friday, deccmber 9, 1979
cteily nebrc&en
PHD
Iraiiiaii crisis enters period off evaluation
It has been well over a month now
since the beginning of the crisis in
Iran. Unfortunately, however, there
seems to be no sign of a break
through. Both sides remain adamant
in their convictions. Even recent UN
resolutions calling for the release of
the hostages vhave done little good.
Each day, U.S. attempts to resolve
the situation continue. It was re
vealed Thursday that President
Carter and national leaders are pre
pared to begin a series of economic
and diplomatic steps against Iran if
the hostages are not released in a few
days.
The options include calling for a'
global economic embargo against
Iran and cutting off all U.S. food
shipments to the country.
Such proposals follow U.S. mea
sures to cut off imports of Iranian
oil, to freeze Iranian assets in this
country and ordering the deporta
tion of Iranians who have violated
their visas.
These actions by the government
reflect the mood of its citizens. In
contrast to the days immediately
after the Nov. 4 siege, when there
were calls for immediate military
action and demonstrations and
violence hit several cities, Americans
now are reacting to the crisis with
logic and reason. f
Demonstrations and violence, for
the most part, have been replaced
with letters to the editor analyzing
and evaluating the situation. Clearly
this is good. It speaks well for the
American public. And it does not
endanger the lives of the hostages.
This period of evaluation has done
something else as well. It has called
attention to the relationships the
.United States has with foreign coun
tries and to the inept bungling of our
nation in the affairs of other coun
tries. The crisis has indeed been success
ful in giving the Iranians a forum for
making their complaints against the
shah and the United States well
known. Although the accusations of
wrongdoing they present are probab
ly exaggerated, there is little doubt
that they have some factual basis.
These alleged wrongdoings, of
course, do not justify the. holding of
the hostages and the attempted
blackmail of this country. And it is
unlikely that the U.S. will give into
Iranian demands. At the same time,
the people in this country have been
educated in its mistakes, and they
will be less likely to support the
making of similar mistakes in the
future.
Letter backlog
causes
delays
' The number of letters the paper receives at any given
time varies considerably. We're at a time now when the
letter flow is very heavy, and this causes some problems. '
The editorial policy for selecting letters to be published
rests on the timeliness, clarity of writing, and the original
ity of the letter. Particularly acidic letters (written in
abusive vernacular) rarely get in.
0ufeOfl(Sjui0i
Because of the number of lettets we are receiving, it
should be pointed out that a shorter letter is more likely
to make it than a long one. The longer ones are subject to
editing and condensation, and I dont know anyone who
likes to seehis opinion cut by as much as a single word.
If you have' to be long, you might consider submitting
your letter as a guest opinion, as it stands a better chance
of being printed in its entirety. ,
Don't be concerned if your letter does not appear im
mediately. TTie re is very often a backlog that causes a
slight delay in publication. -
Your opinions are obviously important to you, or you
wouldn't submit them. If they are that important, it
might be nice if somebody could read them. Handwriting
being what .it, is, if you can type the letter it makes for
fewer misunderstandings, At barest minimum, print your,
letter legibly. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find
good cryptography help these days. -
.
I am becoming a little frustrated with people who wait
several weeks or months after a story appears in the paper
to complain about its content.
'
- It makes it hard to follow up, and difficult to justify
the concern to the powers that be. For pity's sake, if it
upsets you enough to complain, complain right away.
Correction
A letter in Tuesday's Daily Nebraskan entitled "Speech
out of context' was incorrectly attributed to an Iranian
student. The Daily Nebraskan apologizes for the error
ii& O'Q -J ,J
, 9D $ 'J 13
LIFE -THE GLASS nUTOE
A serious misunderstanding is evidenced in the Daily
Nebraskan's coverage of the recent USED meeting. The
issues which constituted the core of the discussion were
not mentioned in the article and what was discussed peri
pherally was reported, but sadly out of context. One
member of USED expressed the opinion that ASUN is no
longer representative, others disagreed. The more sensa
tional statement was reported.
. It is unfortunate that neither the reporter nor an over
ly sensitive former ASUN senator could take the time to
verify their information.
I am assuming that when the reporter referred to
"open forums" she meant the Dec. 15 Regents Meeting.
The subject at issue was not whether various groups
support USED, but whether USED should attempt to get
on the agenda of the regents' meeting. It was tentatively
decided not to have USED per se present a format of
speakers on minority and women's issues because of a lack
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of time and enthusiams on the part of those groups, but
to concentrate on encouraging the student body to attend
the regents meeting to support the student regents and
those groups.already on the agenda, such as the Feminist
Action Alliance. It was decided to postpone our presenta.
tion of these groups' needs to a later date.
It was never asserted that Women's Resource Center
idTccrvnotiupport USEDl In fact WRC actively supports
USED and plans to participate in programs i.ext semester.
As the Feminist Action Alliance is already on the agenda
for. trur regents' meeting WRC, along"with USED, plans to
concentrate its energies in support of FAA.-
It is an indication of the serious laqfrof attention and
understanding among students Including those in positions
?,cnS.p?nsibUity as wel1 as administration, that
VbbD s interest in the conditions of women and minority
groups on campus and our belief that all students should
be mrormed of interested in, and part of the administrate
on of their University should be characterized as the
play fen politics of "ignorant people,"
. Mary Tait
Graduate Student, English
Ellanora Ward
Coordinator Women's Resource Center
Editor's note: After speaking with the reporter questioned
in the letter, Daily Nebraskan editors are convinced that
the meeting was reported fairly and accurately. It also
should be noted that the article did not say the Women's
Resource Center does not support USED. The reporter
quoted Tait as saying that the Women's Resource Center
probably would not be Interested In the forums "because
. 7J 0? eir fundin ls guaranteed for another year
and they don't want to aggravate men."
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