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Grebes c»i discriminate, and Huskers and Sooners geared Controversial art project
thafs OK. Columnist Julie up for biggest game of new brings explicit cartoons to
Narans explains century the Sheldon’s collection
In Opinion/4 In SportsTUesday/10 In Arts/8
WELCOME
WARMTH:
Graduate stu
dent Eric Fuller
practices his
tuba outside
Kimball Recital
Hall on Monday
afternoon.
Students were
outside enjoy
ing the weather
when the tem
perature rose to
73, according to
the National
Weather Service
kiValley.
BY VERONICA DAEHN
An amendment to the state
constitution that would ban gay
and lesbian marriages in
Nebraska may not, in fact, be
constitutional.
Or at least that’s what Evan
Wolfson, a lawyer from Lambda
Legal Defense and Education
Fund in New York, said.
Initiative 416, commonly
known as the Defense of
Marriage Amendment, blatantly
discriminates against gay and
lesbian people, Wolfson said.
“It’s unconstitutional in
America to take any group of
people and shove them outside
the structure and protection of
die law,” Wolfson said.
Initiative 416 says: “Only
marriage between a man and a
woman shall be valid or recog
nized in Nebraska. The uniting
^ ~ I
of two persons in a civil union,
domestic partnership or other
similar same-sex relationship
shall not be valid or recognized
in Nebraska.”
Because of its broad word
ing, Wolfson said, the initiative
would not just ban gay and les
bian romantic relationships.
If it passes, it would prevent
Nebraska lawmakers from doing
anything concerning gay or les
bian couples.
“This is way beyond discrim
ination in marriage,” he said.
“The measure is so sweeping. It
directly says gay people will be
denied any similar relationship.”
If the initiative passes, a
judge would not be able to issue
a protective order against
domestic violence between two
gay people, Wolfson said.
And documents such as
power of attorney agreements
would also be banned, he said.
Wolfson said he didn’t think
the right-wing groups that draft
ed the amendment realized it
would enforce such complete
discrimination, but he didn’t
think they minded.
"The people who support
the initiative do not believe in
equal protection for gay people
in any way,” he said. “If we were
asking for oxygen they’d be
against it.”
University of Nebraska
Lincoln Law College professor
Richard Duncan disagreed with
Wolfson's claim that the initia
tive would be unconstitutional.
“Attempts to define marriage
along traditional lines are per
fectly constitutional," Duncan
said.
In the first U.S. decision of its
kind, Vermont decided last year
that the state would recognize
“Attempts to define marriage along traditional
lines are perfectly constitutional. "
Richard Duncan
UNL Law College professor
gay and lesbian partnerships.
Nebraska’s amendment
would eliminate the state from
having to consider a similar
case, he said, thus preventing
questions of how to interpret the
Nebraska constitution.
Duncan said lawmakers
would not misinterpret the
amendment to include anything
other than marriage or domestic
partnerships between gay and
lesbian people.
Farmers would still be able
to leave their farms to their sons,
he said.
“The chance of it eliminating
family farms is exactly the same
as it eliminating the Husker
football team,” he said. “That’s
just silly, but it’s a good political
strategy. They’re trying to scare
Nebraska voters.”
Josephine Potuto, a UNL
professor of constitutional law,
agreed with Duncan.
“I don’t foresee any prob
lems with it,” she said. “It would
be constitutional under the fed
eral constitution.”
Ban on
focused
protests
upheld
BY JOSH FUNK
A federal appeals court last
week upheld a Lincoln city ordi
nance banning focused picket
ing directed at a person’s home.
The 1997 law was crafted in
response to persistent picketing
by anti-abortion rights groups
in front of abortion provider Dr.
Winston Crabb’s home.
The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals three-judge panel held
that preserving the “feeling of
well-being and tranquillity” in a
citizen’s home is a substantial
government interest
Lincoln’s Planned
Parenthood Executive Director
Chris Funk said she was pleased
with the court’s decision to
uphold the law her group
helped craft.
“I think it is really important
for people to feel safe in their
home,” said Funk, whose home
was picketed once before the
law passed.
une oi me piainuns in me
case, Dominic Pynes, said he
was disappointed by the ruling,
which could hinder the expres
sion of his views.
“We thought it was uncon
stitutional and we had good
arguments to support this,”
Pynes said, but even with the
ordinance “we will continue to
be a pro-life voice and help
those mothers deceived by the
abortion industry.”
The law prohibits focused
picketing directed toward a per
son within a 50-foot rectangle
around the front of the person’s
home.
