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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1988)
i Daily ■% I I HfiB awtflfiBdWB * J0gmto St from the SG at $-10 mph. Tuesday Page 6. I ^BB 1 fif Wk V ^B ^JB BT ■ H gBr^B night, increasing cloudiness with a 20 | BklBHaB B Bf H BL(g£ __jK,^gP H Ml percentchanceofshowers,lownear40. Sports: Tennis team wins I Bfi yB H JP M Ay Bl . .^BBB B^B fi^^B H IB Wednesday, partly sunny and warmer, eight matches over the fiJBJ ^UBpJ| high in the mid to upper 60s. weekend —Page 5. AS UN amendment would change appointments By Victoria Ayotte Senior Reporter An amendment to the Bylaws of the Asso ciation of Students of the University of Ne braska would provide a more fair and represen tative system for appointments, said Sen. Stan Mommaerts, graduate student representative. Mommaerts has submitted an amendment to AS UN’s Special Topics Committee that would change how vacancies in the A SUN Senate and boards under its jurisdiction are filled. Senators of a college with a vacant senate seat would become appointments board mem bers for that senate seat under the proposed amendment to Bylaw #1. Under the amend ment, the appointments board would nominate instead of appoint students to positions. Senators from the college are better quali fied to determine the interests of the college more fairly than students who are not enrolled in the college (members of the appointments board), the bill states. “It makes more sense this way,” Mom maerts said. “There is a great potential for abuse in the present system.” Mommaerts said this system would be more democratic and more representative. “No senator stands to lose anything by this and a lot of them stand to gain by this, he said. Kim Beavers, second vice president of AS UN, said she thinks the proposed amend ment has some good points. However, Beavers said she doesn’t support nominations instead of appointments. Appointments are more fair and more repre sentative than nominations, Beavers said. Beavers said she thinks the amendment will come out of committee with some revisions that will make it a good amendment “I’m the first person to say the appointments board last year wasn’t perfect,” she said. “But right now our appointments board is the most diversified it has ever been. We’ve got a lot more people involved.” Beavers said that although three people possibly shouldn’t do the whole appointments process, that’s really the only way to do it. “I think people are overlooking the problem that we need a more representative, diversified body applying for the positions,” Beavers said. Beavers said she would support having one senator from the college with the vacant seat join the appointments board when filling that seat. Mommaerts said one senator in the appoint ments board wouldn’t really make a difference. “It’s like putting a dab of white frosting in the middle of a burnt cake,” Mommaerts said. Jeff Petersen, AS UN president, said he didn’t want to comment on the amendment. The amendment is scheduled for discussion by the committee Wednesday. Prof labels Gulf attacks6 predictable’ By Anne Mohri Senior Reporter Attacks made by the United States against Iran in the Persian Gulf Mon day morning were predictable, said David Forsythe, professor of political science at the University of Me braska-Lincoln. Forsythe said the destruction of two Iranian oil platforms is predict able because the United States has previously attacked aggressors in reprisal. Assuming the mine that hit the U.S. frigate last week was Iranian, the United Stales would be acting in accordance with international law, he said. However, he said, it will be diffi culrto identify the mine since it was destroyed. “One would assume that the U.S. has good intelligence that the mine that hit the American ship was Ira nian,” he said. Considering the politics of the Persian Gulf, it can be assumed that the mine was Iranian because Iran is the only country known to be laying mines, Forsythe said, but that point can be argued. He said it is possible Iraq laid the mine in hopes of having Iran blamed or in hopes of having Iran and the United States exchange fire. The Reagan administration de cided to bomb Libya in 1986 because they assumed Libya was behind the terrorism occurring around the world, Forsythe said, and now it appears Syria was behind it. “And yet we were sure it was Libya, so we bombed Libya," he said. “Now we are sure this was an Iranian mine. Well, how are we so sure?” Forsythe said he would be sur prised if the Iranian report claiming the United Stales had joined military forces with Iraq was true because Iraq initiated the war with Iran. “Of course, the Reagan admini stration has surprised us in the past on various accounts,” he said. It is possible the Reagan admini stration used military force against Iran because of that country’s role in the recent hijacking of a Kuwaiti air liner, Forsythe said. He said there is no doubt Iran cooperated with the hijackers of the Kuwaiti airliner while it briefly touched down in Tehran. Phil Dyer, UNL professor of po litical science, said he questioned what the United