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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1997)
Athletes speak to children on academic importance TOUR from page 1 . you cannot achieve with dedica tion and persistence,” said Kevin Lofton, UNK assistant menVbas ketball coach. The Tour of Excellence pre sents across the state to stress the importance of education to youth. The tour was created in 1995 and is based on the “School is C6ol”Jam, which started in 1992 and features a similar message. Academic success is more important than athletic success, Amy Stephens, UNK women’s basketball coach, said. “When athletics is over, acade mics will always carry you through,” she said. Strength, study and service are the three Ss of success, said NU gymnast Shelly Bartlett. “If you have strength of charac ter and body, study hard and serve the community, you will have suc cess,” Bartlett said. And without hard work and a strong character, it’s hard to get anywhere, former NU wrestler Tolly Thompson said. Thompson spent a year build ing basements after high school before he realized the benefits of a college education. As a wrestler in college, Thompson said he knew the mean ing of hard work. “Wrestling may not get as much coverage as football, but we * work twice as hard,” he said. “But hard work pays off in the class room, practice room and in compe tition.” . People must choose a path for their lives and set goals to advance down that path, former NU foot ball player Troy Branch said. .,, “Once you make a choice don’t let anyone or anything tal^you off your path,” Branch said. But is important to set attain able goals, Thompson said. “Set your goals just out of sight but not out of reach,” he said. When former UNK football player Symeon Williams told his co-workers he was going to col lege, he said, they laughed at him. “You have to realize that your choice is going to be different,” Williams said. “But being different is OK.” ^ Handling adversity in life is the true test of character, NU football player Travis Antholz said. For motivation, Antholz keeps a poster of a running back stretch ing the football across the goal line while being tackled by nine other players. The official is signaling a touchdown, and the caption reads: “A champion gets up even when he can’t” “There will always be someone bigger, faster or stronger than you,” Antholz said. “What matters is what you do when you are lying on the ground staring at your oppo sition after being knocked down.” \ By Ted Taylor Senior Reporter The playing field for ethanol and petroleum may soon be closer to level. And Nebraska, a major player on the ethanol team, is hoping to harvest the benefits of a Senate Finance Committee vote last week that could lead to a tax break extension for the production of the corn-based fuel additive. “The fact is that in the market place, one can’t compete with gaso line without a tax incentive from the federal government,” said Steve Sorum, project director for the Nebraska Ethanol Board. “We consider (the tax break) to be essential to the continued growth of the ethanol industry,” he said. The Oct. 1 vote extended ethanol’s partial exemption from fed eral fuel taxes through 2007. Senators also agreed to gradually lower pro duction costs from 5.4 cents a gallon to 5.1 cents after 2005. The tax break was originally scheduled to expire in 2000. Nebraska U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Tuesday the vote was something pos itive for everyone in the state. “This is a great victory for ethanol and Nebraska,” he said. “As «-——— We consider (the tax break) to be essential to the continued growth of the ethanol industry Steve Sorum Nebraska Ethanol Board project director we continue to look for alternative sources of energy, ethanol remains a product worthy of investment and further development.” There are six ethanol producing plants in Nebraska, employing more than 800 people. Sorum said those six plants pro duce more than 300 million gallons of ethanol a year, which requires about 10 percent of the state’s corn crop. -'•* - - - “Nebraska is the leader in the research and development of the product,” Sorum said. Ethanol’s production benefits can be traced nationwide, said Neil Moseman, agriculture director for U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel. “It’s important because it helps the com markets and helps the farm income,” he said, “and it helps rediice the dependence on sources of ferdgn energy and oil.” But he said it was still too early to tell if the extended tax break would make it through Congress intact. “It’s just past one hurdle,” he said. “It still has a ways to go.” The subsidy, which is part of a highway funding bill, must still be passed by the full Senate, then a House committee and then a T Conference Committee, Moseman said. And the road might not be pret- l ty. ’• •;' ' The ethanol subsidy has divided Congress into a battle between farm states and oil states. j Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, has been one of ethanol’s strongest oppo nents, Moseman^id, trying to stop the tax break before the final $152 billion^ax bill was enacted earlier this ye$r. “There are some strong ethanol opponents in the House,” he said. SIDEWALK from page 1 He also said the hosts did not intend to cre ate a situation that encouraged people to express their “hateful” views. “We apologized. We felt bad that it hap pened, but we didn’t intend it to,” Marre said. Marre said at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, when the hosts left Avery Hall, where their show is aired from, they saw derogatory remarks writtenOn the sidewalk. He said they walked around campus and changed many of the messages and drawings, in an effort to change their original meaning. The messages and pictures drawn on the sidewalks ranged from comments supporting a heterosexual lifestyle to comments regarding the AIDS virus to comments written in a vulgar and “hateful” manner regarding homosexual rJ? Vi* ; ; mak- S59d 1 ' ’r '--in ? ■, JudithKriss, director of the UNL Women’s Center, said a student came into her office Tuesday morning visibly upset about the anti gay messages written on the sidewalk. Kriss said she called the UNL Police Department and Landscape Services, which was directed to remove the messages. Peg Blake, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and director of admissions, said the university does not condone such messages directed toward homosexuals. . . “I wish our campus community were better educated and more tolerant toward homosexu als,” Blake said. “No one should have to be subject to that kind of language.” Blake said if the people who wrote the mes sages were found, they could be charged with defacing university property - a violation of thesfudentcade of conduct. She said they also could be chaifeo^rni violating the university’s anti-discrimination policy, which prohibits students from creating a “hostile environment” for others. Kriss said she hoped the administration would enforce its own policy regarding hateful speech and not leave it up to the homosexual students to “defend themselves,” if the vandals were found. Jeff Krotz, secretary of the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Resource Center, said KRNU’s station manager came to the GLBT office to apologize for the incident and asked what the resource center wanted the hosts to do about the chalk writings. Marre said he offered the GLBT the oppor tunity to speak on his show. Kriss said she thought the messages were ^rfflid^tiye Of general attitudes toward homo ^exuaflty afUNC “I don’t think it’s an isolated incident,” Kriss said. “It’s the voice we hear - the voice of hate and discrimination. We don’t hear the voice of welcome.” Kriss said she would expect more from the university community of “enlightened” people. “It hurts worse when it’s here,” she said. Kriss and Melissa Rigney, a graduate assis tant working with Student Involvement who focuses on GLBT issues and concerns, said this incident could be used to foster discussion regarding homosexual issues. “What we saw on campus was a very real example of hate speech and the face of dis crimination,” Kriss said. “The chalk marks can be washed off - but the attitude doesn’t go away.” . r, - ♦ j " ' I mg eh ,^H ■ if ■■' v';,-r - ' . ■ \ .. •.. ■ ally Yal-i\ 1. to unite or form a connection between: associate 2. one that is associated with another as a helper October is Gay/Lesbian History Month. This ally card is being offered so individuals can, if they choose, display the card as a symbolic commitment to diversity, personal safety a^d mutual respect. It is NOT meant to say anything about your sexual orientation, political or religious perspective, or personal life. For more information on National Gay/Lesbian History Month or to obtain a card, visit the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Resource Center in the NE Union, Rm. 234 or contact the University Health Center Sexuality Education Program at 472-7440 or GLBTRC at 472-5644. ;_ i h I pill -IA-J_U am mow ~ TrJi n *1 -■—JH- A U » A » - '-Jr _i iwa3^lCAi,|nck)iBdftetiereatBsLHBcaMnMiafe8(sack. GrtsMgiKMri^) yoa aoelv Miaou AJ t. -I- a_U