The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, September 14, 2000, Page 5, Image 5

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Gay Scout controversy erupts on national scene, avoids Lincoln
Group's
support
remains
SCOUTS from pagel
Many different community
groups, such as churches, use
LPS facilities, Myers said.
Groups need to file an
application to use the build
ings, but most get accepted, he
said.
Along with public schools
and the United Way, Lincoln
businesses buck the trend seen
in some parts of the country by
continuing to support the
Scouts.
The Lincoln branch of
Wells Fargo Bank contributes
money each year to the
Holiday Lights program spon
sored by local Boy Scouts at
Mahoney State Park, said
Angie Jones, a Wells Fargo
spokeswoman.
Wells Fargo will contribute
to the project this December,
she said.
Every decision about the
bank’s donations is made at
the local level, and the Boy
Scouts’ ban will not affect local
contributions from Wells
Fargo, she said. Wells Fargo’s
corporate offices are in San
Francisco, where some busi
nesses and public entities have
withdrawn support for the
Scouts.
Regardless of the conflict
surrounding the ban,.the
United Way and other commu
nity organizations said they’ll
continue to support the Boy
Scouts, whose positive bene
fits far outweigh the gay con
troversy.
“We really want the money
to go to kids who could not join
the Scouts otherwise,” said the
United Way’s Mahoney.
Craig Reinsch says
he supports the
ban of homosexual
troop leaders by
the Boy Scouts of
America. The
Supreme Court
decided in June to
uphold the ban.
Local Scouts extol gay ban
BY GEORGE GREEN
As controversy over the Boy Scouts’ ban
on homosexuals continues around the
country, local men associated with the
Scouts and the university support the orga
nization’s decision.
“I wholeheartedly support the ban,”
said Dick Johnson, a UNL shuttle bus driver
and Scout Master offroop 54.
The ban was not so much for homosex
uals, but for “perverts,” Johnson said.
He believes the ban will make the organ
ization safer for Scouts by excluding men
who could be sexual predators.
Despite his support of the ban, Johnson
said he does not believe homosexuality is
wrong.
“My personal philosophy is that it’s OK if
they are not bothering anyone and not
pushing it on anybody," he said.
It’s not proper, though, for charities such
as me united way 10 wimaraw iunas irom
the Boy Scouts, Johnson said.
The United Way is supposed to be repre
sentative of society, Johnson said, and only a
small fraction of Lincolnites believe that
funds should be withdrawn, he said.
Craig Reinsch, a sophomore civil engi
neering major and leader ofTroop 72, agrees
the ban is good for the Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts should stand up for
what they believe in even if it’s not popular
with everyone, he said.
Adult gay leaders could confuse young
Scouts because their parents have one type
of lifestyle and gay leaders have another, he
said.
"The adult leaders are surrogate fathers
to the Scouts," Reinsch said.
Reinsch works during the summer at
Camp Comhusker, the Scout camp, where
boys swim together and shower in commu
nity bathrooms.
Having gay men at the camp would
make the young boys, who he said were
already uncomfortable with their bodies,
more uncomfortable with themselves.
Reinsch said the Scouts will always
receive donations because organizations
want to give to groups that stand up for what
they believe in.
“We talk a lot about diminishing morals
and the Boy Scouts stand up to that and hold
true to the values that make us who we are,”
he said.
Steve Jones, an associate professor of
animal science and a Boy Scout volunteer,
struggles with the ban because he has asso
ciations with gay people.
But Jones, Scout Master of Troop 572
and Cornhusker Council Commissioner,
said he still supports the ban and thinks it is
good for the organization.
People have a right to associate with
who they want to, Jones said.
The Boy Scouts is a value-based organi
zation and wants its members to follow its
moral guidelines, he said.
If the standards are not met, Scouts will
JoshWolfe/DN
“We talk a lot about
diminishing morals and the
Boy Scouts stand up to that
and hold true to the values
that make us who we are."
