The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, September 15, 1986, Page Page 4, Image 4
Page 4 Daily Nebraskan Monday, September 15, 1986 Jefl Korlielik, Editor, 4 JV ?(6 Jiiim-s Rogers, Editorial Pom' Editor Gi'iit' (Jcntrup, Manna! un Editor Tammy Kaup, Associate Xcu s Editor Todd von Kampcn, Editorial l'ije Assistant Nebrayskan University of Nebraska-Lincoln Holling-Gould Only one of the two prob lems facing TNL's athletic program was resolved when the NCAA decided last week to lessen the penalty handed the Husker foot ball team for improper use of complimentary game pas ses. Scarcely a word has been said about the fate of two women gymnasts who had their scholar ships taken away in violation of state law. As you may recall, Janet Holling and Renee Gould suffered injuries last year that took them out of action for the rest of the 1985-86 season. Those injuries, Coach Rick Walton told the Daily Nebraskan, were the reason the two lost their scho larships. Attorney General Robert Spire investigated the situation after Omaha Sen. Ernest Chambers demanded the scholarships be restored. But Spire now has left the matter to UNL, saying he is confident that university officials were willing to follow the law. And that's where it stands. Certainly, there are at least two good reasons why nothing has been done regarding Holling and Gould. Daniloff not a spy His release for Zakharov's unequal An inadequate in-term step has taken place in the case of U.S. News and World Report reporter Nicholas Dani loff, who recently was arrested for spying on the Soviet Union. Both he and Gennadiy Zakharov, a Soviet United Nat ions employee arrested in the United States just prior to Daniloffs arrest, have been released to their re spective embassies on the con dition that neither leave either country. This step is unsatisfactory for several reasons. The first is that, in this step the Reagan adminis tration has allowed the appear ance of equality to arise between the Daniloff and Zakharov affairs. The move thus constitutes an implicit admission either (1) that Daniloff is a spy or (2) that the Soviets can take Americans hostage at will in order to force the U.S. government to release probable Soviet spies. Of course the Reagan admin istration denies that Daniloff is a spy. And the weight of the evi dence supports the administra tion's position: Ever since the revelations in the 70s of CIA journalist associations, U.S. news organizations have taken special care to assure the independence of their reporters and their sole commitment to news gathering. Additionally, the fact that Daniloffs arrest comes so close on the heels of Zakharov's arrest and the fact that it was the Soviets who initiated talk of ts harmed not forgotten The NCAA penalty against the football team preoccupied UNL officials. Likewise, the filing of charges against two state sena tors and several others for their actions in the failed lottery peti tion drive took up much of Spire's time. But there's no reason to delay resolution of the Holling-Gould case any longer. The situation is cut-and-dried. The state law in question says athletes shall not lose their scholarships due to injury, and the coach said the two lost their scholarships for just that reason. Although the football game pass controversy was important to many at UNL and across Nebraska, the case of the two women gym nasts is also worthy of attention. Education is the. name of the game at a university, and two fellow students have seen their ability to get it damaged by an action that never should have happened. University officials must wrap up this matter as quickly as pos sible and restore the scholar ships to Holling and Gould. Given the statements made by the prin cipals in the case, no other solu tion is possible. exchange so willingly and quick ly after the arrest constitute strong evidence that Daniloff was really taken hostage by the Soviets rather than arrested for any real offense. As a result, the release of Daniloff and Zakharov to their respect ive embassies smacks of cow-towing to gratuitous and arbitrary Soviet hostage-taking. Given the philosophy supporting the U.S. post ure toward negotiat ing with kidnappers in other cir cumstances, the U.S. position in this case appears contradictory. "Never negotiate with kidnap pers" should mean "never nego tiate with kidnappers." In addition to the primary drama of the Daniloff affair, an interesting and important side note is occurring. The U.S. press almost is having convulsions about the way the Soviet Union has treated one of the high pri ests of democracy. Short-run re actions have included the can cellation of many scheduled visits to the USSR by newspapers and wire services. Nonetheless, the long run fall out may be even worse for the Soviet Union. In recent years the USSR has been making a con certed attempt to appear civ ilized and peaceful. This instance of vengeance-taking on Daniloff may cost much of the good will engendered over the past few years in the Western press, .. if hi jF lit s Take love, nnaindsie chance Columnist looks for Last Friday, as 1 was devouring the peanut-butter cookie from my brown-bag lunch, I was visiting with two of my female friends (as opposed to girlfriends). Before I knew it, the topic of discussion became my friend and colleague Ad Hudler's column about the reasons why he wasn't ready to get married for, say, 10 years or so. Being family-oriented as I am, 1 hap pened to mention that I would like to be married whenever the right girl comes along. At which one of my friends looked at me with a puzzled face and said, "But, Todd, doesn't, that thought scare you? Why, people get old when they get married!" That statement could have been and probably was tongue-in-cheek, so I just laughed. Then the other friend said it's scary to think about marriage when you look at all the marriages that fail or are unhappy. Her own parents haven't been happy for some time, she said. Such facts are hard to overlook, and I think about them, too. But, like