The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 30, 1997, Page 4, Image 4
' EDITOR DougKouma OPINION EDITOR Anthony Nguyen EDITORIAL BOARD Anne Hjersman Paula Lavigne Joshua Gillin Jessica Kennedy Jeff Randall Guest VIEW Water babies Age of Aquarius is so out there, man From The Sacramento, Calif., Bee On Jan. 23, at 12:56 p.m., three of the outer planets — Jupiter, Uranus and Nep tune —moved into position near a familiar constellation, l raced alongside the positions 66 of Mars, Earth, Saturn and Pluto, the result- r* " ing astrological chart ^OTHC Of US forms a dramatic, six- nrrkUnh1\t sided star — and the Prooaoiy long awaited Age of thought Aquarius dawned. Some of us prob- Aquarius ably thought Aquarius was ushered in with WCLS that song from “Hair,” , , . a musical celebration USHCrCCl ITl of the age, which de- f buted 30 years ago. WllH lrial Not so. The bell-bot- onrin frnrn tom, tie-dyed perform- bUri& lrurrL ers who sang of “har- ‘Hair\ ’ a mony and peace abounding” were sim- musical ply ahead of their time, mired — as we all CClCOratiOH were in 1967—in the - , Age of Pisces. Of ttlQ agG, In fact, not until i . i about the year 2100 WHICH Will Ear* folly enter debuted 30 the golden Age of Aquarius, but astrolo- yon re nan ” gers and acolytes are J ® celebrating the emer- _____ gence of the six-siaea star talisman as harbinger of the dawning. “It’s a bit of a miracle that this whole thing lines up the way it does,” a noted star charter reports. “You’d have to go back to 1475 to find this particular star pattern.” Although 1475 was a pretty good year —roughly halfway through that other great awakening, the Renaissance—astronomers and other skeptics note that star positions relative to Earth have no discernible effect on events below. “It’s utter nonsense,” the former direc tor of the Astronomical Society of the Pa cific pronounced. Still, the hunger for astrological signifi cance seems deeply ingrained, and groups in Brazil, Sweden, Israel, France, Thailand and the Czech Republic are on-line with San Francisco Bay-area devotees for a giant meditation to take note of the planetary alignment to die tune of Tibetan bowl and bell sounds. If Aquarius is indeed at hand, could it be that other elements of the ’60s are re turning? In some respects at least, that can not be. Whatever their attachment to the star charts or the soaring lyrics of “Aquarius,” a lot of male flower children who once sang along with the musical, “Give me a head with hair... long, beautiful hair,” can now only wistfully recall that what they then cel ebrated is but a memory. 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 of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is soley the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan: polky is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito rial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the edi torial content of die newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. Letter Policy The Doily Nebraskan welcomes brief let ters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication. The Daily Nebraskan retains the 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: letters@uitiinfo.uni.edu. Mehsling’s "VIEW ' DN_ f LETTERS PC Power As I read J.J. Harder’s column “...and discrimination for all,”(DN, Wednesday), it became clear to me that freedom of speech sometimes means freedom of nonsense. With practically no comprehen sion of history, economy and politics, Harder’s column simulta neously denounces racism and political correctness in America. Specifically, he argues that although racism is a historical reality, the “majority” has decided to stand up and “not discriminate against others based on their respective racial and gender differences.1" But Harder tells us this supposed charge of the masses to rid them selves of their racist threads is blocked by political correctness, which, he thinks, demands that “everyone... analyze each situation until we have a nation of individuals What the argument lacks is the basic recognition that simple differences between people and groups are not racism. Racism occurs when personal characteristics associate with varying levels of power — i.e. when some differences are formally considered superior to others. For instance, acknowledging that people of European descent and African descent represent different phenotypes and cultures is not racist. It’s racist, however, when one group’s characteristics bulwark a society’s moral and social structure in a way that systematically disad vantages other groups. But most attempts to recognize and remedy America’s racist history meet strong opposition. This is confusing to me because many Americans apparently recognize our discriminatory past — as Harder does in his column—but many of them do not think they should have to do something about it. PC is not about splintering Americans in every possible way; instead it is but one method of addressing a racist national biogra phy — that is why we don’t condone cross burning or derogatory lan guage, etc. — and it usually involves minimal personal investment — i.e. Aaron Steckelberg/DN is referring to females as “women” or blacks as “African-Americans” really so distasteful? Symbols, stereotypes, language and policies that are rooted in inequality should not be acceptable to American people who allegedly can’t get enough freedom and equality. But, as Harder’s column demonstrated, in America we dislike racism because we believe in equality and we dislike political correctness because it forces us to recognize our racist history and what we have to do to correct it — apparently being racist and sexist is worth more than the “inconve nience” of political correctness. So much for Americans as personally responsible citizens! Brett Walter graduate student sociology Code for Life I would like to take this opportu nity to respond to some of the cynical arguments presented by Michael Donley in his column “Chi a High Horse,” (DN, Tuesday). The idea that a Code of Ethics is not needed in any situation today is absurd. One need only pick up the newspaper to see that ethics— common ethics — are needed in our society today. A mother is charged with smothering her baby to death. A 13-year-old boy shoots and kills a 14-year-old because he owes him $40. President Clinton is charged with sexual harassment and admits having smoked pot. Open your eyes, Mike. Do you honestly think these problems are just going to go away? Don’t you think that a university is the most appropriate place to address these concerns? Neither I nor anyone else | is imposing anything upon anybody. But if common concerns about respect, self-discipline and integrity — all common ethics — are not addressed, we just might be facing the demise of a society the likes of which have never been seen. Furthermore, this is not even on the same plane as the Code of Conduct. Students will not be judged based upon how they carry out the code. Instead, it will be a list of goals that all persons can strive towards. And not just in college — throughout a person’s life. Eric Marintzer ASUN president In Defense Perhaps the Daily Nebraskan staff should look further into the issue of racism within Sigma Chi before making sweeping generalizations about the members of the fraternity or their ritual. The cross is the symbol of the fraternity, and the burning of it does not signify racism, nor is it intended to be involved with racist attitudes. The Revs. Jessie Myles and John Carter will come to find while “researching this to death” that Sigma Qii fraternity currently has African-Americans within its fraternity house, and have also had them in the past. I understand that the ritual in question seems to reflect racial overtones and bigotry, but I do not believe this to be the case. I wish the press as a whole would have investigated this issue further before printing the libel about the 1 fraternity which will continue to permanently damage Sigma Chi and the rest of die greek system's image. Dan Massara senior broadcasting __ \a/ askan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 "R" St, Lincoln, T ^ “J 72-176L or e-maiMetteraeualinfeunLgdtr — — 23>Qcl ilude a phone number for verification _