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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1985)
Tuesday, July 23,1985 The Nebraskan Page 4 o mon 1 Quality lost in budget cuts Gov. Bob Kerrey has done a complete turn around in bis attitude toward the Univer sity of Nebraska. Not long ago when the governor was cam paigning for his current position he called the university the state's greatest asset. Recently, Kerrey changed his position calling the univer sity "mediocre." He said if the university failed to eliminate or reduce programs, it would "lead to increased mediocrity..." Kerrey is supporting a plan to phase out the pharmacy school in Omaha and the nursing pro gram on the Lincoln campus. The Board of Regents will conduct a public hearing today on the plfcn and decide the fate of the colleges later. In Friday's Omaha World Herald, Kerrey said the decision is up to the regents but that he believes something must be cut because of de clining enrollments and a need for increased salaries in postsecondary education. He said the state ranks in the upper third in the nation regarding per-capita tax support of the university but 49th-in the amount invested per student. "The status quo, in my opinion, will lead to increased mediocrity-not increased excellence," Kerrey said. The students within the nursing and phar macy programs do not feel their programs are "mediocre" or should be eliminated. Monday, students and faculty from the nursing college marched to Regents Hall to register a protest. Students and faculty in both colleges are writing letters and making contacts to garner support in saving the programs. If these students felt their programs were mediocre, they would not put forth the effort to save them. Also, these same students would not have enrolled at this school if they thought they were going to receive a "mediocre" education. Along the same lines, Sheldon Art Gallery suffered a $141,000 cut from the gallery's base operating budget of $225,000. Is the Sheldon . Gallery one of the mediocre programs that Ker rey suggests we reduce? Sheldon is nationally known for its exhibits and programs and internationally known for its contemporary art collection. On the university level Sheldon and the Bob Devaney Sports Cen ter, two of the university's most successful extracurricular programs, were hardest hit by the proposed budget cuts. The Lied Center, a university facility that has not yet been built, gained $200,000. f ft". ' tsar m v ss xxx fwi v a . l i KM ..kk X " I I NW 1 . '.,1 VI.,., 1 t f$ STRIKE Wm 7H0WWS?S MMWh mmrm sm& to mm u Mm Nature of injustice creates moral distinctions the innocent, honest Man must quietly quit all he has for Peace sake, to him who will lay violent hands upon it, 1 desire it may be consider 'd, what a kind of Peace there will be in the World, which consists only in Violence and Rapine; and which is to be maintained only for the benefit of Robbers and Oppressors. John Locke, Of Civil Government (1689) The university wants to cut back on mediocre programs, yet they are taking sizable chunks out of successful programs and giving money to ones that do not yet exist. Sheldon Gallery director George Neubert is also confused by the budget cuts. "Maybe success is held against us," Neubert said in a Nebraskan article. Cuts need to be made, and somebody is going to lose in the end. But the question is money and not quality. Kerrey is being unfair to faculty, administration and students in calling a nation ally prominent university mediocre. Students are getting a quality education at the University of Nebraska. If not they would not enroll. Tim Rogers . Nebrafelcaii EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS EDITOR WIRE EDITOR COPY DESK CHIEF SPORTS EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR NIGHT NEWS EDITORS PHOTO CHIEF LAYOUT EDITOR PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSON PROFESSIONAL ADVISER Stacta Thomea, 472-1766 DanM Shartll Katharina Pollcky Sandl Stuewa Mary Hupf Brian Hogtund Gana Ganirup Donna Sisson Julia Jordan Hendricks Mlka Rtlllay Bill Allan Jar! Korbalik Donna Slwon Mark Davit Kathlaan Graan Chris Choata Don Walton, 473-7301 The Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) Is published by the UNL Publications Board Tuesdays and Fridays during the summer. The Daily Nebraskan is published Monday through Friday dur ing the spring and fall semesters. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and com ments to the Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. Second class postage paid at Lincoln, NE 68510. