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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1970)
Peace plan is cake with frosting - I ; by FRANK MANKIEWICZ and TOM BR ADEN WASHINGTON It is the tragic legacy of the past five years that an American President is instinctively distrusted when he begins to talk about peace. That is the major difficulty con fronting Richard Nixon as he assesses the reaction to his five-point proposal. On Aug. 6 we reported in this space that Ambassador David Bruce had in deed been given new instructions in Paris and that these would include at least a proposal leading to a coalition government and perhaps a standstill cease-fire. ; We can now report on excellent authority that such was indeed the situation and that those are the two central points in Mr. Nixon's address. The i rest prisoner exchange, troop withdrawal and an international peace conference are basically frosting on an otherwise nutritious cake. THE IRONY IS THAT this is hardly perceived by analysts here. It took Americans a few years to realize that all, of Lyndon Johnson's vaunted, "peace offs" were never more than invitations to unconditional surrender, and little in the j 21 months of the ' N i x o n Administration changed that. But last week's proposal is the first time any President has made an offer that com prehends the nature of the real struggle in Vietnam. 'J. First, one must understand the dif ference between a "cease-fire" and a "standstill cease-fire." When a group of senators proposed a "standstill cease fire" a month ago, and Spiro Agnew said offhandedly "There's nothing new about it; it's been on the table in Paris for months," all he was demonstrating was his ignorance of foreign policy. It was not on the table, but it is now. A "cease-fire" is merely an end to the fighting. The writ of the Saigon government would run through the country. But a "standstill cease-fire" is quite different. It ends the fighting but leaves each side in control of what it has. i FOR THE VIET CONG, this would mean control of a portion of Viet nam somewhat more than it h a s now because those areas the Viet Cong con trols only by night would be its by day as well. Since the cease-fire would forbid Saigon to shoot its way into many "pacified" villages, they, too, would revert to the Viet Cong. If the millions of refugees, driven into government-controlled cities by our bombing, are permitted to return home, the number of people in Viet Cong-controlled areas will be even larger. The President, it can be said, was well aware of all these possibilities as well as of the possibility that all of Cambodia would go to enemy hands if the cease fire is postponed into the dry season. Hostile reaction to the President's plan from Saigon shows that Thieu and Ky are aware of it, too. THE SECOND MAJOR step in the Nixon proposal is toward a coalition government. "I asked the other side," said the President, "to join in a search for a political settlement." Mr. Nixon spoke very carefully. He talked of a "political solution" and said, to be fair, such a solution should "reflect the existing relationship of political forces." He concluded: "We will abide by the outcome of the political process agreed upon." These words are new and important. The most important is the one that was left out "elections." The other side proposed, a few weeks ago, a coalition that might include some members of the Saigon government, but not Thieu or Ky. The President has now responded by saying we will not fight to keep anyone in power who is not the result of the "political settle ment." In other words, Thieu and Ky are on the block. Thus the President has given the op ponents of the war almost all they have been asking for. Habit is strong, and few habits are stronger than the one we learned from L.B.J, and Dean Rusk to look for the gimmick. But Mr. Nixon's language was careful, and it rings true. It is now his war, and he seems to want to make it his peace. Gourmet dishes for apartment dwellers by ROBERT RUSSELL This article is for you apart ment dwellers tnat have found it impossible to subsist by con stantly sponging meals from former friends. Though this will by no means be a complete menu, it may help fill in the gaps between peanut butter sandwiches and TV dinners or frozen pizza. , I MIGHT as well start out with the simplest of all of my recipes, the one for grape Kool aid ice cubes. The things need ed are a package of grape kool-aid, a large pitcher, sugar, and something to mix with, like your hand, for instance. OK, dump the sugar and Kool aid into the pitcher, fill it with a couple quarts of water, and stir the whole mess up with a spoon or your hand, if you've washed it since you shook hands with Roman Hruska. Now get the ice cube tray and fill it with that delicious purple liquid. Then put that into the freezer and re member to turn the thing way up, because otherwise It won't freeze. When it Is frozen, you can get a real good chew, and a really far out purple tongue. Freak out your friends by sticking out your tongue and playing the Grape Kool-Ald Smikcmun. NOW WE'RE GETTING a little more than elementary. On to chocolate egg nogs. Don't arf yet, they're really good and especially bracing early in the morning. What you need Is a couple eggs, some milk, some vanilla extract, some chocolate