The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 28, 1997, Page 4, Image 4
EDITOR Doug Kouma OPINION EDITOR Anthony Nguyen EDITORIAL BOARD Paula Lavigne Joshua Gillin Jessica Kennedy Jeff Randall Erin Gibson DN Quotes OF THE WEEK “The gift of Mood is the greatest gift of love anyone can give.” —Jessica Phillips, a 10-year-old who receives blood transftisions because of leu kemia “Eighty-four percent of rapes are committed by someone you already know.” — Katie Koestner, speaker, regarding her personal date-rape experience “It was kind of a nuisance that you would have to drive out of town. It was a pain in the ass, now that I think about it” —Ralph Tomonelli, senior mechanical engineering majpr, on driving out of Lin coln on Sundays to buy alcohol “It knocks the monkey right off your back. But If the monkey feels like he wants to climb back up there, he’ll climb back up there.” — NU center Mikki Moore after the Huskers upset Iowa State 74-69 Saturday “I’m going to go to Barry’s, and I’m going to have a couple of beers and my hands will be shaking and my guts will feel like they're falling out.” — Nebraska Coach Danny Nee after the Huskers’ victory over Oklahoma State Wednesday, keeping their hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth alive “I graduated from college and had to do something.” — Sam Spilker, founder and owner of Spilker Ales in Cortland, on why he became a brewer “One other time my friend’s room mate drank too much and puked over the side of the loft, almost directly hitting my friend’s head.” —Jacob Crabb, a junior theater major, on drinking in excess “We need to have an animal inside guarding them, and we couldn’t find one on our bench.” — NU Coach Angela Beck following the Huskers’ loss to Iowa State on Sunday “He’s taken conviction to a new level, and that’s a bad thing for his enemies. He’s like a pit bull—he bites on and never lets go.” — John Harris, special assistant to UNL’s vice chancellor for student affairs, on Ernie Chambers “1 don’t expect justice, but I continue to work toward it I never burn out be cause I never thought there was going to be success. Success for me is doing what is available for me to do.” —Chambers “They’re the Donald Trump of the Plains.” —Loraine Livingston, manager of the Big Red Shop, on the Athletic Department’s venture in building the university-owned * store Husker Authentic in the new parking garage Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spang 1997 Daily Nebnskaa They do not necessarily reflect the views erf'die Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is solely 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 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 wilt 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. 6*588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfaunl.edi. Mehsling’s VIEW | l r^pvv | i DN LETTERS Good Sheep I am writing to offer a pat on the back for your editorial “Black sheep” (DN, Wednesday) regarding the recent successful cloning of a sheep. As a scientist, I was very happy to see you avoid the slippery slope that many others in journalism seemio have been applying to this -•* subject. This breakthrough does not necessarily mean that anyone who so desires can just crank out carbon copies of themselves — there are huge benefits to be reaped in both agriculture and medicine with this new technology. I agree that great care must be taken in the advancement of this knowledge. I also commend you for pointing out that environment is what makes us who we are as individuals, not just genetics. I do have one criticism of the article. This technology is NOT “creation.” Creation implies bringing life from nonliving entities. This technology simply manipulates the genetic information in an egg, which must still grow, develop and be bom. The egg had the capacity to make a lamb all along, the scientists just altered the DNA content. If this technology is labeled as “creation ism,” then artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood and embryo splitting (done regularly in the cattle industry) would have to fall under the same category. These techniques do not create life from the nonliving. Louise Baskin manager, molecular genetics lab animal science Perpetuating Myths Anthony Nguyen said it himself, “the ignorance of racism/sexism (can’t) be overcome.” And in writing his column “Not a smooth move(ment),” (DN, Wednesday) he actually helped to encourage it by reaffirming several of the MYTHS regarding affirmative action. Nguyen stated that he doesn’t “expect or want to be chosen on the . color of my skin,” but how does he feel about NOT being chosen based on the color of his slan? With affirmative action, those ; who are discriminated against are MattHaney/DN given an opportunity that one might not have had because of the igno rance that still exists in this world. Affirmative action is not “an effort to create justice,” but to create opportunities for those who are at a disadvantage because of years of injustice by our ancestors. Another favorite myth is that affirmative action favors minorities and that it unfairly takes away the position from better qualified white males — a “punishment” because of their ancestors’ actions. Nowhere in the definition of affirmative action does it state anything about quotas of hiring “less qualified” individuals, nor does it involve “preferential treatment.” It only involves the recognition of the preferential treatment received by whites — which still exists today even with affirmative action. It offers a chance far those who cannot change their economic status, where they grew up or the education or lack thereof that they received. These “less qualified” individuals deserve a chance to emerge from their backgrounds — created by the injustices of our ancestors. In a perfect world, we would all have an equal chance. In this imperfect world with the majority of minorities at a disadvantage when bom, we need policies like affirma tive action. Otherwise, those who oppose it must grapple with further ing injustices — by taking away any chance that these minorities here in this racist/sexist world would have. ' Priya Nataraj freshman '■'« biochemistry I Individual Change In response to Sonia Hollimon Stovall’s “Leveling the field,” (DN, Wednesday) I agree with some of your idealism underlying your approval for affirmative action. However, all you seem to be working with in this column is a vague notion of affirmative action. You dance around solid facts and throw in emotionally charged anecdotes that don’t amount to much. Affirmative action, as the promoting of diversity in an envi ronment devoid of it, is, in my opinion, a good idea. It lends to the sharing of perspectives and the gradual elimination of discrimina tion. ' I personally enjoy learning about, several cultural viewpoints. But have you seen this working anywhere today? College applications don’t ask for a cultural background summarized in an essay. All they ask for is a box, checked next to some ethnic group. This is demeaning because it assumes that having a certain skin color means you have a certain, different, not-white culture. Is this true? Of course not. You state that “affirmative action was implemented to correct an inherent flaw in our country’s system of employment and educa tion.” What is this inherent flaw? Are you saying that our system of education is inherently, unfixably racist? I don’t believe that at all. You want to provide opportunity where there was none. HOW? Quotas? Preferential treatment? What? I can think of no system that ensures opportunity to any group without cutting out some benefit, whether that benefit is the opportu nity for others or in simple lost talent. If we want to “level the playing field,” we each must take it upon ourselves to be not discriminatory and to discourage discrimination when it occurs. Large, overbearing laws and principles create an environment perfect for witch hunts and unfounded resentment. It is the individual we want to change, not the institution. Jacob Glazeski freshman music/computer stience/math