EDITOR
Paula Lavigne
OPINION
EDITOR
Matthew Waite
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Erin Gibson
Joshua Gillin
Jeff Randall
Julie Sobczyk
Ryan Soderlin
Our
VIEW
Ain’t Love
Grand?
Students deserve
book knowledge
The North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools seems to think our
beloved Love Library is a benefit to this
campus.
They should know. They have seen a
school or two in their time. They accredit
them.
And we agree. But not wholeheartedly.
In fact, we agree brokenheartedly.
It hurts us to watch our library system
limp by on the paltry sums it gets. We just
wish the accrediting committee would have
seen our pain.
The accrediting group said that Love
Library on City Campus provided students
with a fine research library. However, the
library, like many others nationwide, suf
fers from a lack of space to put books, and
money to buy them.
The mention of Love Library made up
only a paragraph in a 79-page document.
But what a paragraph it was.
And one that deserves discussion.
What good is a Research I institution,
the.coveted title our university so desper
ately sought, without a well funded, spa
cious library?
Few would argue that a library is an
anchor from which a campus swings. A
center for academics. The one place on
campus all majors collect like worker bees
in the hive.
0,-iih.Apd what are they looking for?
knowledge? Yes. Btit it’s simpler than that.
. They are looking for books, journals, mag
azines, periodicals.
And what’s a library without those?
Nothing.
Another building.
And, according to the accreditation
committee, not a very spacious one.
We could have told you that.
Ever gone into the stacks? Ever gone in
there to look for a recent book on timely
issue, only to find that one hasn’t been pur
chased since the early ‘80s?
We have. It’s no fun.
In the reallocation process the universi
ty recently completed, the libraries didn’t
lose a cent. They didn’t gain one either. And
this at a time when inflation wipes out peri
odicals faster than chalk on the sidewalks.
The honors program got new funding,
but what good is that if they can’t do honors
research? Technology got new funding. But
new computers don’t replace good old
fashioned books. Not all books are online.
Priorities? Anyone remember those?
The regents, this spring, approved a
Love Library expansion. Chances are,
you’ll graduate before they finish.
If the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -
or the Legislature - wants us to be a top tier
research institution, then it better get its pri
orities straight.
You can’t build a house without tools.
1 IfrMBr--"
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A column is solely the opinion of its author.
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UttKMCV
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^ Haney’s
VIEW
$
Letters to the
EDITOR
Chalking the bard
Both Benjamin Carson and
Chad De Moss (Monday’s DN)
question the importance of com
ing out as a political tactic. Mr.
Carson blames queer students
for the homophobia they face
and, in fact, for gay bashing. The
argument goes that if we didn’t
force the issue, we’d be fine.
This is a specious argument.
Mr. Carson also claims that
the split between heterosexual
and queer is maintained by queer
students. On this issue, I suggest
he return to the books.
Homophobia has a long history
before the Stonewall Riots and
the Gay Liberation Movement.
Queer bars were raided by police
regularly as were queer private
parties. Queer couples were, and
still are, attacked on the streets,
verbally assaulted, and/or spat
upon, i counter Mr. Carson s
argument that the dichotomy
between queer and heterosexual
perpetuated by queer activists.
Rather, it seems to me that het
erosexuality needs queerness to
exist in order for heterosexuality
to be "normal," and therefore
heterosexuality created, and now
maintains the division between,
queer and heterosexual.
Mr. Carson and Mr. De Moss
would rather queer students be
silent about their sexuality, and
in fact, seem to think that this is
liberating. Certainly, this would
make heterosexuals who are
uncomfortable thinking about
queerness and homophobes
comfortable. I must question,
though, how can we be silent
about our sexuality? Are hetero
sexuals willing to be silent about
theirs? This means omitting
..every instance of talking about
and girlfriends: at work, at
home, or in the classroom. Some
r--v. ■ ■ -
queer people do that, and engage
in elaborate subterfuges to hide
who they are from co-workers,
classmates, and family. But,
speaking from experience, this
is a difficult and heart-rending
route.
Lastly, I'll go ahead and con
fess: I wrote “Shakespeare was
gay!” outside Andrews Hall. Mr.
Carson, don't forget that, 130 of
the 159 Sonnets are addressed to
a man, and some of them are
rather erotic. It's obvious to me
that Shakespeare was not silent
about the issue. Rather, he was
verbose about his affection
toward men. No one else in the
history of English literature has
written so many love poems to a
member of the same sex.
Robert W. Anderson
graduate student
English
Let it be
Excuse me for being blunt,
but I am really getting tired of
the constant press on gay issues.
That's not to say that I agree
with the chalkings; I don't. But
at the same time that everyone is
upset at how these students
forced their hateful ideals on
their fellow students, I find
myself bombarded by article
upon article about homosexual
related issues. Needless to say,
it’s getting old. Raised to be tol
erant, I sympathize with the
plight of this part of our culture,
but I personally don't like to
have anything, be it gay, reli
gious, or even political issues
forced down my throat. As far as
the “equal time in the news”
jjoinUna^go, I have^say that I
ual articles in the paper lately.
This is the way I feel and I don't
think I am entirely alone.
Aaron Bartsch
' freshman
undeclared
Everyday people
It seems that there is a ques
tion about the necessity of
National Coming Out Day. After
all, we don't see heterosexual
people marching in parades of
chalking the sidewalk in honor
of “straight pride.”
However, no one seems to
take into account that heterosex
uality is affirmed in society
every day. For example, a
straight couple can hold hands in
public without fear of harass
ment or violence. They can get
married without having their
committed, monogamous rela
tionships.denounced as per
verse. No one has to chalk the
campus with phrases such as
"I'm straight." Our society
assumes one IS straight unless
told otherwise.
To state that the campus was
chalked with homophobic hate
speech because gay people
chalked in the first place is
ridiculous. That's like saying a
woman is raped because she
dresses provocatively. The hate
speech appeared because thos4
of us who are gay dajed to be
visible and challenge, itjie
assumption that our campus is
exclusively heterosexual. Such
hate will never disappear if we
are silent.
, Alison F. Knudsen
senior
2tfl£v£ngHsh<aiiibfdaKm'ffis(ii]iies
President, GLBT Resource
Center
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