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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1985)
Tuesday, February 12, 1885 Daily Ncbraskan Pago 5 Technology a v amw C J... I n i . . . I E-uwaru fccuens: The other ni?ht I 1 ) heard you intervimd on Nationd Public Radio's "All Thfe rms.w'' 4 sued cf technological breakthroughs for the handicapped.' It tarried out that you have been, paralyzed to the neck dr.vn since you got polio at the age of 14 and now yoa want a device that would l et you write with the aid cf a computer. It W.it. v. :s crz-g to he, E&berts, fcttat yea r .::.:: i this cleviee rlmest ia rc&g it mi raadsalied wheelchairs and tfcat sort 'of thlKt The Nt9sa TCSa'ii'ttt tbact tha krV.'ff Etcnc-y for th39 dKrfeffS.-iril fact atanft th ces theiscfes tad hew. teipsisnt t&qr'are to tha fcaadlcped. Tta- writing device : crcili enrich pur life.' Too" bod you don't hava t-s iscneyfsr.it - I listened, Roberts, and I got mad. Not ct you mind you, but at us. I could not believe you wan so mild mannered. I would have been angry. 1 would have won dered about a ration that could spend (4 billion for MX missiles, $5.2 billion for Bl bombers and ti.7 billion for Trident subma rines and missiles ar.d could not, under any program, come up with t 20,000 to enrich a single life. There's something wrong here, Roberts, something arfJy wrong. . Of CCnreo,. you're not alone, lucre's no : money for a 1st cf worthwhile things. There is ' less money for food stamp, welfare, college aid ar.d even drug mi clcchol 'rehabilitation ccn tem Tnore's no r.er.ry to sva some poor tear's tsm and. netting to train unemployed sterlrcrkcrs. Ksi a cent .fcr.kpl Services, csatimlt vJbziZ tnlthe Job Gap. it tzzz tist the wealth cf t.coastqr is oing: into the nB&syesi the debt pcnt: Since lfe2kthe eilrirJstrstioa hra' pent ever $1 fcH- lien fcr the rerts-n. . ;v ' "'Oh, SobsrtJ, l?s mrcXzi edn in America. Don't you knof it? Csa you a yoarfcesi to see the sun? On the prcsm, yoa isenticnsd what a CziZzi22 the meohjfized rhet!chsir bed made to you: "All oft sudden, I could turn and seewho had come in the door." Until that moment, I lor, tianaiccipDec could not imagine such disability and how some thing as seemingly prosaic as a mechanized wheelchair could make such a difference. Turn around Roberts and see the sun. You know Roberts that if you talk this way people will think you're some -sort of bleeding heart. Compassion is out li!ie csiling women Ms. It's as if compassion was trendy or some thing and now the nation (knock on wood) has found itself and returned to old, basic values. Denmark would give you your writing device. Miyte some other countries would, too. tkt here. We're back to basics here. Want a missile, you co have missile. Want to make a life for yourself; too fcsd. . ' TkZTQ'a eomlMn terribly wreng here, Roberta, Every time I pick up the paper, Vn told that the economy is booming. Ii&atica is down and tha gross national product is up and . the dollar is as h!jh a the proverbisl kite. Cor porations 'are reporting record prc-ts and eve ryone is fcs'ir.g hat used to be cslled a good year. The pxssidcat ssj?s that everything is e-s goo4 3 it could be could not, in fact, be better and yet we have to ti'.ten our belts. Austerity, austerity. There is much we cannot afford. Your writing device, unfortunately, is one cf those things. Tough luck, Roberts. And to tell you the truth, Roberts, I'm doing pretty well myself. My income goes up and my tax rate goes down and I could really afford to piy more taxes, only no one asks for it. I think I'm supposed to save my money .so that ethers can invest it or I'm supposed to spend it to keep the economy cooking. I'm not sure which, so I'm doing both. What a patriot I am me and til the people like me. Thrcu h taxes we could ke ep you In prosthetic devises for the rest of your life no S7. cat. Dut for acme reason, ve won't. Elame It cn the deficit. Roberts, this is some sort cf cruel jske. The t nation in the world cannot aford ths pie and lives, but 523 at the tfecsht cfdeingth.' same with a dollar, ty lowering taxes and gvlag' the rentagon wkt it ants, we've created a ftisa fiscal crisis. There could be money for you, Roberts, but the president his' made sure' that there isn't. ; , . It's a cold morning, this administration has given you, Roberts. You can't even write a letter of protest , . 