The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 17, 1986, Page Page 4, Image 4
Thursday, April 17, 1986 Page 4 Daily Nebraskan TC J5a Vicki Ruhga, Editor, 472,1766 Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor Ad Hudler, Editorial Page Editor James Rogers, Editorial Associate Chris Welsch, ZA C7mV NebraMcan University ol Nebraska-Lincoln "i Mi () AJima Deirense c3 Inefficiency We've all heard the bad news about defense spend ing: ridiculously overpriced coffee pots, toilet seats and com mon tools. We've also seen the indict ment of a number of defense industry executives. But the bad news may have been overempha sized in the press. A recent "blue-ribbon panel of experts" known as the Packard commission has concluded that most cost overruns are not a result of intentional fraud or dishonesty. The panel, appointed by President Reagan, concluded that most of the cost overruns result from simple inefficiency. That's the good and bad news. The good news is that the problem of defense procurement policies might not be as difficult to remedy as was previously thought. After all, if the overruns come simply from inattention to detail, they will be much easier to take care of than if they pro ceeded from people intention ally mucking up the system. The bad news is that billions upon billions of dollars still are wasted on inefficient procure ment policies. The study concluded that Critical thought Necessary to a civilized society The Rulo murder trials have ended with both defendants being found guilty. Michael Ryan was found guilty of first degree murder; his son, Dennis, was found guilty of second degree murder. Both await sen tencing. The sentencing will end one of the most bizarre chapters in Nebraska history.-It was more than bizarre; it was perverse. Extreme brutalization was practiced on the Rulo farm. It's impossible to understand how the events could progress as they did. Jonestown-type occurrences understandably can occur in strange and far away places like Guyana or California, but they are not supposed to happen in Nebraska. Who really knows why it occurred. We can only identify several themes in the twisted theory of conplWIieit fcqny spirators" are ufectrie under every bush, information critical of the group's beliefs immediately are discredited. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials represent official policy of the spring 1986 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its members are Vicki Ruhga, editor, Ad Hudler, editorial page editor; Thorn Gabrukiewicz, managing edi tor; James Rogers, editorial associate and Chris Welsch, copy desk chief. Editorials do not necessarily re flect the views of the university, its Bars wmmmmm spurs waste Pentagon standards were too specific amd that commercially produced products were often sufficient quality for military use. One example cited in a Chris tian Science monitor study was the military purchase of micro chips. According to the article, the Pentagon requires cost increasing testing and reliability indications far in excess of civ ilian requirements. While this was necessary in past years, the Packard report concludes that this strict testing is no longer necessary. Instead, today, it only serves to inflate the cost of the chips. The Monitor identified other problems with the current pro curement process. These includ ed ordering spare parts after the production facilities were obso lete, ordering too little quantity for cost-effective buying, poor accounting procedures and "the simple exercise of poor judg ment by acquisition personnel." All of these problems can be taken care of through procure ment policy revisions. Given cur rent budget pressures, the Pack ard commission's recommenda tions need to be implemented immediately. Thus the basis of rational argu ment is destroyed. If people disagree with the view that a conspiracy exists, they can be written off either as those who has been duped by the conspiracy, or as agents of the conspiracy. Both reactions des troy the ability to deal adequately with critical information. On top of this, when the only "approved" information comes from the mouth of a fallible human, trouble is the only result. Independent, critical thinking did not occur on the Rulo farm. Ostensibly this was because Michael Ryan was a prophet who spoke for God. Yes, even biblical prophets were appraised criti cally. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he teaches that a prophet's message was to be approved only after critical exam inatjpn. But such safeguards were jlacking'iriulol ; ,Th$ Jltyd murders demonstrate ilfcit'QHIiSiK&king skills are ftq$& exatm a civilized society. Without 'sucn'skilis, Che seeds of brutality and dehumanization surely can grow. employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. The Daily Nebraskan's publishers are the regents, who established the UNL Publications Board to super vise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the edi torial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student editors. Smell t Respite needed from demands of My rapture was approaching the point of unconsciousness. I was walking across Centennial Mall, completely lost in the incredibly pleas ing aroma emerging from countless flowering trees and shrubs. It is a rite I cherish and in which I unashamedly indulge during the early weeks of spring. Right in the middle of my dreamland rush, however, two women crossed the street carrying bags of fast food from one of the ubiquitous Q Street eating establishments. Both were wearing quite strong fragrances. Suddenly the redolence of spring that had so pleased me before became repulsive. When mixed with the strong smell of greasy fast food and the equally strong mix of two totally in compatible colognes, the once elegant bouquet became, to coin a phrase, "a stench in my nostrils." Olfactory caco phony had set in. Now don't get me wrong. I have encountered very few women's scents that I do not enjoy. And anyone who knows me at all knows that I am not frequently turned off by the smell of food