Editorial
!"' -—
_ p. . I Curt Wagner, Editor, 472-1766
Amy lid wards, Editorial Page Editor
IVTI r ^ Janc 1Il,t- Managing Editor
I \| P ijl Q 1^ CM II Lee Rood, Associate News Editor
^ J. MVJaVvU L Diana Johnson, Wire Page Editor
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chuck Green, Copy Desk Chief
Lisa Donovan, Columnist
What others think
Committee looks at ethnic studies plan
•... the general education committee of the College of
Arts and Sciences is scheduled to consider an ethnic
studies graduation requirement proposal.
The proposal is the work of the Association of Students
of the University of Washington Racism Task Force,
which formed last spring after several publicized incidents
of racism occurred on the UW campus.
The proposal asks that more classes from the American
Ethnic, Afro-American, American Indian, Asian American
and Chicano studies programs be added to the current
distribution list of the arts and sciences college.
The proposal also asks that students majoring in arts
| and sciences be required to take 10 credits in courses that
“deal with the American ethnic minority experience.”
\ Under the proposal, those courses do not have to be from
{ one of the ethnic studies departments named above.
... The proposal allows for ethnic studies credits to
[ also count for credit in either the social science or the
l language and literature portion of the humanities distribu
tion lists.. ..
Part of what the task force hopes will be accomplished
with the ethnic studies requirement is to educate students
op the cultures of different ethnic groups.
... Ethnic studies courses not only teach students about
non-white cultures, but also cover many areas such as the
numerous and opposing theories of race relations, history
of the United States that is either ignored totally in the
secondary schools or only glanced over, and different
forms and styles of fiction, music and drama.
-The Doily
University of Washington
• If you’ve been following the Student’s Association
j campaigns these last few days, you’ll have noticed that
two issues keep coming up.
The first is the student government’s image problem -
the fact that a great number of students regard UT student
| government as an ineffectual joke. The second is the
I proposal that a student seat be added to the UT System
| Board of Regents.
What may not be clear, however, is how closely the two
| issues are connected.
... You see, most people who complain about the
n. j . . A a . 1.1 .« • i n a • • /*/* • « • . t
oiuucm /Asscmuiy umiK o/a is lnciiccuve Dccause li uraws
l ineffective people.
Those critics, however, get cause and effect reversed:
| If in fact the SA draws too many ineffective people, that’s
« because the regents have systematically deprived student
I government of effectiveness.
And the regents make many other decisions that di
rectly affect students’ educational experiences and oppor
? tunities...
But can we really expect a student to be able to grasp
the issues the board has to confront? Of course we can...
What’s more, non-student members of the board often
\ require as much training and orientation as any student
member would. Remember: Very few members of the UT
System Board of Regents have any special expertise in
education issues.
In order for UT student government to recover its
power to support a variety of substantial student pro
grams, students need an advocate on the Board of Regents .
who can stress students’ need for -- and right to - a
strong, independent, autonomous student government_
- The Daily Texan
University ef Texas
letter _
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
brief letters to the editor from all
readers and interested others.
Letters will be selected for publi
cation on the basis of clarity, original
ity, timeliness and space available.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right
to edit all material submitted.
Readers also are welcome to sub
mit material as gues^ opinions.
Whether material should run as a let
ter or guest opinion, or not to run, i;
left to the editor’s discretion.
Letters and guest opinions sent t<
the newspaper become the propert;
of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot bi
returned.
Submit material to the Daily Nc
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 14001
^tv Lincoln, Neb, 685^8-0448. ,,
7N0 frfAR...£
mmVu jujt
.PUTA NlwoNl.
Ss-vs" I
» v\~\ iB
Ethics missing in North’s trial!
Longsine compares federal case to problems on campus leve H
Honestly, I haven’t been fol
lowing the trials and tribula
tions of Oliver North. Has he
been acquitted yet? Or has the trial
simply halted for lack of non-classi
fied, non-shreddcd information?
There is a thoroughly documented
case involving the purchase of some
silk or lace for Fawn Hall, but I was
hoping that the special prosecutor
was going after more than the return
of $36.95 to National Security Coun
cil petty cash.
Just because I don’t know any
thing about it doesn’t mean that 1
don’t have an opinion on it. This is
America and I’m entitled to have an
opinion on anything, despite Meese’s
best efforts. If history is any guide,
my deepest convictions should be
about that which I know the least.
That’s another story though.
Join with me in reciting the
American Creed on the Iran-Contra
Affair.
I believe that Lt. Col. Oliver North
is guilty of crimes more serious than
theft, but short of treason.
