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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1984)
i Pago 4 Daily Nebraskan Thursday, September 27, 1984 i ! O fl nal. H ID 11 U ti OQiTd THsir TATfc !l (Tiff I CP Si eace iC r?s I give up. I have no idea what Soviet and American leaders will try to accomp lish during their "Peace" talks. They ob viously won't reduce the threat of nuclear holocaust. The John Birch script reads that the Soviets are trying to discredit Ronald Reagan, hoping the American public will do the impossible and elect Walter Mon dale in November. The other side blames Ronald Reagan and his Cold War attitudes toward the Soviets. If it weren't for the president's obstinance, we would have no nuclear weapons on either side and world peace and harmony would prevail. Whatever will happen, it was a cruel joke on the world to create the pretext of peace talks just to play political games. It was cruel for Reagan to invite the Soviets for purely political reasons. It was cruel for the Soviets to accept, knowing they were only going to make a show of it. Russia has always been a particularly xenophobic country. When the United States built its nuclear arsenal after World War II, it was to deter Soviet expansion. Given its century-old tradition of mis trust, the Soviets took this as a sign of aggressiveness. From there it's been a chess game of mis understanding, each side knowing with out a doubt that the other is going to make the first move. Now it's to the point where, even if one side can quantify the other's nuclear warheads, it doesn't matter who has the most or the best. Finally, after four years of outcry and protest over the possibility of a holocaust, an American president and a top leader in the Russian Communist Party shake hands and play a childish game of one upsmanship. It can get depressing. Reagan's motives for calling the meet ings were undoubtledly political. He crumpled under public pressure to invite Soviet leaders to talk. It's hard to believe that he all of a sudden gave up his "Evil Empire" rehetoric in the realization that the United States and Russia might live peacefully on the same planet. If the president continues to consider this issue the most important in the world after his imminent election, he will surprise. The Soviets' motives for agreeing to the talks were as transparent as their boy cott of the Los Angeles Olympics. They want to make Ronald Reagan out to be a fool and will go to great and painful lengths to prove it. Tass paints Reagan as an unbending imperialist who will stop at nothing to spread capitalism to the far corners of the earth. For his part, Reagan has done little to disprove them. Tuesday he chor tled, "I've never gotten good reviews from them." , . . . . The president has consulted with Rich ard Nixon and Henry Kissinger on how to deal with Gromyko. This would be a noble step if Reagan were just looking for insight on how to deal with Gromyko. We can guess, though, that Reagan only wants to gain some advantage over his Soviet counterpart at the meetings. If that is true, Gromyko will sense Reagan's motives immediately and leave the talks. If anything good happens in the peace process, it probably won't be at the com ing Reagan-Gromyko meetings. And if Ronald Reagan is truly just playing the re-election game, nothing good may hap pen for the next four years. We can ony hope that nothing bad happens. Jeff Browne Daily Nebraskan Staff Editor up I V ISifcTfaSiG ... :zJ ' ..... . ' n... Electric jolts, Chapstick mark co Id weather b I ues Damn. Got up the other day, limped over to the dresser, threw on some clothes, splashed on some spice and fired up the Schwinn. Got all the way to G Street before I noticed a little spice-colored icicle forming on the tip of my chin. If you haven't noticed, it's getting cold outside hell, it's 44 degrees as I'm writing this. (It's also 1 1 p.m., but -you get theMdea.)-Fall4s'.here, the leaves are having -hormoneproblems-and Miller time is fast becoming f'J James A. 5 Fussell dead-battery time. I hate the cold; I hate the cold with a passion. What I hate the most about the cold is that it penalizes you for doing normal things. You know, you can't lick your lips without getting those crusty little sores on the sides of your mouth that rip wide open when you yawn, laugh or eat. And you can't touch anything without getting zapped. All your metal appliances that served you so well throughout the summer turn and attack. The television, the broiler, the refrigerator, even the cat and your clothes get into the act. And you can forget about touch ing another person unless you're wearing insulated mit tens. Zzzzzaappp! Yep, happens every winter, and every winter we're surprised when it happens. But around January we get smart and begin to watch for it. We devise clever little ways to test a surface to see if it's going to shock us. It's a game with me. . Ever done this? You stop yourself as you routinely reach up to turn off a lamp. You sort of suspect a shock, but you've got to turn it off sometime or face a mammoth electric bill. If you're like me you make a couple of quick lunges at the