EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Paula Lavigne
Joshua (Min
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Erin Gibson
Our
VIEW
Top priority
Diversity involves
all at the university
Last Friday, in a forum held by the
Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of
People of Color, a participant said university
programs on cross-cultural communication
and understanding were attended by a very
selective audience.
UNL’s human resources department fre
quently holds diversity training programs free
for all interested university faculty and staff.
But those attending mainly hold supervisory
roles at UNL, the forum participant said.
Cross-cultural understanding cannot ex
ist as only a top-down effort. Supervisors are
a small percentage of the university and
should not be expected to make substantial
progress in diversity alone.
Yet we continually look to the adminis
tration and supervisors to speak out on di
versity efforts on behalf of the whole univer
sity and to tell us which direction to move
next in diversity efforts.
It is essential our university leaders con
tinue to train themselves to be better cross
cultural communicators and better at under
standing and appreciating differences.
But leadership should not be accountable
for all diversity training and efforts.
Faculty and staff must also actively par
ticipate.
No one in an institution of higher educa
tion is exempt from the lifelong process of
cultural understanding and appreciation.
Certainly a small devotion of time on
behalf of faculty and staff— a half-day fofa
diversity workshop — is worth the extended
insight gained into understanding cultural dif
ferences that often can form a barrier between
doing a job and doing a job effectively.
Effective work in a university commu
nity must include helping diverse people learn
from and of each other, through both educa
tion and meaningful communication.
At the national level, a host of ambassa
dors and interpreters attempt to cross the
boundaries of culture and language to form
effective foreign policy for the United States.
Even these well-trained, lifelong profession
als often do not succeed.
Every member of the campus community
must make diversity a priority. Every mem
ber of the campus community must welcome
diversity by showing a willingness to learn
skills, including communication, that facili
tate enhanced diversity.
This learning can start with a simple
phone call to human resources, which will put
each caller on a waiting list for the next work
shop. When the next workshop happens, those
on the list will be called and asked to attend.
There is a workshop about every two months.
The process is easy to start, and for fac
ulty and staff, the result could mean the dif
ference between making a lecture or a phone
call and making a connection.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebrask in. They do not
necessarily reflect the view., 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 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 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@unlinfo.unl.edu.
Mehs ling’s
VIEW
Freshmen are stupid
I’ve noticed that you seem to be
reluctant to publish letters to the
editor from anyone other than
freshmen. It’s good to know our
futures are in their hands — after
all, according to you and your staff,
they have all the answers.
Otherwise, you might publish a
letter here or there from someone
who’s actually been out in the world
for a while — maybe even letters
from a real journalist. No, better not.
Your audience might find out what
they’re missing.
Jason Fred regill
film/video producer
Lincoln
Tapped out
Was Wednesday that slow a news
day? I am referring to your so called
“article” on that ever exciting
subject: beer. Was there no other
story of consequence that could have
been just a tad more important? Or
is your publication devoted to
encouraging drinking like it appears
to be?
Suggesting that beer has some
viable form of nutrition, no matter
how true that may be, is simply
promoting the consumption of it and
nothing more.
Taking this further and advising
the best ways to “ease (the) pain of ^
hangovers” is appalling. This is^kf
effect, giving an OK to binge- -
drinking and then making light of
the situation that it brings about. I
LOVED the stories from some of
our more intelligent students about
puking and bursting of blood vessels
(sarcasm in its purest form).
Stories about the death of a
student or innocent driver caused by
drinking and driving are not funny,
but are definite realities. We should
be working at solving this dilemma
and helping those who are addicted,
not promoting the reckless use of
this evil drug. Why not next week,
run an article on the advantages of
marijuana over cigarettes? Then
provide a simple ‘‘how to grow your
own” series?
Ryan Targoff
Lincoln
DN
LETTERS
MxttHaney/DN
4*
Just plain confused
I am writing about the “Guest
View” column in Tuesday’s DN. I
read the DN editorial page every day
over here on East Campus and often
find it to be thought provoking,
informative, sensationalistic, etc.
However, “Sexy or Psycho?” just
left me confused. Usually there is a
reason for using a guest columnist
(besides a slow news day) but I
could find none for this one. What is
Ms. Tom advocating, what is her
point?
We go from alien abducuons to
the bar scene to her sex life. At one
point she strikes a blow to feminism
by perpetuating sex role stereotypes
and at another point she advocates
dangerous and irresponsible sexual
escapades and at yet another she
compares her entire plight to that of
historical Jewish persecution.
Yes, I caught the reference to
Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of
Venice.” Shylock, a Jewish money
lender, who can find no justice for
his persecution makes the stirring
speech, “If you prick us, do we not
bleed? If you tickle us, do we not
laugh? If you poison us, do we not
die? And if you wrong us, shall we
not revenge?” This is hardly the
metaphor that I would use to
describe Ms. Tom’s dilemma (maybe
she missed “Schindler’s List” last
week).
I think that there might have
been a message buried somewhere
within Ms. Tom’s article but because
of how poorly and haphazardly it
was written thatmessage is lost
among irrelevancies, sexism and
racial slurs. This is hardly a worth
while addition to this great “festival
of ideas” which we call college. I
hope you will find something better
to fill this space in the future than
some bimbo spouting off about her
hormones and “X-File” fetishes.
Christopher Ross
first year
law student
Personal decision
Bless Sonia! I am a divorced
single mother who did not get
pregnant until (shortly) after I was
divorced. I faced the breakup of my
marriage and the resulting stigma of
being a 21-year-old divorcee, and
shortly thereafter was faced with the
superhuman challenge of being
responsible for another life.
In the wake of questions from
acquaintances such as, “How do you
get knocked up in the age of
condoms?” I had to find something
that 1 could count on to help me
through it. That thing was the life
that I had created and everything I
had ever hoped for was realized the
moment I gave birth. Sonia, be
happy in the knowledge that you
have made the best possible decision
for yourself—not to bow to others’
expectations, but to do what you
know is right in your heart.
Having only one parent who
loves a child more than anything is
so much better for them that to have
two parents who are distracted by
their indifference to each other. If -
you are in a relationship, more
power to you, but if not, that does
not automatically make you a bad
parent.
Sometimes it’s the best thing.
By the way, congratulations.
Kerry Childe
senior
^ international affairs
i
