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Friday, March 15, 1985
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Daily Nebraskan
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rrri he death cf Kcneiar.lin Chcrrcr-lco ju..1 the quids rise to
I power cf Mikhail Gorbachev has ted the Reao administra
tlca to bepo for better relations between the Soviet Union
and the United States. But it Is net likely.
This hope ster.s frc:a the fact that Gorbachev is the your.,: est
Soviet President to assume pcrei sir.ee Stalin. Gorbachev b the
fourth general secretary sir.ee Brezhnev's death to 1CC2, and at age
54, he ha3 the ability and the time to consolidate his power in the
Ccnnunist Party that his predecessors did not. At last, the
Soviet Union has a leader who could be running the country well
1 -. into the 21st century.
Eat before the Eoagan administration can proceed, several
problems must be examined. All that can really be said about
Gorbachev is that he represents a new feneration cf Soviet leader
ship, but the party around him still belong to the eld-timers club.
Kremlin policy is still decided by a collective leadership called
the Politburo, and most cf those leaders were born before the 1817
Bolshevik Revolution. They will not easily change their views or
policies.
The Politburo will still be the main force cf the Soviet Commu
nist Party. An example cf the collective leadership is Andrei
Grcmyko, 75, the lon-surviving foreign minister. Gromyko has
lasted through several recent changes at the top and continues to
call the shots on foreign policy. The fact that the Soviets did not
postpone the arms talk at Geneva this week, when Chernenkc
died, also confirms this.
In his acceptance speech Monday, Gorbachev stated that the
policies forged under Chcrnenko's predecessors, Brezhnev and
Andropov, would remain unchanged. Gorbachev is a staunch
supporter of Andropov's economic policies, which include a
crackdown on government corruption and inefTeciency. He also
opposes Reagan's Star Wars defense plans, and if he follows the
Politburo's views, little headway can be made in the arms talks for
years to come.
Gorbachev does not represent any radical departure from the
"norm" of Soviet leadership. He is an "ethnic Russian" and has
been trained through the traditional Communist Party structure.
But even with Gorbachev's background, he could prove to be a
more skillful and a much more dangerous Soviet leader. With the
shifting of old guard, more men of Gorbachev's caliber will rise to
power, and the new leaders might be more willing to take risks in
foreign policy. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said, "I
think the existing line will be put forth in a much more skillful
fashion. They will now have a leader who can present himself in
public."
With the passing of Chernenko, the Reagan administration will
now have to deal with a leader who will back his party's policies,
yet Gorbachev will also have the time to consolidate his own
positions and priorities. If capable, Gorbachev could prove much
more difficult to deal with than any of the Soviet leaders before
him.
1 LLiid.tiCd.I I
EDITOR
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PUBLICATIONS BOARD
CHAIRPERSON
PROFESSIONAL ADVISER
Chris WeSsch, 472-1 7S3
Danfl Sns&l
Ksthtrtna PoE'cky
Tom Cyrns
Ks'Ey RSamgsn
S5sv fcyer
Hcfeis Thumcn
leuri Kpp!a
Juel Nyjren
Vlcki Ruftga
ChrixJejrhsr Burbaeh
Ward W.TripUtt III
Stasia Thomas
Jj"a Jordan Hsndrislcs
Ad HudSsr
Csh Y. Huey
stsv n::i
Tcny Schsppaugh
Jcsi Sariara
Mafia Davis
Chfa Cheat 4T2-S723
Don W'C&n, 473-7231
The Daily Nsbraskan USPS H4-CSO) is published by tha
UNL Publications Ooard Monday through Friday in tha fall
End spring semsstars and Tuesdays snd Fridays in tha
summer sessions, except during vacations.
Readers ars encoursgad to submit story ideas and com
rrtsnts to tha Dally Nebraskan by phoning 472-1 763 between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tha public also has
access to tha Publications Board. For information, call Chris
Cheats 472-8783.
Postmaster. Send address changss to tha Daily Nsbr&skan,
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ALL mATLKiAL COTi
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f .aJ
Anti-discrimination laws often defeat purpose
craalitv is an elusive thins. Women
A , vant it. Blacks want it. American
Indians want it. All people who feel
that they are being discriminated against
for something they have no control ever
look to equality as their universal saviour.
Is this really v:isj
dice gets in the way and clouds their
judgment: and "prejudice," as we all
know, is the direct result cf ignorance.