Stales wa^ doing in the Persian Gulf in the first place. Once the United States is in the Per sian Gulf, it is inevitable confronta tions may occur, he said. “We’re just throwing our weight around against a country that can’t retaliate,” Dyer said. Reagan says Tehran to pay price By The A»toci«ted Prssi_ WASHINGTON — President Reagan said Monday he ordered military strikes against Iranian tar gets tecause of “irresponsible behavior” toward U.S. ships, and served notice that Tehran will “pay a price” for such aggression in the Persian Gulf. Defending attacks on Iranian military platforms in the southern gulf, Reagan said, “we aim to deter further Iranian aggression, not provoke it.” He renewed the U.S. cal! for Iran to accept a United Nations resolution demanding a cease-fire in the Iran-Intq war . Reagan used an appearance before a business audience to comment on U.S. reprisals for the mining of the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts. His use of force won bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. “I have something in the nature of a bulletin for you,” he told rep resentatives of the Associaied General Contractors organization in the Old Executive Office Build ing auditorium. “Earlier today, our Navy made a measured response to Iran’s latest use of military force against U.S. ships in international waters as well as its continued military and terrorist attacks against a number of nonbelligerents,” Reagan said. “We’ve taken this action to make certain the Iranians have no illusions about the cost of irrespon sible behavior,” Reagan said. “They must know that we will protect our ships, and if they threaten us, they’ll pay a price,” Reagan said. The president told his audience th at “a more normal rela tionship with Iran is desirable and we’re prepared for it." But Reagan said that "such a re lationship is not possible so long as Iran attacks neutral ships, threatens its neighbors, supports terrorism and refuses to end the bloody war with Iraq.” Besides destroying the two off shore Iranian oil platforms used for military purposes, the U.S. Navy either sank or damaged four small Iranian gunboats and bombed two Iranian navy frigates that had fired missiles at U.S. planes. Iran at tacked oil facilities off Sharjah and fired on at least two U.S. vessels. Muslim students fast and pray during holy month By Jerry Guenther Staff Reporter For Ismail Mohamad and other Muslim students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Sunday marked the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan. During Ramadhan, Muslims throughout the world are required to fast in addition to regular Islamic practices, said Mohamad, a graduate chemistry student. Muslims consume no food, water or other drinks from dawn until dusk during Ramadhan, Mohamad said. Mohamad, from Malaysia, said people who are elderly or on medica tion don’t have to fast. But Muslims who break the fast for other reasons must fast after Ramadhan to make up for it During the month, Mohamad said, Muslims eat around 4 a.m. and fast until the sun sets. “It is strongly suggested that you eat before the sun rises when you start your fast,” Mohamad said. “But you eat the same amount that you would normally eat.” Although it would seem difficult to fast for so long, Mohamad said it isn’t that tough. “The first day of fasting is a bit rough, but then it comes naturaliy because we’ve been doing it since we were kids,” Mohamad said. Besides fasting, Mohamad said, married people are supposed to ab stain from sexual activity during the fast time, s Aside from the physical absti ‘It is strongly sug gested that you eat before the sun rises when you start your fast. But you eat the same amount that you would normally eat.' — Mohamad nences of fasting, Norhayati Mohd Yusup, a senior math major from Malaysia, said there are spiritual aspects to Ramadhan too. “Most people read the Quran from beginning to end,” Mohd-Yusup said. The Quran is the sacred book of the Islamic religion. “They try to finish it within that month.” Besides reading the Quran and fasting, Mohd-Yusup said, Muslims are required to pray more during Ramadhan. Ismail Shamjuddin, a graduate student studying architecture at UNL, said that because fasting during the month of Ramadhan is one of the five pillars of the Islamic religion, all Muslims are required to do it. After Ramadhan has ended, Shamjuddin said Muslims celebrate Eid — the day of ideal victory. That day begins when Muslims pray at the mosque and ask for for giveness, Shamjuddin said. The mosque is a place of worship. After ward, they go from house to house to visit relatives and friends, he said. Ahmad Abu-Hamda, a chemical engineering graduate student from Palestine, said Muslim students from various countries at UNL draw closer together during Ramadhan. During the month, more people attend activities such as Quran teach ing and reading at the mosque, Abu Hamda said. Abu-Hamda said among u»e bene fits he gains from fasting, the most obvious is compassion for the poor. “By fasting during the day, we’re sharing in that hungry feeling the poor have, Abuhamda said. £