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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1973)
v ' w.. r- ''TerYtr n, - h i 'n a Jrrr. "if "" -:' ;.wctr :! c JL$:.: v ! i .-t, h f;r . .l a Si v'.d rr',-"v'::; ' 1 .i.jiL..iMiim '! I in j in "" ' i "rV '' "'' Tnl"" "d"'' twoi i Amnesty You suffered not so physically but knew Maltreatment, hunger, ennui of the mind. Well might the soldier kissing the hot beach Erupting in his face damn all your kind. Yet you who saved neither yourselves nor us Are equally with those who shed the blood The heroes of our cause. Your conscience is What we come back to in the armistice. -Karl Shapno from "The Conscientious Objector" Now that the war in Vietnam has been officially signed to an end, at least for United States troops, it is time to deal with those Americans wh' nve been displaced as a result of the conflict. Specifically, now is the opportunity for a re-examination of the fate we as a nation have assigned to those young men who chose to avoid military service rather than fight in a war to which they were philosophically opposed. v Nearly 400,000 Americans have either evaded the draft or deserted their military units after induction. Approximately 75,000 of these men have never been apprehended by legal authorities, and still live in self-imposed exile in other countries or underground in the United States. The issue of amnesty for draft dodgers and deserters is a delicate subject for most Americans, despite the fact that a 1972 Newsweek poll showed that a majority favored some sort of amnesty for those who put their conscience ahead of national policy. More than anything else, it is the collective national abhorrence to the Vietnam War that has prompted our elected officials to end the American military involvement there. Perhaps it is time to accommodate the men whose individual conscience has made them the last prisoners of war. Tom Lans worth Abortion-discarding moral considerations Steve Arvanette is a senior majoring in political science and journalism. He is the Daily Nebraskan's legislative reporter. by Steve Arvanette The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling seven days ago seemed quickly lost among the many headlines in one of this country's most historic weeks. Having to compete with the death of a president and the ending of a war, the case of Roe vs. Wade over the power of a state to control the termination of human pregnancies seemed shunted to the second page. The word "abortion" seems to have a negative connotation by its general nature. It implies a premature termination of some act and brings to mind such words as "fruitless" and "unsuccessful." The abortion issue has been much debated and argued by those knowledgable about the issue and those who simply rely on emotional appeals. The issue can never really be resolved because it is a moral and philosophical question for many. Whether one agrees with the court's decision is of little consequence now. The court has made its ruling and it is up to all people to urge their legislators that a fair, equitable law be enacted quickly. When any such issue is determined it would be expected individual jurists might rely on personal attitudes when sonsidering the case. The court's 7-2 decision seems indicative that a majority were able to cast individual biases aside. The decision as James Duggan, assistant attorney general for Nebraska, said seems a classic case of judicial legislation. The court, as he explained, "struck down legislation and said this is what you can pass." Coach Joe if.-." teff opinion The court's ruling said in summary: "A state criminal abortion statute of the current Texas type, that excepts from criminality only a life-saving procedure on behalf of the mother, without regard to pregnancy stage and without recognition of the other interests involved, is violative of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment." In other words, prior to the 28th week of pregnancy, the fetus has no constitutional rights. The question of a woman receiving an abortion prior to that time, according to the court, is between a woman and her doctor. The state's only interest in the issue before that time can be protection of maternal health and not with the unborn child. The answer to the question is obvious and it points up a drastic need for some legislation concerning by whom and where an abortion , can be performed. Included in that legislation should be at what point in the pregnancy can the state become concerned with basic human rights of the fetus. We can only hope Nebraska legislators will cast aside moral considerations which hold no legal authority on the issue now and quickly enact needed legislation concerning a woman's right to receive a medical abortion. Dear Editor: ASUN President Bruce Beecher's after the fact "commitment to peace" is a limp gesture. Such humanitarians we will be as we "show our relief" in dialect Monday afternoon. What masquerade is this? And what is our relief? Relief from years of guilty silence? At this hour, there is no commitment to peace, only to personal safety. John A. Hansen Poor Excuse Dear editor: ASUN President Bruce Beecher's proposal to suspend classes on Monday appears to be a good excuse for getting out of class. The statement that "students, faculty, and administration might take part in discussions or programs," appears to be a weak basis for calling off classes. If there is a true commitment to peace schedule the discussions and programs for that evening and see how many people are committed enough to appear. In this way those who wish to attend classes will not be deprived of that right by Bruce Beecher and the ASUN Senate. Jim Donaghy Dear editor: ' 'JDear old. Coach Joseph Cipriano has exercised his dictatorship again. This time he commanded that the coliseum court be closed to intramural play. Isn't it bad enough that Cip can't get his own teams to play together, how he has to try and stop ours. How can he justify closing a court so that only 15 people get to use it while the thousands who pay for it through various fees now have one less place to play. Anyone of us who were at the Men's Physical Education Building last Saturday (Jan.20) have no doubt as to the need for use of all possible facilities (There were over two hundred people waiting to play on three courts). And now it is undoubtedly going to get worse. There are 258 intramural teams this year which will have to play 808 regular season games. And now there will be only four courts instead of five. This is surely going to lengthen the season immeasureably and throw the rest of the intramural program off. It's too bad that Cipriano has to continually take freshman teams that have only lost once or twice and turn out varsity teams with barely winning records. But, it is even worse that he now has to show just how small a man he is be depriving the majority of the students with an area to plav basketball. John Cooper Gus II YbtJ Too can Sftow Your, ssijef on Soday.'.' SKip-A-Class? Stanr Vp&5 Another Service of: Bruce BeechsrRM.UhCon page 4 daily nebraskan monday, january 29, 1973
