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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1997)
Speaker to present Czech Republic life By Amy Keller Staff Reporter University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and faculty will get a glimpse of the Czech Republic without even leaving Lincoln today. Jaroslav Opat, a distinguished scholar from the Czech Republic, will be at UNL today for three events where students and faculty can speak with him about the Czech Republic. From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., he will be giving an informal talk in the Kawasaki Room, 1126 Oldfather Hall. At 6 p.m., a dinner in his honor will be given at the Thai Garden Restaurant, 215 N. 14th St. Afterward, Opat will lecture at 7 pjn. in the Nebraska Union Co lonial B Room. All three events are open to the public. Opat is currently the director of the T.G. Masaryk Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Masaryk was the first president of the Czech Republic. “Not only is (Opat) a historian of democracy but also a restorer of democracy,” said Mila Saskova Pierce, a UNL professor of Russian and Czechoslovakian languages. When the republic was under Communist rule, Opat was a dissi dent, which meant he publicly chal lenged the government and dis agreed with its policies, Saskova Pierce said. He was a member of Charter 77, a group of citizens who signed a document advocating democracy and freedom. Signing the charter was considered a crime, but Opat became famous as a result of it, said Evelyn Caha, an assistant to Saskova-Pierce. Opat was a dissident at the same time as Vaclav Havel, who is now president of the Czech Republic. Opat is still a very close friend and colleague of Havel, Caha said. She said having Opat speak will be “as close as Nebraska will ever get to President Havel.” “Hie fact that he comes to Ne braska is very important because the Czechs in Nebraska have been very involved in Czech affairs since 1914,” Saskova-Pierce said. Sunday’s feast closes Pasca Greek Orthodox churches celebrate Christ’s resurrection By Lindsay Young Staff Reporter The church goes black. The only sound the congregation hears is a priest nailing a wooden icon of Christ into a wooden cross. Candles are lit and the cross is car ried in procession to the front of the church where it will stand until Fri day afternoon, the day commemorat ing Christ’s burial. For many people, this ritual hap pened during Easter observances about a month ago, but this similar celebration — Pasca — happened Thursday for the Lincoln Greek Or thodox churches. The ceremony continued Friday as priests took down the cross and car ried it to the altar inside the church. They pulled off the Christ icon and placed it in the tomb, which was adorned with fuchsia, white and red flowers and lavender ribbon. Later that evening they sang lam entations around the tomb inside the church. In a funeral procession, they carried the tomb and candles. The next day around midnight, the the dead Christ. Each member carried a white candle symbolizing happiness and sang, “Christ is risen.” The congregation members then gathered for a feast of lamb, signify ing the end of a 40-day fast, which began at the start of Lent, on a day called Clean Monday. Stella Makliviera, a freshman com puter science major from Greece, said cooking for this feast starts Saturday morning. Feasting also occurs all day Sunday in celebration. The cel ebration of Pasca this year was nearly a month after Easter, but it could land anywhere from one to five weeks af ter Easter. Paul Barnes, a cantor at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annuncia tion, said the difference in schedules was because the Greek Orthodox Church waits until after the Jewish Passover to celebrate Easter. Reliving the sufferings of Christ was the focus of the church during the week-long celebration and was done with re-enactments of the events that led up to and followed the death of Christ. The deep roots of the Greek Or thodox Church make the services highly traditional and different from other Christian churches, Bames said. The Greek Orthodox Church stemmed from the Great Schism, which occurred in 1054 when Rome broke off from the other five Eastern churches: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alex andria, Constantinople and Rome. The church is still using the same traditions that were used in the first years of the western Christian religion, he said. Bames said the Pasca celebration was a good example of the traditional doctrine of the church. Services like the one for Pasca appeal to some in the community because of its connec tion between