Tuesday, October 30, 1984
Pago 4
Dally Nebraskan
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tate needlo safer fforeelesinia'e eilteen
eint
(A merican farmers are in the pro
YA cess of trying to rewrite their his
Jla tory in the same way that blacks
and Indians are rewriting their history.
...We must begin to build a kind of unity
where we can make our voices heard,
where we can drive people out of office
who refuse to hear us. " Merle Hansen
of Newman Grove on why he was protest
ing last week in Kansas City.
Hansen and about 100 other farmers
who traveled to Kansas City in search ol
media attention during the presidential
debates didn't get much. But a3 the farm
economy continues to deteriorate, and as
more small farms go under, they will be
joined by other protestors. Some won't be
so peaceful.
Arthur Kirk wasn't.
Kirk was shot and killed last Tuesday
on his farm near Grand Island as he ran
to a sandbagged windmill. A Nebraska
State Patrol special weapons and tactical
team shot him when he would not halt,
officials said. Earlier in the day, deputies
came to his farm to serve him legal pap
ers to recover his farm assets and $ 1 00,000
to repay a Grand Island bank. He pulled
guns on them, and they left.
A few hours later, he told the Grand
Island Daily Independent that he would
fight to keep his farm. In a copyrighted
story Wednesday, he said, "I'm not afraid
of them. I'd rather fight them in court, but
111 do it this way. ... I don't belong in a
dirty damn jail." A few hours later he was
dead.
Kirk was prepared to fight. He was
armed with an AIM 5 rifle, he was wear
ing a gas mask, a steel helmet and his face
was camouflaged for night fighting, offi
cials said. He was armed and dangerous.
However, the handling of the incident
raises several questions. The deputies
knew Kirk had pulled a gun earlier and
that he had said he would fight to keep
his farm. A SWAT team may not have
been the best way to serve the papers or
to arrest Kirk. If left alone for several
days, perhaps his death could have been
avoided. We urge an investigation of the
handling of the case to ensure it was
proper and that It was necessary to shoot
Kirk.
Not all small farmers will take foreclo
sure peacefully, obviously. Nebraska law
enforcement officials may face the same
situation again soon. A safer way to carry
out such unpleasant tasks is needed.
Minnesota Senate race
echoes presidentialfight
The outline of the story is
more than vaguely familiar.
On one side there is a folksy
Republican incumbent wrapped in
a protective coating of money,
incumbency and a nice-guy image.
On the other side is a Democratic
challenger who's trying to find an
issue sharp enough to poke
through. Even the dialogue of the
challenger has a certain echo: "If
the contest is decided on person
ality, he will win. If it's decided on
issues, I will win."
But this isn't Reagan versus
Mondale. It's the Senate race be
tween Rudy Boschwitz and Joan
Growe.
Ellen
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UUUllKcllft
The parallels between the pre
sidential campaign and the Sen
ate campaign have not been lost
on the people in Fritz Mondale's
home state. Republican Sen. Rudy
Boschwitz is something of an
anomaly in politically moderate,
issue-oriented Minnesota. The
conservative senator, a million
aire businessman with a pen
chant for plaid shirts and root-beer-flavored
milk, came into the
public eye originally on television
ads for his plywood company and
zany billboards. Among the more
memorable billboard messages
was one suggesting: "Unite St.
Paul and Minneapolis, Drain the
Mississippi"
He won his seat in 1978
essentially because Minnesotans
were mad at the way former Gov.
Wendell Anderson had gotten
himself appointed to Mondale's
Senate seat. But the Democratic
Farmer-Labor candidate is also
something of an anomaly.
Joan Growe is the only woman
running for the Senate in Minne
sota since the 1 920s. The 49-year-old
former teacher and secretary
of state for the past 10 years,
decided in 1983 that Boschwitz
was "Vulnerable." Not because of
his plaid shirts; because of his
record.
He had become, as Ted Kennedy
called him, "Rubber Stamp Rue!"
for Reagan.
"Vulnerable" is, however, a rel
ative term in politics. In this
heralded "year of the woman,"
there have been 10 females run
ning for the Senate six Demo
crats and four Republicans. But
there's only one female incum
bent this year, Nancy Kassebaum,
and only one female front-runner,
Nancy Kassebaum. Most of the
others are running in what are
described in classic understate
ments as "tough races." As one
woman at Democratic headquar
ters in Washington says ruefully,
"Let's face it, in most cases if it's a
real good shot, then the people at
the head of the line to run are
men."
The race here was regarded as
at least remotely winnable and
Growe only got to the head of the
line after winning the party's
nomination in a grueling conven
tion, and then winning the prim
ary with 76 percent of the vote.
In August, Growe was trailing
the genial Boschwitz in the polls
by 21 points. But last week, the
Minnesota Poll put her within
striking distance. She was only 7
points behind the senator among
people who were most likely to
vote. A high 16 percent of voters
were still undecided.
This is not bad for a candi
date who didn't get a single ad on
television until after Labor Day
and who has been outspent by
more than $4 million.
Polls also show that Minnesota
voters agree with Growe on some
important issues she is pro
freeze and pro-ERA, he is against
but they "like" Rudy. This is the
same conundrum which frus
trates other progressive Demo
cratic women facing more con-,
servative Republican incumbents.
