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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1978)
daily nebraskan thursday, September 21, 1978 opinioneditorial page 4 Packing plants need safety regulation The plot is lifted right from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Unfortunately if is not fiction. About 35 meat packing workers out of every 100 are hurt on the job or afflicted by some occu pational disease each year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a far cry from the national average of 9.2 for all industries. Statistics may not mean much, but most of the injuries are horrible and leave workers damaged for life. Recently a worker's arm was chewed up in an auger at the Winchester Packing Co. in Hutchinson, Kan. An exmployee at Missouri Beef Packers in Wichita, Kan. lost his arm in an auger. An American Stores Packing Co. worker in Lincoln lowered a load of carcass hooks into a vat for cleaning and the chain snapped. The cleaning solution splashed on him and he suffered third degree burns from the hip down. The list goes on and on. The Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America, AFL-CIO says when Vickie Bitikofer accidently stabbed herself in the eye she was a victim of production speedup, another casualty in her employer's drive to maximize production and profits. Bitikofer worked for Iowa Beef Processor Inc. in Dakota City, now she's blind in one eye. If the government won't step in and demand safety be taught and provided for workers, it may be time to boycott meat. an IV T - , rjW A I- Arab students: Sadat ignored previous commitments Editors's note: This is the joint opinion of the executive committee of the Organiz ation of Arab Students. For those who have adequate know ledge of the Palestinian cause and the problem in the Middle East, it is very essential to revise the precommitments of Sadat in Al-tfabat Conference in 1974. It seems that Sadat has completely ignored his commitments in Al-Rabat and he went along giving up, step by step, most of the Arab rights in this area. He believes he is now in complete triumph by attaining the goals set for him purposely-what seems to be in accord with United Nations resolution 242-over-looking some of the vital abdications he made concerning Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Of course, one would realize that the other main points of conflict have not been negotiated such as Jerusalem and Golan Heights which seem to be, in a logical sense, a trap to get the Syrians and the Jordanians to joint the group. To deal with these two agreements, we would like to enlighten the reader on some of the commitments which have been vio lated by Sadat in his efforts to achieve his objectives: Agreement on Sinai 1. The Israeli's withdrawal from Sinai and particularly the settlements question is subject to the Knesset's (Israeli Parliament) approval. In addition, the withdrawal should be accomplished in a period of three weeks. 2. The Israeli withdrawal from Sinai is also conditioned by disarmament of that area which actually stands against what Sadat demanded earlier, namely: guest opinion a. Complete Egyptian sovreignty over Sinai. b. The disarmed area should be on both sides of the borders as Sadat announced, knowing that the Israelis have already gained lands through the changes in the borders. 3. The establishment of military air-bases in Naga's descent will constitute a continuous and dramatic threat to Jordan., Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Besides, they will cost $1 billion paid by the U.S. which supports the fact that Israelis are blackmailing the U.S. government by requesting billions and billions of dollars for the past 30 years. 4. It is quite obvious that the resign ation of Mohammad Kamil, the Egyption foreign secretary, who was one of the most moderate politicians, reflects the reaction of the majority of Arabs and indicates that Sadat was the loser. 5. Sadat has dropped his claim on Gaza Strip to be given to the Palestinians. This area was ruled by Egypt since 1948, and by dropping it out of agreement, it means that Sadat has denied the responsibility of getting back this area that was occupied by Israel in 1967. II. Agreement II on the West Bank 1. Unfortunately, the agreement ignored completely the PLO (Palestinian Libera tion Organization) as the sole representa tive of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, on which Sadat himself agreed upon in Al-Rabat Arab Summit Conference in 1974. 2. No doubt, there is a distinct difference between autonomy and inde pendence, whereas independent in itself was the least the Palestinians could get for themselves, so consequently the people in the West Bank have completely rejected the agreement. It gave them what is so called "sharing in the autonomy." 3. The Israeli Prime Minister stated that the Israeli forces will never withdraw from certain strategic areas in the West Bank. He added that even the United Nations peace groups will not be allowed to take any pos ition in the West Bank which contradicts what Sadat claimed about the non-existence of any Israeli forces there after the five-year period. 