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friday, october 28, 2011
volume 111, issue 047
DAILY NEBRASKAN dailynebraskan.com
over
and
out
A month after the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ campus and local recruiters say they do not see lowering of local enlistment
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story and photo illustration by Dan Holtmeyer
ast month’s repeal of in the wider military force, felthe military policy low soldiers. He said the cadets known as “Don’t Ask, absorbed the training well. “I didn’t see a huge reaction,” Don’t Tell,” which barred the enlistment agreed Nate Dibbern, a junior or continued service of any criminal justice major in the openly gay or “outed” soldier, in- ROTC program. “Everyone just spired grave concerns and pre- grabbed onto it and said, ‘OK, this is how it’s going to be.’” dictions from its opponents. If anyone had a serious prob“Today is a very sad day,” Sen. John McCain told Congress the lem with the new policy, they day it voted to end the ban, add- didn’t show it, Dibbern said. As ing his voice to the many that a whole, the main reaction took warned of an exodus from the the form of jokes, mostly along armed forces and potentially the lines of dramatic affectiondeadly distractions on the bat- ate behavior followed by the tle field if some soldiers were joker declaring ‘It’s legal now!’ or other comingallowed to be If you’re out punch lines. openly gay. He didn’t know But now, a between 17 of anyone who’d month after the and 35, we actually revealed policy formally don’t care his or her sexualand completely ity. ended, none of what color And despite those conseyou are or opponents’ fears quences materiwhat gender. otherwise, solalized, said local diers unhappy military personStaff Sgt. with openly gay nel on and off the University of Joseph Strack colleagues didn’t leave en masse. Nebraska-Lincoln “We saw a slight increase in campus. “We have seen no change to the overall enrollment for the our operations in any manner,” semester,” Blankenhorn said, emsaid Lt. Col. John Blankenhorn phasizing that he couldn’t attribute that to any one factor.“But I from the Army ROTC program. In February, Blankenhorn can say,” he added,“I haven’t had spoke to the Daily Nebraskan anyone drop the course because about the training that would be of (the repeal).” In Lincoln’s recruiting offices, set in place as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was cautiously rolled back the story was the same. “Since the repeal, we haven’t by the government. Then, the training was being developed seen an influx or de-flux,” said just as slowly; this year, it was Staff Sgt. Jeromy Beebe at the an integrated part of the ROTC Army recruitment office on 27th Street, which shares its building program. “It was very comprehensive,” with recruitment offices for evBlankenhorn said, including ery other branch. “It’s been a non-issue,” agreed vignettes of scenarios and situations involving gay soldiers, Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher which allowed discussion and Bruns down the block, manning interaction among students and, an office complete with large
windows and the Corps’ signature red pull-up bar. “It’s been business as usual.” Those trying to enlist have to meet the same requirements, he said, in terms of criminal background, general health and medical history and other areas. Everyone has the same tests, and everyone is treated the same, Bruns said. Through its 17-year history, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” led to the discharge of between 13,000 and 14,000 soldiers, some of whom came out on their own terms while others were outed by fellow soldiers or circumstances. But Beebe might have been onto something, according to other recruitment personnel. “Nobody’s expressed or denied anything with their sexual orientation,” he said. “Even if they did, it wouldn’t matter.” Next door at the National Guard recruiting office, the situation was much the same. The Army office: no significant change in the last month. Air Force and Navy: nothing to report. “Even before, it wasn’t a really big issue,” Beebe said of soldiers’ sexual orientation. As Bruns had explained before, the Midwest lived in a kind of bubble. In fact, the Navy recruiter, who would not give his name, said bluntly that the Daily Nebraskan was the first to ever bring up the repeal there. For Pat Tetreault, the director of UNL’s LGBTQ Resource Center, whose name refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning population, none of this was a surprise. That anyone thought otherwise might reflect the gap between politicians and the media that cover them, and everyone else.
DADT: see page 2 point/counterpoint page 6
downtown page 7
lauren vuchetich | daily nebraskan
UNL rank falls in Trojan sexual health survey conor dunn daily nebraskan
The University of NebraskaLincoln ranked 84 out of 141 American colleges this year on Trojan’s Sexual Health Report Card. The report ranks student health centers in 13 different categories related to sexual health awareness and services. Last year UNL ranked 78, meaning UNL had not only dropped six places since then, but its sexual health has the lowest ranking in the Big Ten. Bert Sperling, president of Sperling’s Best Places, the company Trojan hired to produce this year’s data on student health centers, said UNL’s fall in the rankings might mean that UNL has gotten worse in terms of sexual health.
trojan: see page 3
‘Ask an Atheist’ panel responds to questions Answers cover range of topics from fossils to the afterlife jacy marmaduke daily nebraskan
Less than 15 minutes into the fourth annual “Ask an Atheist” panel, the discussion had already shifted to death. It may seem like a heavy topic for a Thursday evening. But for the four Secular Humanists of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln members sitting on a panel designed to answer questions about atheism, it was just another talking point. “You see lots of death in nature,” said member Emily Zahn, a junior biological sciences major who sat on the
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@dailyneb | facebook.com/dailynebraskan
“There isn’t a large difference between 78 and 84,” Sperling said. Researchers from Best Places surveyed and evaluated health centers and their websites on their ease of use and effectiveness in 13 areas of research. A few of the categories that are judged include hours of operation, contraceptive availability (whether it is free or at-cost), HIV testing on or off campus as well as if there are student peer groups, such as UNL’s Students for Sexual Health. “UNL has improved in most categories, however, decreased in sexual assault awareness and education,” Sperling said. Lee Heerten, the clinic
panel for the first time. “It’s just what happens. I view death as an entirely natural process. It’s a fact: We are all going to die. It might be painful, it might not. It’s just the end of a life.” And they were just getting started. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, the panel members answered questions about the origins and nature of their beliefs. They spoke about love, fossil records and everything in between. About 50 people attended the event in the Nebraska Union auditorium, not including the SHUNL members who patrolled the room with note cards on which attendees could write questions. For the first time, the second
atheist: see page 5
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