»PJULLS- * » e_ THURS IAY
A little different Take a look May l, 1997
NU softball player Jennifer Lizama has been tear- In the coming months, Lincoln residents can ex
ing up opposing pitching, but has had trouble ad- pect not only paychecks and bills, but also the open- May Day , May Day
justing to life in Nebraska. PAGE 14 ing of exhibitions at local art galleries. PAGE 11 Afternoon showers, high 65. Rain tonight, low 43.
VOL. 96 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 ~~ NO. 150
Consolidation bill
advances after
day-long debate
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
After voting to suspend floor rules that would
further delay a vote, senators advanced a bill
Wednesday that many say will force hundreds
' of schools in Nebraska to close or consolidate.
LB806 moved to second-round debate 35-6
after 22 hours of debate on amendments to the
bill. Senators spent all of Tuesday debating
amendments, all but three of which were with
drawn before they could be voted on.
Please see EDUCATION on 9
I
Rape fliers create discord
Women's groups, fraternities see different meanings in warning
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
The timing of a new safety-alert flier posted
Tuesday afternoon that warns students of cam
pus rapists has unnerved some University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students.
The UNL Women’s Studies Association
posted the lime green flier, which contains facts
about what it calls the average rapist. The flier
closely mocks the design of a safety-alert flier
distributed on campus last week to warn stu
dents of a suspected serial rapist in the area.
The first flier included a police composite
sketch of a black man as the suspected serial
rapist. The association’s flier includes a cartoon
composite of an average rapist — a white male.
The flier states black men are not more likely
to commit rape than white men, and 78 percent
of rape victims know their attacker.
It also warns UNL members to “be especially
alert around fraternities and athletic departments,
since members of these groups are more likely
to commit gang rape than other students.”
Brent Karstens, president of the UNL Inter
fraternity Council, said the flier’s wording was
harsh and unfair.
“It’s rather shocking that they single^out fra
ternities and the Athletic Department,” Karstens
said.
Karstens said he could not dispute the facts
listed on the flier, and the statistics on fraternity
and athlete members’ more frequent involvement
in gang rape may hold up nationally.
But ;Karstens said he had never heard of a
gang rape reported at UNL.
Judith Kriss, Women’s Center director, also
said she did not think a gang rape had been re
ported at UNL, but such a crime may have oc
curred and not been reported.
Statistics do show fraternities and athletic
departments are the two campus groups more
likely to commit gang rape than other students,
Kriss said.
Karstens said that under IFC bylaws, UNL
fraternities must invite two guest speakers a se
mester to address issues including rape. UNL
fraternities actively address their responsibility
in preventing rape, he said.
Karstens said he also opposed the flier be
cause it seemed to attack white and black males
as rapists. Rapists should not be labeled by any
one — or two — colors, he said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, yel
low, green, blue,” Karstens said. “It shouldn’t
be an issue of race.”
Amy Rager, ASUN 1st vice president who
Please see FLIERS on 7
i
Students celebrate
Ellen’s ‘coming out’
By Sarah Baker
1 Staff Reporter
Through the cheering and clap
ping of the crowd and the flashing
of cameras, members of the Gay/
Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Re
source Center—along with a group
of at least 60 other people — cel
ebrated Ellen DeGeneres’ “coming
out.”
The center had its party in the
Nebraska Union Wednesday night.
Degeneres’ television alter ego,
Ellen Morgan, came out as a les
bian on a special one-hour episode
of her ABC show Wednesday night.
The show marks the first time a main
character on a prime-time television
show has been openly gay.
Many of the people at the spe
cial viewing thought the move was
a giant leap in exposure for the gay
community.
“It’s a great thing to realize this
is really on national television,”
broadcasting graduate student
Stacie Schultz said. “Recognizing a
gay person in this way is amazing.”
Schultz also said she thought the
show might change some people’s
opinions about gay people, espe
cially those who aren’t exposed to
gay issues on an everyday basis.
“Many people who live in a place
like Lincoln, Neb., don’t get a lot
of exposure to gays,” Schultz said.
“This show is something that people
who know nothing about gays can
see.”
The crowd kept its high level of
excitement throughout the entire
show. Many of the viewers thought
the episode did a good job portray
ing the coming-out process in a re
alistic way.
“It’s the best portrayal of the
process I have ever seen on televi
sion,” senior English major Alison
Please see ELLEN on 7
Ryan Soderlin/DN
JOHN ENGLE, secretary of the Gay/Lesbian/BIsexual/ftansgender Resource Center, celebrates while President
Jeff Krotz jumps for joy as Ellen Degeneres’ character EHen Morgan conies out of the closet Wednesday night.
_ V
Students contemplate housing options
Evaluating their lifestyles
can help students
decide between halls and
apartments.
By Josh Funk
Staff Reporter
As the school year closes, University of Ne
braska-Lincoln students must decide where they
will make their homes next year — in the resi
dence halls or off campus.
Students can evaluate their lifestyle and
weigh the advantages of both situations before
deciding what they will call home for the next
year of their lives.
The residence halls may offer students a se
cure place to live in a convenient location where
all the meals are cooked and the bathrooms are
cleaned for them.
“Students don’t have to do a lot of things
involved in managing their lives (in the residence
halls),” UNL Housing Director Doug Zatechka
said.
Apartment life, however, may offer students
the freedom to live without restrictions on their
lifestyles.
“Living in an apartment gives students the
freedom to live how they want,” said Sarah
Siefkes, a manager for Claremont Park apart
ments.
The choice isn’t a matter of one living ar
rangement being better than the other, students
say. It depends on the type of lifestyle an indi
vidual student wants.
Sheltered living
Zatechka said he is well versed in the ben
efits and drawbacks of residence halls.
“Students should live in the dorms for the
first couple of years,” Zatechka said, “but then
later there are benefits for students to move out
on their own.”
For new students unaccustomed to college,
living on campus helps them adjust to university
life, Zatechka said. Nationwide studies have v
shown that students who live in residence halls *
stay in school longer, get better grades, become
Please see HOUSING on 3
Lotus Notes
strike discord
for some users
By Erin Gibson
Senior Reporter
Lotus Notes may not be the best system for
all University of Nebraska-Lincoln computer
users, some students and faculty have said.
Through newsgroup discussions and in re
cent interviews, some members of the UNL com
munity have said Lotus Notes is a commercial,
nonstandard system that would harm campus
Please see LOTUS on 8
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: / / www.unl.edu /DailyNeb
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