The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 09, 1997, Image 1
1 [»*BBTS__ f a e WEDNESDAY Freshman fireballer The Full moon Aprils, 1997 NU softball pitcher Jenny Voss has shown her abil- JJ The Moon Seven Times, a five-piece band from ity this season with a 13-11 record. She has ap- Champaign, Til-- in the, midst nf a mini-tnnr, will - peared in 28 games for the Huskers. PAGE 7 L_ stop in Omaha tonight for two shows. PAGE 8 Cloudy, light 1 ''A'' ■ ? ! ” — r i 1 ' § m ; S I 1 ! i ... J VOL. 96COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN SINCE 1901 .134 A consultant approves women’s treatment in NU’s Athletic Department. By Erin Gibson Senior Reporter Women student-athletes do not face s£*ual harassment or a hostile environment in th^Uni versity of Nebraska Athletic Department, a con sultant said Tuesday. Beverly Ledbetter, a consultant hired to study die climate for women athletes at UNL, revealed her finished study Tuesday and said a positive environment for women student-athletes now exists at UNL. Her finding contradicts the accusations made by a 1996 university task force that women ath letes were frequently harassed by men athletes in the Hewit Center and other Athletic Depart ment facilities. In 30 confidential interviews and bye-mail, UNL women athletes told Ledbetter the reported ’ incidents of harassment were isolated, “not per vasive, hostile or threatening,” she said. NU athletes support each other like family, * Ledbetter said, and the strength of their unity and respect for one another surprised her. However, Ledbetter said the strength of ath letes’ unity women athletes from reporting in Assment to her. Athletic Byrne seemed pleased by Ledbette: “It confirms what we knew all along,” he said. “That we have a great program.” Both Byrne and Ledbetter acknowledged the Athletic Department was not free of problems. Ledbetter said past reports of sexual harass ment at UNL were not unfounded, but incidents were less common than reported. In interviews, women student-athletes said incidents were not a result of a poor climate at UNL, but were the result of atypical athletes who acted outside the realm of acceptable behavior. Ledbetter said athletes felt past cases of sexual assault involving high-profile athletes at die university have tainted the public’s opinion of the Athletic Department. Both men and women NU athletes want this perception to change, she said. To help opin ions change, the department should make re forms that will allow it to appear more sensitive to women athletes, she said. Ledbetter recommended a series of such de partment reforms to correct negative perceptions and to further help women student-athletes feel comfortable at UNL. Recommendations were: • Make changes to the Hewit Center’s din ing center to make it more hospitablefbrWOhien student-athletes. Physical cfiaipg should bemade to the hall way leading to fc dining room, where some women athletes~$itd they felt uncomfortable. Men athletes, wh^sit on hallway benches called “blocks,” sometimes have heckled female pass ersby. - The price of an evening meal should also be lowered to allow Women athletes, many whom are not on full scholarship, to afford the meal, Ledbetter said. ' The evening meal at Hewit costs $2 higher than elsewhere atUNL, she said, because of an upgraded meal made available to athletes. A past report had said women athletes did not feel comfortable eating in the Hewit dining room for the evening meal because of male ath letes. Football players, who are on full scholarship and do not pay for their meals in Hewit, domi nate the dining room in the evenings, the report said. If prices were reduced to accommodate women athletes, the number of women who eat in Hewit in the evenings would increase, and they would feel more comfortable there, Ledbetter said. • Hire more senior-level women staff mem bers in the Athletic Department. More women in administrative positions _ would send a message that women are qualified Please see CLIMATE on 3 5 ,-I-I *By Lori Robison Staff Reporter Although the City Council primary election is over, for the six candidates chosen to advance to the May 6 general election the real campaign is just beginning. Incumbents Jerry Shoecraft and Cindy Johnson led the race with 18.4 percent and 17.4 percent of the vote respectively, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. Shoecraft said he probably won his share of votes because he followed through on campaign promises and worked hard during his term and the campaign. “If you roll up your sleeves and work hard,” he said, “many positive things can happen.” Johnson said the positive election results did not come as a surprise, partly because of her Please see ELECTION on 3 ' Senators try amendments to resolve gay-union bill By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter Legislators spent Tuesday morning debating an amendment that one sena tor said helped determine who was “worthy to marry.” Sen. Dave Landis of Lincoln said LB280, which was debated on select file for a second time Tuesday, was drafted to define who was worthy of marriage by outlawing recognition of gay or lesbian marriages. Landis proposed an amendment ~ that would prohibit obtaining a mar 1 riage license or recognizing a marriage if a person had been convicted of as sault on a spouse three times. The I amendment failed with 15 senators ! voting for the amendment and 17 sena I tors voting against. Landis said the Legislature should try to offset the unfairness of outlaw ing gay and lesbian marriages by offer ing an “olive branch,” a symbol of rilf; peace. ~ i : , Landis tried to do that in first-round debate by proposing a failed amend ment that would have made workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual k orientation illegal. “ f ' I'm Landis said he was not a moral ab I solutist and gave an example of a time j when Old Testament rules could be ; broken. If a Nazi came up to you dur | ing World War n, Landis said, and - asked where Anne Frank was, and you knew, should you lie? T r f ‘T would lie with joy in my heart,” | Landis said. “The New Testament is a far more sensitive weighing of rights and wrongs.” U They don't like the sanctity of marriage being ruined by this act * Sen. Don Weseet Lincoln Quoting the fourth chapter of John in the New Testament of the Bible, Landis said, “And everyone who loves is bom of God and knows God. “Sol Jensen’s bill really flies in the face of that language.” Landis said he would be willing to vote for die biH outlawing same-sex marriage if some fairness, such as one of his amendments, was tacked on. Sea. Ernie Chambers*# Omaha of fered an amendment that would allow gays or lesbians to create a legal do mestic partnership.* Tbe partners would sign a statement under oath declaring their intent for a domestic partnership, which wpuld provide legal recognition of an intinSate, committed relationship, ChambersSaid. No divorce would be required to dissolve the partnership. However, one partner would have to inform the state Please see MARRIAGEo&f> MmNMY COHEN, art Im Underground Railroad, speaks Tuesday alglrt la ths Uniai Alp Intltuti. Historian retraces slaves escape route Train ride, 800-mile hike still lead to freedom By Kasey Kerber Staff Reporter For 26 hours, Anthony Cohen traveled in a box barely large enough to support his dimensions in an Amtrakfreight car with temperatures w* well over 100 degrees. : And he did it to recreate exactly what a slave would do to achieve freedom. Cohen, a historian who walked more than 800 miles from Maryland to Canada to retrace the Under ground Railroad, spoke to a crowd of more than 70 people Tuesday night in the Nebraska Union. Cohen performed the “box” act last year to recreate what former slave Henry “Box” Brown did in | 1848—shipping himself tc aboard a train. ( At first, Cohen’s friends were ex cited by the idea of trying to recre ate a slave escape. But as possibili ties of failure entered their minds, they became less sure, Cohen said. Please see RAILROAD on 6 Read the Daily NeWtekan on the World Wide Web at http: / /www.unl^du / DailyNeb tV--& - • ■', Si - '■■ '■ 1 * ■ . "i •• * Jv 4 - ? m -r ”7 > ■ ij u . • . . . •/ v.v t . wv/. .. .-...• _ _ __i