i
Pago 4
Daily Nebraskan
Thursday, September 27, 1984
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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.
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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
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