Craig Reinsch
leader of Troop 72
meet with negative repercussions, Jones
said.
The Boy Scouts want to have leaders
who exhibit standards consistent with the
group’s beliefs, because young Scouts emu
late the behavior of their leaders, he said.
He said the Boy Scouts will be a viable
organization for many years because chari
ties and other groups see the value in help
ingyoung men develop.
Jones, though, still has trouble with the
ban because he knows good gay people and
believes homosexuals can do positive
things.
“It is a difficult line to tread,” he said.
¥
1
Clubs found violating
touching ordinance
CLUBS from page!
Lincoln Police Officer Joe
Kaufman testified that he had
observed numerous instances
of sexual contact at Mataya’s.
One of the most common
examples of the contact
Kaufman cited was dancers
using their breasts to remove
tips from a customer’s mouth.
The Mataya's dancers
brought their chests close to
the customer’s face, and then
pressed their breasts together
to pinch the dollar bill,
Kaufman said. Often the
dancer's breasts touched the
customer's face, said Kaufman,
who also experienced the con
tact firsthand while tipping
dancers undercover.
The Daily Nebraskan, along
with Mataya's security officer
Brian Hughes, visited both The
Night Before, 1035 M St., and
Foxy Lady, 1823 O St., on Friday,
and on Saturday again visited
The Night Before.
On one night, Hughes was
equipped with clandestine
video equipment to document
the touching violations.
iviaiayas owners pian 10 use me
tapes for legal defense.
At both of the city’s other
clubs, dancers also used their
breasts to retrieve tips from a
customer’s mouth.
Sexual contact violations at
both clubs were observed first
hand by Hughes and the Daily
Nebraskan, and viewed from a
table near the stage.
Kaufman, the undercover
officer, described the practice
as the dancer “wrapping her
breasts around my face to get
the dollar bill.”
The exact same technique
was used at The Night Before
and The Foxy Lady, as dancers
tried to encourage more tips.
But the most flagrant sexual
contact violations came during
stage dances at The Night
Before Lounge on Friday, where
Hughes said he saw two under
cover Lincoln Police officers
sitting in a corner table watch
ing ordinance violations.
Hughes used to work for the
State Patrol investigating secu
rity violations at the
Department of Corrections,
and he is familiar with area law
enforcement agencies and
their techniques.
In a stage dance, customers
lie on their backs with a folded
dollar bill held in their mouths
or sticking out of the pants
waistline.
The dancer then gyrates
inches above the customer,
waving her crotch in the cus
tomer’s face and moving over
the customer’s body.
The most flagrant violations
came when a woman would lie
on the stage. Several of the
women customers would lift
their shirts and expose their
own breasts for the dancer.
Then, as the topless dancer
moved across the customer s
body from head to crotch, the
two women’s bare breasts
would touch. The ordinance
bans contact whether through
clothes or not, but naked con
tact is clearly taboo.
The dancer would also bury
her face in the customer’s
crotch, and shake her head vig
orously.
On several occasions,
dancers made contact with
customers in this way.
uverau, no great unierence
existed in the dancing offered
at each club, with the exception
of private dances, which are
only offered at Mataya’s and
The Night Before.
At most clubs, private
dances are a one-on-one
dance, usually performed on a
couch away from the main
stage. Though no-contact rules
also apply to private dances, at
some clubs, dancers touch
their patrons.
In the meantime, Ways is
preparing to defend himself
and his employees at trial in
early October for their alleged
violations of the city ordinance.
Ways asserts that his busi
ness is not substantially differ
ent from other strip clubs in
town. The Daily Nebraskan
investigation would indicate
that, like Mataya’s, Lincoln’s
other clubs allow the same kind
of touching for which Ways is
being prosecuted.
“I may lose my case, but if I
do, nobody else will be in busi
ness either,” Ways said.
VISION from page 1
But Latta said some people
focus too much on the numbers
rather than the true message she
said the report sends.
