editorial
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Dear editor:
I would like to add a footnote to the comments by
Chuck Strinz (Daily Nebraskan,, April 7) and Ben
Aymon (April 10) concerning relationship among
foreign and American students. I agree people should
be able to recognize humor in the situations involving
human beings of different languages and cultural
backgrounds. However, I believe the cartoon in
question, which depicts a foreign student as
completely disoriented, blind and unable to speak a
word of English, was not simply a matter of finding
humor in a natural situation it was also the
expression of an attitude.
Why did the cartoonist chose to caricature an Arab
(or at least, obviously non-Western student)? Perhaps
it was no accident. As a tutor to foreign students at
the Writing Center, I have become aware that many
of them do feel the . effects of prejudices)and
especially those from non-Western, non-European and
non- Christian cultures.
No, a single cartoon is not all that powerful or
important. But it may reflect an attitude which feeds
upon itself and which can be an obstacle to friendship
between foreigners and Americans.
Suzanne Murdock
Beliefs matter
Dear editor:
Bruce Nelson makes a very good point concerning
what he would do if he was in Saigon when the Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese come marching in. If one
wasn't on the Viet Cong death list for collaborating
with the United States invaders, then all one need do
is hang a VC flag on the door and he wouldn't have to
worry about execution. If he was on the death list
and he truly disagreed with the VC's form of political
rule, then he could leave Saigon early and drift into
the jungles with those who agreed with him and fire
up their own guerrilla war, just as the VC themselves
did years ago.
I guess it matters, though, who one believes in and
how much. ,
Jim Baiters
Little Red'schooihouse
Dear editor:
After reading Bruce Nelson's asinine essay on
Vietnam in which Communists are heroes and
Americans are villains', I dismissed it as the type of
drivel you could only expect from someone dropped
on his head in infancy. Little did I realize how many
additional rabid communist sympathizers this would
flush from the bush.
Bruce Ehrlich evidently put down his Little Red
Book long enough to roundly denounce the United
States and praise, to quote him, "Vietnam's
Communist-led national independence movement."
He sounds like a former speech writer for Ho Chi
Minh. I would like Comrade Ehrlich to name just, one
Communist-controlled nation which with its
"independence" allows little privileges as free
elections or free speech.
Ehrlich heaps all the blame for atrocities on the
U.S. military, taking his unbiased proof, the report of
the Bertrand Russel War Crimes Tribunal. To use a
Bertrand Russel source as unbiased is about like using
materia' from Pravda.
After Hue was recaptured following the 1968 Tet
offensive, all one had to do is turn on the TV news to
be told in full gory detail about the bodies of
thousands of Hue citizens which had been found in
mass graves many with their hands and feet tied with
wire and buried alive, courtesy of "Vietnam's
Communist-led National independence movement."
Regarding this, Comrade Ehrlich blandly states that
"these charges have never been substantiated."
It is quite evident that much of the education of
people like Nelson and Ehrlich must have taken place
in the little Red schoolhouse.
Ernest Rousek
Criticism political
Dear editor:
In regard to the recent ASUN elections, the ASUN
Electoral Commission would like to clarify, from the
Commission's viewpoint, several events which
occurred prior, to and during the elections.
One of the major criticisms of the election rules
concerned the fairness of requiring parties to obtain
500 signatures in order to have the party's initials
placed on the billot. We are not addressing'ourselves
to the fairness question but rather to the fact that
people had sufficient opportunity and forum to
express their dissatisfaction with the rules. All ASUN
Senate meetings are open to the public; the access to
information concerning the elections is, open to the
public. Inquiries about the process can be answered
by contact with the ASUN office.
Secondly, there appeared concern that the
confusion about the Outstanding Professor Award
was the fault of the Commission. It should be pointed
out that the list of names received by the Commission
was incorrect. The Builders' Organization is
responsible for conducting the Outstanding Professor
Awards. The Electoral Commission does not have
anything to do with the selection of names which
appear on the ballot. The Commission merely
conducts the elections for the Builders. The
Commission suggests that in the future the Builders
work in closer conjunction with the Commission
concerning the Outstanding Professor Award.
Additionally, the Commission suggests that Com
Cobs and Tassels also work closer with the
Commission to avoid problems with the Homecoming
elections held in the fall.
We thought the Daily Nebraskan did a good job of
covering the campaign, but we take exception to the
coverage of the early Senate discussions concerning
the election rules. The Commission believes a better
job could have been performed in delivering this
information to the public. Additionally, the sample
ballot that appeared in the Daily Nebraskan
contained several errors and omissions. We encourage
the Daily Nebraskan and the Commission to work
closer with each to avoid such mistakes in the future.
After viewing the actual operations of 'this year's
elections, the Commission believes that two
inadequacies exist. First, the Commission should
coordinate the operations of the entire election "
process. It is important that this person delegate
responsibilities to the Commission members in a
reasonable manner. Secondly, the Commission needs
to begin work next fall to review the election rules
and to encourage discussion of these rules early so as
to avoid the problems of this year's electiors.
In conclusion, the Electoral Commission welcomes
and encourages public discussion of the rules. But it
should be emphasized that, in our opinion, much of
the criticism aimed at the Commission was political in
nature and not based on procedural reasons.
The ASUN Electoral Commission
n
UNL Recreation Dept - Daily Nebraskan
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open
five mils
Open to any UNL student
sponsored by
jjrrrtuljrrlin' IBifcf I)op
427 South 13th. Featuring fine imports
and top line accessories to fit your
bicycle needs. Complete service shop.
Prize - $20 in merchandise
open
4003 meter
open to any UNL Student
sponsored by
women 3
1000 meter
open to all female UNL students,
sponsored by
Prize - $25 gift certificate
1
11th. & Cornhusker hwy.
We repair all makes of
bikes.
Prize -$29 in merchandise
men s
1000 meter
open to all male UNL students,
sponsored by
PUTT PUTT
11th & Cornhusker Hwy. Open 4 to
midniqht open all niijht during tinals
week & tournaments during finals week.
Prize - $20 in merchandise
co-rec one lap sprint
one girl and one guy on tandem bicycle
(furnished by rec. dept.)
sponsored by
Lincoln
Schwinn
3321 Pioneer.
Lincoln's Bicycle Sales and Service Center
Prize - $20 in merchandise
f
co-rec
one lap
relay
tour g.ris and four guys per team on I
tandem bicycles (furnished by rec. dept.)
sponsored by
Valentino's
Prize - one large pizza to each
member of winning team
First event sta
to be held at
Sunday April 27
rts at 1 p.m. Registration is from 12:30 to 1, You must be a UNL student to enter. Race
the tractor test track on East Campus. For more information, call the UNL recreation
. i
! I
U
i
I
I
i '
V.,-
department 472-3467.
monday, aprii 21, 1975
daily nebraskan
page 5
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