Editorial
Nebrayskan
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mike Reilley, Editor, 472-1766
Jeanne Bourne, Editorial Page Editor
jann Nyffeler, Associate News Editor
Scott Harrah, Night News Editor
Joan Rezac, Copy Desk Chief
Linda Hartmann, Wire Editor
Charles Lieurance, Asst. A & E Editor
Quibbles & bits
Stress flares up amid student burnout
• Newsweck’s On Campus
magazine featured a story on
student burnout this week. Fi
nancial difficulties are cited as a
factor of burnout along with
stress associated with the desire
to succeed. Student burnout
could be cited as a cause of the
University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s academic probation
problem. A depth story on Page
5 deals with the stress and men
tal health problems that caused a
Princeton University student
from Omaha to resort to suicide.
These types of problems
haven’t been prevalent at UNL,
but with financial aid getting
harder to obtain, student stress
could escalate easily. More
counseling programs should be
in the works.
• UNL’s Faculty Senate gave
its annual Academic Freedom
Award to Paul Olson, English
professor. Olson said academic
freedom can survive only if
everyone, both faculty and stu
dents, defends it. He said teach
ers’ fundamental duty “is to
leave behind a community freer
than we found it.”
• Several Lincoln businesses
have pledged to fight illiteracy,
and Gov. Kay Orr presented a
personal check for $1,000 to
Jack McBride, general manager
of the Nebraska Educational
Television Network.
Nebraska’s illiteracy rate is
about 15 percent.
Curt Scdcrburg, adult educa
tion coordinator of Southeast
Community College-Lincoln,
said a national literacy cam
paign last year, Project Literacy
IJ.S., brought in many volun
teers and 1,660 new students.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials represent official
policy of the fall 1987 Daily Nebraskan.
Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan
Editorial Board. Its members are Mike
Reilley, editor; Jeanne Bourne, editorial
page editor; Joan Rezac, copy desk
chief; Jann Nyffeler, associate news
editor; Charles Lieurance, 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 supervise
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.
Free-trade treaty possible
U.S.y Canada approach long-overdue economic agreement
The United States and Canada
moved closer to an agree
ment last week that could
bring one of the most significant
changes in the North American econ
omy in decades. At long last, it ap
pears that the United States and Can
ada, the world’s two largest trading
partners, may arrive at a free-trade
agreement, abolishing or phasing out
all internal tariffs and import quotas
between the two countries. Better
political relations, in addition to the
economic benefits, now are seem
ingly close at hand.
Such a change in policy is long
overdue, having been pushed aside in
negotiations for almost 100 years.
Enormous benefits are to be had for
nations entering into free-trade agree
ments, as has been shown by the most
famous example, the European Com
munity (EC), known as the Common
Market.
The EC, which includes the Euro
pean Coal and Steel Community, the
atomic energy agency EURATOM
and the European Economic Commu
nity (EEC), has, since its inception in
1958, undergone great economic
growth and progress. Among its 12
member nations, trade exports within
the EC itself rose from about one-third
to well over one-half the value of total
exports in the EC’s first decade. The
phasing out of stagnating tariffs and
quotas allowed Western Europe to
invigorate its economy; trade between
the United States and Canada would
likely see a similar jump with a free
trade agreement.
However, the conception that a
treaty will bring about an instant
elimination of all trade barriers is way
off the mark. Here again, the Euro
pean Community’s battle against
protectionism holds lessons for the
negoli. tors of the treaty. An agree
ment will be difficult because protcc
tionirt sentiment is still strong in both
Ottawa and Washington.
The key issue at stake in the nego
tiations is a sacrifice of national sov
ereignty over trade policy. Our Senate
clings jealously to the right to protect
American markets from Canadian
producers. This is quite similar to the
Common Market’s initial problems,
but in Europe, power has sacrificed in
the wise interests of better long-term
economic benefits. The EC’s 12
members have vested power in sev
eral institutions to resolve disputes,
including the European Commission
and the European Parliament. If it had
not been for this sacrifice of authority
to a supranational forum, the Com
mon Market’s success would have
been impossible. It is essential that we
swallow the same bitter pill, or our
efforts will have been wasted.