I believe that then President
Ronald “I believe in the book of
Revelations” Reagan played an ac
tive role in approving North’s at
tempts at circumventing the prohibi
tion set down by Congress against
funding the armed group known as
the Contras.
i uciicvu mai men rresiacni
Ronald “Trees cause more air pollu
tion every year than automobiles”
Reagan may have forgotten that he
did indeed approve these fund-rais
ing activities.
I believe that North was directed
by his superiors to perform various
tasks which he and they knew to be of
questionable legality.
I believe that William Casey and
George Bush haddirecl knowledge of
North’s actions and might be in
cluded among those as of yet un
named superiors which form the basis
of North’s defense.
I believe that people who have
“Ollie for President*’ posters, T
shirts, bumper-stickers and coffee
mugs are guilty of poor taste.
I believe that North is innocent in
the eyes of the law until proven
- guilty, and that he has the right to a
» fair trial.
Despite the fact that I don’t agree
) with North’s actions (selling arms to
t the Ayatollah is not a good idea, ask
; Salman Rushdie). I am no longer
convinced that he should spend time
• behind bars, or even on a minimum
* security golf course.
North is still convinced that he did
nothing wrong, although he should be
convinced otherwise. But using him
as the scapegoat is perhaps a greater
evil. The special prosecutor, natu
rally, wants to see someone held
accountable for breaking the laws of
the land with malice and forethought.
The central problem lies with
North’s defense. His actions thus far
demonstrate extreme loyalty to
Ronald “ICBM’s arc recallable”
Reagan and might still be considered
admirable. North docs not want to get
up on the stand and say “the presi
dent, vice president, and the director
of the CIA not only were aware of my
every action, but even directed me in
my effort to provide support to the
Contras.”
r " — ~ 11
I
Instead, he wants to quietly sub
poena documents which will demon
strate that fact when he talks vaguely
of his superiors. North doesn’t care if
these portions of the trial take place in
secret. He certainly doesn’t want
these documents made public any
more than the Bush administration
docs. The only person North wants to
see those documents is the judge.
The administration doesn’t want
that. Why, what if, a year from now,
the judge tells his girlfriend, and she
tells her husband, and he tells the
press? Ghastly!
The central issues here all involve
ethics. It was wrong for North to what
he did, whether he was told to do it by
President Ronald “We begin bomb
ing in five minutes’’ Reagan, or not.
It would also be wrong for our coun
try to convict and sentence North for
something we all know he did after
denying him access to documents
needed for his defense.
Ethics arc not wholly a forgotten
art, by the way. Residence Hall Asso
ciation members recently had a bout
of ethics and thoroughly lambasted
the space to my right, (your left)
which unlike my space, represents
the official opinion of the Daily
Nebraskan. That doesn’t prevent it, in
my opinion, from being wrong on
occasion. Even though Sen. Malt
Wickless was within his rights to
spend, with his committee, their
remaining SI3.50 at Burger King, I
think it is important for some senator®
to question the ethics involved. Sue®
persons should run for other govern®
ment offices and counter the Ion®
standing government principle that®
one has taxpayer’s money left at ih®|
end of the fiscal year, one shoul®
spend it. ^
I was thrilled to see that the issue®
despite it’s technical legality, wa®
cause for debate. It is an interesting®
comparison between RHA and th®
Association of Students of the Uni®
versity of Nebraska. RHA has a tiny®
pittance of a budget (ASUN spend®
more than the entire RHA budget on®
photocopies and other printing ex®
penses each year) and yet most of the®
time, most of the senators attend mos®
of the RHA meetings. m
Wednesday night on the local®
news ASUN was featured promi-H
nently. The opening shot was simply®
the senate meeting with the typical®
attendance level of about 2/3 ol the®
senators. T-'
Every year RHA senators work (in®
vain, I might add) for the two issues®
of primary concern to their constitu-®
ents, visitation rights and the other®
one. They also contribute to educa-®
tional and recreational activities in®
the halls.
Former ASUN senates, in con-H
trast, have stood by while the NUB
Board of Regents pass sweeping®
changes in their jurisdiction over k
student fees, leaving them with token B
control. ASUN was out to lunch when
the Regents grabbed Freedom 0.
Speech by the neck and slashed her
campus speaker’s programs.
There is one option, though. Very
soon you will have the opportunity to
vote for new leadership for ASUN.
Vote for the only serious party:
SLUMBR. Rather than suggesting,
like their opponents, that ASUN has
an image problem that can be coun
tered with a Committee on Good
Public Relations or some such bu
reaucratic monster, McArthur and
SLUMBR have set about finding is
sues that arc important and taking
real, public stands. The most interest
ing and important of these is the issue
of on-campus condom distribution.
The SLUMBR campaign buttons
feature a slogan and a condom.
Longsine is a senior international affairs
and economics major and a Daily Nebraskan
editorial columnist.