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1985 DAILY NEBRASKAN The assertion that any condition worthy of the title "peace" is necessarily founded only upon justice is so often mouthed today that it has almost reached the platitudinous hell of turned phrases. Yet there is still much to be gleaned from the notion that peace is a condi tion founded upon order rather than a state the pursuit of which entails antinomiahism or lawl essness. Sadly it is not yet a lesson that the peace movement has apparently learned. Certainly the peace movement pays an amount of respectful lip service to high sounding notions of "social" or "economic" justice. However, their analysis of sociopolitical events and consequent possibilities for conflict belies their rhetoric. In an article entitled "The Pseudo-Science of 'Peace' "criticizing the enactment and funding of the "United States Institute for Peace," Yale History professor Donald Kagan notes the domi nate metaphor in which the peace movement casts conflicts: "The image we get is of two forces fighting within an individual, beyond his conscious control and apart from his will. Such a person can be pitied but not judged, certainly not blamed. The psychologists and anthropolo gists tend to speak not of motives, which imply conscious volition, but of motivations, which imply, once again, uncontrolled forces that operate independently of their victims. ... "Similarly, political scientists stress errors of perception and automatic responses to crises, instead of deliberate choices arising out of real conflicts made by statesmen in response to typi cally human desires. But their work is no more persuasive in this respect." Because rot this ideological bias, the peace movement argues that the responsibility for the arms race as a whole is essentially equal as between the two superpowers. (This responsibil ity, is on a broad meta-level rather than on the discrete personal level noted above in Kagan's statement.) However, try as they might, the peace movement can do little else than engage in (ultimately intentional) obfuscation respect ing the moral equivalence of the United States and the U.S.S.R. Typically, "peace" advocates trot out X, Yand Z instances of United States injustice and A, B and C instances of Soviet injustice and conclude that, therefore, the United States and the Soviets are morally equivalent. Yet it seems to escape the advocates' notice that when dealing with entire political systems, this form of reasoning is illegitimate. Rather we must view the nature of the injustice in its political-theoretical frame work in order to view its true core of concern. On this level there is no equality of morality between the United States and the Soviet Union. The primary moral distinction between the two superpowers is that injustice in America is contingent, whereas it is systemic in the Soviet Union. Because Marxism is a Utopian and perfec tionistic ideology, the theoretical basis of the Marxist state calls for the "cleansing" of a class war, the continuing bloody liquidation of reli gious, political and economic dissidents; and the hegemonious conversion of unbelieving nations. These are attributes endemic to com munist societies. On the other hand, injustice in America is "only contingent and fiot necessary. ;That is, it is not produced as a logical outgrowth from the framework of the system. That is not to say that lots of injustice does not exist in the United States it obviously does. Rather, the claim is that these instances may be attacked one by one without rejecting the logic of the system; whe reas the end of the practice of the "logic" of Marxism is the only method of ending the ram pant injustice of that system. The accepting of this notion by the peace movement does not entail the sanctioning of annually overbloated defense budgets; but what it does entail is a rejection of the simplistic analytical framework within which the peace movement is currently working, and a return to the traditional just war doctrine. The latter of which is fully capable of expressing the peace movement's concerns and yet avoid the amoral elements currently imputed by their analysis upon international actors and aggression. Letters Solutions aid equal education Jim Rogers' column, "State-run schools under mine freedom," (July 9) was worthwhile reading. It contained some good thoughts. Parents who choose other-than-government-run schools for the education of their children are not disloyal to the State. They're good citi zens, who pay their taxes and support govern ment education. They also struggle and sacrifice in order to overcome the intimidating, addi tional financial burdens which threaten to smother their right to choose the education they deem best for their children. Tuition tax credits andor educational vouchers deserve more serious consideration as policy alternatives for ensuring educational choices. An enlightened, progressive sense of educa tional justice would assist parents by making educational choices more affordable. It would also help to ensure a healthier educational pol icy, involving and respecting the contributions of both government and non government sectors. It would be more significant than flying flags over state capitols. Keep up the good work. James R. Cunningham Lincoln Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be consi dered for publication. Letters should include the author's name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requests to withhold names from publication will not be granted.
