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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1999)
i. . EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte Quotes OF THE WEEK “I believe the right wing is breathing its last dying breaths. They are using our community to raise money. We intend to hold them accountable.” Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in promoting the Equality Begins at Home week “I have not asked for a license. Pm not asking for a permit. I simply asked a question.” Mike Webb, co-owner of Barry’s Bar and Grill, on his request of a declaratory ruling on the term “bottle club ” “Pve heard him say that about a lot of legislation.” Nickerson Sen. Ray Janssen, in response to Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers called LB476 the worst piece of legislation he had seen in his 29 years at the Legislature “We have all the potential in the world, it just depends on how we bring it together when the season comes around. If we can do that, we will be a great receiving corps.” John Gibson, NU receiver, on what it will take to achieve greatness “He was able to capture them as intel ligent people with souls, passion for their art and with social consciences.” David Lewis, on playwright Max Sparber s ability to define characters in his work “Minstrel Show: The Lynching of William Brown ” “Surprise me, surprise the university, and let’s surprise ourselves with what we can do.” Rachelle Winkle; ASUN first vice presi dent, on the initiation of the new ASUN sen ate “What’s the district attorney saying? That they had nothing to do that night but roll up on an individual and attempt to kill him because he’s black?” Marvyn Kornberg, attorney for one of the four lawyers charged with murder in New York “Like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve had dreams about walking down that tunnel on opening day.” Carlos Polk, senior middle linebacker, on how excited he is to start for the Huskers “I think, by the end of the evening, the overall atmosphere will be stronger than in years past. This year, there’s an actual progression from one play to the next.” Daryn Warner, director of “Lonely Hearts Diner,'’ on the Masquers ’plays this year “(The church) has some serious structural issues to deal with. It looks like the structural walls are deteriorated to the point where they may possibly need a full remodeled basement.” Thomas Kusek, student, on the Christ Temple Mission and the renovations it may need Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Spring 1999 DaHy Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the Univereity 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 oftte paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for ttie edtorial content ef die newspaper fies 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 Nebraskan and cannot be Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/br group affiliation, if anv. Submit material to: Daily Nebraska, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, ME. 385330449. E-mail: tettersdunHnfo.uni.edu. Branches VIEW Aft c&We i ^ pe. ^04 To act As ite (cff|si . uA^'/e^ As -vieU-. SU'C'RW'— f v/ /v/'H DN LETTERS Party disharmony Thank you to the Daily Nebraskan editorial staff to have the idealism to stand against social inequity and the wisdom to publish dissenting views. I speaking specifi cally about the March 31 staff editor ial “Start at home” and Mr. Anthony Ferate’s letter, “Not MY View,” on April 1.1 cannot find any evidence of the board supporting “special rights,” as Mr. Ferate asserts. As a fellow conservative, I am sickened by the ideas being upheld in his letter. I believe the place of the government is to be strong enough to uphold a citizen’s rights but weak enough to not violate them. Nothing in the staff editorial asks for anything but basic parity between homosexu als and heterosexuals. The editorial board is not asking to increase the size of government, and they are cer tainly affirming the power of the indi vidual, an ideal with which any con servative should agree. The idea that the “Start at home” editorial affirms special rights is ludi crous; rights are not zero-sum, Mr. Ferate. No rights or privileges to your world are going to be taken from you by granting civil rights to others. A special right is something that goes above and beyond what the majority has. A civil right is guarantee of basic human rights for all citizens. People should not be fired from their jobs or denied benefits because of who they choose to spend their lives with, any more than they should be based on the color of their skin, their religious choices, their genders, or their ages. Consider carefully, Mr. Ferate, what your underlying values are. Do you value giving the government the power of holding an entire group of people down, or would you instead believe that all people are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that we should protect those so the individual may work hard and pros per? Nolan Gaskill senior music education Family feuds Speaking of asinine assertions... A column (“Failing Families,” Jessica Flanagain, 4/1) about rededi cation to our. children and insuring their future would be wonderful. A column about how people are under taking marriage and reproduction extremely irresponsibly would be welcome. A column expressing your moral objections to homosexuality would be unfortunate, but it is cer tainly your right te hold and express such opinions. But the column pub lished in Thursday’s paper was inex cusable. You assert that there is a connec tion between homosexuality, juvenile delinquency and single-parent fami lies. First of all, where do your statis tics come from? I am not arguing that there is no connection between sin gle-parent families and juvenile delinquency, but did these statistics adjust for poverty level and location? These circumstances have as much or more to do with delinquency as the number of parents. I also grant that the sanctity and seriousness of marriage has been diminishing for some time, resulting in an increase in single-parent house holds. However, I fail to see what this has to do with homosexuals. They are unable, legally, to get married, Tltose who enter into a heterosexual mar riage often do a great deal of damage to all involved. Certainly, many homosexuals have and raise children as a single parent, but this is certainly a very small percentage of all the single parents in the nation. Are there any statistics on the incidence of juvenile delin quency in such families? When I . tried to fol- A low your reason- ^k ing to ^k its log- V i c a 1 H " conclu- M sion, 1 V||j was con- V fused S a n d ■ fright- ■ e n e d . ■ What is the ■ solution ■ you sug- 1 gest? That 1 gays and les- \ bians should i deny their * feelings and enter into net erosexual mar- |1||1||; riages? Such marriages often W end in a painful divorce and scars for the children. You say that you are this. Maybe ' banned from taii ing children, along with poor people (another group whose children often turn to more Swiftiai nimsln them, so they are unable to have chil dren! Jessica, there is too little love in g the world. I am happy that Stuart loves his mom. I am not happy that you use him as an example to assert that homosexual parents raise juve nile delinquents. I respect your right to believe that homosexuality is wrong. But I do not respect your illogical and ill-conceived opinion on this subject. If you’re going to attack somebody, at least blame him or her for something he or she could be responsible for. And if you’re going to dislike a group of people, at least be honest about your reasons. Gregory Peters junior theater MattHaney/DN