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Friday, February 12, 1982
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Editorial
Budget-cut victims
left 'out in cold'
Nobody should be too surprised to discover that this
winter has brought record cole! temperatures; anybody
who has had to step outside in Lincoln during the last
couple of months can attest to that. For many people,
those record cold temperatures have also meant record
high home heating bills,' many of which probably could
not have been paid without the program of federal heat
ing bill subsidies for the poor.
But Ronald Reagan, under the banner of budget cut
ting and belt-tightening, wants to cut back the assistance
program. This year's SI. 75 billion allocation already has
proven inadequate, as 11 states have run out of their
shares of the fund. The Reagan administration has pro
posed a $1.3 billion allocation for next year, which, coup
led with high unemployment, could leave a lot of Ameri
cans out in the cold next winter.
This move, combined with several of the latest "bud
get cuts," helps to paint a picture of the ultimate victim
of the Reagan administration. He or she would probably
be a factory worker, or at least somebody who had been a
factory worker until the latest batch of layoffs forced by
the recession. The paltry "tax break" this worker got
when Reagan's tax-cut package passed hist year will have
been more than offset by the loss of income ( a person
with no income hardly needs to worry about income tax
es As this worker sits through the winter waiting for the
promised economic recovery, the local utility company
shuts off the home heating fuel because of overdue bills.
In an effort to help this person in such a dire condition,
the government generously provides a whole pound of sur
plus cheese.
Sure, this example overstates the burden that most
people will have to shoulder. But the people who most
need financial help are the very people to whom this assis
tance is aimed. To sacrifice the health and well-being of
these people in the name of cutting the budget, while at
the same time decontrolling fuel prices (so that they can
go up) displays grossly misaligned priorities.
What will Reagan tell these people as they shiver
through next winter? It will be extremely small comfort
for them to know that their money is going for more
Huey helicopters for El Salvador. He dare not tell them
that America's greatness comes from surviving adversities
like the Great Depression, because that would only re
mind them how close we are to another one. The going
suspicion is that in this "put up or shut up" administra
tion, the poor will do the putting up, and Reagan will do
the shutting up.
1 (Scon wasm't AL
just a fi0e ) Smm
Students need to speak up frequently
Don 't you know that it 's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder?
-"Hey Jude," The Beatles
The minor uproar over cuts in the Recreation Depart
ment's budget was a relief from the usual shoulder
shurgging around campus. A few people even allowed
themselves the unpardonable indulgence of getting upset
over something "political." At the risk of social suicide,
Matthew Millea
students are getting involved in an issue that affects their
lives. They blush a bit, but they stand their ground. It's
not as if they're unaware of the social norms in operation
around here. I'm sure they realize they're being really un
cool. But they had a choice to make, and they've made it.
Given the choice between being victims or putting up a
fight, they're becoming fighters.
It seemed inevitable that students at UNL would lose
their cool. Humiliation has been heaped upon humiliat
ion: A B-movie actor who thinks the rich aren't rich
enough was elected president. The university's budget
please were ignored with more than 30,000 of us studying
and teaching less than a mile from where the decision
were made. Eliminating open recreation at an institution
which boasts some of the finest varsity sports facilities in
the world had to be the last straw.
Jim Frohman, the student chairman of the Committee
for Fees Allocation, which made the tentative cuts, was
elated to hear a petition had been started. Poor Jim can't
get anyone to tell him how they'd like their money spct
He had a meeting for student input in November which
was attended by two people.
Apathetic people are much more naive than they
know. They believe they can't affect what happens and
that if they could, it wouldn't be worth the time. The
former belief has been proven wrong while the latter
dardly deserves comment.
I visited the Nebraska Legislature Wednesday morning
and was impressed with the open atmosphere. The
senators mill around casually, evidently unguarded by any
sort of Secret Service barrier. Their offices have nice big
signs over the door, and they seem quite willing to discuss
what's on your mind. Some of them even seem susceptible
to an intelligent argument. (I seem to have convinced
Howard Peterson that William Jennings Bryan is spinning
in his grave at the mere mention of a return to the gold
standard.)