any food. Yet the combination of t hem all was overpowering and coun terproductive. I found myself resenting each individual smell because of the effect their combination had on me. I could enjoy none of them for itself because of the rude demands for atten tion made by the others. Such a story is the stuff of which brilliant analogies to the human situa tion are made. Being both a philo sopher and a journalist, I could not miss the opportunity. A moment's reflection revealed to me that my experience was not unlike what I often undergo within this plural istic society. While there may be many LaRouche brainwashes and bullies members into cult-like submission Many people have a hard time fig uring out what the LaRpuchites really beljeve jn. Are they right wingers or left-wingers or just plain nuts? How can heyj be antiVmMe when so many of;theifi are Jews 'v- It sounds connisirig, but it can be explained. The hard-core LaRouche group, which does full-time organizational work and probably doesn't number much more than 500 people, functions like a com munist organization. That's not surprising, since the peo ple closest to LaRouche are those who were with him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he and they were Marxists. They were the radical stu dents he recruited during campus revolts. While the image they now project is right wing because that's the group they feel they can influence, they still function more like Stalin-era commu nists than anything else. Just as Stalin had the final say on everything in the Soviet Union liter he flowers one at a time voices worth listening to, each of which can and should be appreciated for its own unique contribution to the great human dialogue, we are often eager to destroy the effect that any one might have by insisting that all be shouted out at the same time. The result is that each one loses the sympathy it might otherwise gain and is resented because of its contribution to the general din. I often find myself dismissing legitimate viewpoints, simply because I am tired of listening, tired of thinking, tired of being bombarded with everyone's position at once. James Sennett It strikes me that there is a better forum for the dialogue our society demands. Perhaps we need to be less dedicated to our particular cause and more dedicated to the system whereby a variety of causes can be defended. This would call forth from us a willing ness to be patient while others speak, and to allow for ample time between presentations for the audience to com prehend, digest, reflect and rest. I know that I am always more ready to listen to a differing viewpoint after a good night's sleep. Perhaps, for exam ple, the Democratic responses to the president's speeches would be better received if aired the morning after. Beauty plus beauty does not always equal beauty. It may equal pluralistic overload and shut down. I wonder how much of the right-wing reactionism and ature, music, diet, military hardware, you name itLaRouch&dictateswjhat,, tyWtylloiMrsjviU believe arid' do.',' V 1 Royko Their only friends and acquaintan ces are fellow LaRouchites. They marry among themselves. They read only w hat LaRouche tells them to read. They listen only to approved music. They're not permitted to disagree with La Rouche or criticize him. If they're heard doing so, they could be reported to his security branch. They report each other for infractions, because they're afraid that if they don't, some body will report them. Having children is virtually forbid den among the hard-core members. Pregnancy slows down production. Children divert attention and cause a change in values. a. pluralistic society resurgent bigotry that has gripped our country is no more than the exhausted reaction of citizens tired of listening, tired of thinking, needing a mental vacation. We may best be able to help our cause by occasionally granting such a reprieve. But, lest you wonder, I have stuck my head out the window this week. I real ize that the magnificent blossoms of spring, with which my story began, have fallen prey to the inevitable April snowstorm. My tulips bit the dust along with everyone else's, and I do have a healthy respect for the dead. Actually, the bludgeoning of Old Man Winter adds an appropriate final stopping point in my metaphorical excursion. Despite my revulsion at the stench of the combined emanations, I would not have considered an April snow storm as a possible solution. The des truction of one contributor is no answer to the dissonance, though fear that such groundswells of conservativism mentioned above could easily be per verted to advocate such courses of action. The beauty of pluralism is that the tension between order and freedom is addressed and a healthy medium struck. But movement to either side of the dichotomy brings dangerous impli cations. The proper appreciation of a single element is diminished when there is the lack of respect that results in a shouting match. But the need for relief from the confusion must never be used to justify the arbitrary or even selective silencing of any of the partic ipants. Sennett is a graduate student in philo sophy and campus minister with College Career Christian Fellowship. So, members are coerced into having abortions, That's funny in a way, be. cause the LaJtouchites haye tfeen try; intoarjgrapfie ineinseives wiin tW?OTjgAtL Hiojft by saying tney ai? 'against abort! eft, ! ' " Jifsf "as: Stalfa' tfsW brainwashing and bullying to convince his people that only he knew all the answers to everything, LaRouche used the same tactics to convince his ninnies that only he could save the world and only they could help him do it. If they did only what he told them to do. LaRouche began doing this in the 1970s a process he called Operation Mop Up. It consisted of group sessions in which the members were forced to reveal the most intimate details about themselves. They underwent vicious psychological pounding. Some gave up and quit. Those who stayed became totally submissive and dependent on LaRouche and the organization. See ROYKO on 5