Examples that illustrate the need
for a sacrifice of sovereignty are
numerous in the EC. Shortly after the
EC was created, Italy instituted a
“statistical levy” designed to pay the
costs of paperwork and customs offi
cers associated with imports. The levy
wasakindof“polltax,”aIlegedtopay
the costs of holding elections, but
really designed to reduce voter turn
out among the poor.
A firm appealed to the European
Commission — not the Italian gov
ernment — against the levy, which
was promptly struck down as incon
sistent with the principles of free
trade.
At times, efforts to wipe out trade
barriers involve wildly complex is
sues. In many cases, such barriers arc
overturned successfully, but often
they arc not. For example, Denmark
maintains a 20() percent tax on all cars
brought into the country. The Danes
claim that the tax would apply to all
cars, whether imported or domesti
cally produced. There are no car
manufacturers in Denmark.
As we can see from looking at the
EC, problems with a free-trade agree
ment arc inevitable. But, in the long
term, they do not outweigh the bene
fits such a pact would create. In
addition to increases in U.S.-Cana
dian trade, it would be possible for our
two countries to join together in trade
negotiations with other nations, as the
EC does for its 12 members.
A unified position at the world
Economic Summit or the General
Agreement of Tariffs and Trade talks
would give North America far more
influence. Probably even more impor
tant, though, is the political unity that
may arise out of closer relations with
Canada.
Economic disputes such as protec
tionism exacerbate political prob
lems. If the economic disagreements
are resolved with the help of a su
pranational authority, it is all the more
likely that political disagreements
will be easier to resolve. The unity of
the EC was mostevident in the support
of Britain during its war with Argen
tina over the Falkland Islands, as well
as with the dispute with the United
States over the Soviet Union’s Sibe
rian gas pipeline to Western Europe.
Closer tics in the economic realm
gave rise in both cases to better politi
cal unity in Europe. We might do well
to follow Europe in hope of similar
gains.
At present, the United States and
Canada arc the two largest trading
partners in the world. If we are fortu
nate enough to see last week’s “tenta
tive agreement” become a practical
free-trade treaty, the long-term results
will be well worth it. The interdepend
ence of our two nations’ economies
demands an end to the stagnating
policies of protectionism we inflict '
upon ourselves. The first step is the
hardest, and with it behind us, both
economic and political benefits may
be close behind.
Snodgrass is a senior economics
major.
More insight, some hints on bike issue
Reader intrigued
with bike issue
This bicycle controversy thing is
getting intriguing. I’m really getting
into it, so I’m going to speak my mind.
I am a bicycle enthusiast who started
riding at the age of 12, so I’m not just
stepping into the middle of something
where I don’t really have a place to
step in.
In response to Jim Saalfcld’s letter
(Daily Nebraskan, Oct. 14), I would
like to say that Laura Hansen’s letter
(DN, Oct. 12) was directed to the
downtown scope of bicycle riding.
Don’t gel me wrong, Jim, because I’m
not striking you down for what you
wrote; but it came off as a cut-down of
what Hansen wrote. I do sympathize
with you and the rest of the walking
student population who worry about
their safely. I was almost struck once.
1 was glad that the bicycle that almost
hit me had good brakes; otherwise I’d
have missed a few classes. The inci
dent was partially my fault, however,
because I was looking down at the
ground while thinking about material
discussed in a class I had just left. But
the bicyclist apologized, and I could
tell he was sorry by the look on his
face.
Consider, though, a student who
might be in a hurry to get to a class (or
elsewhere) or one who has adjacent
classes on opposite sides of the cam
pus. True, if that student is simply in a
hurry because he/she is going to be
late, it would have been better to have
left a little earlier, gone to bed earlier
the night before or maybe not have
drunk so much the night before. For
wuaicvcr reason, uiai person is in a
hurry (or would simply like the luxury
of being able to take less traveling
time) and is using a bicycle as a faster
means of transportation than legs.
The safety concern is valid, and I
agree that it has posed a problem.
During crowd-passing times between
classes (in the morning and thccarlicst
part of the afternoon), a bicyclist has
to be very careful or else he/she is
going to hamper the general lifestyle
of an innocent student. Think about it
a minute, though. How many bicy
clists on this campus do you think
aren’t aware of the number of students
walking and how careful they should
be while riding? Well, if there arc any,
they shouldnrt own a bicycle in the
first place. Riding a bicycle on cam
pus between classes is like driving a
car downtown during the lunch hour
and other rush hours: if you’re not
careful, you’re going to ruin
someone’s day. People who aren’t
careful or considerate of pedestrians
will learn their lesson, but hopefully
not inflict any damage in the process.
