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Doug Kouma
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Anthony Nguyen
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Guest
VIEW
Speakingout
Victims of rape cannot
continue with the silence
From The Daily Orange
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (U-WIRE) — If
there is one fact statistics can clarify about
rape, it is that rapists are not mysterious
creatures who people
only come to know -
' when they are accused.
A rapist can be a
friendly neighbor. A
rapist can be a seem
ingly trustworthy rela
tive. Rapists can be,
and usually are, com
mon people who
women are in contact
with all the time.
What is disheart
ening about the mys
tique that people have
with rape and sexual
assault is that it puts
women in great danger
and many simply do
not know the threats
that exist.
It is for this reason
that cases of sexual as
sault should be known
to the community.
Community members,
both women and men,
are served signifi
cantly with informa
tion about sexual as
sault, but the public is
not truly informed
without examples to
actually drive home
the issue.
Women are
not
the
criminals
in these
cases, they
are the
victims.
By feeling
cornered
and
silenced,
■ this
victimiza
- \ ■ '
tion only
grows.”
Reporting cases of rape and sexual as
sault to the public serves as a wake-up call
to a populace that often knows painfully little
about these dangers. Public knowledge is
especially important with the increasingly
common “date rape” drug—Rohypnol.
Rohypnol, or “roofies,” dissolves eas
ily in drinks and can induce a hypnotic-like
trance. People under the influence of
Rohypnol are often susceptible to sugges
tion and rarely can recall later the incidents
that occur.
Indeed, rape and sexual assault are sen
sitive issues, but women should not be dis
couraged to come forward with their sto
ries. Women are not the criminals in these
cases, they are the victims. By feeling cor
nered and silenced, this victimization only
grows.
And when women come forward with:
their cases, the assailants are brought out m
the open, too. This helps dispel the mystique
of rape and sexual assault
This threat to women and to society will *
not go away unless it is dealt with honestly
and looked at realistically. This cannot hap
pen unless the public is adequately informed.
.
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 solely the
opinion ofity 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 the 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 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, 3$Nebraska Union, 14430 R
St Lincoln, Neb. 68S88-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Mehsling's
. VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
Strong Commitment
1 fail to see why state Sen. Jim
Jensen believes that gay and lesbian
marriage would be a threat to
marriage as an institution.
I also fail to see how lesbian and
gay marriage would dissolve “the
bond that keeps the family together,”
as he stated in the DN’s article on
Thursday.
Doug Patton echoed those
sentiments — yet when Sen. Ernie
Chambers questioned him about
whether gay and lesbian marriage
would impact heterosexual mar
riage, Patton stated it would not.
Guyla Mills tells us that our Uni
cameral “represent(s) people who
believe in the Bible and its teaching
against homosexuality.”
I must remind Ms. Mills that the
Unicameral also represents Nebras
kans who do not believe in the
hatefUl, uncivil and un-Christian
teachings of the religious right.
There are plenty of Christian
denominations that permit and
allow the union of two women or the
union of two men, such as the
Unitarian-Universalist Church Or
the Metropolitan Community
Church, to name a few.
The state has no business using
■ ' the strictest possible religious
standards to decide on this issue —
especially in a country that aspires
to maintain a separation between the
church and the state.
If the reasons for the state to
forbid two individuals from marry
ing one another come from religious
principles rather than a genuine
ii! - ■ -
■ v ■
Jason Gildow/DN
state interest, then they have no
business in our Nebraska Legisla
ture. Sen. Chambers hit the nail on
the head when he stated, “that more
is involved in this issue than sex.”
Lesbians and gay men will have sex
regardless of whether same-sex
marriage comes into being or not, in
spite of what Norman Dority and
others opposed to it would like, just
like heterosexuals will continue to
have sex in and out of wedlock.
But gay and lesbian marriage is
about more than sexual relations
between two members of the same
sex. It is about a caring and commit
ted relationship between two people
who love one another and will love
(me another for the rest of their
lives.
Robert W. Anderson,
graduate student
unclassified
Can’t WeAll Just Get ~
I have definitely noticed a big
shift in the Daily Nebraskan. A full
page “ad” disproving(?) evolution?
Why must you print such backward,
* neo-Christian babble?
The real fairy tale is that of the s
creation story. To believe that your
god is the only and absolute thing in
this universe is to disregard so many
wonderful things. Like FREE WILL
for example.
Every time the paper prints
another vapid story by J J. Harder,
they move further away from
journalism and closer to ignorant
babbling. Come on, equal time
doesn’t mean give the Christians the
run of things. What about the
Buddist view, the pagan view, the
taoist view, the hippie view, the
punk view, the queer view, and yes, "
the liberal view (which at one point
in our history meant the free man’s
view)? UGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Michael Svoboda
senior
English/film
Deadly Ad vice
Sonia Hollimon-Stovall suggested
donating blood as a way to find out
if you’re HIV-positive in ha- column
“Testing Courage” (DN, Tuesday).
No one who thinks there is the
slightest possibility he or she could
be infected should try to give blood.
You can have a negative test result
and still be infected. Using this
“sneaky way,” as Hollimon-Stovall
puts it, could cost someone their life.
Julie Kinkennon
freshman
theatre
'