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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1997)
Alumni appreciation Association will recognize students EDWARD PAQUETTE is the executive director of the Nebraska Alumni Association. The Nebraska Alumni Association binds our great uni versity's past with its present and its future, its alumni and you. In a sense, the association suspends time, and becomes a place where members of all classes gather under one common denominator: the university. They are loyal to their alma mater, take pride in its success and work to ensure its tra ditions. So what does the Nebraska Alumni Association mean to stu dents? Good question. From its humble beginnings in 1874 to the present, the alumni association has existed to serve the university. And since you, the stu dents, are the heart and soul of the university, the Nebraska Alumni Association is here to serve you. But that's not always something we've done well. Unfortunately, many UNL stu dents don't know what the Nebraska Alumni Association is or where we're located. To them, alumni are little, old, gray-haired men and women who reminisce ■ about the good ol' days and shake their heads in disapproval of today's tradition-lacking students. That's a myth whose time is done. In reality, alumni are active women and men who care deeply about the university and students' well-being. Alumni span all ages, all nationalities and all walks of life. They are graduates who sup port the university through their generous gifts of time and money. They care about you and your experiences at UNL. Starting tonight, we hope the Wick Alumni Center will be recog nized as more than a driveway to turn your car around on R Street. I will be known as a place which embraces the spirit and pace of student life. A place that supports the community around it. A place that understands university involvement doesn't end with graduation. There are great challenges and opportunities for the Nebraska Alumni Association as it takes an active part in student life. We musl overcome a period of general inac tion, we must overcome the mis conceptions of alumni, and we must seize the opportunities to enrich and perpetuate the University of Nebraska experi ence. Today, that all begins. Nebraska Alumni Association staff and area UNL alumni will board Molley the Trolley for the first "Homecoming Pizza Pass" at 8 p.m. to distribute Papa John's pizza and Pepsi to students work ing on Homecoming displays. And that's just the beginning. We're going to continue spon soring projects such as Masters Week, when successful alumni return to campus, and Senior Sendoff, a spring event for gradu ating seniors to wish them well on their future endeavors. There are plenty of other good things in the works, too. During finals week students are invited to come to the Wick Alumni Center for a quiet place to study and for some refreshments. For career-ori ented students, we're developing a t student/alumni career networking program and shadowing program. Beginning this spring, the asso ciation will be offering an exclu sive UNL class ring designed by UNL students representing all parts of campus. We're hoping the class ring will become a UNL tra dition. 1 he Nebraska Alumni Association is also proud to help sponsor the return of the "Cornhusker" yearbook. After a 25-year absence, the ’’Cornhusker" will begin recording campus life during the 1998-99 school year. Students new to UNL and new to Lincoln will be able to take advantage of our proposed Lincoln City Tours and Welcome to Campus programs. These are just a few of the many ways the Nebraska Alumni Association is getting involved in campus life. Students don't need to become alumni before reaping the benefits of the Nebraska Alumni Association. Sex Education 101 Cure to complex problem isn't elusive GREGG MADSEN is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist Jane Fonda. Celebrity, wife of Ted Turner. Workout-video guru. Sex education instructor? That’s right, Jane Fonda has stopped pushing her exercises on America, and now she wants to push her views of sex on elementary and junior high school students. While she isn’t busy teaching, Fonda plans to spend her time as a spokeswoman for the Durex corpora tion, which makes the nation’s lead ing brand of condoms. A woman who has been married three times and admitted to having several affairs - who just signed on with a ■?. aifaufaia' rramjcftfchiren 3va n t s . to tell American children how valu able safe sex is. Why not have Timothy McVeigh teach political science? Fonda’s desire to teach her safe sex curriculum comes in response to the federal government’s approval of a $50 million abstinence program that will be taught in public schools. She has stated that abstinence before marriage “is based on an unreal world that isn’t out there.” It obviously hasn’t been out there in her world, not before marriage No.l, No.2 or No. 3. If Fonda wants to teach a sex education class, it should be titled Promiscuity 101. Fonda’s response to the absti nence education program mirrors the way many Americans look at the issue. Not only does she see absti nence as an unreal solution, she sees premarital sex as something that isn’t a problem. Premarital sex - unprotected or not - is dangerous. It’s dangerous emotionally, socially and physically. There is one solution: Don’t do it. Abstinence may seem too simple of an answer to a complex problem, but the fact is, it isn’t. Abstinence is too difficult - not too simple - for Americans to embrace. We are told to do whatever it is that makes us feel good, right? Enjoy the moment now and ask questions later, right? Using that logic to explain your sex life just doesn’t work. Alcoholism is dangerous, isn t it/ It’s interesting that society tells alco holics the only cure for them is to quit drinking. In the same way, we tell smokers their only hope is to quit smoking. Long-term drinking and smoking can result in serious health problems such as cirrhosis and lung cancer to name a few. But our cure for premarital sex, which can