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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1985)
Thursday, September 26, 1985 Pago 4 Daily Nebraskan Editorial MetomsksiiMB play I RSgl) INSSSfl v. if y it opposite roles in mist relations' mhe general manager of the Nebraska ETV Network traveled to the Soviet Union Wednesday to helD pro mote good communication between the United States and the Soviet Union. Jack McBride, NETV general manager, is part of a 13-member U.S. delegation of public television representatives meeting for the first time with Soviet broadcasting officials. Besides a possible exchange of programs, the meetings could result in the co-production of some shows that interest both countries, McBride said. Elsewhere in Nebraska, Tecumseh officials announced that their town had won a role in an ABC-TV mini-series about life in the United States after a Soviet takeover. ABC officials won't comment on the storyline of the "Amer ika" mini-series. But a story by the Associated Press earlier this month reported that the program would depict life in a small Nebraska town, as well as the rest of the United States, after a takeover by the Soviet Union. While one Nebraskan is trying to build relations with the Soviets, ABC officials will be using other Nebraskans to stir suspicions about Soviets. arching for peace A 3,200-mile trek to promote nuclear disarmament deserves the support of UNL students and faculty. Lori Graff, regional recruiter for People Reaching Out For Peace, was at UNL Wednesday seeking people with a commit ment to world peace, good health and a desire to march. By joining the 225-day quest, students could dispel the apathetic image they acquired in the '80s. Faculty members can support the march and the students marching. At many U.S. universities professors have offered to give academic credit to marchers who do a project or paper based on their experience. Although most students and faculty probably lack the time and stamina to participate in the nine-month march, they still can support the event financially. Graff estimates that each marcher will need about $3,000 for the trek. To help marchers pay for the trip, students couid organize fund-raisers and collect pledges for each mile marchers will walk. The march can put the issue of nuclear peace in the minds of the public where it belongs. About 75 percent of Americans think a nuclear war will take place in their lifetime, Graff said, and most think they can do nothing about it. The peace march gives students, faculty and others a chance to show their support for nuclear disarmament. M The Daily Nebraskan 34 Nebraska Union 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448 EDITOR NEWS EDITOR CAMPUS EDITOR ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR WIRE EDITOR COPY DESK CHIEFS SPORTS EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR WEATHER EDITOR PHOTO CHIEF ASSISTANT PHOTO CHIEF ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSON PROFESSIONAL ADVISER Vlckl Ruhga, 472-1766 Ad Hudler Suzanne Teten Kathleen Green Jonathan Taylor Mlchlela Thuman Laud Hopple Chris Welsch Bob Asmussen Bill Allen -Barb Branda David Creamer Mark Davis Kurt Eberhardt Phil Tsai Daniel Shattil Katherlne Policky Barb Branda Sandi Stuewe Mary Hupf Brian Koglund Joe Thomsen Don Walton, 473-7301 The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publica tions Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily 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. For information, contact Joe Thomsen. Subscription price is $35 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34, 1 400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE 68510. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1985 DAILY NEBRASKAN HOW THE GRK5 UBBOTWTEP PEACE WITH TROy HOW TH6 RCMAMS WS07WS Rsueious FReePaw HOW CUSTER V607MT INPIAN RIGHTS HOW R6ASANASS0TMTEP Progress made on farm bill Congress has finally made progress toward passing a farm bill, as proposals spearheaded by Iowa Rep. Berkley Bedell and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkirf received committee approval earlier this week. The details of each bill are likely to change, but their general concepts appear to be a wise shift away from past practices of credit expansion and unconditional subsidization. The bills are aimed not at a drastic rise in farm income, but at maintaining current income by raising domestic grain prices while cutting production and, most importantly, production costs. The key to Bedell's plan is a two tiered system of grain prices that would guarantee a higher price for grain used in the United States, while allowing export grain prices to remain low. Both bills call for a farmer referen dum for voluntary participation. While it may not be the income booster that would bail out all farmers deep in debt, the proposed plans take great strides in the areas of production control, soil and water conservation and the reduction of the economies of scale that are driving prospective young farmers out of the industry. The last of these points may be the most critical to the future of the family farm, and best exemplifies the manner in which these proposed measures differ from those used in the past. For many years, the government has tried to place young farmers into large-scale farming with the availability of large, low-interest loans. This certainly is not working, and a new system is needed to reduce fixed costs while making survi val on a small scale