In the complaint, Pynes was
joined by former Lincoln Right
to Life president Pam Tabor,
Monsignor Timothy Thorburn
and another citizen Mary
Adam.
The plaintiffs’ attorney,
Gene Summerlin, is out of the
office this week and did not
return Daily Nebraskan phone
calls Monday.
But Pynes acknowledged
that the 8^h Circuit's decision is
in line with a recent U.S.
Supreme Court decision
Please see PROTEST on 6
Lave-m
kills two
workers
FROM STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
T\vo men were killed Monday
evening when the 12-foot deep
trench they were working in col
lapsed, police said
Co-workers were able to free
one man within eight minutes of
the 5:09 p.m. accident Efforts to
revive the man, who was in car
diac arrest, failed. He was pro
nounced dead at a Lincoln hospi
tal, Lincoln Police Capt. Jon
Sundermeier said.
It took 45 minutes to free the
second man, who was buried in
five feet of dirt. He was pro
nounced dead on the scene,
Sundermeier said.
The men were readjusting
some sewer pipes near 27th Street
and Interstate 80 when the cave
in occurred. The construction
crew was in a field south of Husker
Circle and the new Settle Inn.
Fire Capt Dustin Morton said
there was no visible evidence the
walls had been supported before
die accident
Police would not release the
identities of the two men pending
notification of the families.
j> ->a
China grows; Chinese program shrivels
BY UNDSAY YOUNG
Tim Cumberland travels to China sev
eral times a year with Columbus-based
Sand Livestock Systems Inc.
But the company’s executive vice pres
ident doesn’t know enough Chinese to
negotiate without an interpreter. Many
times, this proves frustrating and can lead
ter miscommunications.
Jeremy Jewell, a sophomore interna
tional business major, wants to someday
focus his career on the Pacific Rim.
With seven years of Chinese already
under his belt, he should be able to make
the transition smoothly, avoiding the
problems Cumberland has learned to live
with.
But Jewell has hit a roadblock.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln
doesn’t offer more than two years of
Chinese. What’s more, there is talk the
Chinese-language program could be
dropped because of university budget
constraints.
Cumberland, a part of one of the first
American companies to expand to China,
said knowing Chinese is crucial in busi
ness and agriculture sectors and will con
tinue to be - especially in the next 20-30
years, after China likely joins the World
TYade Organization.
President Bill Clinton signed a bill in
September granting permanent normal
trade relations with China, showing U.S.
support for the country’s joining the WTO.
As a result, according to Nebraska’s
Department of Agriculture Director
Merlyn Carlson, China is expected to have
the world’s largest economy by 2030.
Many professors say dropping the lan
guage program would handicap students
like Jewell, who would not be prepared to
jump into this Chinese-dominated global
market.
After all, professors said, even in the
last 20 years, as China has transformed
from a state-driven to a market-driven
economy, its influence has grown rapidly.
To Bob Fiala, a Concordia University
professor who has been to China at least
10 times, including a one-year teaching
stint in Beijing, the idea of dropping the
language hit a nerve.
“China is going to be a major player in
the 21st century. It is a major player
already,” said the Seward professor.
Said Cumberland: “It’s absolutely fool
ish to ignore the biggest market in the
world.”
Running out of time
But it’s not as if the UNL Department of
Modem Languages and Literatures does
n't know that.
“We really know the importance of the
language for the Lincoln community,” said
Radha Balasubramanian, the depart
ment’s vice chairwoman.
She said she hoped the language
would stay put, but the program’s
resources have dwindled, making it a like
ly candidate for dismissal in a time marked
by a tight budget.
Two years ago, the only full-time
Chinese-language professor retired, soon
** w
^■y
er than the department expected.
At the time, said UNL Asian Studies
director Andrew Wedeman, the university
had to decide whether to build either its
Japanese or Chinese program. It chose
Japanese.
Wedeman said there was more to work
with in the Japanese program, and the
department expected Chinese would
remain stable.
But with the lecturer’s retirement, and
no one to replace her, the Chinese-lan
guage program took an unexpected turn
V
Deian Lonowski/DN
ble.
“We’ve been limping along for a couple
years now,” Wedeman said.
The program has received enough
money from the College of Arts and
Sciences to pay a part-time lecturer for two
years.
Now Coral Su, the graduate student
teaching the two years of Chinese offered
by UNL, said she is worried the depart
Please see CHINESE on 6
w ^ 'v