Monday, November 3, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
TT Tl
dufooal
Jeff Korbelik, Editor, 4 72, 1 766
. Jamps Rogers, Editorial Page Editor
" Gene Geritrup, Managing Editor
.,Tammy Kaup, Associate News Editor
Todd von Kampen, Editorial Page Assistant
Nsbraiskari
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1 ll I 7
w.' 1 ASK Ml.
HE HE Ufa
ilfereiic today
Holocaust can't be forgotten
At UNL this-week there is a
conference that is part of
the continuing movement
to understand the facts behind,
and the implications of, the Hohh
caust. The conference merits
wide attend since, especially by
students: The event is too easily
shunted aside by the minds of
the eighties.
In Joseph Conrad's "Heart of
Darkness" the demonic Kurtz,
when reflecting upon the mad
dening evil within his world,
could only utter, "The horror, the
horror." Yet Kurtz got off easily
by dying and the struggle of
understanding fell to Marlowe.
And the event almost overwhelm
ed Marlowe's capacity for under
standing. The source of Marlowe's des
pair wasn't in the fact that he
just couldn't understand how
such deep evil got a hold on
Kurtz, but that he could under
stand: He understood that the
same compelling evil that con
trolled Kurtz existed within his
own heart.
It was this truth which so
stunned Marlowe. So unexpected
and overwhelming was this dis
covery that Marlowe lay in a self
imposed silence for a long period
afterward. He was both unable
and unwilling to articulate the
abhorrent truth of the self
expose. The Holocaust is immensely
difficult to understand and grap
ple with, yet the event compels
our attention and thus impells
Marshall plan needed
Economic, not military aid stabilizes
The trial of American citizen
Eugene Hasenfus has begun.
The start of a trial usually
doesn't draw attention, but this
one is different it's in Nica
ragua. Hasenfus was shot down over
Nicaragua while flying weapons
for use by the Contras. He's
charged with terrorism, conspi
racy and violating public secur
ity. The tribunal he's appearing
before has a conviction rate of
; over 98 percent.
Hasenfus's trial raises serious
questions about the extent of
" U.S. government involvement in
sending weapons to the Contras
and aii up-to-now hidden inter
face between U.S. government
officials and "private" groups
; sending ail.w ' V : '
; That factskay never come
tout; both sldsof the dispute
Strongly skew'tSiryerslcacfthe
facts' to fitttheir jriespective
ideological blinders.: '
: - Yet America needs to, take a
step back from the dispute and
look at military, aid in perspec
tive. In the recent past, U.S. pol
icy toward Central America has
too often boiled down to support
or opposition to military aid for:
' one or another beleaguered coun
tries in the area.
Wholesale emphasis on mil
itary solutions is not in the long-
us down the torturous road of
understanding.
The Holocaust cannot be writ
ten off factually or ethically. In
Irving Howe's recent "Commen
tary" essay, he warns, "It is a
grave error to make, or 'evalu
ate,' the Holocaust into an occur-
rence out side of history, a sort of
disaboiical visitation, for then
we tacitly absolve its human
agents of their responsibility. To
do this is a grave error even if, so
far and perhaps forever, we lack
adequate categories for compre
hending how such a sequence of
events could occur."
Impelled to be mute, com
pelled to speak both by the
same event.
Deep and sober introspection
is demanded by the facts of the
events over a generation old. But
the implications of the facts are
of continuing relevance to the
students of 1986.
To personally vow to do every
thing in one's power to prevent a
recurrence of the Holocaust
sounds rather hollow, even trite.
But what else is there to do but
learn and vow? (Indeed, such
action may already be hypocriti
cal. For if the Holocaust was the
sun of 20th century wickedness,
then certainly the moon illumi
nated by its rays is Cambodia
under the Khmer Rouge. Why
don't we learn?)
The UNL conference will once
again face students with this
necessary lesson: We should not
forget, we cannot forget, we dare
not forget.
run interest of the region or the
United Staes. When a situation is
militarized and a victor emerges
from the civil war, there is no
core of civilian authority left
with sufficient pull to unify and
lead the nation. Thus military
stays in control, dissenters are
forced out of the government and
begin a rebel group, and the
cycle starts all over again.
If peace in Central America is
vital to long-run U.S. security (as
the Reagan administration in
sists) then it deserves economic
support on a level provided to
European countries after World
War II. The lesson of Europe
which the United States has
apparently forgotten in Central
America is that the best defense
against Communism is the prac
tice of democratic capitalism;
Simply militarizing a situation
. does not .advance th!s'cau.;l-':,,t-
The United States nee&toy
commit 'itself to develcpingstroB
autonomous nations in Central
America. Hie strengths of demo
cratic capitalism speak for them
selves. A Marshall Plan for Latin
America needs to be implemented
Costly? Yes. But the logic of
the Reagan administration impels
the adoption of such a plan. Iron
ically, the claim upon the Rea
gan administration is "put your
money where your mouth is "
mum
OFAMM?
Voting in the rea
. y .9 1 I
It sjust a stepjrom practice pontics
T I 1 i. T 1 J (lint m a -! rtAAnlA trfclm At VlsW
1 si was wondering what I could
A write to stress the importance of
voting tomorrow, my eyes drifted
onto a newspaper clipping on Orr
Boosalis campaign contributions. Most
of them were from expected sources,
although I raised an eyebrow when I
saw that Kay Orr's husband, bill, had
contributed $20,000 to her campaign.
