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Daily Nebraskan
Monday, February 15, 1982
TRditorial
Buzzword 'communist' prompts El Salvador aid
Ronald Reagan wants so badly for there to be a demo
cratic government in El Salvador that he is willing to make
one up. Despite reports to the contrary, Reagan has been
trying to assure us that the regime of Jose Napoleon
Duarte is making strides toward more humanitarian
government. In the meantime, Duarte needs just a little
American help ($100 million or so in military aid) to
crush the local "commies' and make El Salvador safe for
democracy.
Those of you who have been piecing this all together
and who think El Salvador looks an awful lot like
Vietnam West may not be far from accurate. What makes
the actions in El Salvador a little worse, however, is the
knowledge that the administration is willing to ignore and
repeat the mistakes of such a colossal and recent disaster
as the Vietnam War. Criticism of the Reagan administrat
ion's El Salvador policy on these grounds is tainted,
though, by the fact that Reagan still thinks the Vietnam
War was a good and just cause (see 1980 campaign for
details).
The question for the Reagan administration, then, is
not, "Should we get involved in El Salvador?" They have
already answered that one with an enthusiastic "yes." To
amplify that point, Secretary of State Alexander Haig has
said that the United States will do "whatever is necessary"
to contain the guerrilla war in El Salvador. Haig also has
not ruled out sending troops (that's us) to El Salvador.
Thomas Enders, the assistant Secretary of State, has been
even more emphatic. As reported in the Feb. 1 Lincoln
Journal, he told the Senate Foreign Relations subcom
mittee, "The decisive battle for Central America is under
way in El Salvador. If after Nicaragua, El Salvador is
captured by a violent minority, who in Central America
would not live in fear?"
So the question for the Reagan administration is not
whether to get involved, it's how to get involved. You
can't just send tanks loaded with Americans down the
Pan-Am highway and expect to be able to sell it to Ameri
can voters. The tirst thing that has to be done, and
the process that is going on now, is the effort to convince
Americans that the government of El Salvador is really
worth our blood and money. To that end we have been
Letters
Respect must be earned
Several weeks ago, while I was in the midst of cutting
my department's budget, I wrote a letter to the Daily Ne
braskan decrying the purchase of a lie detector by the
UNL Police. I did not and do not believe that our police
department needs a lie detector, but I wrote and sent my
letter with tongue in cheek.
After it appeared, however, I received comments from
a number of students, faculty members and other memb
ers of the university community. Virtually everyone I
spoke with either supported the sentiment 1 had expressed
or told me other stories of waste, inefficiency or in
competence by our police.
In themselves these stories don't amount to much, but
after hearing all of them, I have come to the same con
clusion expressed by Sharman Joseph in her Feb. 1 letter.
The UNL police are not supported by the campus com
munity. Regardless of what they want to do for us, they
are neither respected nor appreciated. Joseph is upset by
this situation and I am too. She does not understand,
however, that a police officer does not automatically re
ceive respect together with a badge and a gun. Respect
and support must be earned.
Whatever their achievements, or intentions, it is my
strong impression that the UNL Police have not earned
the respect of the campus community. That is a serious
failing. Rather than investing in hardware, I believe that
our police ought to be working on convincing us that they
deserve our support.
Peter Bleed
Associate professor and chairman
Anthropology
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Letters will be selected for publication on the
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getting the aforementioned presidential assurances that El
Salvador's government is trying to respect the human
rights of the people of that nation. Surely Reagan must
have at least a morsel of fact to back up these assurances,
but he has been reluctant to make it public. In the mean
time, report after report tells of civilians murdered by
government troops. Those reports include murders by the
American trained and supplied Atlacatl force.
One particularly damaging statement appeared in the
Feb. 8 issue of Newsweek magazine: "But
Col. Domineo Monterrosa. the battalion's
commander, freelv admits that it is al- oMflWAH
most impossible for his troops to
distinguish between civilians and
guerrillas. In disputed areas, he says,
his men assume everyone can be
the enemy.
Why is the Reagan ad
ministration so emphatic
in its desire to prop up
this government? Because it
unll H11 rrmmiinictc "
Will IYII1 vvniiiiu IllOkJ
"Communist
is still the ultimate
buzzword in the
United States,
and even more so
with the Reagan
administration. We
won't let El Salvador
foil tn. iUa aCticte Jl
if we have to wipe
out everybody Mu&T ,',
in El Salvador
to do it.
As Enders was quoted as saying in the Feb. 1 Lincoln
Journal, "Americans will not permit Central America's
future to be decided in Moscow or Havana." He failed to
mention whether the Central Americans have a say in the
matter. If they did, it might turn out that they don't
especially want their fate to be decided in Washington,
either.
r :
jfCMUim Sta-TKUflj SIW VICENTE - Mlalc, I 1
jQOw ZACATtCOiUCA S-WKWU. C
UNL forced into role of mediocrity
A lot of definitions arc being reconsidered nowadays.
The University of Nebraska is classified as an equal
opportunity land grant college which caters to the entire
state of Nebraska, and then some. But the all too familiar
maxim of "We just don't have the money" combined with
the collective insensitivity of the Nebraska Legislature is
causing UNL some role redefining.
Because UNL doesn't have enough money, and because
the Legislature won't give it any more, a lot of tactics con
trary to UNL's supposed "open admission" policy are
S- Reid
Warren
being discussed. These tactics include stricter grade point
average requirements in some colleges and more selective
recruitment of high-quality high school students.
And therein lies the paradox: Economic necessities are
forcing UNL to serve two masters that are at opposite
ends of the collegiate spectrum.
Because of money woes, UNL has to try to get as many
students as possible while at the same time consider more
restrictions on these students.
In an address to the Faculty Senate last week, UNL
Chancellor-Martin Maasengale said, in a roundabout way,
much the same thing. He said that about half the money
UNL lost last year when the Legislature cut UNL's budget
3 percent was regained through an increase in second
semester tuition revenue. Simply put, this means that be
cause UNL had 600 more students, it was able to make up
some lost funds.
Massengale also mentioned the possibility of starting
summer seminars for gifted high school students. Active
recruitment of high school students is becoming more
prevalent on college campuses, and it's no secret that UNL
would like to get its share.
The situation is far from ideal: UNL needs more stu
dents to make up for lost revenue, while, at the same
time, it must upgrade its academic image to one of all
around "excellence" to attract both fledgling scholars and
the private and public dollar.
If the Legislature continues on its present course, the
question will become as follows: How can UNL reach the
necessary "perceived" excellence when it must, for econ
omic reasons, attract lare-scale numbers of students?
I'm afraid the answer is through increased tuition and
a further reduction of services. There is no other way, and
that's the burden which the Legislature has put on
students.
The Legislature is forcing UNL to deal in wholesale
numbers of students precisely at a time when UNL needs
to deal in the particulars of students. When UNL has to
set a goal of, say, 26,000 students for the upcoming
semester, does anyone really think that more attention
will be paid to the need for increased services for these
extra students?
The Legislature would have UNL define itself as an
institution which contributes to the common good but
also gives students a most common education at a most
uncommonly high price. And that is a definition which
can only be corrected by our state officials.
This much is certain: Without more money, there is no
way UNL can define itself as anything but mediocre. And
just try to attract the private dollar or the high school
brain with promises of mediocrity.
NebiSskan
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