SPORTS_
Not for wusses
Rain and cold weather cancelled the game at the NU
Softball Complex, but a little drizzle couldn't keep
the boys of summer away from the Buck. PAGE 10
A&E
Theatrical equation
In Tom Stoppard's play “Arcadia,” which opens
tonight at the Howell Theatre, science and math
share the stage with plot and dialogue. PAGE 12
THURS: »AY
April 16, 1998
Ohhhh Noooo ...
Flumes, spnnkles. high 47. Mostly clear tonight, low 33.
VOL. 97 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 141
Greek Affairs, IFC
revive formal rush
ByIevaAugstums
Assignment Reporter
For the first time in 50 years, UNL
undergraduate men w ill be formally
introduced to the greek system.
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln's Interfraternity Council and
Greek Affairs office will sponsor a
men's formal recruitment April 20-24.
They hope to attract students interested
in joining UNU's greek system.
Previously, fraternities offered only
informal rush, winch also will contmue.
"It's about making ourselves open
to others and allow ing others to take a
look at being greek," said Jess Sw-eley,
Interfratemity Council president.
Linda Schwartzkopf. director of
UNL Greek Affairs, said the goal of
men's formal rush is to reach out and
grab students who may have felt disad
vantaged last summer because they
lived out-of-state or in western
Nebraska.
"The greek sy stem has a lot to offer
students - all students." she said. "We
want to giv e ev ery one a fair opportunity
to look at our greek system."
Ryan Buschkamp, overall men's
formal recruitment chairman, said
recruiting undergraduate men now
allows fraternities to look at men for
who they are and their talents.
"We want to give undergraduates a
first-hand taste of fraternity life," he
said.
Beginning noon Monday, students
hav e the opportunity to browse through
fraternity information booths in the
Culture Center, 333 N. 14th Street.
Sweley said a short presentation
will be given about greek life and frater
nity recruiting. The booths also will be
set up on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On Wednesday, open house tours
will be given at all fraternities. Sweley
said transportation will be provided for
individuals wishing to tour East
Campus chapters.
“The whole idea of our recruitment
The whole idea ... is
to give a formal, yet
informal way for
men to become
involved. ...”
Jess Sweley
Interfraternity Council president
is to give a formal, yet informal, way for
men to become involved while every
one is still in school,” Sweley said. “No
pressure. No obligations.”
After Wednesday, Sweley said, it is
at each fraternity’s discretion if it will
hold further activities with prospective
members. Only the scheduled ev ents
through Wednesday are 1FC sponsored,
he said.
Buschkamp said all fraternities
must abide by rush guidelines.
Undergraduates choose, and chap
ters can extend bid cards beginning 10
am. April 24. he said. If students do not
sign their bid card by noon April 27.
their men’s formal recruitment applica
tion is converted into a summer rush
application.
“The whole idea behind spring
recruitment is for them to see the system
and its benefits, as well as for the system
to see them,” Buschkamp said.
“Students do not have to sign a bid
card.”
Shawn Nichols, IFC public rela
tions chairman, said houses are looking
for sophomore representation.
“We are targeting guys who have
been here and have leadership and expe
Please see RUSH on 2
Better late than never
Dawn Dietrich/DN
CARS WAIT IN LINE to drop off tax forms. Wednesday - the infamous
April 15 - was the last day to file federal and state tax forms.
Cleiile
U Fntiiro
LX iX 2 1—i.--C i «c_---3 L- 5JL--1 LX —-: - j n —
Ryan Soderlin/DN
LINCOLN’S MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMISSION Executive Director Cecilia Huerta stands in the rotunda of the
Capitol. Huerta has been director of the commission since 1994, the same year she was named Nebraska
Woman of the Year by the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women.
History is Huerta’s focus
Editor 's note: In honor of
Chicano Awareness Week, the Daily
Nebraskan will profile three
Chicano leaders at the university
and in the community who want to
make a difference for the people, for
the future.'
By Jessica Fargen
Assignment Reporter
The sign on the door to Cecilia
Huerta’s sixth-floor office in the
Capitol readsi “Music and laughter
know no language barrier.”
But Latinos from across the state
call Huerta, executive director of the
Mexican-American Commission,
every day to tell her about problems
they have breaking down bamers.
Latino inmates talk about the
lack of Spanish-speaking counselors
in prison. Parents of Latino students
say their children are the subjects of
name-calling. And Latinos relay sto
ries of police harassment.
Huerta, a dark-haired, 54-year
old Latina dressed in a bright jacket
and skirt, is the comforting voice on
the end of the line telling them
where to go for help.
Huerta hopes uncovering the
history of Latinos in the state, her
own family and her hometown may
someday mean her phone won’t ring
so much.
Nebraska State Historical Society
had no written history of Mexican
Americans in Nebraska. Now, she
co-directs a $25,000 grant project to
bring Latino history to the society.
“I want to create an awareness
and celebrate all the wonderful con
tributions Mexican-Amencan peo
ple have given to the state of
Nebraska,” Huerta said.
The project, a series of pho
tographs and interviews, is a cele
bration of religion, food, medicines,
herbal traditions and music of
Mexican- Americans.
Huerta said that in the early
1900s when a lot of immigrants
came to Nebraska, they left customs
behind, such as the “quincenieria,” a
celebration when a Latina turns 15.
But with the recent wave of Mexican
immigration to Nebraska, the cus
tom has grown in popularity again.
The project is a way to preserve
and honor those customs.
“It is really to center on the con
tributions that (Mexican
Americans) have made and to help
dispel some of the fears that a lot of
people have,” Huerta said.
Huerta said many native
Nebraskans are having trouble
accepting the increased number of
Latinos in their communities
because of stereotypes of Latinos as
drug users, criminals and people
reluctant to learn English.
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in 1973, Huerta was known as the
“godmother of Chicano students”
among members of the Mexican
American Student Association
because she was always there to
offer support.
And 25 years later, Ramirez still
calls his “godmother,” at least once a
day.
Ramirez said Huerta still offered
Latinos the same support for the
community as she did when he was
younger, but in different ways.
“There is still that genuine com
mitment to our cause and students
that she’s never lost sight of,”
Ramirez said.
Huerta also needed support
when she came to Lincoln in the
1960s to attend the Lincoln School
of Commerce, from which she grad
uated. MASA was an oasis and a
support network in a town with few
people who looked like her.
Huerta remembers Mexican
Americans in Nebraska gaining sup
port in 1972 with the Legislature’s
creation of the Mexican-American
Commission. Huerta heard all the
debate when she worked as a secre
tary for a senator. But she never
thought she would direct the new
commission.
For the past 25 years, Huerta has
been involved with MASA, served
on the Board Directors at the
th, A long history in Lincoln Please see HUERTA on 2
In 1991, Huerta realized the When Marty Ramirez came to
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