flavoring, something to mix In, and something to mix with. It is not recommended to use your hand to mix with if you have either just shaken hands with Roman Hruska or Just used it in the ice cubes. First, throw the eggs into whatever you're mixing In, minus the shells, unless you want a little more body for your egg nog and you're lacking for calcium. Beat them around a little, dump in the rest of the stuff (plus some sugar), and mix it up more. Then sit down, close your eyes, and down the con glomeration. Unless you mixed it up with a blender, it's likely to kind of slither down your throat. If you are prone to vertigo or seasickness, it Is advisable to be near a bathroom, just in case. Or if you don't think you can down it in the first place, you can flush it right down. NOW FOR the main course. There are many main courses you don't even have to do anything to, except eat them, like bread, raw hamburger, raw asparagus, Cracker Jacks, Alpo (if you dig horse meat or if your dog didn't finish his food), ketchup a la sauce (just take some ketchup and dump it in a bowl), and instant mashed potato flakes (don't down too many, or you'll know what bloating really is). I HOPE these recipes will help vary your diet. If you want still more variety, I think that the Nebraska Republican Party has a cookbook available with the favorite recipes of Roman Hruska's wife, Vicki. Dr. Hip Pocrntcs Alabama ain't what it used to be by EUGENE SCHOENFELD, M.D. The following questions were asked by students at the University of Alabama. Things are changing in the old South: QUESTION: Do you really have a research team? How many people are on it? How does one get to be a menu ber? ANSWER: My "research team" includes a ''laboratory assistant," an "apprentice" and assorted and sordid friends, relatives and readers. If you wish to join my research staff consider yourself a member. QUESTION: Why are doctors reluctant to prescribe I.U.D. (insruterine device) for a woman who has not had any children? ANSWER: Nulllparous women have more bleeding and pressing und expel I.U.D. more frequently than those who have borne children. QUESTION: I have noticed that guys stoned on grass are usually horny, but girls aren't. Any comments? ANSWER: Maybe their horns don't show. QUESTION: What do you think of extru-murltal relations? ANSWER: I think that people should determine their own moral code and allow others to do the same. QUESTION: How substantial Is the evidence that LSD causes chromosome damage which is likely to effect one's future progeny even before pregnancy has occurred? ANSWER: Despite a recent Journal of the AMA lead article with a misleading title, evidence of such damage is flimsy. So, for. that matter, is evidence that LSD causes any chromosome damage at all. QUESTION: Pentagon re searchers had found marljuanu in large doses caused irrever sible brain damage in labor atory animals. Is this just propaganda? ANSWER: Any substance in sufficient quantity, including mortar, can cause irreversible damage to the body. The U.S. Health, Education and Welfare Department states several more years of research will be necessary before they are prepared to comment on this question. Previous extensive studies of marijuana, including the British Hemp Commission and LaGuardia Reports, found no impairment with moderate usage. Many of us though have THE NEBRASKAN suspected for a long time that brain damage is epidemic in the Pentagon. QUESTION: What Is the danger of taking successive amphetamines to stay speedy while studying? ANSWER: Amphetamines rapidly produce 'tolerance", the pharamcologic phenomenon of the necessity to take more and more of the drug to achieve the same desired ef fect. When the effect of am phetamines wears off, depression follows and soma people keep taking more speed to avoid this unpleasant feeling. Soon they may become strung out on the drug. Toxic paranoid psychoses, o verdoses, malnutrition, tooth decay and personality changes all may result from a chronic am phetamine habit. QUETSION: Cun a person stay healthy on l'i or 2 hours of sleep per night? ANSWER: Not unless he also sleeps 5 or 6 hours per day with rare exceptions. QUESTION: I had hepatitis 10 years ago and the physician suid my liver was SO to 50r damaged. Is this permanent? I believe the type was infectious hepatitis. ANSWER: Hepatitis (serum or infectious) weakens the liver and makes it more susceptible to future damage. QUESTION: Does mescaline cause flashbacks as LSI) cun? ANSWER: Flashbacks from mescaline use have not been reported and would be unusual these days to a person who has taken mescalfne and not LSD. Also unusual would bo finding real mescaline on the black market. QUESTION: Does PTC cause pinpoint bruin lesions? ANSWER: Not to my knowledge. PTC (Sernyl), an animal tranquilizer, is the usual component of capsules or tablets falsi'ly sold as PHC. QUESTION: Do LSD or other psychedellcs cause memory loss? ANSWER: I can't remember reading any such report. QUESTION: Do you consider it normal for a young man to discuss buying batteries to his electric razor immediately following sex? ANSWER: I'll buzz some members of my research team to learn the answer. Dr. Schoenfeld welcomes your letters. Write to him at 2010 7th Street, Berkeley. Calif. 94710. PAGE 5 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1970