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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1997)
Ritual will not bring fine, administrators say SIGMA CHI from page 1 accountable for its actions, he said. “If they feel this is in line with the kind of representation that they want to give, then we’ve got some problems,” he said. • Mark Anderson, executive di rector of Sigma Chi International in Evanston, 111., said the UNL chap ter did not intend for the historical ceremony to denote racism. “There’s been a misperception,” Anderson said. Nationally, the ceremony is in tended as an educational event for Sigma Chi members, he said. Broth ers gather around a campfire in both Union and Confederate uniforms to re-enact the night when Civil War soldiers put down their weapons to form the fraternity. Anderson said that fa* members, the ceremony reminds them “the strength of brotherhood transcends the bonds of war.” But a cross burning is not part of the accepted national ceremony, Anderson said. If a cross was in volved, it might have been the fraternity’s symbol, the Norman Cross, he said. The Norman Cross is featured in the Sigma Chi fraternity crest and has flared ends, he said. He said members got permission to use private land fa the ceremony and called public officials in ad vance to announce they would be coiducting the ritual. “That doesn’t sound to me like they were doing something clandes tine,” he said. Racial questions arise at forum A FORUM from page 1 “Don’t start telling me this was some type of ritual,” he said. “I want to see same action.” Myles asked Sigma Chi — if its members regret causing such racial ten sion and uproar—to come out in the community and state how it will change its offensive behavior. Myles said the whole university should be held responsible for the fraternity’s actions. He criticized UNL for sending only Ricardo Garcia, di rector of affirmative action at UNL, as a “token representative” of all univer sity officials. By sending Garcia, the university has passed its entire responsibility to the community on to only one person specifically trained to handle minority affairs, Myles said. Garcia said he had presented the chancellor with a master plan to bring diversity training to everyone on cam pus. “I an} saddened by what happened,” Garcia said. “We are working hard to proactively prevent this from happen ing again.” But Rev.. Don Coleman, president of the Lincoln chapter of Men Against Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, or MAD DADS, said from his office Monday the fra ternity should not be given the second chance to change if it was involved in racist behavior. “I think they should be thrown off campus,” Coleman said. “They’re out of control.” Sigma Chi members, because they are students on a university level, must have been aware Of the connotations of a burning cross and Confederate uniforms, he said. And the fraternity’s actions should not be protected under the First Amendment freedoms of speech and expression,Coleman and Carter said. “This is inciting violence,” Carter said. Satie university students present at St. John’s, including Henry Moss, UNL sociology major, said they feared for their safety on a campus where the university fails to condemn racism. Sophomore finance major James Breedlove agreed, and said die univer sity has sent a disheartening message to minority students. “TVaditionally, it has been a threat ening atmosphere for people of color to cone to the University of Nebraska Lincoln,” he said. The university’s refusal to condemn Sigma Chi will add to the campus’ hos tile atmosphere for minority students, Breedlove said. Moss said the university’s inaction will be met with public reacdoi. “I believe people in the commu nity are going to do something about this.” r-1 20% cholesterol , ^4 ® .jf 4 ' '4i F _ . - - I I. .'...^ .^'”-^44% SAVINGS . - i^s _ -I-• .. v. Dial 1-800-C0LLECT and saie up ta 44%; B8< Medical call A new mother and her child are doing fine after the woman gave birth by herself in Smith Hall Fri day morning. University Police would not re lease the woman’s name, but reports showed that a woman called 911 at 12:11 p.m. Friday. She reported she was having troubles after giving birth. The woman reported giving birth around 7 a.m. and was still having difficulties. Mother and child were transported to Bryan Memorial Hospital. University Police Sgt. MyTo Bushing said the woman did not have a roommate and was alone when she gave birth. Armed robbery Two employees of Amigos at 4200 S. 14th St. were held at knifepoint as two men robbed the store. A male and a female employee of the fast-food restaurant were closing up around 1:30 a.m. Mon day morning when there was a knock at the kitchen door. Think ing it was the female employee’s ride home, they opened the door. Two men entered the kitchen. One was carrying a 10- to 12-inch knife, and held it to the male employee’s throat. The other man then took an undisclosed amount of cash. The employees described a black man, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds. They said he wore a Raiders jacket with a hood and black pants. He covered his face with a blue bandanna. The other man, also black, was described as in his early 20s, 5 feet 7 inches tall with a medium build and a light complexion. He had a 1 - to 1 '/4-inch afro-style haircut and a black pullover coat. YOU SAY I YOU CAN RIDE? PROVE IT. Unlicensed riders account for 80% of the fatalities in some states. So get your motorcycle operator license today. And prove that you are a better rider. B_m Nebraska Motorcycle Safety Program I _- 1-800-553-1906_| .