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EDITOR
DougKouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anthony Nguyen
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Paula Lavigne
Joshua GiUin
Jessica Kennedy
Jeff Randall
Erin Gibson
Our
VIEW
Cola Wars
Pour money from soda
contract into technology
As negotiations wind down for the bev
erage contract, hands will stretch out from
every comer of the campus.
The contract means millions of dollars a
year for 10 years, and its possibilities are
seemingly endless.
Sure, the money is rumored to be ear
marked for technology and scholarships, but
it is technically still free for anyone to take.
ASUN has been strong in demanding that
students have a say in where the money goes,
and has already conveyed students’ wishes
for upgraded computer facilities, longer hours
for labs and greater technical support.
The university must listen.
Money from the beverage contract —
which will offer thousands of students only
one bottler’s line of soda—should go to help
ing students where they need it.
Because all students will be giving up
their beverage choice, all students should ben
efit from the contract Scholarships would
benefit students, but not all students.
Beverage contract money would help all
students by alleviating the student fees that
seem to be constantly rising.
For example, the new technology tee will
do much to improve students’ access to tech
nology on campus, both in the classroom and
in campus labs. Improved access is necessary
since the modem pool was eliminated, and a
small fee increase now may be warranted.
But the fee seems destined to rise above
the $5 amount designated for 1999. Comput
ers are not a lifetime investment and must be
replaced. Inflation will send up the price of
replacement and the price of new technology
—higher than can be handled with a $5-per
credit-hourfee.
The beverage contract millions could keep
this fee low in the future and help students
win the financial battle of attending school.
But beverage contract proceeds could go
a lot further toward bringing all classrooms
and computer labs up to pace with the much
esteemed facilities of the College of Business
Administration.
How nice would it be for the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, long plagued by a lack
of sufficient computer services, to rise to the
top of its peer group in the technology area?
There are many areas that could produce
great things with an extra million dollars. But
die university has an opportunity to use the
contract dollars in an area that has peaked
the interest ofboth students and the NU Board
of Regents.
The “Virtual University” cannot advance
if students do not have computers with high
speed access. The goals of having all students
on die Internet cannot be achieved if students
must wait In line for old computers, or if they
are shut out of labs that are not open very
early or very late.
Students at UNL consume most of the
soda on campus and should be the beneficia
ries of any beverage contract The university
must listen when students ask for technology
and should gratefully grant their wish.
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 erf1 its author. The Board of Regents
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policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. The UNL Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
production of die paper: According to policy
set fay the regents, responsibility for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
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S t r
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Mehs ling’s
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Minority Jesus unpopular in faith
SAN MARCOS, Ttexas (U
WIRE)—A black Jesus? The very
words caused uproar when a New
Jersey theater decided to cast a black
actor as Jesus for the first time in the
82-year history of its passion play.
Five tour groups canceled their
reservations. Others wanted to
reschedule for when a white actor
would resume playing Jesus. After
several death threats were phoned to
the theater, two church schools
canceled out of fear for the safety of
their students.
It would seem that even for a
man who's beat dead for nearly
2,000 years, race matters. So of
course the question begs to be asked,
who was this Jesus character
anyway?
Weil, we do know that Jesus
himself was not a Christian; he was
a Hebrew. And what were the
Hebrews? According to Webster’s
they were “Semitic." That doesn't
help much because if “race” is an
invalid concept, as lam frequently
told, then Semite must be completely
useless.
The word Semitic has varied
connotations which, according to its
user, can denote race, ethnic group,
language, religion or a combination
thereof. Even the Semitic term
“Arab” runs into trouble when
confronted with someone like the
late Egyptian president Anwar
Sadat.
According to Hebrew lore, Ham
(the so-called cursed) was the father
of Cannan, Cush and Mizraim
(Egypt). That the Hebrews, whatever
their original description, inter
mixed with these people is highly
probable.
If the Exodus story has any
validity whatsoever, 70 Hebrews
traveled into Mizraim with Joseph,
but 600,000 left with Moses. Either
this population explosion resulted
from intermixture, or nobody in the
Hebrew camp was getting any sleep
at all -— if you know what I mean.
Black Hebrews still exist today. That
the Hebrews, ancient and modem,
all fit the stereotypical “Semitic”
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look is untruthful.
To simply state that Jesus was an
“Arabian Jew,” as I have heard
commented, doesn’t clarify much
about the demographic makeup of
that area of the world nearly 2,000
years ago. The Bible itself describes
Jesus in Revelations as having hair
like wool and feet like burnt brass.
Some say that Jesus wasn’t any
color at all and that different people
around the world portray him
depending on their culture Euro
pean, Chinese, African, whatever.
That may be politically correct, but
let’s be real. If he was a living,
breathing human being, unless he
was transparent, Jesus had to look
like somebody.
Unless, of course, the Christian
savior didn’t exist at all.
hi truth, Jesus’ stray isn’t all that
unique. The Hindu god Krishna was
said to have been bran of the virgin
Devaki. What's more, his nativity
was heralded by a star and he was
bran in a cave where he was visited
by wise men who gave him gifts.
Though also a warrior, throughout
his life Krishna performed numer
ous miracles and suspended the laws
of nature. In his own fashion he was
crucified and achieved resurrection.
And Krishna’s not the only one.
Buddha of India, Tammuz of Syria,
Iao of Nepal, Hesus of the Celtic
Druids, Bel of Babylon and more
share portions of this story. The
oldest version conies from Egypt,
where Osiris was the god-king who
was killed, resurrected and became
the way to salvation. His wife Isis,
through an immaculate conception,
gave birth to Horns, who shares a
story very similar to Jesus, Krishna
and the rest.
While this could all be (me big
coincidence, I’d call it a product of
cultural diffusion rather than some
shared “psychic connection” of
humanity. And though each one has
its own unique specifics, the general
story remains the same.
The Hebrews themselves cer
tainly weren’t immune from cultural
influence — ranging from the
Babylonian-derived flood story to
the Egyptian practice of circumci
sion and baptism. Given its mass
appeal, its not surprising that a
savior story eventually arose among
them.
Now, I’m no Christian. I mean
the savior story is really nice, but the
jealous deity who strikes down
people in their tracks and scares the
sandals off everyone gathered at the
foot of Mount Sinai doesn’t really
appeal to me.
Nothing personal, it’s just not my
gig. If Jesus did exist, I suspect that
if he walked into a black church
today and declared himself, there’d
be no great shock. At a white
church, pandemonium might ensue. ,
The idea of a black man portraying
the Christian savior shouldn’t cause
anyone great alarm. It certainly
makes more sense than the blond -
haired guy in “Jesus Christ Super
star.”
Incidentally, though I did like the
play, I couldn’t help but notice that
no one complained that a blade man
was playing the role of Judas.
— Qatar Mriai
The Uriversity Star (Southwest
Texas State U.)
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