ loss to Iowa at the Cliff Keen
National Duals
“Half the fun is to be able to see what
God created. It sure beats the architec
ture in New York City."
— Marshall Mahler, UNL alumnus,
during the UNL Outdoor Adventures’ Snow
and Ice Climbing Seminar
“I don’t expect to come back. I think I’m
going to win. Someone has to."
— Kimberly Weir, Miss Nebraska on
the Miss USA competition
“It’s like a soap opera. It’s just rock ‘n’
roll, for God’s sakes."
— Heath Cole, singer/guitarist, Wide
“We had to prove ourselves after losing
to Colorado.”
—Nebraska center Mikki Moore after
the Huskers victory over Missouri
“The same thing happened to us last year.
We beat them hereby 18, and went down
there and lost by one, but I expect us to
be a lot more aggressive.”
—NU point guard Tyronn Lue on the
Huskers* prospects in Columbia after rout
ing Missouri on Saturday
“It left my hands, and it felt good.”
— NU guard Cookie Belcher on his
missed free throw sealing Missouri's win
on Wednesday
“I think the contract’s great. I know I’m
getting the minimum, but beggars can’t
be choosers.”
— Former Nebraska defensive tackle
Christian Peter on his $131,000 contract
with the New York Giants
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Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan They do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its
student body or the University ofNebraska
Board of Regents. A column is soley the
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,
established by die regents, supervises the
production of the paper According to policy
set by the regents, responsibility for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief let
ters to the editor arid guest columns, but
does not guarantee theirpublicatioa The
Daily Nebraskan retains die right to edit
or reject any material submitted Sub
mitted material becomes the property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be re
turned. Anonymous submissions will not
be published Those who submit letters
must identify themselves by name, year
in school, major and/or group affilia
tion, if any. Submit material to: Daily
Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R
St. Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. E-mail:N
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
3
Mehs ling’s
VIEW
PjDT(0
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if
DN
LETTERS
In the same boat
I want to commend Anne
Hjersman on her column, “Politics
Gets Too Personal with Teen
Pregnancy,” that was featured “
Thursday.
I also have a sister, Jodi, who had
a baby at the age of 17. My sister
went through many political issues
too. One particular example of this
was when she was not allowed to be
chosen to attend Girls State, which is
sponsored by the American Legion.
(Girls State is a program in which one
girl is chosen to represent each town
in Nebraska, and they come to
Lincoln to learn about the Govern
ment.)
Jodi was not chosen because the
American Legion has a rule that any
female that is pregnant or has a child
can not attend.
My question is: Do they screen
male applicants to see if they are
currently fathers or expecting a child
within the next nine months when
choosing them for Boys State?
The same year Jodi's class was
given an assignment in history to _
write a paper about the great qualities
of the American Legion. The papers
were then to be used in a contest that
was sponsored by the American
Legion.
My sister proceeded to write
about her experience with them. I
doubt the paper got any farther than
the history teacher's hands, but I was
proud she stood up for herself.
Many pregnant teenagers do not
have parental, financial and the
father’s support. We all need to
understand these young women are
the ones who truly need our support
z isac«ittrn3(l3l) 81/ravowofi
Jodi has been successful and has
not let anything stand in her way. She
is raising a beautiful 2 1/2-year-old
boy, Tyler Robert. She was married
to Tyler’s father, Steven, last
December. She attends Grand Island
Community College and is in an
honorary sorority. She will graduate
in May and will be a registered
nurse.
I am not going to say it has been
easy for her or Steven. They have
had to face reality and mature very
Aaron SteckelbbroDN
fast I am proud of my sister and I
often wonder how she has done it all.
Again, like Anne said, “if my sister
represents the downfall of society
then I can only hope to go down with
the ship.”
Jill Martiusen
graduate student
secondary business education
Mis-conception
It astonishes me that Anne
Hjersman would print an account of
her obviously misconceived notion
of teen pregnancy being anything less
than “the breakdown of the American
family,” (DN, Thursday).
Anne, are we to understand that
you* have tofcnd«wfcythc*«id? And
did you really fhink we would
believe that teenage pregnancy is
really “not all that bad,” or what?
Let me bring you in on a little secret.
More than 30 percent of all births
were reported as illegitimate in
recent studies. That number is
climbing as we speak—projected to
reach 40 percent by the end of the
century.
Most people probably don’t have
personal problems regarding your
sister, but, no matter what you would
like to think, she is contributing to
the downfall of society by becoming
one of the people who bring illegiti
mate babies into this world.
You said yourself that your sister
and her boyfriend were going to get
married now because of the baby—
which unfortunately results from a lot
of illegitimate births.
What kind of a life can a 17- or
18-year-old mother have when she’s
married and has a kid? You might
think that is a rewarding life, but
please don’t lode to her with a blind
view and think that just because it’s
“your” sister that we should all give
her our blessings.
That is a very naive perception. If
that little girl carries a label (Hi her
shoulders it is because of the fact that
she was brought into the world by
two people who should have been
responsible enough to know that
pregnancy can never be 100 percent
avoided.
“Illegitimacy” may be a politician’s
word, but, like it or not, a child bom
without a true family has already
been put into a world that may not
look as promising as it might have
been if he or she were bom into a
loving family environment that is
ready to handle the responsibilities
of a child—without having to obtain
the help of relatives on a daily basis.
Your sister is a statistic, Anne, and
she chose to behave in a way that
made her such and created her “new”
life.
She is a statistic—die same way
eyery young man or woman mur
dered oaroar streets.every day is a ni
statistic.
We can all learn from the mistake
your sister made and from the
mistakes Americans make every
single day—and not make the same
(Mies. Maybe you should rethink your
journalistic views if you truly think
what you have expressed is even in
the vicinity of being truthful.
Aaron Cooper
sophomore
English