EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
ine case in question is Chicago v.
Morales, which the court has agreed to hear
this session. And the question is whether the
city of Chicago, with strong support from
parents in poor and minority neighbor
hoods, can enact an anti-loitering law in an
attempt to curb gang violence.
Under the law, a police officer can order
anyone to move along if he or she is “rea
sonably (believed) to be a criminal street
gang member loitering in any public place
with one or more other persons.”
Anyone who resists can be arrested.
Officers have arrested 40,000 people for
resisting the law since it was enacted in
1992.
This is not a youth curfew; it is a restric
tion against any people gathering at any time
in a public place, regardless of whether that
gathering is peaceful or not and regardless
of the individuals’ actions - be they eating
sandwiches, voicing unpopular political
opinions or planning gang-related crimes
and violence.
The sole determining factor of whether
people will be allowed to gather in a public
place under the law is their appearance and
assumed affiliation. We believe this restric
tion is an unfair restriction of some civil lib
erties, but it may uphold others at the same
time.
This law seems to pit one civil right - the
right to peaceably assemble - against anoth
er right established in the founding of the
United States, which is the right of citizens
to willingly give up some individual liber
ties in order to empower the state. The state
then can effectively protect and govern its
citizens.
The Supreme Court, during the Civil
Rights Movement, established a right to loi
ter. Otherwise, neighborhoods, counties and
states could prohibit activists from gathering
peaceably. In theory, the Chicago laws could
do the same.
The laws’ intent is to curb gang violence,
but the laws attack civil liberties instead of
the root problem, which is die development
of gangs as social and economic units that
provide for their members, as well as terror
ize their enemies and neighborhoods.
For seme teens, gangs replace a lacking
family structure. For others, gangs provide
ego-saving status and income that staves off
poverty.
Gangs and gang violence are serious
symptoms of an ill society. But their poison
cannot be salved by a quick-fix anti-loiter
ing law that pushes the problem out of the
public sight without addressing it.
We don’t claim to know the appropriate
antidote to gangs in America, but it cannot
be a reduction of liberty and justice for all.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 Daly Nebraskan. They
do not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, its student body or the
Univeiky of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column is solely the opinion of its author.
The Board of Regents serves as publisher
of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Publications Board, established by
the regents, supervises the production
of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
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Our
VIEW
No
loitering
Chicago hopes law
will halt gang violence
The U.S. Supreme Court soon could
decide the fate of anti-loitering laws by
handing down a decision on one Chicago
case.
Mook’s
VIEW
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DN
LETTERS
Quiet the Hooters
Regarding Tasha Kuxhausen’s
defense of Hooters in Monday’s
Opinion section:
Actually, it isn’t amazing that
community members would be con
cerned that Hooters is a sexist estab
lishment. Sexism is the oppression of
one sex by another. In a patriarchal
society (like the one in which we
live), sexism is the oppression of
women by men. Sexual objectifica
tion of women is dehumanizing, and
therefore oppressive.
It is true that men are from time
to time objectified sexually, but not
nearly to the extent or with the insti
tutional reinforcement that women
are. Such is the nature of patriarchy.
The problem is not that Hooters’
servers’ uniforms are going to incite
large-scale sexual assault. Sexual
violence against women is already
large-scale and has been for millen
nia. Establishments such as Hooters
and slightly more blatant strip bars
only give credence to the idea that
women are sexual objects, thus con
tributing to the culture of rape.
If men are taught to think of
women as base, sexual objects
(as they indeed are), sexual
assault is more likely to
occur. As Ms.
Kuxhausen pointed
out, rape is a power
issue, not purely sex
ual. But the oppres
sion inherent in
this rape culture
is by definition
a power issue.
Sex, or sexual
assault and
domination,
rather, is the
vehicle for this
wielding of
power-over. Rape /
is the final, most
explicitly vio
lent manifestation
of patriarchy.
Hooters, and similar
businesses, are crucial
to the reinforcement of
rape culture precisely
because of their (I use this
word grudgingly) subtlety. I
don’t find any aspect of
rape culture tastefiil or
entertaining, and I think it is
insulting to make such a claim.
Hooters is sexist by the very
nature of its concept.
Andrew Aschcrl
freshman
women’s studies
Munson-mania
So here’s the thing.
I just read the opinion column in
today’s DN, and it was absolutely
twisted.
Having said that, I probably
should add that I read it eight more
times for kicks, just because it
pleased me that much.
As I sit here pondering my daily
ritual of going through the DN and
looking for anything from Todd to
read first (and then proceed to read
the rest of the fine examples of jour
nalism held within), it occurs to me
that I may actually be a Munson
Groupee. Go ahead and laugh. I did.
The fact of the matter is that
sometimes I look through the pages,
and upon not seeing anything from
the demented planet of Todd, I close
the paper and set it on the desk next
to me and sulk.
I am not a psycho. I do not nor
mally gush like this to people whom I
don’t know. I just thought I had been
enjoying Todd for way too long with
out him actually knowing about it
(damn, that sounded perverse).
Congratulations on filling
- /J Q> rlijU
:
the days of UNL’s student body with
laughter and entertainment, and I
hope that the pages of the DN contin
ue to hold these warped messages
until hell freezes over, or at least until
I graduate, which incidentally, may
actually be the same day.
Mikaela Charbonneau
senior
middle grades education
Hootin’ habit headed off
Kudos to Erin Reitz.
O.K., I give up ... As a long-time
customer at Hooters (from Hawaii to
Florida and all points in between) I
must admit that I’ve felt a certain
guilt about my patronage. Yes, I
know it’s sleazy (upscale sleazy
though), and I know it’s discrimina
tory (note the bounty of Barbies and
the lack of Oprahs). These things I do
recognize. In fact, I ate at one in my
adopted hometown of San Antonio,
Texas, just last night.
But for the love of God you have
to believe me when I tell you, THEY
ARE REALLY GOOD WINGS!!!!!
I guess I just don’t know
anymore ... While my
. fiancee hasn’t told me
!jLX>v. that I can’t go to a
Ip : nooters, sne nas
hj- made her opinion
K (scarily similar to
Bfr yours) very clear to
me. If there’s anyone
■k on this planet whose
Wm respect I want more, 1
| can’t imagine it. So
Ijfip this I pledge to my
Ppp fiancee, my mother
Wmt (Susan Hilt, nrnning
Wmk for Lancaster
Hr County Clerk [Rock
the vote!!!]), my sis
ter (Shannon Hilt,
Kappa Delta & a
's. student at UNL)
^ 0f course to
p ': you, Erin Reitz,
■■■ Hooters will not
receive another
penny of my hard
^ earned wages....
There I’ve said
jfe'' it. Now, about that
S|| subscription to
Playboy ... You know
m I really do buy it just
P% for the articles.
BrettS. Baker
reporter'prod t:cer
Air Force Tc!ev&£* j
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