They probably shouldn’t own a bi
cycle, either.
Here’s an idea for those pedestri
ans who arc looking over their shoul
der, etc., for a potential assailant: If
pedestrian traffic isn’t at a peak (i.c.,
between classes or other crowded
times), it would be a great help to those
of us who do ride bicycles (and ulti
mately to you, the pedestrian) if the
edges of sidewalks were used for
walking. This would leave plenty of
room for bicyclists, and a potential
accident-prone situation might just be
prevented. If bicyclists should meet
on the sidewalks, then they should be
able to use their common sense and
experience 10 avoid an accident.
Let’s face it, people, bicycles are
part of our environment — they’re
almost everywhere here in Lincoln;
and come on, we’re all in college. It
shouldn’t be too hard to use common
sense and consideration for everyone
else, pedestrians and bicyclists alike,
to ensure the safety of all. It would
really stink if someone couldn’t go to
classes because he/shc got hurt as a
result of a bicycle-related accident.
I’m not trying to imply that a bicyclist
has to be at fault — a pedestrian who
makes a sudden move can be just as
much to blame. „ , ,
Kirby Dchnel
computer science
U.S. doesn't belong
in Latin America
William Avery had an excellent
guest editorial in the Lincoln Journal
Oct. 8: “Monroe Doctrine: Ignored,
perverted from the beginning.” Avery
notes that the doctrine of 1823 said
that the United States would resist
further European colonization in this
hemisphere and consider any such
attempt a threat to itself. He cites
specific violations of the doctrine
since its inception. It makes no sense,
according to Avery, to claim that this
doctrine should be applied to what is
going on in Central America today. I
agree.
No country in Latin America ac
cepts the continuing U.S. assertion of
the Monroe Doctrine. It is an insult to
their independence and self-determi
nation. Virtually all of these countries
oppose the present U.S. policies in
Central America — even those coun
tries friendly to the United States.
1 hey strongly urge us to support the
peaceful resolution of conflicts in the
area, such as what the Arias Plan
offers.
We need to encourage thought that
problems in the area stem primarily
from unjust social and economic
sfructurcs that have existed in the area
since the coming of the Europeans.
Let’s gel behind the Arias pro
posal, not subvert it with more Contra
aid.
Jean E. Gilbert
College of Nursing
should stay open
Never have I encountered such
poor judgment on behalf of the Uni
versity of Nebraska Board of Regents
in considering closing the Nursing
College. The college is one of the
most comprehensive fields of study at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The men and women in this pro
gram don’t just attend classes and
study on certain evenings to get their
degrees. They also are subject to
much more practical stress. After
their classroom studies are finished,
many of their evenings are spent at
one of the major hospitals in the
Lincoln area perfecting their skills
with hands-on experience.
The level of study in this program
is seldom seen in any of the bachelor
degree programs. So how do we
reward these men and women for
their devotion to their program? By
threatening to pull their funds out
from under their feet. The question
should not be if the college should be
continued, but why more funds are
not being appropriated for the col
lege.
It was pleasing to see that enroll
ment within the Nursing College has
almost doubled from last year. When
you think of all the thousands of
people these future nurses will help
over the years, the funds to keep the
college open are more than well
spent.
If we let a quality component of
the university learning slip from our
grasp, the integrity of UNL will suf
fer. It will become a school that puls
the dollar ahead of the needs of the
students and the entire community.
Harrison C. Taylor
senior
English
One-parent home
is still good home
As the single parent of a child from
a “broken home,” I am offended by
Joel Carlson’s editorial column
(Daily Nebraskan, Oct. 12).
Maturity and responsibility are the
kev factors in one’s ability to be an
effective parent, not the specific
number of parents or whether they
must work outside the home. Let me
assure you, Carlson, the fact that my
ex-husband and I no longer cohabi
tate docs not in any way hinder our
ability to provide good role models
for our child.
Yes, teen-age pregnancy is a prob
lem, and I commend you for calling it
to our attention again. My point is that
many people can be reached through
the editorial pages, and I merely ask
that you use that opportunity to bring
new insight to the issue.
Marian Langan
life sciences
