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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1972)
editorial 'opMon " 54 ' r .1 : V i I .6 r orthur hoppe iftftocAi "3T .JifeJuit ; .Li. ;'. Traffic control Daily - Nebraskan editor-in-chief Barry Pilger attended a State Department Conference on Foreign Relations for Editors and Broadcasters in Washington, D.C., along with 300 other newsmen last week". The following editorial is the first of a series on American Foreign policy. As of January 1971 there were 700 Americans being held under detention in foreign countries on charges of possession, use or trafficking in illicit drugs. This represents only a small part of the problem now faced by the United States in dealing with the international narcotics problem. The most serious problem facing the nation in the area of international narcotics is the large volume of international trafficking that is currently taking place. Turkey furnishes the United States with eighty per cent of the illicit drugs now on the domestic market. Mexico provides Americans with fifteen per cent, and Southeast Asia contributes five per cent. State Department efforts to curb this drug flow have been primarily focused on Turkey. This is the last year that Turkey will be licensing its provinces to legally farm opiates. American officials are now trying to find other crops for Turkish farmers to harvest since a large share of their economy is based on raw materials used to produce heroin. The State Department is currently negotiating with Laos and Thailand to secure agreements with those governments affecting their now legal harvesting of the opium poppy. Beefing up the laws in foreign countries that our supply is allegedly being produced seems to be the correct solution to the problem. Very disappointing, however, is the fact that the State Department has so far been unsuccessful in urging tougher restrictions in South Vietnam. The U.S. now has agreements pending with Laos and Thailand, but one can only wonder why the State Department has not succeeded in gaining either an agreement or stricter laws in South Vietnam. NSGA activism The Nebraska Student Government Association has decided to play a more vivid role in state politics. At their state conference last weekend in Seward, NSGA president Tom Cavanaugh stated his desire for increased cooperation among the member schools with increased emphasis on political activity directed toward the Nebraska Legislature. NSGA's decision to lobby in conjunction with certain bills now before the Legislature was a sound one. The bills that they chose to lobby for and against were wisely selected by delegates to the NSGA. The University of Nebraska has been a member of the NSGA since its inception, and has been a prime contributor in recent years. NSGA theoretically represents all of the students in attendance at the member colleges. However that organization, like ASUN, is only as representative as the students who are interested in participating. The students who are representing NSGA's lobbying efforts now are certainly an asset to the college students they represent. ,"On his forthcoming trip to China, Mr. Nixon may well visit the Great Wall, the Ming tombs, the famed Forbidden City in Peking and the beautiful lake district near Hangchow, Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler told newsmen. Mrs. Nixon, Ziegler said, will visit such sites as hospitals and schools - News Item." Good morning, housewives and other shut-ins. It's time for another tee-vee visit with Dick & Pat in the little white house around the corner the dramatic serial which asks the question: "Can a marriage based on love, trust, faith and equality survive? And who's got one?" As we join Dick and Pat today, Dick is just coming into breakfast. Pat, kicking a leg in the air, sings a few bars of "Take Me Along." He greets her with his customary form of endearment. Dick: Good morning, my fellow American. My, you look cheerful this morning. Is it the glow that remains from listening to my State of the Union Address? Pat: Oh, that, too. But I was thinking of our trip to China together. It will be just like a second honeymoon. It's so thoughtful of you. Dick: It is, in my opinion, my duty. As the airline ads say, "On your next business trip abroad take your best asset with you. She'll love you for it." Pat (ecstatic): You mean after all these years, dear , you still think of me as your best asset? Oh, that's the most romantic thing you've ever said, (frowning) Do you know, I was getting worried. It seems you never take me out any more. Dick: What! Why, you are only just back from all the fun cities of Africa Monrovia, Accra and Abidjan. Pat: I know, dear, but you didn't exactly take me. You sent me. And I know that while I was gone you were slaving away in Key Biscayne and Nassau and. San Clemente, but . . . Well, I mean this time we'll be together. Dick: Let me say this about that, my fellow American. I wouldn't have it any other way. Pat (clasping her hands to her heart): Just think, dear, posing for pictures on the Great Wall of China, the ancient Ming tombs in the moonlight, the mysterious . Forbidden City, boating on the gorgeous lakes of Hangchow. Oh, I've always want to know about these things first hand. Dick: Rest assured, my fellow American, that I shall tell you all about these things. First hand. Pat: I wonder what I should wear to the Great Wall. . . Tell me about these things? You mean I'm not going with you after all? But, Dick, you promised!" Dick: And I shall never, rightly or wrongly, break my promises. Of course you are going with me, my fellow American. Who else would visit the schools? Pat (a glare coming over her eyes): Schools? In the past 25 years I have visited 53,276 schools. Seen one school. Dick: And that's not all. You will also visit, I am proud to report to you at this time, hospitals! Pat: Yes, 41,614 hospitals. Not to mention receiving 98,432 bouquets, 547,623 handshakes, 214,608 . . . Dick (sternly): Bring yourself together, my fellow American! You will make the women's pages from Peking to Canton, while I will make the front pages. Or is it the back pages? In any event - let me be perfectly candid about this - I hope you are proud to be my best asset. Pat (nodding glumly): Well, I guess it beats listening to a two-hour speech in the noon sun at Abidjan. (Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1972) PAGE A THE DAILY NEBRASKAN MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1972