Wednesday, august 19, 1981
page 4
daily nebraskan
Mateo
Reagan to blame for right-wing consequences
As President Reagan vacations in California, he
must be pleased with his early political victories
in Washington.
In just seven months, Reagan has succeeded in
getting the initial legislation through that he
needs to "make America great again." While this
is still a vague phrase, we should be used to it by
now. No one has explained his economic plan yet
either, but nobody seems to mind.
Reagan's victories this summer in Washington
will do more to alter the face of American society
than the actions of any president since Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Yet, the New Deal legislation and
its subsequent adoption by the federal govern
ment is what was so clearly rejected by the voters
last November.
What is most surprising is that the same Reagan
who has won these major victories was supposed
to be a slow learner to Washington ways. Now,
he's not just a student of the game, but he's
teaching the class.
iu h cupeled in obtainine his budget and
tax-cut proposals by forming a coalition of Rep
ublicans and conservative Democrats that is help
ing to make the term "party loyal" obsolete.
Party loyalty is being replaced by political sur
vival, and choosy legislators choose Reagan.
His most impressive victory on the three-year
tax-cut plan came just days after House Speaker
Tip O'Neill said he had the votes to defeat it. But,
after Reagan's nationally televised speech asking
the public to let their representatives know they
favor the plan, the votes O'Neill once had were
washed away in a flood of telephone calls.
Reagan has combined his tremendous political
and personal appeal to become the best television
president since John Kennedy. It should help him
in further pleas for support for his program, be
cause when President Reagan talks, people listen.
And when Reagan returns to Washington, the
rest of the year will see issues like abortion, the
environment, crime reduction and the cutting
down of federal regulations that he and other
Republicans deem unnecessary, auuresseu.
While Reagan has been successful in the key
votes on his program, he must also now assume
the responsibility for them. He can no longer
blame Democrats for blocking his programs.
Democratic leadership may be in disarray, with
O'Neill attempting to keep his small group in line,
but he was right in saying that the problems of
inflation and unemployment now fall clearly to
Reagan and can't be blamed on past Democratic
administrations.
Whether the country is to continue on its right
ward trek or whether it will rebel with a liberal
sentiment of 1982 remains to be seen, but we can
only hope the intended changes really do make
life better. And if they don't, we won't have to
think twice about who to blame.
Promise good grades, but mail tuition statement
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you? I am fine. I guess it's been a long time
since I last wrote home to keep you abreast of what I'm
doing to make you proud of me. But first let's talk about
the weather.
It sure has been hot back here. We've had some real
scorchers. Normally the heat wouldn't even be worth
mentioning except for the fact that the air conditioner
broke down here in my modest rented flat and the
linoleum in the kitchen is starting to curl. 1
I've made a real go of it though, camping out in office
buildings and lapsing into comas to pass the time. The bill
s7 mccabe
to fix the air-con is $79.38 in case you were curious. No
big deal of course. Personally, I can't afford to get it fixed
but I guess suffering builds character, right?
The last I talked to you, I was about to start summer
school. Everything was going fine until the first day of
class. It was Aerobic Chemistry, and we soon learned
there would be three tests and two papers due for the
term.
I heard the class grumbling and decided to turn that
negative energy into action. I organized a strike by the
students, demanding more credit hours and shorter lecture
time. My classmates rallied around me and I ruled negotia
tions with a tight fist.
Our first test came when the professor flady stated
that anyone striking his class would be immediately flunk
ed. I'd heard such elitist rhetoric from bourgeois puppets
before and held my ground.
Apparently everyone else went to class. But hey, what
I lost in tuition, education and respect among the faculty,
I've made up in personal growth, moral conviction and
self-confidence ... I guess. What about you two? Have
you gone anywhere this summer in the Winnebago?
You may be wondering what I've been doing for
money. Which reminds me to thank you dad for lining up
that intern job at the Mayo Clinic. It was a great oppor
tunity for a pre-med student like myself. But I'm sorry to
report it ran into a few snags.
You see, they wanted me to work on Saturdays ... the
same time the local radio station sponsored its weekly Get
Naked, Tan and Party Day at the beach. I was between a
rock and a hard place and a decision had to be made. You
were young once too. I'm sure you understood.
I've been supporting myself through my meager earn
ings at the racetrack while selling plasma on the side.
Friends tell me I'm looking pale and that my eating habits
have grave overtones. But I just tell them I'll be darned if
I'm going to write home and beg for money, no matter
how well off my parents are.
Going to school and supporting myself is a learning
experience that will make me grow and mature, even if
this current economic dilemma has turned me into a shell
of my once proud self. Ahem.
The best defense is a video game
The American armed forces have begun to use video
games to help sharpen the skills of their recruits. In parti
cular, Atari game company's "Battlezone" video game,
one of the hot items in the game arcade business, has been
modified for defense training use.