“The core of the report is
about campus culture and how
we can stimulate research,” she
said.
Steps in this direction
include supporting faculty
careers, strengthening hiring,
building research communities
and increasing interdisciplinary
research, she said.
When faculty become
involved in more than one aca
demic discipline, ultimately, the
students reap the benefits, she
said.
“The curriculum becomes
more integrated and less isolat
ed,” she said.
Ross Thompson, psychology
professor and task force mem
ber, agreed that although the
report focuses on research and
graduate education, it also
speaks to the broader academic
culture at UNL.
"I hope students don’t feel
that this vision is not relevant to
them,” he said.
Thompson said improving
research and graduate educa
tion at UNL will help all students.
If the university makes great
strides in improving these spe
cific areas, the growth of the
school will benefit everyone, he
said.
“I hope it will make UNL
(diplomas) increase in value over
time,” he said.
But the challenge of bringing
the university back to its
grandeur of the past should
involve not just the faculty mem
bers, but the students as well,
Thompson said.
“I’m quite amazed at how
students define the intellectual
environment on campus,” he
said.
For example, Thompson said
he was impressed with the dis
cussion that is generated by stu
dents in his introductory psy
chology class.
The enthusiasm and interest
from the students rubs off onto
the faculty members, which
benefits both groups, he said.
“Students would be aston
ished to see things from a faculty
member’s point of view,” he said.
But students play a greater
role than just discussing key
issues in class, he said.
“I would love to hear stu
dents talk about issues in the
current political campaign as
much as they talk about partying
on 0 Street Friday night,” he
said.
Get a FREE 8 oz. Biolage Detangling
Solution with any Color or Perm Service
when you come in by October 6, 2000.
Good only wkh coupon.
*0 SPECIALS ON:
Biolage • Nexxus
Rusk
Paul Mitchell
Vital Nutrients
474-4244
Call for an appointment.
Students, under direct supervision of licensed Instructors, perform all service
College of Hair Design
TlTHlM ST. • BARBTRISG • COSMETOLOGY • 474-4244
5 Blocks South of UNL Campus
Career Services Sna
...see what’s developing this week!
your resume critiqued?
to explore majors/careers?
job searching tips?
career-related questions?
On-Campus Interviewing
September 19th
Resume Collection Deadline
Archer Daniels Midland
Arthur Andersen LLP
CGB Enterprises
Commerce Bank of KC
Dana F. Cole
Deere & Company
EFCO Group
Ferguson Enterprises
cou
MONDAY-1
NU Career Services
230 NE Union 472-3145
www. uni. edu/careers
Grant Thornton
Hallmark Cards
Kennedy and Coe
Keiwit Western
Leifert Concrete
Lozier
Metropolitan Utilities
MCI World Com _
National Instruments ■
Price Waterhouse Coopers ■
Sprint-PCS ®
Taylor Ball ■
Trane Company
UMB Bank ■
i
[ IILH I lltAIEC ]
12th & R Streets www.rossfHmlheater.org 402 472-5353
*«$*"■ 6 T** Msv«a
“Two Thumbs UpI"
Rsa** Qnom
A Knockout! You Wax Be Dazzled!”
hamlet
Now Showing!
Ends Sunday, Sept 17
Check Newspaper
Web Site
or Call
for Show Times!
For All
Your Party Needs!
Old Mill Reg. or Lt.
30 pk. cans wm.9.99
Coors Reg. or Lt.
30 pk cans wm.14.99
Busch Reg or Lt.
12 pk cans wm.4.99
Miller High Life
30 pk cans wm.9.99
Michelob Bottles
6 pk warm...3.69
Budweiser Reg. or Lt.
18 pk cans wm.9.69
Bacardi Lt or Dk.
1.75 L.15.99
Heaven Hill Vodka
1.75 L.7.99
Prices good through 9/20/00
RECEIVE 30 lbs OF ICE
AND 50 CUPS
FREE!
WITH KEG PURCHASE
19th &N 477-6077