switch, but never touch it . You do this three or four times until your hand makes brief contact with the switch. No shock. Reassured, you reach up, get shocked anyway and pull the plug out in disgust. No problem. You know what really get's me about cold weather? Chapstick. Each year about the middle of November, when I start getting those disgusting crusty little sores on the sides of my mouth, I look in vain for my Chapstick Somewhere in the house IVe got at least 17 half-used tubes of Chapstick, and I never find them until IVe spent $1.19 for number 18. But the cold weather isn't all bad. Ever lived in an old house with a gas furnace? Restarting your furnace, now there's a thrill. Oh, sure, the gas company will cheerfully come out and start it for you at union wages, but always preferred to do it myself. Call me crazy, there's just something wildly exciting about opening the fur: nace door, striking a fireplace match, turning on the gas and hoping you don't blow yourself into another time zone. But anyone who has lived in an old house with a gas furnace knows the joys of turning on the gas heat for the first time and hearing all those glorious pings and pops, and creaks and clanks, as the system roars to life again after an extended summer nap. And the smell that! comes from the old black floor registers positively sensual. It's a nice time, really. But it's a time that comes only when it gets cold. Damn. EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS EDITOR ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Chris Welseh, 472-1768 Daniel Shsttil Kitty Pclicky Tom Byrnt Kelly Mangan Sieve fclsyer Miehiela thurnan Kevin Warneke Kema Sodarberj Siaele Thomas VickiRuhga Ward W. Triplett iii Christopher Burbach Lsurl Hoppie Julie Jordan Judi Nyjren Lauri Hopple Teri Sperry Biity Shaffer Joel Sartor David Creamer Nick Foley, 476-C27S Angela Nictfeld, 475-4S31 PROFESSIONAL ADVISER Don Walton, 473-7301 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and com ments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-2583 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has accass to the Publications Board. For information, call Nick Foley, 476-0275 or Angela Nietfield, 475-4931. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1S34 DAILY NEBRASKAN COPY DESK SUPERVISOR SPORTS EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR NIGHT NEWS EDITORS WIRE EDITORS ART DIRECTOR PHOTO'CHIEF ASSISTANT PHOTO CHIEF PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSONS Letters Students criticize insensitivity to overweight people Ah, Juliette, Juliette your ignorance touches me so (Page 5,Sept. 25, "Student says obese people can change lifestyle"). I am one of those overweight, gross eye sores, lazy, with no willpower, weak-charactered people with no self-esteem. Lo, had I only realized that among all those other things I should have done, one was to offer you a better picture than that which you see through your rose colored glasses. Ah, Juliette such a wonderful gut you have. That abil ity to place yourself in others' shoes and judge with such ease. But stop, you' forgot to place yourself in mine. May I help you? You see, whatever help I can get being such an inferior I shall gladly plead for. I am 29 years old and 35 pounds overweight. IVe gained it all in the last three years. My wife died of cancer leaving me with a 15-month-old son. IVe claimed bank- A. A P f f f : m ' . . n rupicy on &oo,uuu wortn oi medical Diiis, Deen waivereu of a $13,000 debt on a house that I had sold. I've returned to school while raising my son alone and have become a director of the local chapter of Parents With out Partners. This week I took on the vice presidency of the Industrial Arts Association on campus. All while I keep the dishes washed and the carpet vacuumed. I haven't got the time to worry about my figure right now and I'm tired of little girls who haven't grown up enough to realize that your "Thin is in" is a result of commercial reinforcement to open new markets for self-esteem, try me. If you think me lazy, try to follow and no willpower, get in front of me. i m if you think I have known for moving mountains Darvl Harrison sophomore industrial arts education Extra weight is least of problem, student says Juliette Miles is an example of the insensitivity that Gina Grone wrote about in her Sept. 25 letter. Juliette obviously is insensitive of people who are overweight. Her comments prove to us that she has never had a serious weight problem. If she had, she would realize that obesity does not necessarily stem from laziness or ignorance. Evidently Juliette has never heard of metabolism and set points. She also doesn't know the difference between being overweight and being cbese. Gina's letter was not about obesity, it was about the insensitivity of people to those who are different from themselves. It is a misfor tune of this society that so many thin people are insensi tive and unaccepting of people who arc overweight we who know Gina know that she is not lazy, ignorant or obese. By the way, we wonder how much Juliette weigns- Lynette Welter senior and 10 ether theatre majors j 1