SPORTS ARE_
Caged Bears Defining ‘The Norm’ February 20,1997
The Nebraska women’s basketball team beat Michael Jantze, the artist behind the syndicated
Baylor 91-73 Wednesday night. The Huskers won daily comic strip “The Norm,” is celebrating Black WINDS OF CHANGE
for the first time in three outings. PAGE 10 History Month in print next week. PAGE 12 Breezy and bleak, high 43. Cloudy tonight, low 25.
VOL. 96 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 105
Gay marriage
debates heard
in committee
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
Quotations from the Bible and pleas
for equal rights were heard by the Ju
diciary Committee on Wednesday on
two proposed same-sex marriage bills
— one to legalize them and one to pro
hibit them.
“One must be narrow-minded and
mean-spirited indeed to try to limit to
heterosexual couples the thrill of mar
riage and the agony of divorce — or
vice versa,” Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Omaha said in support of his bill
LB407, which would legalize same-sex
marriages.
LB280, proposed by Sen. Jim
Jensen of Omaha, would outlaw same
sex marriages in Nebraska, and would
not recognize same-sex marriages from
other states.
“Marriage is the bond that keeps the
family together, and I’m deeply con
cerned about marriage and the family,”
Jensen said.
Most who opposed same-sex mar
riages cited religious reasons and said
marriage should be limited to hetero
sexual couples because of tradition and
because only those couples could pro
duce children.
Guyla Mills, executive director of
the Nebraska Family Council, said the
Legislature should remember senators
represented people who believe in the
Bible and its teachings against homo
sexuality.
The committee heard that argument
from both sides.
“Why should I pay taxes to a state
that refuses to support my issues?”
UNL student Jeffrey Krotz, who testi
fied in support of same-sex marriages,
asked the committee.
Doug Patton, executive director of
the Nebraska Christian Coalition, said
same-sex marriages would threaten the
marriage institution. But Chambers
said just because homosexuals marry
does not mean they threaten married
heterosexual couples.
“Does what they do in their rela
tionship negatively impact you and
your wife?” Chambers asked Patton.
“No,” Patton replied.
Others in opposition to same-sex
marriages were against the actual sex
act.
“The question of sodomy is a ques
tion of sensation,” said Norman Dority,
who testified against same-sex mar
riage. “The only reason people want it
is because they like it.
“Mouth to genitals, genitals to
rectum...they bring disease. Please
show me that sodomy is good, then I
might relax my opposition to
(LB)407.”
Chambers had said in his introduc
tion of the bill that “if people could pry
their minds away from other peoples’
crotches, it could be seen that more is
involved in this issue than sex.
“Marriage fosters the stabilizing and
regularizing of relationships.”
Please see MARRIAGE on 7
Author says
caregivers
need time
off the job
Editor’s note: In honor of
Black History Month, the
Daily Nebraskan is profiling
prominent black leaders in the
Lincoln community. Today is
the fourth in a five-part series.
By Tasha E. Kelter
Staff Reporter
Lela Knox Shanks has some
advice for caregivers of
Alzheimer’s patients.
She doesn’t call them “pa
tients” or “victims.” She prefers
to call them “people with
Alzheimer’s disease.”
Shanks has been caring for
her husband, Hughes Hannibal
Shanks, since he was diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s disease in
1988. Her experience is first
hand.
In hopes of passing on the
knowledge she’s gained, Shanks
Please see SHANKS on 3
Matt Miller/DN
LELA KNOX SHANKS kisses her husband, Hughes Shanks who has
Alzheimer’s disease. Shanks is the primary caregiver to her husband,
and has written a book on the subject.
Visiting Fulbright Scholar addresses security
Speaker says future of Europe unstable
By Lindsay Young
Staff Reporter
Looking to the future of European
security was the focus of a lecture given
by a visiting Fulbright Scholar Wednes
day.
Maurizio Cremasio of Italy spoke
to faculty and students on “The Fate
of European Security” in Oldfather
Hall.
Cremasio is a visiting professor this
semester teaching the political science
course “Politics and Policy of European
Common Market/European Union.”
He has held such positions as the
senior scientific adviser for security
affairs in Rome, and served as a major
general in the Italian air force.
Cremasio has also published a number
of studies on European security.
fluid,” he said, “It is still in movement.
We will not know the final outcome of
many things.”
Risks to European security include
regional instability, ethnic wars, inter
national terrorism, illegal immigration
and international criminal organiza
tions, he said.
Because of the new European re
Please see EUROPE on 7
fct
There are more questions than answers
right now ”
Maurizio Cremasio
visiting professor
Cremasio presented his ideas on the
fate of European security to more than
25 listeners Wednesday. He focused on
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
which will be holding a summit where
new candidate countries will be open
for nomination to NATO in July.
The security issue for these new
countries is unstable, he said.
“There are more questions than
answers right now. The situation is so
Jay Calderon/DN
MAURIZIO CREMASIO speaks to a group of students and faculty Wednesday.
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