Nice to know the hubby's helping out
At the bottom of the list, I saw that
the Boosalis campaign had received
$5,000 each from Willy Theisen, founder
of Godfather's Pizza, and Lincoln's own
Valentino's Inc. For a moment, I laughed
and tried to imagine just how Helen
Boosalis won the "pizza vote." Maybe, I
mused, Orr prefers Canadian bacon
pizza surely a blow to Nebraska hog
farmers and the trade deficit while
Boosalis supports our red-blooded Ne
braska ranchers every time she eats a
good ol' hamburger pizza.
"Wouldn't it be strange," I thought,
"if the campaign turned on a Boys
State-like issue like that?"
And when I thought of that, it struck
me just how far I'd come in five years.
As a student journalist with a yen for
state government, I've been playing in
the "big league" for two years now. I've
covered the historic debate in the
Legislature over LB622, recorded NU's
battle in the Unicameral to save its
budget and observed two of the Orr
Boosalis debates. Pretty heady stuffy
for a 22-year-old, not to mention good
experience in covering the state where
I hope to make my career.
What drew me to the arena was a
previous experience inside a Nebraska
"government" in the summer of 1981.
Through a stroke of luck (the original
delegate went to a basketball camp
instead), I came to UNL as Ogallala's
representative to Boys State. Abel
Sandoz became home for a week for
hundreds of Boys and Girls Staters (if
you think that residence-hall complex
is wild now, visit it during that week.
Spreading AIDS epidemic may lead
to
sex education in public schools
It appears that schools and families
may . ilssHy break I the logjam st
srier.Qaiaut sexuality! foot to teU
ourcMlirjasbput the pleasures of sex .
but, rS?r,; about its terrors; AIDS, of
all things, may be the tragic impetus to
bring frank and explicit talk about
human sexuality to the young. . .
: v Recently the surgeon general re:
ported, "Many people especially our
youth, are hot receiving information
that is vital to their future health
because of our reticence in dealing
with the subjects of sex, sexual practi
ces and homosexuality." The silence,
wrote C Everett Koop, must end. It was
a thought that might have been uttered
at a convention of sex educators. It was
a line that might have brought down on
Ap 2 ft
v
Not that many people take either
Boys or Girls State that seriously.
That's too bad, because the American
Legion and Legion Auxiliary really have
something good going. They offer an
invaluable education in the mechanics
of politics and government, even if the
issues aren't always "serious," to those
willing to seek it out.
Todd
von
Kampen
As you've already guessed, I was one
of the "activists." I ran for lieutenant
governor (it must be an office that
people from Ogallala crave), but I
didn't win. Then I tried managing a
governor's campaign, but we didn't
even come close in the primary. Al
though 1 made a few speeches at the
party convention and helped pass a
couple of platform planks, it was it for
elective politics.
However, I got an inside look at
government anyway when I was appoint
ed clerk of the Boys State Legislature.
We met for three days, including a final
session in the State Capitol's old House
Chamber, and debated and passed
about 25 bills and resolutions under
most of the real legislative rules. That's
when I got hooked on state government
and why covering it as a journalist
comes naturally to me.
The debate over one bill still sticks
in my mind. We were considering a
gun-registration bill that drew fire from
one colorful senator. Time after time,
he'd open his speeches by saying, "I
keep telling you guys registration is
the next step to gun control!" The bill
passed, but the senator got the consola
tion prize: The Boys State Legislature
them the wrath of the right. But not
today.
As the surgeon general said, "The
;threat of AIDS should be sufficient to
-
Ellen
permit a sex-education curriculum."
And he's probably right. AIDS has
brought words like "anal intercourse"
onto the network news. AIDS has
brought descriptions of condoms and
1 )
, V
Goodman"
It jr
M
world.
'to the Statehouse
passed a resolution giving him a special
"day" in his hometown.
In the governor's race, we had to
choose from one of the most popular
delegates among both Boys and Girls
Staters and a non-nonsense fellow that
later attended Boys Nation in Washing
ton, D.C. It looked like the first guy
would win easily until the final debate,
when he was asked in front of the
entire assembly if he had rehearsed
questions and answers with his cam
paign managers before his speech at
the party convention. "Do you admit
doing this?" he was asked, to which he
responded, "Of course I admit it." He
lost the election, but you won't often
get that kind of candor in a campaign.
There were other highlights, includ
ing the good times I spent with several
Boys Staters who are still friends here
at UNL. But it was the education in
government that I've found the most
useful. Just as it didn't take that long
for me to travel from Boys State to the
Statehouse, neither is the real world of
politics and government that far re
moved from the "practice" arena.
During this campaign, it has seemed
that serious candidates sometimes have
been bogged down in trivial, childlike
issues that rightfully belong in a
student-council campaign. But it's also
possible for those in the practice arena
to come up with profound insights on
important issues.
That means your vote is just as valu
able as theirs. You were part of a "prac
tice" electroate in high school not that
long ago; now you're part of the "real
thing." When you step into the voting
booth tomorrow, you hold the power to
decide who your leaders will be. Go
ahead and use that power. Doing so can
be a lot of fun.
Von Kampen is a senior news-editoi il
and music major and is DN editorial
page assistant
explanations of "safe sex" onto the
pages of family newspapers. Now AIDS
may "permit a sex-education curricu-
lum."
How much easier it will be to get a
. public consensus for a message, about
v sex when the message is that sex can
be lethal. How much easier it is to
).. convince parents to talk to their child
ren when the motive is safety.
I read in Dir. Koop's expected and
measured, words an ending to that
hybrid creature we mislabeled the
sexual revolution. It ends in a deadly
and communicable disease that is
making no final distinction between
homosexuals and heterosexuals.
See GOODMAN on 5