the physical and spiri tual aspects of religion, he said. “It involves all of the senses,” Barnes said. Incense was spread several times by the priest as he walked down the aisle of the church and circled the al tar several times during the service. The icons and processions, Bames said, provide a visual feast for the con gregation. Though the Greek Orthodox Pasca isn’t as well known as Easter, Bames said, there were benefits for going late. “We get Easter candy half off.” American Heart Association*^^ Fighting Heart Disease and Stroke I Quality Woden's Reproductive Health Care at Affordable Prices! ✓ Birth control options ✓ Free pregnancy testing ✓ Abortion services . . . and much, much morel For an appointment call: 441-3300 2246 ‘O’ St. 441-3333 3705 South St. MADD remembers loved ones By Jessica Fargen Staff Reporter Carol and Bob Workman lit a candle Saturday night in remembrance of their daughter Jennifer, whose teen age life stopped in 1989 when she was killed by a drunken driver. The Workmans lit their candle at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving candlelight vigil, joined by family and friends who had a loved one die in an alcohol-related crash. The vigil also was a strong remem brance to the living that the fight to stop drunken driving is still happen ing. Paula Childers, the Nebraska state chairwoman for MADD, said victims’ relatives and friends can gain hope by knowing MADD is trying to stop the tragedy of drunken driving from hap pening to others. “We come here tonight with the hope that someday MADD will be put out of business,” Childers said. Fred Zwonechek, an administrator from Nebraska Highway Safety, said the evidence of MADD’s efforts were obvious. In 1981, 189 Nebraskans died in alcohol-related crashes and 88 died in 1996, Zwonechek, also a MADD member, said. After Zwonechek spoke, 88 candles were lit in remembrance of those Nebraskans killed last year in drunken-driving crashes. Cindy Blankenship, secretary of the Lancaster county chapter of MADD, said MADD is focusing on getting laws passed that would toughen Nebraska’s stance against drinking and driving and making Nebraskans aware of the dangers of drinking and driving. Although the trend of designated _ Rick Townley/DN BETTY SULUVAN, left, Nancy Peel and 5-year-old lyier Sullivan light candles In remembrance of their sen, brother and father Brent Sollivan, killed by a drnnken driver soath of Denton on Dec. 10,1993. They were part of a remembrance vigil sponsored by MADD. drivers has increased in the last 20 years, Blankenship said, the majority of people still don’t think they will get in an alcohol-related crash. “It is an invincibility complex of drinkers,” Blankenship said. MADD is trying to educate these people on the hazards of drunken driv ing and make the roads safer, Blankenship said. Part of this educa tion is the monthly Lancaster County Victim Impact Panel sponsored by MADD, Blankenship said. At the panels, relatives and friends of drunken driving accident victims speak to a room full of people on pro bation for driving under the influence and minor in possession. She said MADD hopes offenders at the panel will realize the damage they have done and stop drinking and driving. Recently, Nebraska Attorney Gen eral Don Stenberg honored MADD for its efforts to put an end to drunken driving by giving it the National Crime Victims Rights Award. Blankenship said it was encourag ing for someone in Stenberg’s posi tion to recognize the “heart-felt mis sion” of MADD. Workman, vice president of the Lancaster county chapter of MADD, said the vigil was a reminder that MADD still has a mission. Every day of her life, Workman said, she wonders what her daughter’s life would have been like if she would not have been killed by a drunken driver. “My life has been forever changed.” f ' -'A r.r - 1 1,1 '»« ‘U1, 1'/"."Jp. 1 I # - -: «;> i-if ¥ % *v - Sandhills Publishing wants to wish all their interns good luck on their finals next week. We also wish the best to our graduating seniors! • Maureen McCrudden • Laurie Choat • Tania Massaro • Rachel Mueting • Bethany Wanamaker • JefFTorczon • Brian Bazata • Stephanie Beckner * Ryan McMeekin • Maureen McCrudden -Tara Gestring • Nate Harris • Rachel Mueting • Matt Swanson • Matt Olson • Brian Bazata • Katie Peterson • Ryan Lindsay <3 C • Linda Marcouillier -AntoneOseka • Wendi Ericksen • Justin Carper • Derrick Peterson • Joseph Kettner • DeAnna Frenk • Aaron Franssen • Jeremy Nielsen I • Brent Wegele • - Jerod David • Missy Fletcher •; • Jason Stych • Chad Priest . vi>> • Jay Priefert • Rusty Shepard , -Nguyen Dinh • Jill Neddenriep PUBLISHING ' • S-v. w _. _4&'J$ _.____ ’