You have to believe that Atari is pleased with the
arrangement, not only because of the money the company
is sure to rake in from this contract, but also because of
the advertising value of selling a product that has Depart
ment of Defense's blessing. However, I wonder about the
value of the video games to the great American fighting
machine. It is one thing to make a video game seem like a
real war, but quite another to try to make war seem like a
videogame.
piG darfi
Let's say, for example, that two guys named Les and
Wally are manning a tank in a battlefield situation:
"Okay, don't worry about a thing," says Wally,
gripping the steering mechanism, "I scored the highest in
my unit in the training games."
"But this isn't a training game," says Les, "this is war.
"Wliat's the difference? The whole point of our train
ing was to get us ready for this. Now stop worrying and
put a quarter in the slot."
Les slaps his hand against his head. "You don't seem to
understand. This isn't one of those games. There's no
quarter slot."
Wally clasps his hands together', "Great!" he says, "I
was kinda worried about having enough money to finish
out the war." He starts the tank in motion. "Okay, now
you look through that screen and tell me when you see
one of the yellow tanks."
"The tanks we are after are dark green," says Les. "All
tanks are dark green."
"I know what I'm doing," says Wally confidently "We
go after the yellow tanks first, because they are slow and
don't have much range. Then when we get to 10 000
points and get our bonus tank we go after the dark green
tanks. You don't want to go after the dark green tanks
until you have your bonus tank because of the guided
missiles." b
Les grabs Wally's shoulders and shakes him violently
"Wake up!" he screams. "Now listen to me. We are in a
tank. We are trying to incapacitate other tanks, other dark
green tanks. If we are very lucky, we will kill them and
they will not kill us. But no matter how lucky we are no
matter how many of them we get, we will not get a bonus
tank. And if they get us, we can't just dig another quarter
oiU of our pockets and start again. Can you understand
t J0' TwC "npertuAed. "You already
told me that these tanks don't have quarter slots That',
too bad about not getting the bonus tank, though Well
after alf" everythin8 1 This is the military,
"Yes," says Les, "this is the military, and you don't be
long m it.
"That's the truth, says Wally, eliciting a raised eyebrow
from Les. "I wasn't cut out for this tank driving stuff."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting around until I can set into th u;n
With the aliens." 8 lnt0 blS war-
"Aliens?" asks Les in disbelief.
"Sure. I mean, the tank simulator was interest i
was pretty good at it, but what I really like is Xl 1
vasion simulator. I mean, there you a J i zirfn In !? "if
the black voic I of outer space, wff.W
your screen. A harmless asteroid? Or, the Dea K WeH
no time to worry about that now, we've eotl war L '
for America. The Commie tanks Kto"X?J?T
us to finish chatting before they come aE vr
have to remember, you're in a real war now" U
Anyway, you may also be wondering at this time what
1 did with my student loan money. Well, like the wise
shopper you always taught me to be, I decided to invest
it. I bought a dirt bike.
Not one of those cheap outfits either, but a fully
equipped Hasquavara Death Machine 4000. You see, some
of those guys on the dirt bike circuit make over 100 grand
a year. I figure with some practice and a sponsorship I
could be earning back more than my original investment
and helping you pay my way through med school. Don't
thank me now, I felt it was the least I could do to repay
your support.
Actually, 1 can't start racing professionally until 1 get
the bike out of the pawnshop. I had to hock it to get
enough money to travel to Wyoming to see a Grateful
Dead concert. It was a benefit for the Lost Continent of
Atlantis during the lunar eclipse at Devils Tower.
You know, a real once in a lifetime chance, like when
you two went to see Andy Williams in the Catskills. I'm
sure you can relate. We had such a great time, they arrest
ed us. My legal fee was $468, just for the record. By the
way, did you get a garden planted this year?
You may be asking yourselves what I will be doing this
semester to demonstrate my worth as a student and
dependent offspring. I'm happy to report I've developed
a positive mental attitude for school that should give the
ol' CPA a swift boot skyward ... out of last year's fluke
1 .8 mishap.
I'm starting to invest more of my spare time in career
related activities. I've found playing Pac-Man during
breaks helps hone valuable handeye coordination.
I've spent a lot of time this summer studying anatomy,
and frequently my friends and I stay up late at night test
ing new methods of anesthesia.
I think these sacrifices are well worth it, as I've really
started taking a shining to university life. I vow to make
you proud of me. I just want you to realize I could make
you even prouder if I had some form of financial security.
But I really didn't want to bring up that nasty matter of
money in this letter. I just wanted to say hello and drop
are burning10" StatCment-Wel1' 80tta run- My spaghetti's
Your loving son,
The future college graduate
cMfy? nslbfeisExan
FH t , UPSP 1 44-1 80
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