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Tuesday, February 21, 1934
Daily Ncbraskan
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Arts center 'dream' reveals
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Political Action Committees buy
and sell government influence at
the federal and state level.
Special interest groups also play a
role in this capitalist compromise. It
takes money to get elected. You
need to be rich from the start, and
court -the , PACs and industry in
order to fund the massive advertis
ing campaigns that make or break
politicians.
State Sen. Vard Johnson of Omaha
has introduced a bill that would
decrease the influence of special
interest groups and PACs in Nebra
ska. LB1012 would create a box on
state income tax forms where voters
could check off a $1 donation to a
legislative campaign fund.
Legislators could choose to run or
not to run according to the rules of
the bill. If they did, a $ 1 6,000 spend
ing limit would be placed on spend
ing for primary and general elec
tions. A maximum $7,200 could be
used from the new fund for the gen
eral election.
If a candidate chooses not to par
ticipate in the bill's restrictions,
there would be political disadvan
tages. One opponent, using LB1012, can
sail re -
A re-election of President Reagan is
a clear threat to American security.
The recent military operations in Gren
ada, Nicaragua, Lebanon, El Salvador
and in Europe, to name a few, have put
Opinion
the United States at an all-time low in
foreign policy relations with the Soviet
Union, Europe and Latin America
since the Cold War. Reagan, and his
administration, are solely responsible
for these new developments. These
military operations have not only des
troyed the arms negotiations between
the Soviet Union and the United
States, but have also brought heavy
criticism from U.S. allies. - .
The Reagan administration deploy
ment of nuclear weapons into Europe
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say honestly: "Special interest is
funding this man's campaign. Who
is he accountable to? The public? Or
the PAC thatjust gave his campaign
$5,000." ' .
As well as decreasing the influ
ence cf PACs, LB1012 would curb
skyrocketing campaign costs. A
candidate who isn't already rich
would stand a chance in a state
senate race.
A similar bill in New Jersey got $ 1
from 31 percent of the voters there,
Johnson said. He estimated in a
legislative hearing Thursday that if
20 percent of Nebraska's 800,000
voters checked off a dollar, $16,000
would be raised for the fund. Since
there are two years before senate
races, $320,000 could be raised.
' At the hearing of the Miscellane
ous Subjects Committee, Sen. Merle
Von Minden of Allen asked Johnson
why the system should be changed.
"It's worked this way for years," he
said.
Johnson responded that LB1012
was an experiment. There would be
no harm if the Legislature decides it
would not work.
LB1012 is a worthwhile experi
ment. Politicians are continually los
ing credibility with voters. This is
one way to regain some of it.
-Chris Welsch
eiecaon
f
has not only stifled any type of arms
control agreement with the Soviet
Union but has also provoked the Soviet
Union into deploying more of its nuc
lear arsenal force into the 'European
theatre." This disproves the "hawkish"
theory that the Soviet Union will threat
en the United States at the same pace,
regardless of U.S. foreign policies.
This is also the first administration
unable to get the Soviet Union to agree
on an arms control agreement of any
land in over a decade. The strife bet
ween the United States and the Soviet
Union is the major threat to world
stability. .
President Reagan has also worsened
the relationships between the United
States and its own allies. The United
States gave the Soviet Union a power
ful propaganda weapon when it invad
ed Grenada, beside 3 adding to 'an al
' ready growing - anti-American senti
1. I t x
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1 - i t 1 ' I If
progress synaromc
Plans to construct a $20 million per
forming arts center on the UNL cam
pus reveal a fundamental error in uni
versity officials' thinking, an error
which may well be one of the bases of
their institution's current malaise.
That error is equating progress with
increasing the square footage of uni
verity property and buildings, an idea
(Ttirifiomier
( a, Burbacli
which reveals a deeper philosophy of
mandating progress and rejecting the
status quo. -
In light of Nebraska's economic
straits, now is an excellent time to
question both notions.
Monday's Daily Nehraskan carried
three stories which provide fine ex
amples of the misjudgment caused by
the Progress Syndrome.