Growe, a hard-working, intelli
gent, but not charismatic cam
paigner, decided that she couldn't
out-nice-guy Boschwitz. Instead,
she has gone after him for refus
ing to take a no-cut pledge on
Social Security, for supporting a
controversial product-liability bill
and for not releasing his tax
returns.
The tax question has been
more popular with the people
than the press. Boschwitz did
release tax "summaries" last
August which showed that he
had paid only 15 percent in 1982,
the year of the first Reagan tax
cut and the year of his own busi
ness reversals. He refuses to re
lease any more data claiming
"privacy."
But this time Boschwitz has
needed more than his plaid shirt
to maintain credibility. He has
put his accountant into one TV
commercial (this is the year of
the accountant) and his col
league, Sen. David Durenberger
(R-Minn.), in another. Duren
berger pronounced dourly in a
full-page newspaper ad: "Mrs.
Growe, you've gone too far." On
TV, he accused her of vicious per
sonal attacks on Boschwitz who
is "far too good a person" to have
to take such nastiness.
Growe responds to this with an
amused nod, "People used to say I
wasn't tough enough," she re
members. "Now when I get tough,
they say I'm being mean." At least
they havent accused her of being
bitchy.
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Local races dmw fee
'Political twins' run for Board of Education
There are a couple of races
of local concern which de
serve some comment in
these, the waning days of the
1984 campaign year. One is the
legislative race for the 29th Dis
trict, my district, between one of
the most liberal Republicans in
the state, Shirley Marsh, and con
servative Eugene Dankert. The
other is the race for State Board
of Education for District One
Lincoln's district between
Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum,
also known as Max Larsen and
Pat Nolte.
Jim
i ( Rogers
In the 29th District race be
tween Dankert and Marsh, it is
obvious that Dankert is the supe
rior candidate. This is true for
several reasons. First, it is not
obvious that Marsh is excited
about being a state senator, espe
cially after she made that aborted
attempt to become state treas
urer in the 1982 election.
Now I don't mind a politi
cian running for offices which
would increase his or her ability
to serve the public while serving
in another political office. But the
shift from state senator to treas
urer simply is not one of those
moves. Rather it smacks of simply
a desire on Marsh's part to find a
full-time, better paying job.
If her reasons for running for
treasurer in 1932 were not so
obviously selfish I could easily
forgive her. But as is, I refuse to
vote for a person who is keeping
her eyes peeled for political or
personal advancement when she
should be attending to the busi
ness for which she was elected.
Additionally Marsh .has only a
mediocre record as a senator.
Even granting that she has got
ten several pieces of legislation
passed (albeit over a period of
many years), Marsh is simply too
much of a caretaker legislator.
She has no vision for the future.
In a word, she is unimaginative.
The times we live in require much
more of a legislator than Shirley
Marsh, and this we have in Gene
Dankert.
Turning to another race, the
two people running for the Lin
coln area seat on the State Board
of Education should win the 1984
"Identical Political Twin 3" award.
I've read just about every story
written about this campaign and
so far I have been unable to dis
cern any issue upon which Larsen
and Nolte disagree.
For one day it looked as
though Larsen supported waving
teacher certification for science
and math teachers in order to
ease the shortage of teachers in
this area while Nolte did not. But
the next day the Lincoln Journal
reported that it had erred in
reporting Lar sen's position and
that in fact his position was just
the same as Nolte's on the issue.
Well, if I dont write in the name
of somebody who I think could do
a better job than either of the two
like Bozo the Clown 111
probably end up voting for Nolte.
The reason is that Larsen glories
in his shame as evidenced by the
two ads which he has been run
ning in the Daily Nebraskan with
nauseating regularity.
The gist ofthe ads (actually the
jest of the ads) is the fact that
Larsen supports teacher certifi
cation and higher salaries for
teachers. The ads are really perverse.
First, respecting the teacher
salaries promise, I called the office
of the State Board of Education
and asked whether or not the
board had any direct influence on
teacher salaries; the answer was
no. Max Larsenls ads are thus
misrepresenting the truth by in
timating that he can really do
something about the salary issue.
In effect he is trying to fool people
into voting for him. Sure, he can
lobby the legislature, but if he
thinks he can swing any vote that
the NSEA hasnt already paid for
simply because he is a board
member, he should reflect upon
the proposition again, and per
haps mercifully drop out of the
race.
Additionally I'm not sure why
Larsen is even bringing up the
issue of teacher certificaiton ex
cept fcr the fact that he is pro
claiming his intention. to circum
vent the express intent of the
Nebraska Legislature in passing
LB 994.
The Unicameral has dealt
with the issue of Christian schools
and teacher certification, the
State Board of Education is re
quired to follow the law. It is
reprehensible that Larsen evi
dently proclaims his desire to
abuse his potential office and
bring the law to naught. For
shame Max Larsen.
Nebraska needs brave and
imaginative board members who
will advocate meaningful change
in education policy; changes such
as implementing a system of
vouchers to allow family choice
in schooling decisions. This year
all we get to chose between are
two people who desire no more
than to be ofScial mouth pieces
for Nebraska's teachers' union
we deserve better.