Daily Nebraskan
Monday, April 14, 1986
Page 4
Editorial
Neraa&kan
Univtrsity of Nebraska-Lincoln
Bydoe! wetoes
Education threatened
Minutes before announcing
his line-item vetoes last
week, Gov. Bob Kerrey
spoke to a group of school child
ren touring the capitol.
It's ironic that Kerrey would
take time to talk to the children
just before proposing a $3 mil
lion NU budget cut, which would
jeopardize quality education in
the state.
Kerrey's increasingly inconsis
tent behavior should concern all
Nebraskans.
For example, Kerrey made his
vetoes on the basis of a revenue
forecast he says he doesn't be
lieve in. Kerrey based his vetoes on
a $13 million shortfall, which
most legislators expect. Kerrey,
however, says he expects a $25
million shortfall.
Apparently, Kerrey does not
care about the difference. He
told Nebraskans that if the Legis
lature wants to go over the edge,
he is willing to go with them.
Kerrey's attitude is not what
one should expect from a state
leader, regardless of the number
of days he will remain in office.
Waverly Sen. Jerome Warner
today will recommend that legis
lators override Kerrey's univer
sity vetoes. If Warner and his
supporters can muster the neces
sary 30 votes, programs such as
Morrill Hall, the Bureau of Busi
Dereouiatioo
Phone plan needs careful study
Sen. John DeCamp of Neligh
has proposed deregulation
of Nebraska's telephone in
dustry. The bill passed its first
vote 31-14 five more votes
than necessary tor passage.
Although the bill basically
seeks only to extend the nation
wide deregulation revolution in
telecommunications to Nebra
ska, the step should be taken
with caution. This proposal hasn't
received the attention it de
serves. No one doubts that a tele
communications problem exists
under current Nebraska law. As
a result of vastly increased com
petitiveness of the long-distance
telephone business, local ex
changes no longer are able to
subsidize local telephone ser
vice through higher-than-cost
long distance phone rates as
they have done in the past. Rates
have not been allowed to increase
with the requisite speed required
by local exchanges to recoup the
losses they are experiencing.
The Legislature needs to think
long and hard about any pro
posal it seeks to place into law
and a radical measure such as
DeCamp's requires double the
concern.
First, telephones are a neces
sity in the modern world. Conse
quently, universal access to
phones has been the established
policy of Public Service Com
missions in phone regulation.
The economic and social impact
of rapidly rising phone rates
must be carefully considered by
Vicki Ruhga, Editor, 472,1766
Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor
Ad Hudler, Editorial Page Editor
James Rogers, Editorial Associate
Chris Welsch, Copy Desk Chic
ness Research, some Nebraska
ETV Network programming and
the NU School of Technical Agri
culture at Curtis could be saved.
Kerrey claims the university
could survive more budget cuts.
But the issue is not survival.
NU President Ronald Roskens
reminds Nebraskans that "dam
age done to the university will
not be quickly or easily repaired.
. . Denying adequate resources to
the university at this juncture
may seem an attractive, short
term option. But it is one that
will inevitably jeopardize the
quality and scope of education
available to our children and
grandchildren."
Kerrey is wrong. His $32.6 mil
lion in line-item vetoes are not in
the best interest of the state.
The vetoes would save money
this year, but imagine how much
it would cost Nebraskans to re
build the education system Ker
rey's cuts would destroy.
Nebraskans and the legisla
tors should ignore Kerrey's ram
blings and save state programs
and education by raising sales
and income taxes.
If the state follows Kerrey's
budget-slashing plan, it would
forfeit all chances to attract new
businesses and keep promising
young scholars in Nebraska.
the Legislature.
Social alienation especially
afflicts those who would be most
affected
elderly and the handicapped,
who live on fixed incomes. Also,
because of obvious mobility prob
lems among this group of people,
the phone is a needed link to
emergency services.
Secondly, phone deregulation
at the national level was accom
panied by a significant increase
in vigorous long-distance com
petition. The market acts as the
regulator of long distance rates
and quality.
The extension of deregulat ion
to the local level cannot be
accompanied by such an increase
in competitiveness. Because of
extremely high fixed costs and
other structural problems, com
petition at the level of the local
exchange has proven itself his
torically unworkable.
If deregulation is allowed to
occur in this atmosphere the
already-present local monopolies
will not break down (or be broken
down) as they have at the nat
ional, long-distance level. Con
sequently, these monopolies will
not be exposed to the regulation
of the market, and will be able to
act without PSC oversight: lower
quality and quantity at higher
prices.
These problems must be ad
dressed by the Legislature before
it takes action. The Legislature
still could opt for deregulation,
but at least the risks will have
been taken into consideration.
r--4l fTlMy? tier-
Colored shorts
It appears that men are taking a new
interest in appearance.
The trend was in evidence in
fashion magazines, hair salons and
skin-care centers all over the country,
but now it's official. Newsweek's cover
story last week was, you guessed it, the
fop fad.
In growing numbers, men are getting
their hair permed, their pores per
meated and their ears pierced, News
week reports. The magazine explains
that because men no longer are the
sole holders of power, they are finding
better grooming and dressing is neces
sary to compete. When men alone were
the bosses, women had to compete for
their attention with appearance. Men
could get by with limited wardrobes
and Dial soap because they were cal
ling the shots.