Eliminate ignorance and prejudice is on
the way to extinction. Unfortunately,
ar.se isn't even on the endangered
Kloempkefi
When people demand equality, the first
place they start is usually the law. They
believe that law should treat everyone the
same regardless of things like race, color
and sex. Those laws which are most impor
tant, the ones that ensure the peace and
ongoing stability cf cur nation, are the very
laws which they believe should not reflect
the opinions f the tiny minority that
enforces them or the even tinier minority
that creates them.
But they forget that codified law origi
nates in men's minds and its enforcement
is nothing more than an expression of
men's heats. When people seek to right a
wrong through the use of a law, what peo
ple really want to do is to change other
people's hearts and minds to believe the
way they do. Law is something that comes
from belief. It doesn't form it.
Basically, ill people want to be treated
fairly and equitably. But for some, preju-
species list and never will be. Conse
quently, we have laws born in ignorance
and enforced in ignorance. And when this
happens people have every right to jump
up and scream for equality.
On the other hand, the laws seem to be
multiplying at an alarming rate. They have
gone from being laws which ensure eve
ryone the right to vote, to laws which tell
an employer whom he can or cannot hire.
We have the threatened removal of abor
tion on the grounds that the fetus deserves
equality too. And we have the idiotic tules
that determine how we can word our ads
for a roommate in this very paper. These
laws and regulations, and many like them,
are a result of our self-righteous govern
ment's attempt to show to the world what
a great place America is.
The sad part is that those people who
fought, and are still fighting, against blat
ant discrimination, don't even seem to
recognize that they have only traded one
kind cf discrimination for another. The
alSrmative action laws, for example,
require a certain percentage ofemrjlovees
to be of a certain race or sex. For yean
i be
rqi
They want to be treated like everyone else,
to have the source of the prejudice, color
or sex, be totally ignored. This isn't what
they have today. Instead, they're being
head-counted lik3 sheep to maintain that
"proper" iinsgs.
Another ess involves foster children in
Los Asgeles. Ths city instituted a policy to
preserve the cultara! heritage cf its minor
ity foster children, mainly Hispanic. They
did this by deitjlag the petitions for adop
tion of Hispanic children by anyone other
than Hispanic foster parents. When a His
panic child found a white or even black
family that wanted to adopt him, he was
immediately removed and put in another
home. So in the name of equality (eve
ryone has a right to his heritage), a lot of
kids may have had the rest of their lives
screwed up.
The problem with these kinds of laws,
regulations, and policies, is that they
often come to us as a wolf in sheep's
clothing. After so many years of fighting
discrimination we have become ready to
accept anything ringing of equality with
out first giving it a close examination.
When we enact legislation that provides
equality for someone, we are limiting
someone else's freedom of choice. This is
necessary to ensure a peaceful and free
society, but only to a point When we begin
to take the blindfold off the statue that
holds the scales, then someone's going to
;et hurt.
niiiionaes nave iougnt lor tne ability tc
jo wic uaia ui imn quaimcasiOns. t
liionai
Unsigned edited;
sent cQcial policy of the spring 185
uaiiy Ncorasxan. roiicy is set cy me Daily Nebraskaa Editorial
bosro. its Etera&ers are Chris Weisch, editor in chief; Chris Barb
ach, editorial page editor; HicMeia Thuman, news editor; Vlcki
Euhga, copy desk chief and editorial writer; and Kelly Mangsn
assistant adrertisiM msES?. "
Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views cf the university
its employees tha students or the KU Board cf Regents. '
Tlie Daily Nebraska's publishers axe the regents who
established the UNL Publications Beard,
According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the
editorial content cf the newspaper lies solely la the hands cf its
studsnt editors.
Letter
FOllCV
Th Daily Nebrs&aa welcomes brief lsttsrs to lbs editor from
til reader and interested ethos.
snskaa
crinslity, tiaelLnoss and skca txktHs. Tha Daily Neb
retains the rlst to edit all msifi KvtittA
Readers also are welcome to ssb?It nstsrid m pest opinions.
Whether material ahsoli run as a kits? cr guist cpiidon, or not
run, is m to the editor's discretion.
Letters and guest opinions sent to ths r.crn;?tr become
property cf the Daily Ketaksa srJ csrr.et t a r;tu:r.? s
Anonyaeus sobmisslora will not bs ccnelted fjrpublication.
Letters should include the author's 1:213, year b schccl, msjor
f-nd group affiliation, if arj.