1 :S, V.'a:.:.T;!lsn Post YMSsra Cre-up " j2a it m romtcai oeiiejs - If one wishes to wield his political power, he should do so through the proper channels that our government provides, and failing in that they should take advantage cf the opportunity cf free speech as I am doing r ow. (Although I wonder how long freedom cf speech will exist in this country, since my friends were not allowed to exercise this right). I hope the attackers' fellow conservatives would be as outraged as I was to learn of these nihilistic tactics. Furthermore I urge anyone, whether conserva tive or liberal, who meets with this kind of abuse ; to st the names or descriptions of their attackers , and report the incident to the police and press. Don't 'be bullied into sulssissloa by ;ihose persons too ignorant to even perceive the principles cur country upholds. Cynthia Murder . . senior theater A'merwan emisumers pay for 'nationalized medicine 1 Merely comparing one flawed system with another is no way to justify the American Medical system. Nobody, least cf all myself, would claim that the British National Health Service is perfect by any nesns, lacking as it so clearly does s'iflcient funding or sensible labor, union practices. Since the sulpct cf the NHS. was mentioned, howwer, 1 fa;M point out that ;this system brevet jroiv the bodyscaaner I j ; ' Gifts for 'i)'nm VeieiiMne -: . . : ' J 1 ' j - rrrY' r ?zzzP ,v i- a ' x o ;j 1 - H . ? . :) . j - ' Jt - - thJ j j : f J () I x ... y ' ca , - - ; 1 I :"- y 1 v . J . I i'l Fins Jewelry -Priced from 30 ! I " . .. - . j I 1 XV .- ' : ' s I i 1 1 r ,,' ;: '11 T . . . .... . 7 a : 3 i t and led the way in the development of pros theses and other bioengineeiing feat3. Sweden is developing the world's first bionic arm that uses nerves to activate arm functions. Clearly, there fore, the technology is not lacking purely due to a different method of financing only money and management skills. ' As far as heart transplants are concerned, to my knowledge few patients have been under 55. We should not get bogged down, however, with detailed specifics of two systems. There are more than two alternative solutions. One question I am often asked is: who will pay for "nationalized medicine?" My answer is a question also: who i3 paying for your system? The answer to both questions is the same: "You are." . In the first case, through taxes, and ia the , second, via insurance companies. The difference r is thai insunsce companies make a prct, while ' the government, supposedly, does not Who ever heard of an insurance company being short cf money? Thus, by tolerating these intermediaries you, as health care consumers are paying not only for your health care, but also for the salesmen, overheads and profits of the insurance companies and the voluminous paperwork that this generates. Notice that all this does not mean that doctors have to stop earning the fabulous salaries that they are so notorious for (viewed through European eyes, where few doctors earn more than 190,000). If nothing else was changed than the method of collecting your money, the effect would save the undisclosed proportion of your money swallowed up by the insurance companies, and secondly make equal health care available to all Richard Andrews-Koryta -graduate student' ;" ' mechanical engineering ) I V A T ? f I t . A -yiium l i-)) H ii' I. "I aWi l imilNMfti iimJi. The bottom lirie when buying contact lenses is more than just the "advertised price.' At Fami!y Contact Lens Center, we believe your vision and the hea!th of your eyes deserve the finest professional care and materials available. : ' . Thsts why we offer, the widest variety of -conventional contact lenses, plus a- unique selection of designs and materisls for people ; with special visuil needs...and at a price you can dford. 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