pag3 4 daily nebraskan friday, november 9, 1979
Stren
courage characterize Ginzbmr
i
The speech Wednesday night on
the UNL campus by Soviet exile
Alexander Ginzburg was indeed an
educational experience.
Those in attendance heard much
about conditions in the Soviet
Union. They learned how the free
doms Americans so often take for
granted-those of speech, religion,
assembly, etc.-can Jbe severely re
stricted and abused.
But Ginzburg spoke very little
about himself. We saw the man, thin
and stooped, but heard little about
the personal experiences which have
shaped his personality.
Ginzburg was arrested four times
by the KGB, the Soviet secret police,
for his human rights work as a
journalist and for his work as a
member of a citizen's group organ
ized to monitor the Soviet Union's
compliance with the Helsinki hum?n
rights . accord of 1975. In all, he
spent nine years in Soviet labor
camps.
He was released in April with four
other jailed Soviet dissidents in ex
change for two convicted Soviet
spies in American prisons. But his
hardship did not end with that re
lease. At that time the Soviets had
promised that his family would be
allowed to leave the Soviet Union
without obstacles. Soviet officials
have since said that his wife and their
two natural sons may leave, but only
if his adopted son remains.
In an open letter to the American
press, Ginzburg's wife asks why: "Do
they need one more hostage, or does
their vengeance require that at least
one member of our, family be tor
tured to the end . . . For half a year
our family has been subjected to an
unbearable moral torture. We are all
exhausted."
Ginzburg obviously is a man of
enormous strength. His courage in
the face of torment is overwhelming.
What UNL students learned was
good, but it would have been inter
esting to hear about the personal
Ginzburg. We wonder what gives him
the strength to endure the pain and
heartbreak. The answer to that ques
tion would be a valuable lesson fo.r
everyone.
DN classified ads
demand discret
ion
There are classified sections in college newspapers in
thfs country that read like the "Penthouse Forum." Lest
you go scurrying for the back of today's paper, I might
mention that the Daily Nebraskan is not one of .them-but
don't pout and kick at the dirt yet. ...-' "
Editorial policy for the last several years has been that
profanity in any form will not be printed in the classified
section. In practice this has meant that common profanity
has not been printed. Some enterprising souls in the past
have ' stayed up late . at night going through their
dictionaries looking for proper expletives, but this hasn't
happened too often, as people tend to be lazy with their
expletives in this country .
The area of grey that causes the classified gods to toss
and turn at night are the ads with innuendo of a sexual
nature in them. Their usual defense can be heard from
down the hall and around the corner. It is the famous 'it
doesn't mean what you think it means" line of defense
with the "well I'm not offended" rebuttal following close
behind. These ads are usually rejected,, but it does leave
certain editors feeling that perhaps they do have a dirty
mind. Hie other extreme involves erotic references that
are so obscure that nobody understands them.
Personally, I find the ones containing bad or mushy
poetry to be particularly obscene, but I don't make
policy......
There has been a problem with people misrepresent
ing other people in the classifieds, which has led the paper
to require proof of identity when placing an ad. This
prevents your phone number appearing under a bold face
headline that says "FOR A GOOD TIME CALL....." If
you, however, wish to convey the same message, chances
chances are that if it is. done with some sensitivity, you
can get it in.
It has been said at one time'or another that the classi
fieds are the most read section of the paper. This seems to
indicate that people want to be titillated in some way or '
another. Editorial policy is to shake a finger at all of you.
Learn to be discreet if you must place ads that detail '
your sexual activity. Learn to be discreet if you want to
tell your roommate to go take a flying .... (at any rate,
be discreet.)
The personals can be a lot of fun, and very useful in
advertising and announcing things. The guidelines as to
content are an effort to keep things from getting out of
hand in ways that benefit nobody and end up being '
abusive and demeaning. Everybody should be aware of
that anyway. If not, don 't reply via personals.
.m m mm mm m mmmm i w wwv a r . mm mm m lw m
THANKSGIVING I 2 hFfr&t
Chambers
misunderstood by
whites
When I read the student editorials concerning remarks
made by Sen. Ernest .Chambers, I began to realize that not
only do white people have a monopoly on the economic,
political and affirmative action decisions made here in the
United States, but may have a corner on the stupidity and
backwardness market as well.
This is quite evident in the things they seem to come
up with in the name of intelligent observation. They look
at nuclear plants and see a little energy and a lot of dollar
signs instead of the potentially uncontrollable destruc
tiveness of such an endeavor. They look at a clearly carved
case of racial . discrimination, but claim discrimination
does not exist. They look at Sen. Chambers and see a
-trouble-maker instead of a. great Black man who has.
consistently done what a lesser man would have trembled
at the thought of doing-stand up eyeball-to-eyeball with ,
his oppressor demanding freedom for his people.
' One of the students went so far as to call Sen.
HEX. ARE YOO
GUYS THIRSTY?
"Don'T OU TufcN i i TRfES COMPANY j
; ONTwe TV.? JX L
Chambers what I suspect he'll call me after reading this
paper, a racist. If the student actually knew what a racist
was he would not have used the word in the context in
which he did. A racist by definition is one who displays
and harbors unjustified feelings of hatred towards a par
ticular racial group. This unjust hatred is oftentimes based
completely on physical features such as skin color. A
much clearer example of this than Sen. Chambers would
be the KKK, the Nazi Party or the Affirmative Action
Committee at UNL.
Working from the corrected framework, we now see
that not only is it inaccurate to classify Ernest Chambers
as a racist, but would be just as inappropriate to classify
anyone a racist that speaks out against the atrocities
committed by white people. Although hatred can be a
nasty and terrible thing, Black people and all people of
color are armed with at least 400 years of evidence to jus
tify any ill-feelings they may have against the white race.
But that is a completely different matter and warrants
more time than I am able to give it In this paper.
Sen. Chambers was elected and will continue to be
elected to the state government by Black people because
he is dedicated to representing the sole (no pun intended)
of Black people. He is not under any obligation to placate
or gain popularity among simple-minded white college
students, or white people in general whose interests are
nepotistically cared for by the people who dominate this
system.
Without the continuous efforts of Sen. Chambers I
would hate to even imagine what the condition of Black
people would be in this state. He displays the leadership
of Marcus Garvey.the wisdom of Malcolm X, the vision of
Kwame Nkrumah and the veracity that only he can pro
ject. I'm confident I speak with the voice of the Black
community in saying that we will always love and respect
Brother Ernie Chambers for being the fearless advocate
for our total liberation not only in Nebraska but til over
the world.
Hodarl M. Sababu
Journalism Anthropology
EnglishAfrican Liberation