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
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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':
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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
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