daily ncbrssksn
friday, february 18, 1977
pag3 4
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Forgotten veterans get help
It could be that there is a faint glimmer
of light at the end of the tunnel for the
Vietnam veterans.
No soldiers in American history have
been more shabbily treated. Richard Nixon
glorified the prisoners of war at their
expense. Gerald Ford vetoed their benefits
bill. Their G I. bill was so inequitably drawn
that only 10 per cent of them could take
advantage of it.
They brought home special problems
drugs, guilt, the contempt of their peers.
Theirs is the highest unemployment rate of
any group in the. country-a rate of 19 per
cent between the ages of 20-24 (compared
with a 12.6 rate for nonveterans).
They have no powerful spokesman.
There are few Vietnam veterans in
Washington
winds
Congress, members of the upper and
middle class having been liberally provided
with doctors excuses and student
deferments. They have been too beaten
down to organize themselves.
But President Carter, who pardoned
those who refused to fight, is indicating
that lie wished to do right by the forgotten
veterans. He made mention of them in his
first fireside chat. He is giving them top
priority in his employment plans. He has
set aside for them 200,000 jobs he intends
to create in the public and private sectors.
Relieve veteran
According to a former member of a
Discharge Review Panel, retired Col. Ben
Benson, who until recently served on the
National League of Cities Vets' program, a
search for good reason to relieve the
veteran of his "bad paper" is under way.
The panels interview the veterans. They
find out some drug discharges which were
mislabeled because field commanders did
not wish to admit drug problems in their
units. They find the "Vietnam syndrome"
among deserters-some who came home
from combat and could not readjust to the
spit-and-polish of garrison life, discovered
domestic problems, encountered hostile
commanders and simply took off.
The draft was a casualty of the war.
Richard Nixon ended it on the cynical
and correct, as it turned out-presumption
that if vocal middle-cla$s boys didn't have
to fight in unpopular wars, they might
cease the kind of agitation that so irritated
him during the four-and-one-"ialf years he
was "ending" Vietnam.
Army not wonting
In its place he put the all-volunteer
Army. But the volunteer Army is not
working out, although the military is not
yet ready to admit it.
Thirty per cent of the volunteers are
discharged in the first six months of train
ing, Benson says, and 40 per cent are out
before their enlistment is up.
And'the volunteer Army is creating new
"bad paper" discharges at the rate of a
thousand per month. Since the Discharge
Review Board already has an enormous
Vietnam backlog and currently can handle
only 10,000 cases annually, it would take
years to clear up this biggest chunk of un
finished business-unless, of course.
President (arter decides to grant class
upgradings for those who most desperately
need amnesty.
(Copyright 1977 The Washington Star
Syndicate) '
letter
Insensitise'
By Peter Levi to v
I am shocked and appalled at the blatant hostility,
insensitivity and ignorance demonstrated by the
"Society" (Letter to the Editor, Feb. 17.) It takes a de
gree of maturity to accept-not necessarily agree with
people and ideas that are unfamiliar. The absence of such
maturity makes one prey to the type of xenophobia
exhibited in tlus letter.
. The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act
passed by Congress in 1961 purports "to increase mutual
understanding between people of the United States and
people of other countries by means of educational and
niltnral Yrli:nmc - nnd thus ti asciot in the tlpvplon.
ment of more friendly and peaceful relations between the
United States and other countries of the world." And
you advocate deportation for students lawfully admitted
exhibits 'absence of maturity'
guest opinion
to this country in furtherance of our national policy?
True, your encounters with Nigerians may have proven
to be less than satisfactory and, as a consequence, you
may not prefer their company- But have you considered
the barriers to effective communication that have been
erected by cultural differences?
Are you aware of the difficulties inherent in adjusting
to an environment in which most nonverbal cues (nods of
the head, tone of voice, posture, and gestures, facial
expressions, et.) are completely ahen and unexplained?
Are you familiar with the nuances of linguistics to deciph
er the literal from the figurative aspects of English as
spoken by a Nigerian? Do you know that culturally deter
mined behaviors, in the case of Nigerians, stem from a
base of 80 million people organized -in more than 200
ethnic groups and speaking as many discrete languages?
What effort have you, as American hosts, to bridge the
gap?
Dlsst, diszppointinent
Your comments directly impugn 75 Nigerian students
at UNL. By innuendo, they denigrate all African students
and others of African descent-from the Caribbean na
tions, from Latin America and from the United States.
On behalf of the Office of International Educational Ser
vices, the 650 foreign students at this University, and
personally I wish to register disgust and disapproval of
your statement. .
Two years ago a cartoon appeared in the Daily Neb
raskan characterizing an African professor with a bone
through his head. On frequent occasion. African students
report that available apartments in Lincoln miraculously
become rented in the period of time between a p!xnc call
confirnung a vacancy and the ride to the premises.
Restaurants out -state have been known to refuse service
to African students at UNL. Why?
Might 1 invite your "Society to visit with me. a white
who has been in Nigeria on more than one occasion, to
discuss perspectives of Nigeria and Nigerians? Or would
you like to meet with a Nigerian member of the faculty:
Maybe a detached situation is more to your liking. If so
might J' suggest attending, the meeting of the Western
Association of Africanists 'in Lincoln at the end of the
month?
Or would you enjoy an interaction with your fellow
students? I would imagine tliat the African Students Asso
ciation, offended as tlicy must be at your letter, would
be eager to meet with you (without weapons) to discuss
mutual misunderstandings. How fortunate you are next
year there may be an interdisciplinary course entitled
"An Introduction to Contemporary Africa" offered on
campus. .
Fear, ignorance
Your letter raises to the surface the If ss-than-ad equate
preparation most students, indeed most citizens of the
United States, have had in the whys and wherefores of
other cultures. Parents often have had even fewer exper
iences in a cross-cultural setting than have their children.
Fear and ignorance are easily perpetuated.
In a sense, vour fori In id it statement of antagonism,
based, presumable. n a combination of factors lack of
exposure, isolated unpleasant experiences, fear and so
forth -may strike a chord with those people responsible
for curriculum development in the schools and commun
ity awareness in our socict v. in general.
Ironically. I read your letter wlulc sitting in my office
wearing an African shirt, iggcr-lover.you say? No. rather
a product of a heterogenous society which has accul
turatcd me to develop an eclectic life-style and. hopefully,
an open-minded approach to people and ideas from a
univcrsalistic perspective.
sl invite your response in the interest of a heightened
global consciousness.
Peter Levitov is coordinator of the Office of Internation
al Educational Services at UNL.
The Daily Xcbraskan welcomes letters to the
editor and guest opinions. Choices of material
published will be based on timeliness and origin
ality. Letters must be accompanied by writer s
name, but may be published under a' pen name if
requested. .
Guest opinions should be typed, tripled -spaced
on nonerasable paper. They should be accompanied
by the author's name, class standing and major or
occupation. All materia! submitted to these pages is
subject to editing and condensation, and cannot be
returned to the writer.
iVi