possible. The pro posed bills have the look of just such a plan, and certainly warrant consideration. recovery. Joe Schuele Whether either bill would have a chance for executive approval is diffi cult to say. Certainly they do not resemble the "free market approach" that President Reagan has requested, but an extension of the current farm bill is hardly an attractive alternative. Comments from Ag Secretary John. Block and Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole of Kansas predict doom for any such bill reaching the president's desk. But this is typical of both; especially Dole, who has long needed a reminder of the demographics of his constitu ents. Harkins himself has not helped matters much either, as he insists on making a partisan battle of issues far too important for such treatment. Hopefully, progress can continue on adoption of a bill without political imagery and stubbornness blocking the way. It would be a shame to reject what seems to be a long-awaited step in the right direction toward agricultural I found it amusing that after starring recently in the Omaha Community Playhouse's production of "Barnum," Lincoln Sen. David Landis got to par ticipate in another show closely emu lating a circus the special session of the Nebraska Legislature. The session, called by Gov. Bob Kerrey, had one pur pose: To correct the improper wording of the bill appropriating a payoff to Commonwealth depositors. Kerrey and Lincoln Sen. Chris Buetler said before hand that the session would be kept simple in scope and would be, they hoped, uneventful. Fat chance. Whether it was the Legislature meeting at the witching hour in Big Red garb or the introduction of no less than five new bills, it was clear that there would not be a dull moment in this special session. All the new bills were rejected, and business was taken care of with the addition of just one amendment to the bill in question. And, according to Buetler, the amendment doesn't change anything anyway. The business was simple after all. So why was there such a carnival of events leading to the pass ing of a bill that we thought passed? One explanation is that senators can smell headlines, especially near re election time. Schuele is a UNL senior advertising student. Namath speaks trendy 'Yuppabilly' While we were watching the last Bears game, Little George leaned away from the bar and said: "Hey, where's Joe Namath from?" The bartender said: "He's from Pen nsylvania. Town called Beaver Falls." "That's what I thought. Then why does Namath talk that way?" "What way?" "He talks like a Southerner. Or a black guy. Listen." So we listened to.Namath's com mentary. And he was right. It was a "lawn pass," for long pass. It was "laif ' for left, "plez" for plays, "plehr" for player, "bah" for by, "tron" for trying, "lahn-min" for linemen, and "suh prahzed" for surprised. "That's very strange," said little George. "I've been in that part of Pen nsylvania and people don't talk that way. They talk like we do, like Mid westerners." "Well," the bartender said, "he played college ball in Alabama. Maybe he picked it up there." "That was 20 years ago. And he spent a lot more time than that in New York but he doesn't talk like a New Yorker." "Then why does he talk like a Southerner?" -1 interrupted to explain this pheno menon. What they were hearing is a dialect that has crept into American speech. I call it Yuppabilly, because it is often spoken by white Northern Yuppies who, for whatever reason, want to sound like Southerners or blacks. I first noticed the Yuppabilly dialect when I heard a former Yuppie co worker of mine speaking it. If you didn't know him, you would have thought he was from Arkansas or some such rustic place. ' i Is., I I i- f It I Mike Royko In fact, he was from a wealths England suburb and had attended Ivy League schools. But he developed his Yuppabilly dia lect because he was single and dis covered that he could impress more females m singles bars if he spoke with a drawl. It provided him with a more rakish, macho, good old boy personality than did his Yale background. Actually, Yuppabilly has some of its roots in the folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, when white suburban youths began plunking gui k fn,?ALbaoes and singing songs about Ah bin swingin' a six-poun' ftammer frum mah hips on down " Bob Dylan, the son of a Jewish hardware store owner in Minnesota, became a star when he learned to sing and talk like a 1930s dust bowl Okie. That spilled over into rock music. One reason nobody can understand rock lyrics, besides the deafening decibels, is that everybody is singing in some sort of Southern or black drawl. You even hear English rockers howling, "C'mawnn all you peepuhhlll, let's git togayder." The urban cowboy fad helped the spread of Yuppabilly, with MBAs wear ing $150 boots going into big-city bars and saying: "Mah pu-laise or yores." The CB craze contributed, too. Everybody who talked into a CB tried to sound like a corn-pone trucker. To confirm my theory on Namath, I called a few people in his hometown and asked about how they talked and how he used to talk. (I interrupt to point out that his name isn't really Joe Willie. It is Joseph William. Few parents of Hungarian ancestry give their kids name3 like Joe Willie. Or Bubba. Or Billy Bob.) An editor at the Beaver Falls news paper said: "No, we don't talk that way. We sound like other Midwesterners. And a writer who knew Namath when he was a kid said: "He used to talk like Please see ROYKO on 5