Editorial
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pi *1 Curt Wagner, Editor, 472 1766
_ — LJclliy ^ Mike Rr.illcy, Editorial Page Editor
pk j /% ■■‘Miyii j—11 *-*^*&*l Diana Johnson, Managing Editor
I ^1 r®[JmSKrf I 1 Lee Rood, Associate News Editor
1 I — " ■. Bob Nelson. Wire Page Editor
University of Nebrasks-Uncoln Andy Pollock. Columnist
Craig Heckman, Columnist
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Democracy at work
ASUN plans to hear
minority input tonight
? rpt *** S*®41®41 aspect of democracy is that citizens
I;:; haw a voice m deciding who will be elected and
what laws will he enacted.
This may be the worn part of democracy, too, because
citizens don't always raise their voices.
This cannot happen at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln. Especially not now.
Members of the Afirikan People’s Union and other
minority student groups, and members of the Association
of Students of the University of Nebraska, will meet
tonight at 7 p.m. at Commonplace, 333 N. 14th St.
Tne meeting tonight was the result of a Sept. 14 ASUN
meeting. ASUN senators were considering two bills
dealing with improved conditions for campus minorities
and minority faculty recruitment. APU president Terry
Goods and member James Morris told ASUN they were
not consulted about the bills, even though members of
APU and other minority student groups would be affected
by the bills.
I Tonight’s meeting is very important for ASUN, the
APU and all UNL students. ASUN has the chance to
listen to students who will be affected by its legislation.
But the process won't work unless individuals show up
and let their voices be heard.
—Ctrt W&f»«r
for the Daily Nebraskan
I What others think
Parking oversold at students' expense
• Owning a parking sticker at the University of Idaho
doesn't necessarily guarantee you a parking space.
Last year, the university oversold red-zone parking
J permits by 126 percent and blue-zone permits by 115
percent. That means the university sold more than twice
i the number of parking stickers than there were spaces
j available.
Why? According to Parking Director Tom Lapointe,
the university’s stance is that it’s mine functional to
oversell and it enables the university to stretch its parking
budget — ail at the expense of the campus community.
— The Argonaut
University ofiJaho
' * -l
* The University of Kansas finally will be getting a new
performing arts center. After more than half a century of
complaints from students, faculty and performers who
reject Hocn Auditorium as a substitute for the real thing,
the outcry will be hushed.
So bravo for Campaign Kansas, the largest fund-raising
drive for private donations in the university’s history. The
dnve had an initial goal of $100 million, but that was
raised to $ 150 million because of the campaign’s success.
In only four months, Campaign Kansas has netted $81
million, and the drive still has more than four years to go.
Most of all, bravo to the Lied Foundation of Omaha,
which donated $10 million needed to help finance the
Thanks to this donation, future Ku students will
portunity to see top performers, con
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Americans take too much heat
South Koreans protesting Olympics should put up or shut up
It’s as predictable as the
leaves falling from the trees
every autumn.
Just turn on the television news
any given night. You’ll be treated to
the sight of masses of angry foreign
ers burning American flags and
screaming about how the United
States has once again made their lives
miserable.
Just like clockwork, it has hap
pened again.
At Friday’soptningccrcmoniesof
the Summer Olympics in Seoul,
South Korea, anti-American demon
strations raged throughout the city.
More than 300 students chanted
“Yankee,gohome!”at Korea Univer
sity while more than 400 South Ko
rean riot police desperately tried to
maintain order and keep the incidents
from moving closer to Olympic
competition sites.
The students were demonstrating
primarily against the United States
for “helping to enforce the division ol
Korea” and for “not allowing the
North Koreans to participate” in the
Games.
As if the United States decided
cither of those issues.
Chants of “Oppose dictators’
Olympics” rang out at every demon
stration, The Associated Press re
ported Sunday, and effigies of Ameri
can leaders and nuclear weapons
were burned.
They may as well have had the
1988 Summer Olympics in Beirut
But the demonstrations high
lighted an alarming international
trend that s been growing steadily
since the mid-1960s
During the last several years, most
of the world has decided to come
down hard on the United States for
whatever problems exist, whether the
United Stales was to blame or not.