result instantly in preg < ?b sexually transmitted diseases, is not to abstain, but to continue - with protection that always has a chance to fail. Why? Because we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking abstinence is solely a moral issue. We shy away from talk ing about the nasty a-word because we’re afraid we might be overstep ping our bounds. What right do we have to tell people the truth about sexual activity? A person’s sex life is his or her own business, right? Wrong. It’s everyone’s business when more than four out of 10 American girls get pregnant before turning 20, and 45 percent of first births in the United States are to mothers who are either teen-agers, unwed, or lacking a high school diploma. It’s everyone’s business when thousands of people contract AIDS through sex - unprotected or not - out of wedlock each year, and the government spends millions of our dollars searching for a cure that’s already been found. It’s not just a moral issue. It’s an issue of using your brain. What is so moral about practic ing the only 100 percent effective cure for all STDs and unwed preg nancies? It doesn’t matter if you abstain because of your faith, your morality or any other reason. If you’re not a fan of morality, that doesn’t mean you have to practice stupidity. premarital sex is a dangerous activity. It demands a cure. We would be better off trying to make a three-sided circle or a round triangle a circle than trying to make unwed sex “safe.” It cannot be done. The cure is right before us, it involves self-discipline, respect and responsi bility, among other things. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. So now we have Jane Fonda tak- ' our kids that she’s done well m her life because in all three marriages and affairs, she practiced safe sex. Oh, and by the way, a great condom to use would be one made by Durex. How convenient, free advertising. This is a bogus message. The safest sex possible is not with a condom or any other safety device. It happens between a wife and husband who have both prac ticed abstinence before marriage. We won’t be hearing that mes sage from Jane Fonda or the Durex corporation, but hopefully we won’t be hearing it at all in our public schools. In your face Jobs don't need T-and-A KAY PRAUNER is a senior news-editorial major, copy desk co chief and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Last week yet another virtual victory was rendered for women in the workplace. L Turning heads and accelerat ing pulses, a horde of ladies - donning T-shirts with what appeared to be an “OTE” embla zoned across their chests - marched on Washington, and suc cessfully bounced awry an equal opportunity group’s effort to dash what these women carry close to their hearts. And now 204 collective estab lishments, both nationally and internationally, will continue to display service not only with a smile, but with a Swedish endow ment. So for all you men out there, until you can brandish a pair of Newton’s Law-defying, breath snatching breasts, give it a rest. You’re not qualified. 1 d say it s about time, finally, all my fellow ladies, our mam maries have, uh, single-handedly managed to mar the face of Equal Opportunity legislation. I’d say this move has been quite a development. But for whom? Basically it’s for the men behind the mindlessness of burg ers, brew and breast-excess: the owners and managers of Hooters. But wait men, even if you’re not in management you still have a chance: Hooters currently employs 3,000 men; however, these boys are strictly back-door because they have virtually noth ing to offer up front. Ironically, this move has been one of the first major sex-dis crimination cases to hold its own weight. And all for the sake of a business busting out. The owners of Hooters claim that hiring mostly women caters to their mass-marketing savvy: Busty broads are theirs to bring in and yours to behold. In an article by Time maga zine, Hooters spokesman Mike McNeil said, “Our business is female sex appeal, and in order to have that, you’ve got to be female.” Personally, I think it’s OK that women are winning simply because they’re sexy - pri marily because it’s almost a joke on the persons who buy into the business. And who’s to say I wouldn’t check out a place that specializes in scantily clad men? I’d be more than happy to take my place in line to slurp some suds scope some studs. Really, what place wouldn’t suc ceed under the premises that sex sells and the customer is always right? According to the Time article, just this mentality brought Hooters $325 million last year. This is a place that has both lus cious and lucrative appeal. So who are Hooters’ primary employees to complain? Their cups are more than half full - optimistically and literally speak ing. They earn their wages simply for serving pom-pom-squad plea sure. Who could ask for more? Women could. The V that should headline ' our supposed sex-discrimination victory merely precedes vindicat ed rights on the basis of sex. But for us, not for them. So why can’t we - for once - step above being recognized for our sexuality? Isn’t it our right to request a little more respect when it comes to hiring practices? I’m all for equal-employment opportunities. And I don’t begrudge buxom babes who are lucky enough to earn their keep with their physiques. Some women truly enjoy jobs like these - and they have every right to do so. But as for the rest of us, why can’t we obtain our wages and places within a more prestigious working environment? Wbyean’t we have achieved gdvermnent recognition for i fies women for our lesser-recog nized, uh, assets? And most of all, when will we put to rest the waning equal opportunity trend? Jobs are jobs, and there always will be a better candidate for a certain position. It’s sad, but true. Equally sad and true, I have to apologize, men, that some restau- - rant had to go tit for tat as far as f-~' discrimination goes and keep you from jobs. But nonetheless, you’ve still won. Because once again you’ve used our T-and-A to keep us in our place. Matt Haney/DN
