Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1979)
daily nebraskan thursday, december6, 1979 f)ODDDOtl u Changing women's movement becomes 'pro-family' page 4 In recent years, the American society has seen the feminist move ment expand and grow. Many people have noted the changes with pride, and, perhaps, with a bit of smugness. Not so many years ago, in the early and mid-60s, they had been told that the Women's Liberation Movement was a passing fad. Like goldfish swallowing and streaking, many peo ple expected the. movement to flourish for a while and then quickly die. The folly of their words was clear ly demonstrated two weeks ago at the National Organization of Women Legal Defense and Education Fund national columnists and magazine writers noted, there was a marked change from previous feminist con ferences. The main topic was "the family'-the feminist movement, said the writers, had finally come "pro-family." But the movement never was "anti-family. Most members, from the beginners, had the understanding that the women should be given freedom of choice -freedom to chose a career ' over the society-dictated role of mother, or freedom to "be a mother and homemaker if that is what one wanted. Unfortunately sometimes understanding that the event in New York. As several movement was promoting choice got lost in the struggle to stress that the family life was not women's ONLY option. Since women feel freer to adopt traditionally male roles, the move ment now is stressing the family option. Admittedly women still have great distances to go before there is equality on all levels-after all, women still are hired after men and paid less than they are. But there has been a pattern of gradual change, and this is to be applauded. There has long been a need to care for those women who choose to be homemakers and an even greater need to care for those who work out side the home and care for their families. Homemakers need greater " protection under social security and inheritance tax laws. The need for low cost and quality child care services has long been apparent. Training, as well, is needed to help women cope with their dual roles and the stress encountered in them. With renewed attention given to these topics by strong national women's organizations, women, familiesand society as well can only benefit. Solution to shah above our heads? J turn on the television, read the newspaper, and listen to the radio, hoping, praying and desperately wanting to hear that the. Americans held hostage in Tehran have been released. But each day drags on, and I hear nothing except how members of the U.N. Security Council feel and how students all over the country-Iranian and American-are demonstrating to vocalize their opinions.. I am confused, frustrated and helpless, What, should believe-who should I believe? y The media claims deposed Iranian Shah Mohammed -Reza Pahlavi is now receiving medical treatment at an Air Force Base in Texas. But what if he isn't? Wliat if it is all a cover? . Assuming that the Texas connection is only a decoy, a cover, a front, where could the shah be? Mexico has re fused him entrance into its country after once offering him exile, Only four countries in the world have offered him a place to seek refuge and peace. Problem: Where to hide a shah? Suppose you had a man nobody liked very much, ex cluding, of course, Henry Kissinger (he likes everybody), and nobody wanted to live with him, nobody wanted to talk to him, and most wish he would just go away. What would you do with him? V The Iranians in Tehran say if he is removed from the United States and locates in another country, they will be gin proceedings to try the hostages as espionage spies. What do you do? My roommate said let him hover in a helicopter over : the United States, He'd still be in the United States, he'd be up high enough where security wouldn't be necessary, nobody could shoot him down, and he has enough jupney to foot the bill, Solution? To the problem where to hide the shah-yes, To solving an American crisis-no. The fact is, to hide a shah isn't that great of a problem. The United States could do it quite effectively, The prob lem is the lives of those 50 Americans still held prisoner in Tehran, The solution to this emotional crisis is not one-step or two-step. The solution depends on the minds and steps of many people-those of President Carter, the Ayatollah Khomeini, the U.N. Security Council, the students at the embassy in Tehran, and God. Whatever is to be done, Lord knows I don't have a solution. Just let it be done with a peaceful, harmonious and fair understanding of the problem. (mm Dean Rudolph of the library states that he is forced to reduce student employees next semester to reduce his deficit. As he points out, this reduction will seriously cur tail the library's ability to serve students and faculty. The library's fine collection of books and magazines is almost useless if many of the books and magazines in current de mand are stacked high in the sorting area and do not get replaced on the shelves for weeks or months. The situation is bad enough now (just look at the piles on the third stack level), but would be disasterous if the staff is further reduced. ' I propose that the students and we faculty show the shortsighted legislature and governor that we are deter mined to do what we can to assure continuance of a quality university by organizing a Walkon Volunteer Library Corps. If Dean Rudolph approves, I recommend that you student leaders start immediately to organize the WVLC so that we can help get all books back on the shelves promptly after the semester ends-there will be thousands of them to reshelve. Ask students to volunteer for one or two work periods per week as needed. Faculty member should be asked to join the Corps. The library staff remaining on the staff could train us in a brief session and supervise our work. We could organize into cadres of 10-20 persons so that 1: HAt, IF WC KfCP TMI UP, WI LL KTH B1UV1( rrn m NO WAY) ALCOMol't NOT AbblCTlVf f tlNK AS MUCH A you WANTt OM.LTT'S JUST SAY AM "AUTHORITY" OH THt tUtXKCT OF bRU&V efficiency could be increased. If branch libraries face the problem, too, students and faculty from those areas of specialization could be assigned. . We can make it work, just as walkons in other campus activities help make this a good all-round university. I will pledge at least four hours of service a. week as needed. Galen Saylor Professor Emeritus of Secondard Education Lively debate applauded . The lively debale in your pages over the events in Iran causes me to think better of UNL as a place of serious in tellectual interchange. Defenders of the embassy takeover in Tehran have not succeeded in persuading many Americans that American official backing of the shah when he was in power justif ies the crimes that Iranian students have committed with the backing of their present government. They have not persuaded me. - Perhaps some Iranian students.in America (who are not the perpetrators of these crimes but are the defenders) misunderstand the position 'of me and others who share my outlook. When the shah was in power, many of us' applauded and encouraged the agitiation by Iranian stu dents directed at the support the U.S. government was f giving him. Why so little sympathy now? I see the situation as having changed. The shah is no longer in power, is no longer imprisoning, torturing and executing people. True, he is free, but many murderous ex-tyrants, including Idi Amin, are at large in the world. It is too bad, but there are other ongoing wrongs in the world more worthy of our attention. More importantly, Americans have some sense of obligation. If the shah was our man, if his crimes were our crimes, we cannot get off by making him the scape goat for us. Since we do not see the Iranians as now acting to pre vent further crimes by the shall, we have to try to explain to ourselves what does motivate them. What we see seems Continued on Page 5