Nowadays, everything is our fault.
It’s almost enough to give me an
inferiority complex.
Some nations have legitimate
giipes. After World War II, the
United States assumed a self-ap
pointed hegemonic leadership role.
This country was virtually the only
one on earth left unscathed by the war.
U.S. industry was intact, the economy
was strong and American military
power was unsurpassed.
With that in mind, the American
politicians began to rebuild the world.
Unfortunately, politicians that played
God left a trail of repressive puppet
govemments and resentful feelings
for which Americans are suffering 40
yei/s later.
American influence after World
War II is responsible for millions of
unjustified deaths in nations where
the United Stales installed govern
ments that satisfied U.S. politicians’
tastes.
Countries that were once U.S. al
lies, like Iran and Libya, are now U.S.
enemies. Nations that once helped the
United States out of a bind, like the
Western European nations, couldn’t
care less anymore.
Unless, of course, something’s in
it for them.
For example, when the Reagan
administration became desperate for
deterrences against terrorism in the
early 1980s, Western Europe ignored
U.S. pleas for unified trade embar
goes and diplomatic pressure. As a
result, American leaders felt the need
to resort to military action against
Libya with the bombing of Tripoli in
April 1986.
Even then, American “allies”
denounced the U.S. action as unnec
essary and said it would only open
doors to new terrorist activity.
France, which American troops
have liberated twice this century from
German occupation, wouldn’t even
allow U.S. aircraft to fly over French
soil en route to Libya. As a result, the
planes were forced to fly around
Europe, over the Atlantic Ocean.
Flying time of the planes was in
creased by 11 hours.
Now, South Korean students
throw fire bombs and shout obsceni
ties at American tourists. These same
students arc allowed to demonstrate
only because they live in a democracy
preserved by U.S. liberation of their
hole-in-the-wall nation after the
North Korean invasion of 1950.
Many of these students would
never have been bom if not for U.S.
involvement in Korea in the early
1950s. Certainly, many would not be
alive now had the United Slates not
kept troops in South Korea after the
end of the Korean War. North Korea
would have swept in years ago.
But now, they want the “Yankees”
to go home.
“And lake those damn troops with
you, too.”
No argument here. I agree. The
United States should pull out of South
Korea right now. Today, even.
Troops, tanks, planes, everything.
While we’re at it, maybe we should
bring home all our businesses ar.d
other financial assets, loo.
After all, that’s what those edu
cated South Koreans want
And why stop there? The United
Slates should just bring everything
home from everywhere else, too.
Western Europeans are always
screaming for the Americans to go
h jme and mind their own business.
Sure! Americans should get out —
and lake with them every American
dollar on the continent.
I wonder how long it would take to
plow those fields without U.S. tech
nology. Before long, the population
of Western Europe wouldn’t have
adequate food to gel up even enough
energy to bum an American flag.
There arc millions of Americans
out of jobs and living on the streets.
There arc millions of citizens in for
eign nations who have U.S compa
nies to thank for their jobs.
By the same token, millions of
workers here have foreign corpora
tions to thank for their employment.
But the difference is what those work
ers do on the weekends.
American workers seldomly bum
Japanese or West German Hags. The
United States didn’t receive billions
of dollars worth of aid to rebuild its
economy and then say: “We don’t
need your help anymore, so gel the
hell out!”
U.S. policy insists that we send
food and aid to nations w ho thank us
by burning our Hag and chanting anti
American slogans. Why?
Food can be belter used here at
home. Then, by all means, send the
excess food to help out the rest of the
world — but only then.
That may sound pretty uncaring,
but think about it. If your family needs
food, would you give it away to
strangers who will call you names
after they get it?
In the 1920s, when the United
States practiced isolationism to per
fection, American society prospered.
Other than the immediate post-World
War II years, it was the most finan
cially successful time in U.S. history.
It can be accomplished again and
from the sound of world opinion,
everyone involved will be happy.
Ahh, to be president for a day .. •
Greco to a news-editorial and criminal
justice n^jor and is the Daily Nebraskan's
copy desk cktef and First Damn Magazine