EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks.
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
i
Our
VIEW
Public
nuisance
Cal Thomas ’attack
on schools ridiculous
In the last few years, it has become com
monplace to criticize the effectiveness, the
safety and the overall quality of public
schools.
Indeed, test scores and random bursts of
violence have given fodder to this rhetoric,
and voucher programs in several states have
turned the rhetoric into action.
But a few weeks ago in Omaha, syndicat
ed columnist Cal Thomas - a man whose pen
chant for the religious right and moral conser
vatism has been duly noted - crossed all lines
of reasonable debate when he spoke at a fund
raiser for Central Christian Schools.
In his keynote address to about 600 CCS
supporters, Thomas vehemently lambasted
public schools across the nation, at one point
claiming he didn’t want to criticize public
schools; he wanted to “bury them.”
Putting the blame for the behavior of
American youths on a lack of moral instruc
tion, Thomas called for an injection of good
old-fashioned Christianity into curriculums
across the country.
He trashed multicultural education, claim
ing that learning to appreciate (or at least toler
ate) other cultures was taking time away from
the basic readin’/writinV’rithmetic education.
He lamented the removal of the Bible from
the public school system and the arrival of the
metal detector.
AncUfter he left, the debate raged on, cul
minating Friday with a decision by the
Elmwodd-Murdock School District to with
draw from all high-school athletic competi
tions with CCS.
While it would be easy to point out the
countless flaws in Thomas’ argument for the
Conversion of public education, we at the
Daily Nebraskan would rather use Thomas’
comments as an opportunity to illustrate the
unfair maligning of public schools, particular
ly by right-wing politicos.
as proponents oi iamiiy yaiues ana me
teachings of the church, moral conservatives -
seem to place an unwieldy burden on public
schools to be guiding lights for children.
And on the fiscal side, many of these con
servatives call for tax cuts and reduced fund
ing for federal programs that would help the
* schools they seem to despise so thoroughly.
If Thomas and his ilk had their way,
Christianity would run roughshod through
government and education on an equal level.
Their disregard for those with conflicting
beliefs, their lack of sympatlw for those less
fortunate than them and their lack of compe
tency when it comes to cause-effect relation
ships are the institutions that should be buried.
For now, Thomas’ ignorance and CCS’
compliance with it has only resulted in the
cancellation of a few sporting events. V
But if such ideas are left unchallenged, we
may face the cancellation of much more,
including some of the very ideas upon which
this country was founded.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, its student body or the
University 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.
Letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be
returned. Anonymous submissions will
not be published. Those who submit
letters must identify themselves by name,
year in school, major and/or group
affiliation, if any.
Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
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DN
LETTERS
Rockin’ in the school world
Right on.
Todd Munson hit the nail on the
head in Tuesday’s Daily Nebraskan col
umn “‘Rocky’ road: The Huskers have
taken a turn similar to Balboa’s fall
from grace.”
I want to say that I am in full agree
ment. The Husker football team needs
to quit getting involved in other things
outside of school and football. After all,
they are college students, and if they
want to take time to get involved in pro
motions and other activities, they will
have time after they leave UNL or grad
uate. I am still confident my favorite
football team will beat Kansas State
and go on to the Big 12 championship,
but they aren’t going to get it done
going at it the way they have been. As
for the fans of Nebraska football,
remember, it isn’t the end. We’ve been
down before.
We have a young team, a new coach
and we still have a winning record.
Sam Mortensen
sophomore
agriculture education
s
Save it Qfy
In Monday’s issue of the 'HfjsL'
DN, the column “Double
Standard” (Tasha Kuxhausen) (
brought forth some troubling « T
issues to me. I’ll be honest, I] *41lL
disagree with many of the \ rff*
author’s opinions. f\ \ 11 Q ,
First of all, the state- / . \ y* /
ment that “kids are going / % \f
to have sex” seems to be \ V
the notion of today’s [
society. WHY? Why as a ||
culture do we have to
accept this? Can we not,
as an advanced civiliza
tion, change the accepted V:j
norm from pleasure seeking I:
to one of morality? Yes, we 1
can. '
If parents won ’t teach their \* |
children, then the author is cor- <|||
rect in saying the schools must. '#
Children should be taught about
the diseases and the conse- W
quences, but why not focus the jwj
education on the purpose
of sex? For those who
may still not know the
intent of sex, let me tell you, and in
doing so, I will use a religious stand
point
The purpose of sex is twofold. 1)
Procreation, and 2) An expression of
love between two married people.
Many people only take a portion of this
explanation to justify having sex. Using
an excuse, such as “I really love this
person, and I want to share with them in
this special way,” is not what God
intended sex for. The objective is rather
the acceptance of both reasons together.
With sex comes the responsibility
of procreation. If people are not ready
for that responsibility by using contra
ceptives, they should not be partaking
in sexual activity, and if they are ready
for die responsibility, they should love
each other enough to be married. As
humans, and the more intelligent
beings on earth, shouldn’t we stop
abusing sex just to seek pleasure?
The author also states that
“Marriage is for monogamy.” I would
like to add to that. Not only is marriage
for monogamy, but sex is for
monogamy, meaning one partner, for
ever. This brings me to die idea of sav
ing oneself for that special person you
will marry. The idea is known as absti
nence. Schools should be teaching chil
dren to wait until they find the one they
love enough to marry and are willing to
create life with.
Sex is a “natural thing” and “part of
life.” More than that, however, it is a
gift, a privilege two married people can
share with each other. I am a virgin. I’m
proud of my choice to remain abstinent
Through my faith and my parents
instilling in me die morality and educa
tion about sex, and the choices that
come with it I have made my decision.
Maybe I’m just a-lucky exception to
these times, but why can’t we make the
exception the norm? Are we afraid to
set a new standard?
Think about it.
Anthony Egelhoff
junior
civil engineering
Peru State the facts
We here at PSC read your editorial
on why Peru should close its doors. As
die editor of the Peru State Times, may
\ I compliment you on your
\.JW"—X' writing style and mili
•V » '"'“''7^ tant delivery. We
X:..., appreciate good writ
ing. However, there were a
few things mentioned that we
were confused about. We
||; \v debated over how to
7 inform you of your
. j miscommunica
*1 tions, and finally
decided a trip to Peru
W State College might
be an educational
adventure for you. So,
; with that, we, the staff of
the Peru State Times, would
like to extend a formal invi
tation to you and your staff
to visit our campus in the
near future. We would
love to give you a full
tour and show you what
makes our college so
special. . ~ , i
Harold Davis
V editor in chief
> Peru State
Times
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