Editorial
Nebraskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
m_i_
! Mike Reilley, Editor, 472-1766
[Jeanne Bourne, Editorial Page Editor
Jann Nyffeler, Associate News Editor
Scott Harrah, Night News Editor
Joan Rezae, Copy Desk Chief
Linda Hartmann, Wire Editor
( harles Lieurance, Asst. A & E Editor
! Perennial problem
Multinationals violate ethical practice
There were quite a few
turned heads when this
year’s Newport Folk
Festival debuted as the Nestle
; Folk Festival Newport.
Nestle Foods Corp. invested
$20,(XX) in the festival in order
to get the name change. The
symbolism was important for
the company, which for seven
years was the object of a world
wide boycott protesting its
pouring of free baby formula
into Third World countries.
According to UNICEF, at least
1 million infants die annually
j from complications associated
with bottle-feeding.
In 1984, Nestle signed an
agreement to stop the dumping,
and the boycott was halted. This
summer’s festival, with such
soci al-conscience spokcspcople
as Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and
Judy Collins singing under the
Nestle banner, helped to solid
ify the company’s return to
America’s good graces.
The only problem is that the
dumping has not stopped. Ac
' cording to sources quoted in the
Aug. 25 Village Voice, the ship
ment of formula is at the same
level as before the boycott for
most countries and has even
increased in some. Yet Nestle
has succeeded in convincing
many that the problem is over.
Apparently, this is all they
wished to accomplish through
their 1984 agreements.
The Nestle ploy is just the
latest example of a perennial
problem — rampant unscrupu
lous ethical practices of giant
multinational corporations. For
example, the Daily Nebraskan is
investigating the destruction of
South American rain forests to
create pastures on which to
graze inexpensive beef cattle.
The World Bank, Campbell’s
Soup Co. and the Marriott Corp.
arc just a few of the American
interests contributing to this
ecological disaster, according to
the World Rainforest Move
ment.
The World Rainforest Move
ment had a major victory this
summer when Burger King re
sponded to a national boycott
and announced that it would rid
itself of all rain-forest beef by
Sept. 1. We can only hope that
Burger King isn't taking a page
from Nestle’s playbook.
With great opportunity
comes great obligation. The
seduction of the dollar is almost
overwhelming, but America’s
multinationals must begin to
take seriously the example they
are setting. The humane treat
ment of the world’s population
and the responsible treatment of
its ecosystems and resources arc
minimal requirements for par
ticipation in worldwide eco
nomics.
Companies that choose to
violate these basic human
guidelines should be boycotted
and protested until they agree to
act civilized. The expression
"business ethics” is already
considered oxymoronic by
many. Let’s not make it into an
overt contradiction in terms.
35 bicyclists ticketed;
special lanes needed
Thirty-five bicyclists
have been ticketed for
traffic violations in the
last month. Ninety percent of
the offenders were University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students.
According to the law, “Bi
cycles operated upon a roadway
arc subject to all duties and
rights applicable to motor ve
hicles.” Bicycles also arc pro
hibited on sidewalks between L
and Q streets and between Ninth
and 16th streets.
Although the tickets arc in
accordance with the law, bicy
clists aren’t always accorded the
same courtesies as motor-vc
hide operators.
For many UNL students, bi
cycles arc the only mode of
transportation, and they are
considered a danger on the side
walks and in danger on the
streets.
One solution is to designate
lanes just for bicycles such as
Boulder, Colo., and Madison,
Wis., have. The lanes are needed
especially in the downtown area
and near campus where there is
a plethora of cyclists.
This way both cyclists and
pedestrians would be safe. It
would save police time and
money, and students would be
spared the cost of tickets.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials represent
official policy of the fall 1987 Daily
Nebraskan. Policy is set by the Daily
Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its mem
bers are Mike Reilley, editor; Jeanne
Bourne, editorial page editor; Joan
Rezae, copy desk chief; Jann Nyffeler,
associate news editor, Charles Lieur
ance, assistant arts and entertainment
editor; Scott Harrah, night news editor
and Linda Hartmann, wire editor.
Editorials do not necessarily reflect
the views of the university, its em
ployees, the students or the Nl! 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 editorial content
of the newspaper lies solely in the
hands of its student editors.
"SO/wE READ ACTION THERE, PAMS ... PAYToN FAKED LEFT, SPUN Rl CHT
AMD SLASHED HIS WAY TO THE HEAD OF THE PICKET UM6 1 "
Iran, Iraq continue the struggle
'Brats'need to be spanked, but who should act as daddy?
It’s amazing how much
death, damage and destruc
tion can result when angry
little countries like Iran and Iraq go to
war. The childish leaders of these
nations and their zombie-like follow
ers continue to fight an eight-year war
that neither side seems likely to win.
It was during the Iranian Revolu
tion that Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein decided the time was right to
pick a fight. The Iraqis launched an
invasion into southern Iran, hoping to
secure the long-disputed Shall-Al
Arab waterway and a more fortified
route to the Persian Gulf for its oil
tankers.
