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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1972)
GOICOflQI y;piu yca q pgp &f!fltil r john vihstod -J312j Chance to blossom It is a good time to begin the heavy business of University-building. UNL's new Chancellor James H. Zumberg has pledged himself to improving the academic quality of the University. After a decade of upheaval in higher education, with continual innovations blooming in all areas of the U. S., it seems that the Better Education Movement has faded away at NU. Oh, yes, there's Centennial College. It's nice. And Freshman Seminars. And the Lincoln Free School. But all-in-all the fervor for high-quality education at NU that raged briefly on this campus is all but dead. The average student still attends classes that are too large, too impersonal, uninspired. Zumberge has bitten off a big chunk. But he seems sincere and smart. It's too bad the initiative has to come from the Administration. Perhaps this is the chance for students to flame anew. . .perhaps, all those burnt-out education people that battled the administration and other forces so long will take hope and blossom from the rubble. Sara Schwieder Abortion dilemna In March of 1970, Hawaii legalized abortion. It was the first state to permit abortion on request. Alaska followed with a similar law. Since then, California, Washington, D. C, Wisconsin and Texas declared their state laws unconstitutional on grounds of vagueness and invasion of privacy. A recently released survey concerning abortion produced evidence of an interesting trend in the attitudes of American adults. In 1968, 85 per cent of all adults were opposed to liberalization of abortion laws. The new study revealed that now 50 per cent of all adults favor complete legalization of abortion. The state of Nebraska now permits abortion only to save the life of the pregnant woman. A number of groups are involved in a nationwide effort to get laws such as Nebraska's liberalized or repealed. In order to get Nebraska's outdated abortion statutes liberalized the Legislature must take appropriate action. To date there has been no such legislative effort. The only solution to Nebraska's abortion dilemma is that women be given abortions upon request, with safeguards for proper medical guidance and assistance. The only solution to the Nebraska abortion law dilemma lies in a court decision or other legal process that would nullify laws now on the books dealing with abortion. Even in the state of Nebraska, there is no rational reason why a woman should not receive an abortion upon request. D D Going hand in hand with the increasingly self-absorbed, introspective mood of the American people, politicians of all persuasions are urging us to drastically reduce our commitments -both financial and psycholgical to the United Nations. They argue first that the U.N. is a completely ineffective instrument for peace, citing December's Indo-Pakistan War as a recent example; second, that we have enough to do at home -feed the masses, resurrect the cities and what have you-without expending money and resources to other countries; and third, that we are bearing more than our fair share, almost 32 per cent of the financial burden of the U.N. The most recent impetus to this view, was, of course, the U.N.'s admission of the People's Republic of China at Taiwan's expense. In a display of childish retribution a few weeks later, the Senate voted to kill all new authorization for foreign aid, including some $140 million extra in voluntary contributions to U. re development projects. The coalition to defeat was made up of liberals (e.g., Cranston, Mansfield), conservatives (e.g., Goldwater, Brock), disillusioned humanitarians (Church, Hatfield) who complain about lack of gratitude, and disappointed cynics who claim that the aid bribe, if you will, has not kept kept too many nations secure in the U.S. camp. We have been told for years that foreign aid gives us influence and leverage with the other nations, and the China vote showed that it does not. Furthermore, the idea of helping nations in Africa and Asia as a means of containing Communism is somewhat naive, if not absurd, because the people are too indigent and illiterate to worry about such sophisticated intangibles as political ideology or revolution. Indeed, there might be some truth to the notion that U.S. and other countries efforts to bring about stability through aid actually .stunts; development. Aid may merely prop up the existing social and political order because then there is no incentive for meaningful internal reform. The American people are also disappointed with the U. N. performance. A recent Gallup Poll shows only 35 per cent of the public feels that the U. N. does a good job of handling international issues, compared to a 49 per cent favorable rating in 1968. Most Americans also resent the fact that their taxes provide an astounding 31,52 per cent of the UN's total operating budget, plus 35 per cent in special aid funds. Fortunately, the Administration is now acting on the Senate's request to reduce our assessment ' to a more reasonable 25 per cent of the total. Many countries are derelict in then obligations and refuse to pay in certain instances when they object to an operation on political grounds, especially France and the Soviet Union. The U. N. reserve fund, once $40 million, has been depleted, and the current debt now stands at $210 million. Still, though, these people who would have us lock the treasure chest or pull out altogether are not taking into account the many positive accomplishments of the world body. At the very least, the U. N. serves as a useful forum for dialogue and behind-the-scenes diplomatic exchanges. At maximum, the U. N. has many achievements to its credit -Peace-keeping successes. It was the U. N. that halted the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, even though it could not prevent it. U. N. forces keep the peace on Cyprus, where Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies, once threatened war. And although the U. N. appeared powerless this winter in South Asia, the overwhelming General Assembly vote for a cease-fire probably caused India to drop any plans for conquering West Pakistan as well as East Pakistan. -Economic development. The U. N. Development Program, and its mentor, the Special Fund, have spent $3.4 billion on 1,430 special projects, ranging from locust control in North Africa to mineral searches in South America. The program now channels 20 per cent of all technical assistance going to developing nations. America's contribution provided $86.3 million of the total $232 million budget last year to 130 countries. Admittedly less effective than some single country-to-country programs, recent administrative improvements have made the program more efficient, and the U. N. route avoids the political problems which unilateral aid always engenders. -Preventing problems. The U. N. has numerous special committees designed not only to solve problems, but prevent potential areas of conflict. One committee is currently establishing "the rule of law" on the moon to eliminate possible arguments over jurisdiction. -Moral pressure. Although the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (consisting of 30 articles covering civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights) was greeted with criticism at the time, increased concern and popular pressure on this topic has compelled many nations to assess their practices and defend or revise policies which transgress basic moral principles. Racist South Africa and colonial Portugal are the current targets. Admittedly the U. N. is not what its most ardent defenders crack it up to be; nor is it the worthless conglomeration that its detractors label it. But it is all we have in this atomic hydrogen world of ours, and the least we can do is offer it our endorsement. 'J PAGE 4 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1972