Obermeyer’s
VIEW
EDITOR
Josh Funk
OPINION
EDITOR
Mark Baldridge
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Lindsay Young
Jessica Fargen
Samuel McKewon
Cliff Hicks
Kimberly Sweet
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1999 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. Accordjng to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial
content of the newspaper lies solely in
the hands of its student employees.
Our
VIEW
Return to
sender...
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not be published.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, 20
Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0448. E-mail:
letters@unlinfo.unl.edu.
f / NAH» IT'S Y NATURAL, i-jobl-\
4H0WoRR.EdV RE«<W W^N g/uy USED To G£T ALL \
DEAR" SS’ \ BRUISED AT SCHOOL. pRETEWmTO BE A
BEEN D0INJ- JCORNHUSKER? 1^, El/E* S/NCf JOM
THIS for A GREEN POT on THE UL Red so it and J
V HOURS..; / \ MOUNTED R|CK SCHWlie&ER, LITTLE 81 LLy I
A/~^ \TUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF flP/NGvjj/
J/ \the neighbors with a bailodn^K
-^j-\ONHlS^jEKD^y-7y\sS\
DN
LETTERS
Editor’s Note: So many long letters were generated by the events of TailgateGate that we cannot here reprint
them in their entirety. To view them in all their pristine, uncut glory, visit the DN’s Web page at www.dailyneb.com.
An Outrage
I am outraged that the members of
the UNL Scarlets performance team
and others unwillingly became the
target of entertainer Tom Green’s
objectionable antics.
Tom Green violated the
University of Nebraska’s Policy on
Sexual Harassment.
His behavior exploited members
of the UNL community by subjecting
them to explicitly prohibited physical
and verbal harassment of a sexual
nature.
He created an environment of
intimidation both for those who were
the target of his actions and those
whose gender or sexual orientation
were exploited by his act.
That such exploitation was perpe
trated against some while they were
performing in an official university
function is reprehensible.
In the interest of restoring the dig
nity, equality and respect of those
exploited by this event, I encourage
others to work with me to provide
appropriate follow-up, consultation
and education.
Gail F. Latta
Academic Senate president
109 exam I listened for five to 10
minutes while I was waiting for my
wife and kids to pick me up.
I was literally disgusted and
ashamed that the university was
allowing this type of show to go on in
an arena where the sound can be
heard outside of the action.
I shudder to think what the next
“pep rally” will include.
Whoever decided sending e-mail
for an apology should also reconsider
what they are doing for a living.
I know the individuals involved
with the original “Tailhook” are
regretting their actions. Maybe Rick
and Lil’ Red should be doing the
same.
William W.Wisell
senior
agribusiness
father of three
tonight. As fascinating as it may have
been, it was more disappointing than
anything.
Tonight was the homecoming pep
rally in the newly remodeled stadium.
Instead of honoring the Tom that the
field is named for, or the legacy he
helped to create, fans seemed to be
there to honor a guy by the name of
Tom Green, a comedian who obvi
ously lacked appreciation of “Husker
Spirit” or the respect I thought it
demanded.
No one who was there can deny
what happened: Tom Green’s humor
toward our mascots, and especially
toward our Scarlets, should not have
been accepted by the “fans” as well as
it was.
If people are so proud of the
Huskers, why didn’t they take this
opportunity to show it?
They booed when students per
formed their skits and seemed to not
care less when athletes were intro
duced.
I believe that this was a poor way
to pay tribute to the people who work
hard year-round to give Nebraskans
something to cheer about.
An Obscenity
Green was obscene. I use that
word not in the sense that he used
“bad words” or that his humor was
explicitly sexual in its content.
At its most pernicious “obsceni
ty” applies to acts that deny to others
their fundamental human dignity and
to human sexuality its glory and its
shared rewards.
Green’s behavior encouraged
some of the worst aspects latent in the
psyches of his audience.
His repeated sexual aggressions
against (Rick) Schweiger and other
males depended for “humor” on the
most brutal aspects of stereotyping
homosexuals.
He encouraged us at some level to
enjoy monstrous sexism, homopho
bia and the exploitation of prodigious
sexuality in children. From his per
spective, sexuality was presented as
entirely self-centered and brutally
reckless of others. As I understand it,
that is obscene.
J.A. McShane
director
University Foundations
Program
A Disappointment
I am not a psychology major. I am
not a sociology major. In fact, I am
not even a big football fan. However,
I observed something fascinating
Heather Mannschreck
senior
biological systems engineering
A Defense of Tom
Tom Green is a genius! It still
amazes me how one guy can make
many students sit back and laugh
their asses off while he makes a com
plete mockery of their school at their
homecoming pep rally. And don’t
think I’m being sarcastic.
It’s great that someone could walk
in and make everyone turn against the
staff and a good portion of the student
body.
Everyone booing the skit per
formers offstage and cheering while
Lil’ Red humped the announcer ...
hilarious!
I’ll have to admit I was laughing
about as hard as anyone there was.
I couldn’t help but wonder if
maybe Tom was laughing at us just as
hard as we were laughing at him.
Tom, I salute you!
Jennie Houser
sophomore
art
A Request for Resignation
This is a request for the resigna
tion of two individuals who took part
in the fiasco that should be renamed
“Tailhook on the Turf.”
The first is for HuskerVision pro
duction specialist Rick Schweiger to
either step down from his position or
for him to publicly apologize for his
actions during this event.
Imagine sitting with your son or
daughter at the next home game and
having them ask, “Hey isn’t that the
guy who let LiF Red lay on top of him
at that thing the other night?
“What were they doing then, and
will he do it again?”
Something I don’t want to
have happen.
The second “person” should be
the removal and immediate search for
a new mascot for this university.
What type of image does his
actions during this event have on the
effectiveness of the message that is
being sent to our children during the
“School is Cool” jam?
I, in fact, didn’t attend the event,
but after getting out of a Chemistry