r — E-— MONDAJT
Tournament blues Not-so-hot ‘Ju March 10,1997
The Nebraska women’s basketball team was not “Jungle 2 Jungle,” a new Disney film starring Tun -
selected for the NCAA Tournament. The men are Allen, comes across as an unhumorous star ve- Q
in the NIT and will play Washington. PAGE 10 hide rather than good entertainment. PAGE 12 Sunny, high 65
VOL 96'COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 117
University pays $50,000 to alleged rape victim
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
The University of Nebraska has
agreed to pay $50,000 to a former stu
dent who reported she was raped twice
in 1991 by former _.
football player
Christian Peter, an
NU statement an
nounced Friday.
Joe Rowson,
NU public relations
director, said the
sum was part of a
Feb. 13 out-of-court
settlement among _
Kathy Redmond, Peter
Christian Peter, Ken
Bello and the NU Board of Regents.
Redmond filed a civil discrimination
lawsuit against the university in June
1995 that stated the Athletic Depart
ment violated her right to receive a fair
education by failing to prevent sexual
harassment on campus.
Redmond reported to University of
Nebraska-Lincoln police in December
1993 that Peter sexually assaulted her
twice during the first week of fall
classes in 1991.
An NU statement said the regents
helped resolve the matter by “provid
ing funds designated for the purpose
of paying Ms. Redmond’s expenses for
necessary future health care and treat
ment.”
According to the statement, all par
ties involved in the civil suit were sat
isfied with the settlement.
Peter was never tried in criminal
court for the alleged assault of
Redmond. Police told reporters in 1995
that charges were not filed because they
didn’t have enough evidence, even
though a thorough investigation had
been conducted.
Redmond said Peter first raped her
Aug. 31,1991, in Peter’s Harper Resi
dence Hall room. The second assault
occurred two days later in her Smith
Hall room, she said. Bello, a 1991 NU
football recruit who never played liar
the team, allegedly touched Redmond
during the second assault.
Redmond left UNL in 1994 and
filed the civil lawsuit the next year.
Redmond then lived in Littleton, Colo.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District
Court in Lincoln, alleged the univer
sity violated Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, which prohibits
sexual harassment and discrimination.
“She was continually subjected to
sexual harassment from students and
faculty,” the lawsuit stated. “This ha
rassment included a pattern of overt
sexual harassment, as well as a pattern
of intentional failure to investigate her
allegations of sexual assault ... thus
permitting her attacker to remain a
highly visible athlete.”
Richard Wood, NU general counsel
when die suitwas filed, saidin August 1995
that Redmond's claims had no legal merit
NU Football Coach Tom Osborne
has denied he and other university of
ficials ignored Redmond’s allegations.
Osborne said Peter repeatedly denied
assaulting Redmond,
Redmond has said she delayed re
porting the alleged assaults for two years
because she was afraid and humiliated.
Festival teaches
culture, customs
of Malaysians
By Lindsay Young
Staff Reporter
Guests at Malaysian Night ’97
were there for a learning experience
Saturday night.
The annual event introduces and
teaches American and international
students about the Malaysian cul
ture, Wing-Kin Chay, senior market
ing major and an event co-coordi
nator, said.
The event coordinators encour
aged all students to attend.
“This isn’t only for Malaysian
students. It is for all in the commu
_ nity to get to know Malaysian cul
ture,” said Hendrick Van den Berg,
Nebraska University Malaysian Stu
dent Association adviser. The asso
ciation sponsored die event.
Sarah Bumor, a junior agri-busi
ness major, said she was skeptical
about the event at first.
“I thought it was basically just
directed toward Malaysian students.
I didn’t think it was for everyone,”
she said.
But she said she was surprised.
“It taught me a lot about Ma
laysia and its people,” Bumor said.
“I learned about the different ethnic
groups and how it was a lot like
America in that way. I loved the
dances and the music. It was very
informative.”
