7V. -
Photo by Beth Lawton
Richard Manning, Lincoln, takes advantage of Mon day's warm weather to try his water skills at Pawnee Lake, west of Lincoln.
SUMMER
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CD
RAS
AN
Number 3
School of Journalism
University of Nebraska
June 10, 1982
Arms rally emphasizes children, parents
BY JIM ANDERSON
The peace movement in Lincoln plans to
take the issue of world survival to the people
of the city with two rallies scheduled to coin
cide.with this month's second Special Session
on Disarmament at the United Nations in
New York.
The second Special Session on Disarma
ment began at the U.N. Monday and is sched
uled to last five weeks.
The first rally, organized by O.J. Scott,
minister of education at the First United
Methodist Church, 2723 N. 50th St.,his wife
Susan and several Lincoln civic, church and
peace groups, will be held in Pioneers Park
Saturday at 11 a.m.
The event is designed for children and
their parents, Scott said. It will help them to
become aware of the possible consequences
of the arms race and try to interest them in
the peace molvement, he said.
The second rally, sponsored by Nebraska
Artists for Disarmament, the Lincoln Freeze
Campaign and Nebraskans for Peace, will be
held Sunday, June 20, at 1 p.m. on the north
steps of the Capitol. This rally was to have
been held last Sunday but was canceled be
cause of bad weather reports.
Chief organizer for this rally, Sue Kirk, of
Nebraska Artists for Disarmament, said it is
being held in celebration of the U.N.'s special
session on disarmament. It is designed to in
form the public both about the peace move
ment,the arms race and to draw attention to
the special U.N. session.
The arms race is a threat to the world's
existence, Miss Kirk said. She said that the
special disarmament session is of great
global importance.
Miss Kirk said she believes the global
peace movement is producing good results
and that it will continue to do so.
"It can only get bigger," she said.
"I personally got involved (in the peace
movement) because I believe nuclear
weapons should be kept under control but are
n't," Miss Kirk said.
Arms face described as a monster
She describes the arms race as a monster
that needs to be killed. Each citizen has an ob
ligation to take a stand on the issue of world
survival, she said,
"This is our government. . . We put our rep
resentatives there," she said.
She said citizens need to try harder to keep
the government under control and account
able to the people.
Ticked owners advised not to spare pet pests
Warm-blooded creatures can avoid playing
host to ticks this summer with an ounce of
prevention.
To lessen the chances of being bitten,
clothes and infested areas near the home
should be sprayed with repellents, said Dave
Keith, University of Nebraska extension ento
mologist. The most common kinds of ticks in Ne
braska are the American Dog or wood tick
and the Brown Dog tick.
The same sentiments were expressed by
Scott, organizer of Saturday's rally at Pio
neers Park. Scott, who calls the rally "a sort
of nursery school classroom," said it also
shows local support for the U.N.'s special ses
sion. Scott said children at the rally will be
taught how to make peace both in the home
and the community.
Activities for children will include co
operative (non-competitive) games, group
singing, testimonials about peace and letter
writing to President Reagan, he said.
Letter writing encouraged
Scott said children across the country are
encouraged by peace groups to write letters
to the president telling thair feelings about
the arms race and their hopes for a peaceful
future. He said all children need to be con
cerned about the country's move toward in
creased militarism and more military spend
ing. Many children, Scott said, have strong
opinions about this issue.
"The issue involved here is whether or not
we want a future for ourselves and our chil
dren," Scott said.
He said citizens throughout the world
should support disarmament proposals made
by peace groups and political leaders.
Scott said Saturday's rally will be held just
west of the war memorial in Pioneers Park.
He said the choice of location is symbolic.
"There are no monuments to peace in Lin
coln," he said.
Rally includes speakers and music
Miss Kirk said her group's rally will in-
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Q
A. Mm m "mmhS
Photo by Terry Hyland
A swimmer "falls" for the sunny skies and warm temperatures at Woods Memorial Pool Sunday in Lincoln.
elude speakers the Rev. LaRoy Seavor, direc
tor of ministries of the Nebraska Methodist
Churches, and Marian Todd, president of Ne
braskans for Peace. Music will be provided,
she said, by the Star City Players and by Jim
Salestrom. The event is scheduled to last
three-and-a-half hours.
Miss Kirk said her group has encountered
very few persons against disarmament in Lin
coln and DeCourcy Squire, a spokesperson for
Nebraskans for Peace.also said the peace
movement here has encountered suprisingly
little opposition.
"Of course there are always those persons
who want to keep armaments (spending) up,"
Miss Squire said, "but those who have been
circulating the (disarmament) petitions are
suprised by the amount of support they've
gotten from people they didn't expect to give
it."
Support for arms freeze is increasing
Miss Squire said support for a freeze of nu
clear weapons is increasing among persons
who have formerly opposed such an action
and those who until now haven't really given
the issue much thought.
There are some in the peace movement
who favor complete nuclear disarmament
and others who favor simply a freeze in the
number of nucear arms being manufactured
and deployed, she said.
Miss Squire said there is no real conflict on
this acount, saying that those who favor a
freeze see it as simply the first logical step in
disarmament.
"Disarmament will be a long process," she
said.
The Rev. Lee Van Ham, Christian educa
tion director at the Westminster Presbyterian
Church, one of the sponsors of Saturday's
rally, said the peace movement rejects nega
tive labels. He said the movement is not an
"anti-movement" but a positive, grass-roots
movement of people who want peace, justice
and disarmament in the world.
He said Saturday's rally focuses on chil
dren as an attempt to prevent another gener
ation of arms race supporters from emerging.
Local rallies encouraged
Van Ham said sponsors of the special U.N.
session have encouraged local communities
to hold their own rallies. Peace groups all
over the country have travelled to New York
for the event and Van Ham said over 250 thou
sand people are expected by peace groups to
attend a Saturday rally celebrating the ses
sion. Miss Squire said 70 to 80 persons left Ne
braska Wednesday bound for New York to
participate in disarmament rallies there Sat
urday. Scott said the movement supports moves
by all countries toward disarmament.
"This is a chance," he said, "for everyone
to just say. 'Now's a good time to stop build
ing bombs.'"