SPORTS
Hangin’ out
Nebraska survived 21 turnovers to beat North
Carolina A&T 65-47 Saturday. Venson Hamilton
became NU’s all-time rebounder. PAGE 8
A&E
Swingin’ through
Swing music revivalists the Brian Setzer
Orchestra come to Omaha's Sokol Auditorium
tonight. PAGE 9
MON IAY
November 30, 1998
Lovely Leftovers
Mostly sunny, high 59. Mostly cloudy tonight, low 34.
VOL. 98 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 66
r—— -,
Heather Glenboski/l)N
GRADUATE STUDENT AMY YOUNG dealt with homophobia in her sorority as an undergraduate at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. UNL
greek students said they would have mixed feelings about having an openly gay member in their house. Many said they would support and
welcome a gay member but would be uncomfortable in the greek system.
UNL greeks have mixed reactions to possibility of gay members
By Lindsay Young
Senior staff water
W hen Amy Young went to her sorority s for
mal dances as an undergraduate, her date was a
,:a> man from another college. It was for one
simple reason.
Because only a small circle of sorority sisters
knew Young was a lesbian, she maintained her
straight facade bv having a male date, one of her
best friends.
".And he lived far enough away that people
didn t ever ask questions about whv he wasn't
around more often." said Young, a UNL graduate
student.
For other sorority date events at her small
Iowa college. Young would just go w ith friends
who also didn't have dates.
“It w;as kind of awkward sometimes,” she
said.
Young said it would have been tough to
come completely out of the closet while in the
sorority.
And some members of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln greek system agreed that it
would be pretty rough.
Some greeks said that because of the sys
tem's very nature of selection, they couldn't see
most houses being open to gay members. But
about half of those interviewed said greeks
vvouia accept an
openly gay man or
lesbian woman
with open arms
because their sexu
al preference
wouldn't matter.
Nationwide. 70
percent of gay. les
bian or bisexual
respondents said
they had encoun
tered homophobic
or heterosexist atti
tudes within their
greek chapter, usu
ally in the form of
derogatory jokes or
comments, accord
ing to a 1996 sur
vey by Douglas N. Case, the coordinator of fra
ternity and sorority life at San Diego State
University.
According to the survey, homophobia was
also evident in membership selection. Overall,
the chapter would not offer a prospective mem
ber believed to be gay or lesbian a bid to join the
chapter.
About 500 members were surveyed. 90 per
cent of whom were men.
On UNL's campus, the thought of having a
UJ>.
-Tom Scott
Phi Gamma Delta member
gay or lesbian member naan t
really crossed the minds of
many fraternity or sorority
members.
In fact, they said it is an
issue that hasn't really been
addressed.
Coming out, letting in
UNL greeks had mixed
reactions on whether some
one who was gay or lesbian
would be accepted in their
house.
They were more open to
the idea of someone coming
out after joining. Many said
they thought there already
were some gay and lesbian
memoers in uinls greex sys
tem.
“It is hard. I would say honestly it would be
difficult. If I was a homosexual male I would not
want to come out in a fraternity,” said Andrew
Mattox, Beta Theta Pi president.
Young joined the sorority at Simpson
College in Indianola. Iowa, as a sophomore. She
was never “completely out” but did start to tell
Please see GAY on 2
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at http: // www.unl.edu /DailyNeb
University
police look
for campus
scam artist
By Josh Funk
Senior staff writer
Police are looking for a scam artist who has
been targeting UNL students.
This month, two students have mistakenly
given money to the scam artist, and university
police want other students to be aware. Sgt.
Mylo Bushing said.
The man. who identifies himself as former
Husker football player Lvnn Finney,
approached both of the victims on Stadium
Drive asking for money for a tow truck.
Finney assured his victims that he would
pay them back the next day but never did.
"Obviously this individual has no intention
of paying the money back,” Bushing said.
In both cases, Nov. 2 and Nov. 22, Finney
approached his victims, both men. in the
evening and convinced them he was trustwor
thy.
The Nov. 22 victim said Finney approached
him directly, carrying a briefcase, in a very
friendly manner.
To identify himself, Finney showed the vic
tim a newspaper article with his picture in it
from his 1971 Husker football days.
Finney said he’d pay the victim back the
next day, and that he had just started a job hang
ing drywall in the stadium.
The Nov. 22 victim drove Finney to an ATM
Please see SCAM on 2
Local food bank
begins holiday
donation drive
By Josh Nichols
Staff writer
The Food Bank of Lincoln kicked off its
annual Holiday Food Drive Nov. 23 by inserting
grocery bags into Lincoln Journal Stars.
Subscribers were asked to put food items they
wished to donate in the bags and drop them off at
any of the 25 locations listed on the bags.
The shopping bag drive is the food bank's
main collection, though it encourages people and
businesses to give all the time.
Although the food bank is just beginning its
1998 campaign, it has already received its first
large donation of the year: Cook Family Foods
donated 1,000 solid pork roast pieces last week.
Several local food companies, including
Meadow Gold Dairy, Weaver Potato Chips, Coca
Cola, Blue Bunny, Pepsi and Gooch Foods,
donate to the annual drive. Those companies'
products will be specially marked with a tag on
store shelves. Every time one of these items is
purchased, 10 cents of the sale will be donated to
the food bank.
Please see FOOD on 3