Burnor said her Malaysian
roommate, Yeo Lee Chin, taught her
about Malaysian culture, but she
Please see FESTIVAL on 6
Humor a coping tool
for life, comedian says
By Angela Heywood
4 Staff Reporter
Humor is a serious thing.
At least, it is according to come
dian T. Mami Vos.
Vos, who addressed the 1997
Women’s Leadership Conference Sat
urday morning, said humor can help the
effectiveness of people in their daily
lives.
If people want to take something
seriously, she said, they should take
humor seriously. It puts the absurdities
and insanity of life into perspective.
“When things are in perspective,
that’s when we handle them best. It’s
the key to survival. It helps people
cope,” she said.
Vos, who graduated from UNL in
1981, said she was inspired by humor
in the mid-1980s when she was a high
school English teacher in Waverly. She
said she was in a relationship that ended
badly and couldn’t imagine her life
would ever be fun again.
But her outlook changed when she
attended a humor conference and dis
covered how important humor was.
“It just put a fire in me,” she said.
“And I hope to God it never goes out.”
Vos, who wrote a humor column
for the Daily Nebraskan, said being
humorous is something people need to
work at. -
“Everyone is granted with the gift
of humor,” she said. “It’s just that some
people don’t open the package.”
Vos used a car accident as an ex
ample.
Everyone causes a collision by ac
. cidentally entering an intersection on a
a
Everyone is granted
with the gift of
humor; it's just that
some people don't
open the package." 4
T. Marni Vos
comedian
red light sometime in his or her life, she
said. That cannot be controlled.
What can be controlled, however,
is the response to the accident, she said.
“You have the freedom to choose
to respond to that,” she said. “And you
can choose to respond with a touch of
class.”
Vos said the time between stimulus
and response, such as the pause be
tween car accident and reaction, is a
privilege.
“What you do with your time and
how you affect the people around you
—those are the things that define who
you are,” she said. “That is your legacy.
You are a chain of choices.”
Choices involving good humor, of
course, have {Positive effects, she said.
Vos cited a study of 100 couples
who had been married 20 or more
years. The number one reason for stay
ing together, she said, was because they
laughed together and had a good time.
Please see WOMEN on 6
/ ; ■ Lane Hickenbottom/DN
JO HOFFACKER, left, a mathematics graduate student, Irene Befbe,
a forlega exchange modem language graduate student from Buenos
Aires, Argentina, and Je StrhB-CoIhum, a mechanical engineering
graduate student, work on a quilt Sunday afternoon In the Cutture
Center, 333 N. 14th St. The quilt Is the “Women Creating Quilt” the
women* Center Is putting together for women* Week 1997.
Quilters demonstrate
Women’s Week spirit
By Kimberly Swartz
Staff Reporter
Quilting is more than a creative
activity for Ruth Kupfer. It's an art
of politics, feminism and empow
erment.
Kupfer, a Lincoln High School
teacher and avid quilter, demon
strated different quilting tech
niques at the Culture Center Sun
day, to celebrate women’s creativ
ity and Women’s Week.
“Quilting is a women’s art that
has been ignored in the past,”
Kupfer said. “It lets women dis
play their visions and statements
while making something func
tional and creative.”
The Women Creating Quilt
Project, sponsored by the
Women’s Center, began a collabo
rative quilt project to celebrate the
spirit and traditions of women’s
creativity.
Participants stitched together
three layers of the quilt. They
added colorful threads, beads,
moons and stars around a circle
ft
Quitting is a
creative process,
rather than an
end project.”
Sherri Joyner
Women’s Center assistant
of seven dancing women.
The quilt will be displayed in
the Women’s Center, where future
work can be added.
Jo Strinz-Colbum, a graduate
student in mechanical engineering,
came to the project with no quilt
ing experience, just a desire to
make new Mends.
“There are few women in my -'
major, so I wanted to meet other
women who were interested in
quilting,” Strinz-Colbum said.
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Please see QUILT on 6
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