All our attention has been focused on the federal
government recently, but it is our own state senators who
want to hear what's on your mind. For example, last year
a bill was introduced to consolidate small school districts;
it was expected to pass easily. But a couple of bus loads of
parents showed up and the bill didn't have a chance.
"Well sure," you sayd, "but I don't have time to do
stuff like that." Some people hire lobbyists to ensure their
message gets across. But then they have more money than
you. Ever wonder why?
Making your voice heard is even more important in
times of scarcity and cutbacks. Politicians are like every
one else; they take the path of least resistance. If you
don't speak up, you're just laying down so they can run
over you. There's not as much grease as there used to be:
We'd better start squeaking.
Feb. 14 needed to emphasize maintenance of love
The merchants are wearing their hearts on their shelves.
It happens every year, just like calendar work. Out go
the turkeys, in come the Santas; out go the Santas, in
come the hearts.
In the candy shop you now have the chance to eat
your heart out in assorted flavors. In the card racks,
you can buy love cheap or dear, cute or chic. In the
flower shop, the roses are red, the violets are blue, and the
delivery is included.
I suppose this is an odd sort of holiday. Once it was a
day for secret messages of affection. Now it's less myster-
Ellen Goodman"
ious and more official. There are no marches, no fanfare,
no speeches. But it's a public celebration for private
emotions: National Pay Attention to Love Day.
And maybe we need it. Maybe we need to flag one day
down every 365, and wave a banner of reassurance at each
other - a white one with a red heart on it. Maybe we need
to consciously stop the dailiness, call a halt to habits
and notice a feeling, notice each other.
After all, love is always at risk from routine, always
open to bankruptcy unless we keep up the regular pay
ments of attention.
I've known a lot of people who make the first install
ment easy enough. Some fall in love down a chute of
passion that absorbs all their energy and concentration.
A few choose that ride over and over again, getting
high on the intensity. But it doesn't have much staying
power.
Sooner or later, most of us civilize love into a thing
we can live with. Lovers become partners. The lens that
was focused on creating a relationship becomes diffused
in making a life.
We talk less about "us" and more about "them"
children, parents, jobs, friends, appliances, ceiling leaks,
bills. At times we just talk less.
There is something luxurious about being able to take
another person for granted: something delicious in being
boring together; something accepting in silence. But
there's also something scary about it.
I don't know a soul who hasn't felt nostalgia for the
intensity from time to time. I don't know a soul who
hasn't wondered how quickly mutual comfort can pass
over into mutual neglect.
I have a lot of busy friends. They share children, work,
home. Sometimes their lives are divided like errands and
they only meet in doorways, passing lists like batons. In
weeks with very little leeway, what "gives" is their private
life. It's easy to make a habit out of less and less.
But the ones who are most together are those who,
somehow or other, against the odds, keep up their
payments.
One couple I know has survived half-a-dozen life
changes and retained that core of love: interest in each
other. They watch their marriage together as if it were a
stock portfolio. They spend time at it, as if it were golt or
racquetball. They are as fascinated by their own relation
ship as by any project they could build together.
Another couple I know has simply made a pact to dun
each other at least once a week for attention. Instead of
wallowing in the silent sense of indebtedness, one or the
other will take a chance, ask a question: Hello there, how
are we doing? They have learned to strike a balance be
tween neglect and demand.
I don't know why some people are better at paying up
than others. Maybe they need more themselves. Maybe
they like each other better. Maybe they are more fright
ened by the specter of separation, or of old age in a quiet
living room where only the television set is talking.
But I do know that it's not an accident, it's an act
of will. It's taking a stand for the care of pleasure and the
maintenance of love. It's an offering of personal energy
against the pull of lethargy.
And if we need a day to remind us that an installment
is due, so be it. IH take my payment this year in choc
olate, thank you.
(c) 1982, The Boston Globe Newspaper Company
Washington Post Writers Group
Nebraskan
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