4. a. The agreement ignored completely the case of Jerusalem, whereas Begin con firmed the indivisibility of Jeusalem which will be eventually the capitol of Israel. This opposes Sadat's earlier demands, the U.N. 242 resolution and the Arab nation's aspirations. b. They have further agreed that there would be no new settlements in the West Bank for the period of three months until the agreement will be validated by the two sides. 5. Sadat, in his accord with the Israelis, ignored the legitimate rights of the Palestinian People to return to their homeland in the occupied 1948 territories (Israel). Sadat also did not mention anything concerning the Palestinians who are dispersed among the Arab countries and the rest of the world. However, he inaccurately identified the Palestinians, who have the right to share in the auton omy, as only those who live in the West Bank. Lone Ranger's offer can't make up for today's inequity It's an hour before dawn. It's very dark, very wet (the rain has been coming down for some time now), and very quiet. Stopped at a red light, I watch the reflec tions in the street and for a moment get the distinct impression that I'm caught in some sort of time warp. Linda Ronstadt is on the radio doing something or other with Chuck Berry's "Living in the U.S.A." She keeps drop ping the tone on the 'A' in U.S.A. in either a poor parody or poor tribute to somebody, but I don't remember who. At any rate it's driving me nuts. We're so glad we're living in the U.S.A., yeah we're so glad we're living in the U.S.A., everything you want we got right here in the U.S.A Far side of tired It's a long light, and I'm beginning to look for a large white rabbit with a pocket watch. I want to get home so I can go to bed. At this point Pm on the far side of tired. Otherwise, it's business as usual today. School will segue in to work tonight, and work will segue back into school tomor row. Hot times in the city There is a man coming up beside me in the left lane. He is wet and is making very little progress. I perceive that this is be cause he is on foot. He is walking a pretty lame -looking white horse behind him. One of them is wearing a mask, and it sure isn't the horse. He motions me to roll down my window, and I do, getting a face full of rain in the process. He wants a match. Sorry, don't smoke. He sighs and takes ft in stride Reaching into his saddle bat; he comes up with something. For a fleeting instance I am seized with an inexplicable fear that it is Christian material, but it turns out to be much too small to be a pamphlet. A silver bullet "Here," he says, "Perhaps this will identify me." "A bullet?" I ask. "Yeah," he says, "it is a little tarnished. If you scrape some of the grunge oft of it, you 11 find it to be silver." michael zangari All of a sudden, I am very glad I am not a werewolf. Some people can go their entire lives without knowing how lucky they really are .... "I'm the Lone Ranger." "I know," I said, "I saw the convention sticker on your lapel." "Oh" he says as he takes back his bullet. His eyes bore into mine like he expects something, but I have very little to say to him. I wipe the rain from my eyes and make a valiant attempt at conversation. "Nice weather we're having ..." 'What do you want "Cut the crap," he hisses, and I am suddenly very afraid. "Look, Pm sorry I got hot with you. It's just that IVe been walking these streets for a lot of years. 1 hurt. Indirectly you have kept me alive when I would have just as soon gone quietly away and died." He sighed loudly and looked into my eyes just a little gentler, "No Pm asking you, what do you want?" I think hard. "I really don't know," I say, suddenly afraid of hurting him. "Things are so different now. The good guys aren't really that good anymore, and the bad guys don't seem as bad in that light. I mean to say that things aren't as easy as they were. I could ask you to go rob a bank for me, but the money would be worthless in the face of all the inequity we face daily." No job guarantee 'Can you guarantee me a better job someday when you yourself are reduced to doing aftershave commercials?" "Can you bring home the dead from all the worthless wars and revolutions? Can you topple a U.S. puppet government in Iran or heal the gaping wounds in Ethio pia? Or even on a small level, can you restore the sanity to even one hurt and lonely person in this city?" Suddenly I feel a little foolish mouthing my own cliches at him. In sudden frustra tion I quietly ask him, "What are you good for?" After a long silence he breathes another heavy sigh and admits "I don't knowj and adds quickly, "but you need me." Too late-he's gone The ranger climbed on top of his horse and tipped his hat. "Adios," he said, and rode through the intersection against the light. In a blind frenzy Pm suddenly out of the car chasing after him screaming "Come back! Come back!" but it is too Lte, he is gone. Back in the car, I realize that I have lost him for good this time. Ronstadt has stopped singing, and asks, "Who was that masked man?" I say "Listen Linda, I really don't think you'd understand." And the stop light remains scarlet. to. ft, M -r tik surf xmte 1