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It was just another routine story from far away Cambodia the
kind we read a few lines of and turn the page. "A key city,"
Oudong, had fallen to the insurgents "despite orders to hold it at
all costs." i '
But the brief third paragraph caught my eye: "Colonel Hang
Yiv, governor of Oudong province," it said, "died at his command
post in the battered city."
That was all it said about Colonel Hang Yiv. 1 don't know how
old he was. I don't know where or how he grew up. 1 don't know
whether he had a wife or children. I don't know what kind of
weapon killed him. I don't know how much it hurt.
But what angers me most is I don't know why the hell he died.
He died at his post. Maybe he was a hero. I try to picture him
standing in the rubble like John Wayne, firing his pistol at the
hordes of villainous attackers until the last bullet is spent.
Does he have a moustache? Is he thin or fat? Is it day or night
Does he love music or books or, . .It's no good. The picture fades
Maybe he died for what he believed in. What? The corrupt
regime of General Lon Nol?
But the Colonel was governor of a province. Maybe he was pari
of that regime. Maybe he thought the insurgents would kill hirr
anyway if they captured him. (I don't know how the insurgents
treat prisoners. I don't even know who they are.) Maybe, then, he
died like a rat in a trap. I don't know.
Yet what of the others who died with him? What of the
soldiers? (Many are barefoot now, the story said, and-out of
ammunition.) What of the civilians? (The city had been bombarded
for six days.)
I don't know who they were. I don't know their names. I don't
know whether they hurt much. I don't even know how many were
killed. Who knows how many have been killed in far away
Cambodia?
Did they, too, die for General Lon Nol? It is hard to believe. I
don't know why the hell they died.
In Washington, President Ford has asked Congress for more
money to send more ammunition' to General Lon Nol and his
soldiers. "Are we to deliberately abandon a small country in the
midst of its life-and-death struggle?" he asks.
It is a good question. But the President did not say that if we
send General Lon Nol more ammunition he will win and thus end
the war. We are to send him more ammunition solely to keep the
war going. '
We are to send more ammunition so that the colonels, the
soldiers and the civilians can go on dying. If we don't, the
insurgents will quickly win and thus end the war.
Maybe the insurgents will kill General Lon Nol and his followers
if they don't escape in time. I don't know. But 1 do know that the
more ammunition we send, the more colonels and soldiers and
civilians will die.
And the angry question I keep asking myself is why the hell
they should.
(Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1975)
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Dear editor:'
Kick Johnson's article on the Sierra Club was one
of the most thought out discussions I have seen of
this very emotional issue. However, he did leave out a
very important point. The Sierra Club is footing the
bill for the enforcement of the Clean Air Act of 1970
in the case of the Gerald Gentleman Power Plant at
Sutherland. State and federal law enforcement
agencies are neglecting their constitutional duties and
have opted to ignore the law.
Those in the electric power business, our public
officials, seem to believe that if they go out in the
"boondocks," where people also live, they can get
away with breaking the law. Sulfur oxides are not
only detrimental to human health, on which the
standards are based, but also are detrimental to plant
life.
' Natalie McClendon
Athletes and paddieba!!
Dear editor:
In response to R.C. Jensen's letter (Daily
Nebraskan, March 10), i offer these observations:
(1) I cannot act as a spokesman for the Athletic
Department, but it is my understanding that the
Fieldhouse is maintained and operated by the
Auuelic Department year-round for the use of
university intercollegiate teams. Use of some of the
facilities by non-athletes is offered by the department
when not in use by any of the intercollegiate teams.
(2) Jensen will be happy to know that none of his
hard-earned tuition money is used in the operation
and maintenance of the Fieldhouse as this facility is
funded through the Athletic Department which is
supported by gate receipts from intercollegiate
athletic contests and private donations.
(3) The "invisible" hours that they (athletes) recite
at random" are posted at the entrance to the
paddleball court area. This Fieldhouse is open 8 a.m.
to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and until noon on
Saturday. The Athletic Department asks that the
courts be reserved for athletes from 2 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. Monday through Friday, or a total of three and
one-half hours of the 13 hours they are open each
day. Paddleball is a necessary part of the off-season
footbail training program at UNL, and it is only
during this reserved time that many athletes are able
to work it into their schedules.
(4) Most of the athletes 1 know do not use their
"extra tonnage to inhibit and .discourage'
non-athletes from using the paddleball courts. Tliey
simply inform the "guilty individuals" (to steal a
label from Jensen) that the courts are reserved and to
please vacate them. Many athletes will simply wait
until non-athletes are finished playing because they
don't like to be-and shouldn't have to be-enforcers
of the policy.
May I suggest, Mr. Jensen, that you channel your
complaints to the NU Board of Regents and request
that a facility for use by all students be built, funded
by tuition money (or taxes) instead of crying because
the Athletic Department's schedule conflicts with
yours.
Dean Gissler
Rape bill supported
Dear editor:
There has been much discussion about the crime
of rape in the past year. Now is the chance for
Nebraska women to do something about the future
treatemcnt of rape victims LU23, the sexual assault
bill sponsored by Sen. Wally Iiarnett.
This bill would disallow use of the victim's sexual
history in court unless directly relevant to that case.
It describes sexual assault by degree of harm done by
the offender. Any person, male or female, can be a
victim. This is an important step in changing the
status of rape victims so that they will be protected
by the law. I strongly urge support for this bill.
Janice Harrington
thursday, march 13, 1975
daily nebraskan
page 5