The stories reported events at Satur
day's meeting of the NU Board of
Regents. Those events included an
announcement of the $10 million Lied
Foundation gift and resulting arts cen
ter construction plan, a decision to
spend $400,000 to purchase land ad
joining the UNO campus, and considera
tion of funding cutbacks and realloca
tions. The proposed arts center would re
quire $10 million in university funds
for its construction alone, plus an
undetermined amount for its mainte
nance. The administration hopes to
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Voices of wmest serve planet
Daniel Zariski's letter (Daily Nebras
kan, Feb. 14) is a masterpiece of mean
ingless rhetoric. Although the purpose
of the letter is obscured by the conser
vative double-talk, I think Zariski in
tended to decry the liberalism and pol
itical activism of the late 1960s and
early 1970s.
I don't believe Mr. Zariski remembers
or understands what was the cause of
the political activism cf the period.
America was involved in a purposeless
war in Southeast Asia in which many
thousands of American soldiers were
being killed. The country had sat still
for this through most of the '60s, but as
the body counts on the nightly news
rose, so did the level of political acti
vism and social unrest among the
younger generation, especially on col
legs campuses. Young Americans be-
TO jT, r - jTK i-M . I
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ment stemming from other military
operations involving U.S. forces and
covert military actions throughout the
world.
The Economist reports that Euro
peans see "Reagan as trigger-happy,
unreliable, an alarming president to
have control over nuclear wcapons...a
jumpy hard-liner." Net only is the East
ern Bloc alarmed with Reagan but the
leaders of such prominent .allies as
France, Germany and England are as
well. This is evident in their condem
nation cf US. foreign policy (the UN.
General Assembly voted 103 to 9 to
deplore "armed intervention" in Gren
ada). Again, Reagan is not securing
safe foreign' policy relations, not only
with the Soviet Union, but with US.
allies as well - - .
- Europe's opinion end support of the
United States i? crucial becnass of its
international .power and the balance
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talk legislators out of $7 million of the
construction costs and solicit $3 mil
lion from private sources.
One has to wonder if such a prop
osal is not frivolous when home eco
nomics students have to watch classes
on television, degree programs in two
colleges and the NU Medical Center
are being eliminated and UNL faculty
members remain among the lowest
paid in their profession. N
A $10 million donation is hard to
decline, but the Lied gift carries strings
which make it understandable $10
million strings. The gift demands that
its recipient bear a burden which it is
simply not capable of bearing. To
attempt the feat would be nothing
short of foolhardy.
The money, if it did not require
matching funds, would be a tremend
ous boon to the UNL theatre depart
ment. As it stands, it would be a detri
ment. Even if UNL could raise match
ing funds,, the proposed facility would
suffer from lack of support. Attend
ance at current theatre department
productions indicates that the de
mand for such activities is being met.
Chancellor Martin Massengale called
the proposal part of a dream. A dream
it is, a dream of grandeur. Unfortu
nately, it is a dream we at UNL cannot
afford to pursue, at least for now. We
must open our eyes and recognize the
fact that fiscal bonds prevent progress
through capital construction. Such a
realization could dispel the myth that
more square feet of property equals
progress and allow the university to
improve itself in less tangible, but more
important areas'.
gan exercising some of the basic free
doms we value so highly in this country
the freedom of assembly, the right
to dissent and the freedom of speech.
These rights were won for us by the
political activists who founded this
country in 1776.
as American soldiers are again dying
in far away lands, so are the seeds of
political unrest sown. The people will
once again have to join together to
make their voices heard to the self
serving bureaucrats in Washington.
The people's message will serve to
make the government act with the best
interests of the entire human race and
of the planet itself in mind.
Tim Kettler
- junior
natural science
Letters cciitbiEsd ca Pc."3 5
interests
of power. European support has degen
erated to a point of questionable sta
bility with Reagan's administration.
The United States cannot tolerate or
afford to risk'the lives and well-being
of its citizens for another four years.
President Reagan in only three
years has reduced the United States
status within the international balance
of power to that of an aggressive coun
terpart to the Soviet Union. Recent
trend of aggression under Reagan
have given new impetus to anti-American
trends around the world, and have
again gambled away US. credibility. As
concerned US. citizens we should
heed the warnings frc'n the Eastern
Bloc concerning U.S. aggression. We
should also heed the warnings rever
berated from those we trust and need
. most concerning foreign policy our
' UNL Collet Young Democrats
