i
Due process for
everyone
INS should not be able to
detain immigrants after they
serve their prison sentences
You have the right to due process.
It’s a right you may take for granted, but several criminals
across the nation would love to have it.
Now, it looks like they might.
Immigrants to the United States have been forced to play
by different rules than the rest of us for years, but many peo
ple never knew exactly how far those differences extended.
Let’s say an immigrant from a foreign country commits a
crime. If the crime is severe enough, the person is deported
back to his or her country of origin. Sometimes, however, the
country refuses to take the person back.
So, since these people can’t be sent back, they are held in
prison for the tenure of their sentences and then released. Or at
least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
Instead, Immigration and Naturalization Services has the
ability to hold these people in prison detention centers indefi
nitely after their prison sentences are over.
So, even if you’ve done your time, you can’t get back out
unless the government feels like it.
Most of the people in this situation served approximately
three years of prison time for their crimes.
According to the Associated Press, more than 130 prison
ers in California are in this situation. U.S. District Judge Terry
J. Hatter ruled on Saturday, however, that this practice must
stop.
For those 130 or more Californians, it was a joyous day,
indeed.
“Theoretically, everybody gets out, hopefully over the
next couple of months,” Deputy Federal Public Defender
Robert Boyle said in an AP story.
According to Boyle, one prisoner was sentenced to a day
in jail for stealing some food and a razor from Sears. He has
been in prison for three years now.
These prisoners don’t just get out scot-free without a sec
ond glance, though. Their cases will be reviewed by a magis
trate before they are released.
According to an AP story, the INS holds about 3,800 pris
oners indefinitely nationwide. Their crimes include those as
diverse as petty theft and murder.
This policy has been upheld by federal judges in Nevada
and San Diego, as well as in federal appeals courts in
Philadelphia and New Orleans.
But now one district judge has ruled against the practice,
and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear a
similar case from Seattle.
The INS does not deserve this type of power. Like citizens,
immigrants have served their time and deserve to be let go.
Let’s start playing by the rules for everyone.
_-*SC
Editorial Board
Josh Funk (editor) • J.J. Harder • Cliff Hicks • Samuel
McKewon • Dane Stickney • Kimberly Sweet • Lindsay
Young
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
submissions.Submitted material becomes property of the
Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous mate
rial 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, Neb. 68588-0448 or e-mail to: let
ters@unl.edu
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the spring 2000
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 acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan;
policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The
UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, super
vises the publication 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.
The Daily Nebraskan strives to print fair and accurate cover
age; any corrections or clarifications will be primed on page
three.
Obermeyer’s
VIEW
/Guncontrol^
f 15 sooo
[ yew of rue
Beauty redefined
Media sets unrealistic, sometimes dangerous standards
Now, more than ever, it doesn’t
matter who you are, but what you look
like.
Janet was just 25 years old. She had
a great job and seemed happy.
She committed suicide, in her sui
cide note she wrote that she felt “un
pretty” and that no man ever loved her.
Amy was just 15, hospitalized for
; eating disorders. She suffered from
both anorexia and bulimia. She lost
more than 100 pounds in two months.
David suffered from low self
esteem, and he had problems gaining
weight. He was constantly made fun of
because he was too “skinny.” He quit
school because he couldn’t cope with
the daily pressure.
All three victims battied problems
with their body images and physical
appearances.
“Oh, I’m too fat.”
“I’m too thin.”
My butt is too big, and my breasts
are too small.”
“I hate my body, and I feel ugly.”
“I want to be beautiful.”
All of the above are common
beliefs individuals have about them
selves. Both men and women face
issues concerning their body images.
The media can be blamed for con
tributing to their illnesses.
I can identify two main categories
of body-image problems: additive vs.
subtractive.
People who “enhance” their bodies
through plastic suigery are in the addi
tive group.
People who “improve” their bodies
through starvation are in the subtractive
group. -
Both groups have two things in
common - they are never satisfied, and
they are both obsessed. Eating disor
ders and body images can be related in
the psychological-problems-related-to
looks area. Often these individuals
with these problems seek to please oth
ers and have low self-esteem.
As many as 5 to 10 million women
and 1 million men in the United States
are struggling with eating disorders;
One out of four female college students
suffers from an eating disorder. But
why?
Carri Kirby, a mental health coun
selor at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, says that body image prob
lems and eating disorders are continu
um addictions, in which individuals
seek to find their identities.
L looking a certain way and being a
certain shape is instilled at a very early
age. Young girls play with Barbie dolls
with comical, impossible proportions
and see an overload of images of super
models, which imprint an image in
“ We immediately
identify physical
attractiveness to
mean success
and happiness.
Images of fat are
associated to be
unattractive,
laziness and
unsuccessful.”
Carri Kirby,
UNL mental health counselor
their minds of what a body should look,
like.
You cannot walk into a book store
without seeing a woman who is beauti
ful and has a 36-24-36 figure or a
handsome male with the perfect body
on the front cover of a magazine.
Celebrities such as Kate Moss and
Calista Flockhart are extremely thin
women whose tiny flames are often
criticized by the public. People say their
images have influenced women to
starve their bodies.
We see it every day. We see it in
commercials, billboards, on television
and in movies. These images are con
stantly in our faces, reminding people
of the cultural expectation to be thin. It
gives the perception that in order to be
happy in life, you must meet these
requirements. .■ »
Being beautiful evidently means -
being thin. It is not surprising that peo
ple buy into this notion.
The main objective of the fashion,
cosmetic, diet, fitness and plastic
surgery industries is to make money.
This ideal is working for them - but is
it working for us?
Are people who lose weight to be
Q-tip-thin really happy? Are people
who have breast implants really happy?
What really defines a person? Is it
body or character? We seem to allow
popular culture to dictate to us what we
must look like.
Kirby says there is a halo effect
when it comes to body image.
“We immediately identify physical
attractiveness to mean success and hap
piness. Images of fat are associated to
be unattractive, laziness and unsuccess
ful,” she said.
I recently was approached by a
modeling agent who was very interest
ed in working with me. He said I had
the perfect height, a great figure and
great skin and facial features. He asked
how much I weighed, and I told him.
When I revealed my weight, he
asked me to lose 20 to 30 pounds if I
was serious about modeling. I started
laughing. I imagined what skeleton
resemblance I would have if I lost 30
pounds. But why should I? I am a very
confident young woman, and I love my
body. As a track athlete I fully under
stand my genetic composition, and I
would never dangerously diet for any
one. v
If society thinks young women like
myself (whom I consider to be of aver
age weight and health) are not thin
enough, then what is happening to our
country? >
Americans are thinning away. The
toothpick body image has gone toofar.
The media brainwash our minds into 'i
believing that to be beautiful in society
means looking a certain way. Beauty is
supposed to be “skin deep.” But we all
can be beautiful inside.
As long as the media continues to
portray that “thin is in,” then the prob
lems our society faces with body image
w dl continue to grow.
| Lesley Chvusu is a junior broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist
