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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1984)
! i ! i ( cy i ... Thursday, April 5, 1934 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 83 No. 131 tors to 71012 revolution Nicaragua . m m effects By Pam Alward Members of the Nebraska Witness for Peace delegation commended the new government Tuesday night in the delegation's first public appearance since their week-long visit to the coun try which ended Sunday. The delegation made the trip as a Christian action for peace and also to discover the changes made in the coun try since the revolution in 1979, which put the Sandinista Liberation Front in power. At a meeting of the Lincoln chapter of Nebraskans for Peace at St. Mark's-on-the-Campus, 13th and R streets, the delegation said the Nicaraguans appeared to favor the Sandinista gov ernment, which has improved health and education standards in Nicara gua. The Sandinista government is un der attack from U.S.-backed counter revolutionaries. "Everywhere we went, we found peo ple who cared about us, who told us, 'You people don't have to ask for our forgiveness' " for United States' sup port of the contras, said UNL Spanish instructor Suzie Prenger, who is the delegation leader anil Human Rights coordinator for Nebrcskans for Peace. Nebraskans for Peace is a chapter of Clergy and Laity Concerned, a nation . al organization. Ann Coyne, UNO associate professor -of social work, said the trouble bet ween the United States and Nicaragua began when the Sandinistas refused U.S.- support. She said the United States supports Contra, the counter revolutionairies, because it thinks a Central American country with U.S. influence is a bad example for other Central American countries. "I'd heard real improvements had been made since the revolution," Coyne said. However, she said she saw what seeme'd to be an American attempt to disrupt the economy of Nicaragua. Members of the delegation, which also included Ruth Thone, the wife of former Gov. Charles Thone, paid their own expenses, but the trip was coor y dinated by CEPADJ a fricaraguan Pro testant development committee, Coyne said. Coyne said the United States is attack ing a legitimate government through the Contra. She said the Contra is sup ported by U.S. arms and money and is directed by the CIA, while some San distinas use Soviet weapons. The Con tra fighters mostly come across the Honduran border, she said. Coyne said she was most moved while seeing malnourished children. "I realized it was my government that was killing these kids," Coyne said. The delgation began its bus tour in Leon, the first city liberated in the revolution. The government is conduct ing housing projects to rebuild homes destroyed by fighting and floods, Preng er said. Secondary boarding schools provide the poor with accelerated ed ucation. The government provides rec- reational activities to help children ' recapture their youthfulness, which has been lost in the fighting, she said. Next the delegation traveled to Potosi, a fishing village on the Gulf of Fonseca. The next stop was San Luis, a reset tlement camp for Nicaraguans dis placed from Potosi by fighting. The standard of living at this camp was lower than at most others, Prenger said. The delegation gave sports equip ' meat, school supplies, medicine and some Nebraskan soil to the camp. "They were extremely touched by " the symbol of unity between us and them," Prenger said. The last stop was the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, where delegates talk ed to people wounded in the war. "The military is so integrated into the people," Prenger said. "They arejthe people. They are not an oppressive force." Prenger said the issue is whether it is worthwhile for the United States to kill Nicaraguans to dominate them. "It would be genocide," Coyne said. "I think that's the only way we are goingj to overcome them." - Prenger said U.S. policy in Nicaragua needs to change. The delegation plans to talk to congressmen and to con tinue speaking publicly about the issues, she said. Coyne compared Nicaragua to Viet nam. She said a grass-roots campaign is needed, but that it will take time. 'They had won their revolution," Coyne said. "They had become very optimistic. They won their freedom They knew they'd never lose it." Craig AndresenDaily Nebraskan ASUN President Mark Scudder is sworn in by outgoing president Matt Wallace in ceremonies held Wednesday in the Nebraska Union. Armstrong: Union a By Jonathan Taylor 'crossroads The Union Board has been the prot otype used when other university ad visory boards are formed, said Richard "Armstrong, vice chancellor for student affairs in the open forum at Tuesday night's Nebraska Union Board meet ing. Armstrong opened the meeting by presenting his views on the union and what the role of the board should be. The union, Armstrong said, is the "cross roads of the campus." It provides an array of services for the community while allowing faculty, students and staff to meet in one place and "merge" with each other on the same level.. Armstrong said Ke'saw the board first as an advisory group to himself and the union director representing the members' peers and constituents. Although the advisory council to the University Health Center has no fac ulty and staff representatives as the Union Board does, Armstrong said, the health center used the Union Board as its model to form the council Board President Mary Marcy clari fied the goals set at the board retreat by outlining the faculty and staff mem bers' purposes. Continuity, added re sources, interaction between students and staff and non-student perspec tives were some contributions by the faculty and staff which the board mem bers cited. In other board action, the recreation department was denied permanent bulletin board space in the Nebraska Union. Because of the amount of pub licity the Recreation Department re ceives from other sources, Phil Karst ing, operations committee chairman, said the committee membersVere "not sure (the recreation department) was in need of prime space" for promotion of its activities. The board passed a motion allowing all student organizations conducting blood drives to receive a 50 percent decrease in the union space rental fee. Also, in new business, the board dis cussed the possible one-year exten sion of the National Bank of Com merce rental agreement. The original three year contract with NBC will run out in August, but that contract includ ed two one-year options. 1 . j l,::"K DavisDa,; h'efcrssksn Key Frederick lectures to UNL students en criculiuna - Professor: Farmers can use political clout By Jay Mulligan Because this is an election year, farmers have some extra political clout, according to a UNL extension specialist. Professor Roy Frederick said farmers can use . their political clout effectively, but sometimes lack organization because they are independent. "Farmers agree on about 90 percent of all farm policy," Frederick said. Frederick discussed the future of national farm policy at the UNL Ag-Econ Agri-Business Club meet ing Tuesday night. Frederick discussed the 1985 farm bill that Congress has begun working on. "Farmers all want to see the system of the family farm continue as it has for the past 200 years," he said. Frederick said he was impressed with the stu dents' knowledge of the 1985 farm bill. "The caliber of questions was very good," Freder ick said. "I salute them on their interest and knowl edge of the bill. "They had a very positive feeling about it," Freder ick said. "Most of them came from a farm back ground and have some previous knowledge of the bill." Frederick praised the agriculture clubs and organ izations at UNL because of the opportunities they offer. - "One advatntage of the clubs is you get to know more students in the same area of study that you are in, in a less formal setting," Frederick said. Frederick said getting ideas about jobs was an other major advantage of the clubs. "The reason that most of the students are here is to train for a career," Frederick said. "The clubs are a good way for students to get a diverse look at the different jobs out there." .' . 1 '