Monday, August 25, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
TC JIS
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Jeff Korbt'lik, toll tor, 4ITC(i
James Rogers, Editorial Payf Editor
Gene (ientrup, ManuyiHU Editor
Tammy Kaup, Associate News Editor
Todd von Kampen, Editorial Paw Assistant
Nebraskan
University ol Nebraska-Lincoln
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Non-violence
The lead story on the front
page of Wednesday's Daily
Nebraskan carried the head
line, " 'Hail Mary' proved to be a
silent night." And a silent night
it was as over 200 people pro
tested the showing of the movie
Sunday, Aug. 17. . .peacefully.
University officials took pre
cautions for fear of violence and
demonstrations. Property dam
age had been reported in other
cities showing the film.
Dan Ladely, director of the
Sheldon Film Theatre, said the
movie was rescheduled to be
shown at the Nebraska Union
instead of Sheldon for fear of
damage to the art displayed in
the gallery. Bob Bruce, director
of University Information, said
three uniformed UNL policemen
and one plainclothes officerwere
in attendance at each showing of
the film.
As moviegoers viewed the
controversial film by French
filmmaker Jean Luc Goddard,
outside protesters sang hymns,
prayed, carried signs and dis
tributed literature in a peaceful
Mihfnw crrfcCk-nriTfficf GtirvfTu-ort
Pentagon is not being cost-efficient
Protection from harm, be it
personal or national harm, can
never be wholly guaranteed. Mea
sures taken to guard against
injury are not costless, thus, in
deciding upon protective mea
sures, benefits must be weighed
against costs.
This is no less true regarding
national defense. Commitment
to an American defense program
second to none does not mean
that the Pentagon should be
given a carte blanche.
Even on a personal, common
sense level, few of us purchase
costly alarm and household pro
tection devices (such as guards)
because we are not persuaded
that such "investments" would
produce a benefit equal to the
cost. Instead, we take reasona
ble "gambles" with our security
because we believe the money
could be better spent on other,
more useful, goods and services.
All too often, questions of cost
and benefit, when raised with
respect to military spending, re
ceive only a quick dismissal with
charges that the questioner is
not committed to a strong de
fense. Yet pursuit of skewed
priorities can do as much harm
to national interest as an open
military conflict. This can be
seen when examining the eco
nomic impact of current patt
erns of defense spending.
Writing in the Wall Street
Journal last week, Columbia Uni
versity professor Frank Lichten
berg argues that widely different
levels of investment in the re
search and development of U.S.
goods is one significant reason
why the United States is lagging
behind other industrialized na
tions in the arena of interna
tional trade.
He argues that "one factor
contributing to the superior
trade performance of Japan and
commended
manner with no signs of inter
vention. Del Kidder, a member of the
ad-hoc committee formed to
organize the protest, said the
protesters had no intention to
interfere with the film. "We're
here standing up for our own
First Amendment rights."
University officials and the
protesters both should be com
mended for their behavior. Many
times the worst can surface from
a touchy, controversial issue. And
"Hail Mary" is no exception.
George Neubert, director of
the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery,
cancelled the film last spring
after receiving a letter from State
Sen. Bernice Labedz threatening
economic sanctions against Shel
don if the film was shown. The
film is a contemporary retelling
of the birth of Christ. Opponents
of the film found several scenes
offensive.
The protesters proved that
violence is not necessary to con
vey a message. Their presence
alone was enough to bring atten
tion to their message.
Germany, relative to that of the
United States, the United King
dom and France, is the former
countries' significantly higher
rate of civilian R&D (research
and development ) investment re
lative to their GNPs (gross na
tional products). . . .A high rate
of military R&D spending per
haps contributes to our military
strength,, but it weakens our
economy by reducing civilian
R&D investment and thus our
ability to compete in global mar
kets." Two beliefs undergirding the
U.S. defense decision-making
process create this inefficiency.
The first is the perspective that
the only adequate defense is the
one that totally protects against
possible aggression. Marginal, or
"cost-benefit," analysis is a bet
ter rule and would preserve the
total national interest rather
than sacrifice domestic pro
grams to defense (or defense to
domestic "pork barrel" projects
as occurred during the 1970s).
Secondly, defense decison
makers seem fascinated with
technological sophistication;
This is not in itself bad, except
that technological sophistica
tion requires the commitment of
large amounts of money
money which could have been
spent on simpler defense sys
tems which would have resulted
in overall greater security.
The United States recently
has begun to taste the bitter
fruit of economic decline. No
longer are we the unquestioned
leader of the world economy.
Sluggish sectors of the domestic
economy reflect the new reality.
To avoid the problem getting
worse we must ensure that all
governmental spending in
cluding defense spending is
justified by the benefits it will
produce.
The Great American Desert?
Nebraska 's prairieland is a peaceful oasis, not wasteland
I learned before we left UNL this
spring that one of my good friends
would be spending the summer
working in my home town, Ogallala. For
those of you who are ignorant of
Nebraska west of Lincoln, Ogallala is a
town of about 6,000 people, five hours
west on Interstate 80, about 20 miles
east of Colorado's northeast corner and
right in the middle of "The Great Amer
ican Desert."
My friend comes from a semi-small
town in Iowa, but she's such a fan of
Lincoln's faster lifestyle that 1 won
dered whether Ogallala would drive her
crazy. But when I returned home two
weeks after a summer in Iowa at The
Des Moines Register, I was surprised to
discover my friend had turned into a
diehard western Nebraskan. In fat,
she told me, she loved the area and
lifestyle so much that she didn't want
to leave.
