Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2000)
Opinion Guilty until proven innocent Committee has little basis for decision to fire Reinhard More than a week ago, UNL professor Karl Reinhard received notice that a faculty committee recommended he be fired. The special panel, appointed by the Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee, presented Chancellor James Moeser with a list of charges brought against Reinhard that stem from his role in the university’s alleged mishandling of American Indian remains. A majority of the members of the committee felt Reinhard’s behavior was severe enough to result in termina tion. In dealing with the complaint, the group of faculty had to take on the role of investigators. They had to examine documents. They had to interview witnesses. We question whether a group of faculty, not trained in the practice of investigations, can really uncover all the facts, doc uments and witnesses necessary to make a truthful decision. Reinhard has been investigated - twice - on many of the same charges brought up in the committee’s report. Both times, professional investigators determined that there was not enough evidence to prove Reinhard’s guilt. 'Vet the faculty committee still cites violations of this same law, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as grounds for firing. If two professional investigations found Reinhard innocent, what basis does the committee have for its charges? In its report, the committee states that a preponderance of evidence exists on some of the chaiges - enough to prove his guilt. But these standards are not stringent enough to convict anyone of a crime or recommend his or her termination. In this case, it seems one’s guilt should be judged to be beyond a reasonable doubt, just as it is in a criminal court. Some of the rationales for decisions in the committee’s report seem to be based on assumptions and inferences. In judging that he transmitted unethical and immoral val ues to his students, the committee heard no testimony from students. The committee wrote that because Reinhard co-published articles with his students, he involved them in his research and set a bad example. Without interviewing multiple students under his guid ance, it seems risky to make this assumption. We are not in a position to judge Reinhard’s innocence or guilt. But after reading therationales for firing and the commit tee’s conclusions, we question the process used to determine Reinhard’s guilt. 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 sub missions.Submitted material becomes property of the Daily ■ Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous material will not b^ 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: letters@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 col umn is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by die ' Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the publication of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsi > bility 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 coverage; any corrections or clarifications will be printed on page three. Obermeyer’s VIEW IN R£5P0NS£ To G&&WOR To HAMMS' CONCERN 5 OJBR STATE SPa^INfir AWt> 6IU- S^F's REJECTION, BILL BYRNE IS foQ£Ep To MIS EXPECTATIONS': y Letters to the EDITOR Where’s the Tidball? Last week, nine faculty, staff and students were honored at the Sue Tidball Award for Creative Humanity ceremony. These honorees were nominated by their peers and students for making a difference on the campus. The nine nominees all contribute to a more humane, caring and creative environment here at UNL. I was extremely disappointed that you did not even provide a brief about this event or the two people selected as award recipients. It is dis appointing to me that people who do something right on campus and deserve our thanks and appreciation are ignored. Shouldn’t we make an attempt to recognize and promote the good things happening in our com munity? The fact that this event was ignored by the newspaper of the institution that sponsors this program is disheartening. It is even more frus trating because so much space was given to a week’s worth of re-hashing a campaign that already happened. It is a shame that you could not find a few column inches to cover a current, newsworthy event such as the Sue Tidball Award, instead of dredging up old news. Angela Splittgerber Sue Hdball committee member second-year law student His, hers and undecided The beach of openly gay soldiers cited in John Kastning’s letter was either an isolated incident or one of very few in the U.S. military’s histo ry. One major reason straight sol diers would not want to work with openly gay soldiers is the lack of pri vacy in the military (especially on a ship). Most males do not want to get dressed or shower while being watched by a homosexual male. This situation would be equivalent to making female soldiers have to share showering and sleeping areas with males. I have to admit thatl would prob ably catch a few free looks if I were allowed in the female living areas. Do you really think a gay soldier wouldn’t do the same while he lived with a bunch of guys? Either the mil itary creates “His,” “Hers” and “Undecided” living areas, or openly gay soldiers shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the military in order to pre vent a hostile working environment. Sean Krause . - ' •* - - ••> - --v -i ; # 4* senior - electrical engineering Overseas Nebraskan I am a former UNL student and Lincoln resident, now in the U.S. Marines. Currently I am in Suva Reka, Kosovo. We have limited Internet use here. I use it to keep in touch with family and friends. Being able to read the Daily Nebraskan online makes me feel a little bit clos er to home. Thanks. Cpi. Plurien NM 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit Following precedent Having found Karl Reinhard guilty of transmitting “unethical and immoral values” to students, I can’t for the life of me understand why the UNL Academic Rights and Responsibilities Committee didn’t follow historical precedent and rec ommend he be forced to drink hem lock. Gerard Harbison professor of chemistry Soccer mom strategy The Daily Nebraskan editorial writers and columnists seem to think the Answer to high gasoline prices is for all of us to just “stop complain ing” about being “greedy” and “stu pid,” and walk or ride our bikes. Thanks for giving me my solu tion. 1 am a mom and I have a mini van; yes, my boys play soccer. Call me a soccer mom and accuse me of being selfish; that makes fun columns. I also represent many families who struggle to make ends meet. We work hard, and we economize. We don’t eat Twinkies; we spend our time clipping coupons, making box lunches and growing vegetables for our families. We live in small homes and our property taxes rise every year. While the costs of living, food, clothing, transportation and medical care escalate faster than our raises, we are faced with decisions every day that affect our family “bottom line.” College students also are faced with these decisions. We can’t forgo pizza on Friday nights because we gave it up long ago to pay our other escalating bills. The phenomenal increase in my transportation cost is a cause for alarm, both for myself, my family and for all consumers, because it is beyond our control and our means. While we can cut back on some of our consumption (and I appreciate the Daily Nebraskan urging us to economize), I am not the only one who feels like a victim of the politics of OPEC and world trade agendas. I absolutely believe that the price situ ation could have been avoided, and I will not apologize for looking to my government representatives to explain what happened or to work for a solution. That is their job. It is also all of our jobs to contin ue to look for strategies long-term and worldwide, which I agree cannot be found overnight. If I am being greedy by saying that I cannot afford my gasoline bill, then I guess I will continue to be so. Soccer moms, dads, senior citi zens, college students and all con sumers staying silent and throwing more of our non-existent extra cash down at the register for gasoline will not solve the problem. It will only get worse. This affects more than just the greedy, but our entire economy. i Kelly Bartling journalism alumna *86 ..— " I PS. Write Back .... . > . 4. ... ... Send letters to: Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 “R" St., Lincoln, NE 68588, or fax to (402) 472-1761, or e-mail letters@unl.edu. Letters must be signed and include a phone number for verification.