This dress-up business is a boon to
the fashion industry and a bane to
slobs like me. who still like tennis
shorts and jeans (although I admit to
owning three ties, all costing more
than $(i).
It would seem more reasonable if, as
they ascend in power, women stop
dressing up so much. That way we
could all be more comfortable and less
concerned about appearance (and
power plays).
I see nothing good coming out of the
new trend. Fashion costs a lot of money
that would be better spent elsewhere,
it detracts from important issues and
takes too much time.
Luckily for all of us, the trend hasn't
hit Nebraska in full force yet.
Here on campus, men's fashion still
consists of tacky Hawaiian shorts and
Oil price drop hurts real people,
a fact U.S., Texas officials ignore
At last, the truly needy have sur
faced. They are not the hungry,
about whom the evidence is only
anecdotal (say, have you heard the
anecdote about the starving kid?) or
the sick, or those chislers still on wel
fare. It is the domestic oil industry that
is hurting plenty and, in the name of
national security, it is singing a version
of the old Sophie Tucker torch song:
One of these days, you're gonna miss
me, baby.
George Bush has cited national secur
ity. So has Texas Gov. Mark White.
Neither man would dare plea for an
industry that was thrilled to match the
OPEC nations dollar for dollar as
long as the price was rising. When oil
was at $35 a barrel overseas, it was $35
a barrel here. Now oil is selling for as
low as $10 and the domestic oil indus
try is loathe to go along. It cites
national security. Save the oil industry
in styleforspilling blood in Libya
sun glasses on strings. For some rea
son, men's fashion on campus has
always run in favor of other geographic
areas. Remember mountain boots? Flip
flops? No doubt, when the fop fad does hit
home, men will strut around dressed
like Parisians and New Yorkers, look
ing just as out of place as ever.
On a lighter note, the United States
appears ready to enter war with Libya. I
don't expect many response to my
Chris
Welsch
curiosity, but I wonder how many regis
tered UNL students are willing to spill
their blood on the beaches of Libya's
gulf coast (where brightly colored cot
ton shorts would be apropos). Please
take a minute and respond. Drop a note
in the campus mail to the Daily Ne
braskan, or write to Chris Welsch, Daily
Nebraskan, Km. 34 Nebraska Union,
1400 K St., Lincoln, XE 68588-0448.
Explain why you would or wouldn't
want to die in a war with Libya in 5
words or less. If I get two or more
responses, I'll run the best ones in a
special column.
President Reagan's military man
uevers in the Gulf of Sidra in March
have locked us into a reactive situation
with Khadafy. Our intrusion, be it
internationally legal or not, was a chal
lenge Khadafy had to meet lest he lose
face in the Arab world. He met it, gain
for when you really need it.
In Washington, whenever anyone
cites national security, it is time to
reach for your wallet. National security
is at stake when some congressman
cries about the closing of a military
base in his district or the loss of a
Richard
Cohen
contract to a firm that what a coin
cidence happens also to be in his
district. The same coincidence com
pels the two Texans, White and Bush,
to take the long view when it comes to
oil. Better pay a little bit now to ensure
that you have oil when you need it,
national security says so.
ID'
VH H y "JT IT'S
M
ing face, and innocent American civili
ans are paying the price in terror.
Now Reagan is preparing to react
militarily to the recent terrorist slay
ings of Americans, which will, of course,
only exacerbate the terrorist attacks.
We have set ourselves up as a straw
man for the Arab world. As a blind
supporter of Israel, we are viewed as
evil embodied. And our attacks on
Libya seem to give that view credence
to other Arab nations.
The Arab view of the United States is
no more simple-minded than our view
of the Arab world, which is hopelessly
tilted toward Israel.
I'm not saying we should show com
passion to Khadafy. He is, undoubtedly,
a dangerously unstable man. But our
attacks on his puny count ry makes him
a hero an image he needs to survive.
Reagan should let things cool down
a little. Then he must take steps
toward recognizing the Palestinian prob
lem as the source of unrest in the Mid
dle East. Reagan must deal with repre
sentatives of the Palestinian people
and must not side blindly with Israel in
every dispute.
Palestinians are not becoming rec
onciled to their homeless condition. To
the contrary, many of the people are
becoming more radical. Until they have
a home, or are wiped out, the extrem
ists among them will continue resort
ing to desperate means to their end.
If a home could be found for the
Jews, then one can, and must, be found
for the Palestinians.
Welsch is a senior English and journal
ism major and a Daily Nebraskan copy
desk chief.
In truth, there is something to what
they say. But just as surely as oil is
down, it will someday go up, This has
been the historic pattern of this com
modity ever since we discovered it in
Titusville, Penn. A year after the first
well was brought in, the barrel price
was $20; a year later it was 10 cents.
Western Pennsylvania produced a pat
tern and an expression to describe it:
The bottom fell out of the market. It
took only a short time for the oil indus
try to learn that the only way to make
money was to control production. John
D. Rockefeller pioneered in the manip
ulation of the market. The Texas Rail
road Commission, the Seven Sisters
and OPEC merely followed. It is only a
matter of time until production will
again be restricted.
In the meantime, the real loser is not
national security or some entity called
See COHEN on 5