all those people who go up the aisle in spite of the odds against them, I'm not ready to give up on marriage. Despite all the pain that goes with the search (and I've had my share already), spend ing the rest of my life with a woman I love and who loves me is still some thing I want badly. Now, I suppose that puts me into the camp that you read about on Friday. On the other hand, 1 don't think I look down on the free-and-independent types. Some people truly prefer to be alone, to fend for themselves and asso Iron Curtain surrounds journalists; neither reporters, Soviets can see I am following this story with some thing less than journalistic objec tivity. The setup, the arrest and now the indictment of Nicholas Daniloff as a spy carry a special edge of concern. Nick is a friend as well as a col league. We were Nieman Fellows to gether at Harvard in 1974, mates on that year-long academic "cruise ship" for journalists. When I went to Moscow last year, Nick was more than generous. He freely shared his insights, his time, his Soviet experiences and friends. One night I went with Nick to the home of a dissident couple he had known for years. We ate a magical smoked salmon and swapped stories, with Nick translating so fluently that I seemed to be talking directly to this couple. When I returned to the hotel that night I was awakened by two anonymous phone calls. They may have been wrong numbers, but staring at the ceiling at 4 a.m., I had a taste of para noia in my mouth. There are foreign posts more dan gerous than, Mslcxiw., War correspond ents suffer greater risks. But reporting DIP I SOMETHING? y .. . H-T.. spouse in a generation too scared to try ciate with people when they feel like it. And that's fine. Or people might decide there's too many things they want to accomplish before "settling down." It's pretty much like my colleague said last Friday. You want to travel here, work there, gain financial security and so on, and chan ces are pretty small that you'll find a guy or girl that will want to follow you around. 'Tis better to be alone, they say. Todd von Kampen I suspect, though, that many people out there are simply scared of becom ing someone's husband or wife. You can't blame them, really. When you've watched your parents have problems or you've seen the anguish friends go through when their boyfriend or girl friend breaks up with them, you'd recoil, too. You become afraid to love. I'm not afraid to love. Of course, I've been fortunate. My parents have been married for 23 years how, and their marriage has been very happy. We kids have never had any doubt that Mom and Dad love each other and love all of us, too. So having a fine marriage must be possible. We're a Christian family, which means that God is at the forefront of the mar riage to strengthen it. But there is for a free press in a monitored society is one of the trickiest tasks. It is one that Nick knows well and does well. The barriers that a Western corres pondent has to hurdle in the course of his or her daily work are imposing . The new batch of Soviet leaders may want to air a portion of their society's trou bles -from alcoholism to corruption with their own people. But there is no such desire to share weaknesses with the foreign press. Ellen Goodman Gathering the news in a country that instinctively withholds information as benign as a telephone number (tele phone books are a prized possession, "411" operators do not exist) presents exhausting challenges. Learning about the daily life of Soviet people, who only ' If .V another ingredient that makes mar riages work whether you're Christian or non-Christian. That's service; caring for another person so much that helping him or her through life is the highest thing you want to do for yourself. Both husband and wife have to want to serve the other for marriages to prosper. Obviously, that's not something self ish people are ready to do. But there are plenty of us out there who are ready to love. Maybe we're having problems finding each other right now, but don't despair if everyone you've found thus far is the selfish type. As they say,' "There's other fish in the sea." And what if you're afraid to love or you've got a few things in your life that need to be done first? If the first is your problem and you have someone who wants to give himself or herself to you, take a chance. I think you'll find they'll help you overcome your fear. As for the latter, remember this: we may never pass this way again. If the other person loves you, he or she will understand and wait a while. But if you haven't taken a chance on loving that person, he or she will leave and you'll never know if it would have worked. This is the best time to find out. Sure, seeking a spouse is scary st uff, and it produces pain sometimes. But I'm ready to keep going because I feel my future wife isn't far away and I want as many years with her as God will allow. When you think about it that way, it's more scary not to love. (VonKampen is a senior news-editorial and music major and is a Daily Nebras kan editorial page assistant.) talk to foreign correspondents at per sonal risk, is touchy stuff. For the most part, Western journal ists are housed in foreign ghettos. They drive cars with yellow licenses that identify them as clearly as a bumper sticker or arm band. Working and liv ing, often with a family, when your office and your home are probably bugged and when you must sort out sources from secret agents adds a strain that was, even on my two-week visa, palpable. One of the paradoxes is that the Soviet hierarchy, longing for a good image abroad, creates a hostile envir onment for foreign journalists. It is a tribute to the press corps that, for the most part, reporters don't allow their own treatment to permeate their view of Soviet society. Nick, who is as clear eyed as any about the Soviets, said to me on a ride out to Pasternak's grave in the suburbs of Moscow, "Don't be mis taken; there is a kind of consent of the governed here." See GOODMAN ori 5