They got more than they bargained
for. The quick victory that Hussein
anticipated became a stalemate, and a
real military victory seems unlikely in
the foreseeable future.
By now, most other fighting na
tions would have given up, but we
must remember that Iran’s and Iraq’s
leaders arc incapable of rational adult
decisions. Iraq began the war like a
bully kicking another kid when he
wasnT looking, and Iran fights on with
the vengeful maturity of a9-ycar-old.
Hussein and the Ayatollah Ruhol
lah Khomeini are like two stubborn
brats wrestling in the desert. Iraq is
nearly exhausted and would settle for
a tie, but Iran is hell-bent on revenge,
unwilling to accept anything less than
the capture of Baghdad. Iraq’s allies,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other con
servative Arab states, are terrified ol
Iran’s “revolutionary fever” spread
ing to their lands, and will join the fray
before allowing Iran to win. In short
the war is far from over and more
likely toexpand than it is to scca truce
What does the rest of the worlc
think of this fight between 9-ycar
olds? Naturally, the United Nation?
wants to break it up. Alter all, the
United Nations has pleaded for a
cease-fire for years now. The United
Nations behaves a bit like a mother
try ing to break up a fight between boys
w ho arc too big to spank. The mother
can scream at the children to stop, but
Iran and Iraq keep fighting on.
Most of us know what happens
when mommy’s screaming doesn’t
work. Daddy comes home, spanks the
boys and sends them to bed without
any supper. But who’s daddy in this
family squabble?
Will it be the United States or the
Soviet Union that finally steps in and
arbitrates—or forces — an end to the
war?
This is where the similarities to a
fight between children ends. The re
sult of the war is, by itself, relatively
unimportant. But if either of the two
superpowers gains influence in the
strategically vital Persian Gulf as a
result of the war, then the other super
power is sure not going to just stand by
and watch.
The Third World can no longer
engage in isolated wars, because each
strategic hot spot has become a battle
field between East and West. Each
superpower picks a favorite, bets on
him, trains and equips him, and
watches uneasily as its proxies fight it
out. It is the way wars are being fought
in Nicaragua, Angola and Afghani
slan. Il is how they were fought in.
among other places, Cuba and Viet
nam.
Iran and Iraq present us a strange
case in this modem depiction of war
fare in the Third World. Both sides fail
to see the greater stakes in the eyes of
the superpowers, and this is likely to
cost them. Iran hates the United
States, doesn’t trust the Soviets, and
resorts to North Korea, China and
even Israel for arms. Israel hopes that
by keeping them both fighting, the
Muslims eventually will kill them
selves Qff.
Iran is a maverick, an overconfi
dent rookie in a game much larger
than it realizes. As a child, it has much
to learn about the complex political
realities of seeking major power shifts
in the strategic Persian Gulf. The
superpower that feels shortchanged
will walk all over whatever gets in its
way.
Unfortunately, children learn
slowly, and Iran and Iraq are particu
larly slow learners. Some day they
surely will realize that the little war
they are fighting means a lot more to
the powerhouses than they know.
Both Iran and Iraq stand much to lose
in theend. because a tug-of-war would
certainly cause as much damage to the
rope as to the teams pulling at each
end.
We would all be much better off if
peace could be negotiated and the
crisis prevented. If the children could
leant a little faster, then mommy
might keep daddy from spanking
them. But tor now, the stubborn little
brats keep punching. It’s too bad that
even a guy as old” as Grandpa
Khomeini still behaves like a child.
The people of Iran and Iraq will suffer
for the ignorance of their leaders.
Snodgrass is a senior economics major.
Letter
Project explained
Wc were pleased the Oct. 1 issue of
the Daily Nebraskan carried a feature
photograph of a joint project between
one section of the University
Foundation’s program and a textile,
clothing and design department class.
Its caption “What the . . .?” raises
some of the issues involved in the two
hour cooperative project. This letter is
to clarify the purpose of the event,
which occurred Wednesday, 10:30
a.m. to noon.
Ten groups of TDC students were
given colored plastic, an ordinary
material, and one hour to design a
preselected space. They were asked to
alter the environment in some way so
that pedestrians would feel invited to
interact with it. The University Foun
dation students were to define interac
tion and to observe individual re
sponses to the structure, counting the
number of men and women who inter
acted with it.
During the construction and obser
vation periods, issues relating to the
larger role of public art became appar
ent. Students observed a broad range
of responses from extremely hostile to
euphoric, which reflect the range of
response that public art generates.
We hope that this brief exercise
was an opportunity for both the artists
and the college community to pause
for a moment and consider our rela
tionship to the environment. A simple
and temporary manipulation of the
space alters how one perceives and
responds to it.
Wendy Weiss
assistant professor
textiles, clothing and design
Margaret Nellis
University Foundations instructor
coordinator of community health