That was refreshing to hear. I've
heard time and again that Nebraska's a
boring place with nothing but sand
hills, cornstalks and Cornhuskers. You
hear that sentiment most often during
weekends from non-natives sitting
around the dorm, moaning, "But what
do you do in Nebraska?" My friend's
conversion again made it clear that
Nebraska's not a bad place to live.
I love Nebraska. I've seen plenty of
places to compare it with during my
college years: California, the Pacific
Northwest, Europe and Des Moines.
Life moves faster in all those locations
yes, even in Des Moines and they
all offer many more "things to do." Yet I
wouldn't trade any of those places for
my home state for reasons other
than the appeal of Nebraska football.
Nebraska's attractions don't leap
out at you like the neon signs in a
downtown bar district. They're found in
more subtle, peaceful locations like an
DeCamp, other newsmakers
receive "Ms-Anthropic" honors
Every year, in memory of my historic
foremothers, I celebrate the Aug. 26
anniversary of the passage of women's
suffrage, by recognizing those who have
done their utmost in the past 12
months to slow the progress of women.
This annual event, known as the
Equal Rites Award ceremony, stirs but
terflies in the stomachs of finalists,
and competitive fever among those who
push their favorite candidates. Once
again our one-woman jury had the deli
cious task of sifting through dozens of
entries to find the gems.
The highest prize, the Ms-Anthropic
Man of the Year Award, was won easily
this year by a real gem of a gent, "Dia
mond Don" Regan. It was Diamond Don
who said at the Geneva summit last fall
that women are "not going to under
stand throw weights." He then divested
open prairie at sunset or the quiet of a
Great Plains cemetery. Those scenes
are part of Nebraska's stereotype, but
you can find others here that are even
more breathtaking if you have the
determination to find them. I found
both old and new ones this summer.
Todd
von
Kampen
There was the day when I found
myself "laying out" on the grass in a
remote corner of Lake Pawnee a few
miles west of Lincoln. With one of my
best friends at my side, I spent three
hours in the shimmering heat as the
cool lake water lapped on the shore,
"Fresh Aire" played in the background
and the two of us spoke of where our
lives were going. A couple and their dog
were in a nearby boat, but they soon
left us alone in our private prairie par
adise. I felt great for a week after that.
Try driving down the North Platte
River valley from Scottsbluff to Ogal-.
lala atrip I made often last summer
when 1 worked in Scottsbluff. I took a
trip up there a week ago and redisco
vered the string of landmarks so famil
iar to the Oregon Trail pioneers: Court
House Rock, Chimney Rock, Scotts
Bluff. To top it off, my tape deck played
Dan Fogelberg's "Sutter's Mill," which
provided a perfect counter point to the
land where the wagons once lumbered
west.
I drove up into the Sandhills another
day in search of the perfect photograph
of a Hereford bull. Up in "God's cow
country," few people disturb the soli
himself of all good sense, explaining
our South African policy this way: "Are
the women of America prepared to give
up all their jewelry?"
Ellen 4
Goodman '
. - -
Ferdinand Marcos, another leading
contender, will have to settle for The
Chivalrous Chauvinist Award. It was
Marcos who said in December that he
was "embarrassed" to be running
against a woman. "It's better if it's a
man. If it's a woman it might lead to
something bad." Uke defeat. Marcos'
2
0.
JjCl
VvVr I
tude of cattle and prairie, as the cattle
reminded me when they suddenly
rambled away to graze in peace. But
first they stood motionless and stared
at me with wide eyes as a black horse
came up, looking for a snack. You'd
expect such a scene in a Western
movie, but you can find many such
scenes up there.
And I once again viewed Nebraska's
"ocean sunset" from a ledge overlook
ing Kingsley Dam and Lake McCo
naughy north of Ogallala. On a clear
evening, the sun's a brilliant orange
ball sinking in the light blue sky into
the dark blue waters. The lake extends
beyond the horizon, and with good rea
son: the lake is over 20 miles long and
has 1 05 miles of shoreline. I always find
it a lovely oasis in the midst of a sup
posedly barren land.
Those scenes reminded me how good
life is in Nebraska. Even if the economy
is a bit weak now, the air is clean, the
land isn't crowded and the people are
friendly. Although you'll always find a
few looking for a larger arena, many of
us feel the quality of life here can't he
topped. For a small investment of time,
here you can find relaxation and con
tentment. If I've captured your imagination,
take this Labor Day weekend or some
other weekend and see what this state
has to offer. If you're stuck in Lincoln,
however, I can offer you a small taste of
what I'm talking about. Turn on
Nebraska ETV (channel 12) about 11
p.m. and watch its signoff. Let the lilt
ing pioneer melody sink in as you view
the scenes of Nebraska's pioneers and
prairie. It will provide some of the
essence of Nebraska a state which
isn't such a bad place after all.
Von Kampen is a senior news-editorial
and music major from Ogallala and is a
DN editorial page assistant.
award is not accompanied by a prize
because he already has Imelda. Who
could ask for anything more?
The Ms-Match Maker Award, an
attractive panic button with shocking
voltage, goes to Newsweek magazine
for its doomsday cover story, noting
that a single woman over 40 was more
likely to get killed by a terrorist than to
get married.
While we are on the subject, the
Maternal Understatement of the Year
Award must go to the mother of Anne
Marie Murphy, the pregnant Dublin
woman who was put on a plane with a
special going-away gift a bomb by
her alleged terrorist beau, Nezar Hin
dawi. Said Mom, "I do not think very
much of this boyfriend."
See GOODMAN on 5