Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1984)
Peso 4 ivj MH"t'') ' Friday, November CD. im o f ,3 n ! I - , TT1 J I o J r ( i u' TT T:n Americans prioritize what Mr I they want mrrt fer th-lr child- V ren, a good education invariably ranies high on the list. But parents, teachers and govern ment agencies have waged emotional battles for many years to determine just what comprises a "good education. A question to be decided next week by the Lincoln school board will take its place with these historical struggles, Four score end eight years ago, the United States Supreme Court decided a good education meant separate public schools for white and black children. m etarelL -raw sdkl The justices changed the court opinion In If 31, Slr.ce then, segregation has spurred more questions about what makes quality education: Improving predominantly minority schools with federal funds, or bussing inner city minorities to predominantly white schools, for example. Religious instruction posed mere questions. White America was founded on Puritan institutions, and religious education was stressed during the early years. Religious schools of ail denomina tions seemed a natural outgrowth of this tradition. 9 U'.zt rarcnts bet on asking themselves if church-sponsored education rea'ly was "good education" for their children. They wondered about the constitutional guarantees cf separation of church and state. Public schools supported hy tax dol lars seemed to be the answer Free edu cation for aH, without formal religious instruction. And private, church sponsored schools still were available as a traditional" alternative. Three score and eight years ago, par ents and educators puzzled over what constituted religious instruction. Surely religion had played a part in America's history shouldn't that be taught in school? Academic consideration cf religious thought was partially settled in the ' 1C43 United States Supreme Court Case, McCeEura v. Board cf Education. The court decided a good education could include some religious subject matter. But organised rel'gious practice was not permitted in prills sehooh. In the last decade, America has swung into a conservative rrtocd, and many parents have felt -the need to return to traditional gorla and ideals. Cc!ssdj eti Paj;. 14 eDUDiican s likely to veto middle-cla OS mm 1 3 H If fl B & feS JlJlJItliLJIUO TTTT Then some Homer comes to write an epie poem nf about the intellectual odyssey of American con V V servatism, he will want to dwell on an episode in Sydney, Ohio, in autumn, 19S1 There, President Reagan, custodian of conservatism, speaMng from the rear plat form of a train, said: "ity opponent Mr. liondale oSers a future of pessimism, fear and limits-." It is enough to curl your hair: Mondale, that cad, was going around scaring the children with the thought that there are limits. George Will Time was when conservatism's proudest boast was a flinty realism. It looked life in the face without flinching from the facts about the cost of things. No more. Mondale was somewhat shaky on the subject of limits. Promising more "compassion" for the poor, and for lots of other folks, and promising to trim the deficit at the same time, Mondale sounded like the will that Francois Rabelais left when he died in 1533: "I have nothing. I owe much. I leave the rest to the poor." But conservatives are supposed to be different. Reagan's statement in Sydney talked about the Rep ublican future of "hope, confidence and growth." The question today is about the third item: Will economic growth free Americans from "limits?" Do not try to talk limitlessness to the Reagan aides who are aging rapidly as they toil at producing a budget. Their task is to do what Reagan wants done, within the limits (if you will pardon the word) he ha3 decreed. We must back up in order to take a running jump into this subject. In fiscal 1 934, the year of the second Reagan landslide, federal revenues were almost exactly the share of the Gross National Product ( 1 8.7 percent) that they were m 1 , defense and non-Scebl Security spending cuts must total $42 billion in fiscal lCr.3, tZ5 billon in 1037, $110 billion in 1083. This must ccme from a target area of about $300 billion, mere than one- third cf which is Med ieare or Uedicaid. This program cf savbp murt be put in place th's coming summer. 0'5-v1oue$th2 bad mur cornefrom the Republican-controlled Senate. Ilext sr-ir 40 percent of the KepuLean senators ( - J cf the 53) w;J already be preparing fortheir 1933 re-election campsilns, and will mSia&'ii 1064 (18.4 percent), the year of the anti-Goldwater landslide. But federal outlays as a percentage of GNP have risen from 19.2 to 23.5. Reagan says that tax increases will not be part of his deficit-reduction plan. Do you want to know the plan? Are you sitting down? For fiscal 1986, Social Security ($200 billion) and defense ($284 billion) are to make up more than half the budget. Mondale forced Reagan to pledge (actually, to admit) that Social Security is untouchable. And Reagan wants his defense requests saluted, not touched. Inter est payments are not optional, and they are the fastest growing part of the budget They are $154 billion. The Social Security, defense, interest total: $S38 billion. The nice thing about a trillion-dollar budget is that it simplifies some calculations: $633 billion is 63.8 percent of the budget, almost two-thirds. Reagan says the deficit, which Is 5 percent of GOT, must shrink to 4 percent in fiscal 1CC5.3 percent in 1 37 and 2 percent in 1CS3. To get there from here, non ce in no mood to scorch the earth where social pro grams stand. Furthermore, low-income support programs, which received a disproportionate share cf the cuts voted in 1C31, cannot be cut agiin. 2ot to achieve the deSeit-to-GNP relationship Reagsn stipulates, within the limits he has stipulated, will require a frontal attack on the government's discretionary spending, an attack imcora parafcly more radical than anything attempted or even dreamed of in 1631. The list of programs that must be eliminated (in alphabetical order, beginning with all agricultural programs, and Amtrak, and running through flood control, student loans and much else) fills many typewritten pages. Now, remember, the "safety net" cuts are done. Today's long list of programs on the block are middle-class pro grams programs Republicans support So, suppose Reagan sends such a list to Congress for execution. If Tip O'Neill is cunning and bitter and he b both he will urge Democrats to abstain from voting. The result will be that Republicans swat the budget, like a shuttlecock, 16 Mocks back down Pennsylvania Avenue. If the programmatic consequences cf Reagan's goafa and limits are proposed to Congress or (as is more l&ety) leaked, there wHi be a politics! firestorm. The resulting cinders will haw to be silted through a fine sieve to find even a charred remnant of Reagan's influ ence 011 the budget process; " . '-rT rrr- rni't ' mi m mii in- iM.m C 2 A Should flie sale of Playboy, Playgirl snd PenfliOMse be allowed in the B T f 1 f 1 f ""'s-.V. f ' c f i I sV, " ... . - - ; I r I ' v. 1 l'1 tM ftftMMfc Mil 1 ! 1 ' .1 1 iil i'i ii tia Miafci' ' tk iM tf 4m 11M lli 1 n J IMU John QcandaM freshman bines "Why yes, I believe so. It's because they're kind cf informative. They're good magazines, not too porno grspMe or anything. They should be accepted." Aaeriem Olsen jsrdor psychology "Yes. It's personal pr erence. If people want to read it, let tliem re.ad it. I dent thlk tie crion tk Unit tlieir clielees." ciideelared MI tJi eo. I tMnlj it glionld be the people's own chelae as to whether they want to bry it or net." Rev Scholl junior mechanical agxieulture 'Te!l, I'm net rcsliy sure. I know there's a lot of people that oppose it On campss though, I really dont feel it goI3 be eeld." L. ...... .... Eea FppjcM political eclenc. "Yea, they sliesli. First cf all, this canons is very conservative. It (basnlsl the mssssiats) would css?y serve to issle tl:e cssf E.CFO ccsservativ The j'rs net in poor tssts, :d I feel mere a cctaiss V W---a 4w 4v" a-4 Ikd twiv