Editorial
-j-^l Eric Pfanner, Editor, 472-1766
L/dliy Victoria Ayotte, Managing Editor
. "^T | — ^ ^ "1 _ _ Darcic Wiegert, Associate News Editor
P JL Diane Brayton Associate News Editor
j Jana Pedersen, Wire Editor
Editorial Board Emily Rosenbaum, Copy Desk Chief
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Ljsa o^an, Editorial Page Editor
Quibbles and bits
Private donation could be better used
Maybe Tom Osborne could reline his pockets.
Nebraska’s football coach will receive 5-perccnt interest
| from a $250,(XX) endowment fund. The 5-pcrcent stipend —
about $12,500 a year — will be tacked on to Osborne's
$114,000 annual salary. Future coaches also will be eligible for
the interest.
We can all rest better now, knowing that Osborne and future
football coaches will live well above the poverty level.
Granted, the Gail and Dan W. Cook III Chair for Football
fund is a private donation, but surely there could be better uses
for the money within the athletic department — especially
j because Osborne already wanted to turn down the 8-percent
i raise he received this summer.
I Student athletes deserve congratulations
Student athletes deserve a hearty high-five as they DARE
area youngsters to stop using drugs.
More than 100 University of Nebraska-Lincoln athletes have
volunteered their free time to work the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education booth at the Nebraska State Fair.
It’s good to see athletes take time out from their already
busy schedules to help out the state’s youngsters.
l Condom companies have responsibility
Sexually active college students aren’t the only ones who
need to be responsible. The manufacturers can be equally liable
— or so some University of Arkansas students may find out.
Apparently some of the thousands of condoms distributed in
the UA student newspaper before spring break 1990 were de
fective.
Safctcx Corp., which provided the condoms, is recalling the
Saxon Ultra-Thin latex condoms it distributed between June
1989 and July 1990.
If only the company could recall all the problems the
condoms caused ...
Fraternity charity drive makes change
The men of Sigma Chi Fraternity deserve a pat on the back.
This year, the annual Sigma Chi Derby Daze charity drive
has made some great advances.
While passers-by who drop change in the various jars, which
have the names of UNL sororities on the front, may not notice,
there’s a world of difference.
Last year a sorority representative’s snapshot accompanied
the name of each house. No more.
So while you’re walking by the north end of the Nebraska
Union, drop some change in your favorite sorority’s jar.
-Lisa Donovan
for the Daily Nebraskan
U.S. military mocked
in pitiful demonstration
This letter is in response to a piti
ful anti-war demonstration that I wit
nessed in front of the Military and
Naval Sciences Building on Sept. 5.
I could not believe the lack of
preparedness on the part of the dem
onstrators. It is shameful that people
trying to get across the message, “don’t
kill for oil,’’ circumvented the issue
by mocking the military (they fell
into a ragged formation and barked
out bogus commands) and they did so
in such an unorganized manner: There
was only one small sign explaining
the purpose of the demonstration,
demonstrators stood around looking
like they did not know what was going
on and there were no verbal outcries
supporting actions of the protestors.
In addition to this, the attempted
demonstration took place in front of
the Military and Naval Sciences Build
ing - a building filled with people
least likely to hope for war because
they would be the ones who who
would be fighting and dying.
Why not demonstrate to the people
with the power to decide to go to wai
or not? The Capitol, the governor's
mansion or any other govemrneni
agency would be appropriate. Why
anger those who may fight? Start by
motivating our elected leaders.
The last disgrace that I will men
lion is the group attempting to sing
anti-U.S. involvement chants. Some
demonstrators laughed when they
incorrectly recited the words. How
sincere these people are about being
anti-war activists - laughing while
participating in their own demonstra
tion. If something is done, it should
be done right. When our generation is
blamed for being blas6 about politi
cal issues, I think I *d rather be labeled
as such before being labeled * ‘a rebel
without a clue.”
Sandy Burnham
sophomore
chemistry
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QUICK QUESllONMEfc ON
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DR. REAPER IS HERE
TO GRkDE mo EVMO^TL
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I
Peace deserves chance in Gulf
America's desert shield in place to protect crude oil, not sand
Saddam Hussein is not the sav
ior of the Arab nation. He is a
tyrant. He is a bully. His inva
sion of Kuwait was unjustified. It was
wrong. But his transgressions do not
justify a U.S. military presence in the
Persian Gulf.
Is the United States there to save
democracy and protect the rights of
free nations? What about stopping
“unjustified aggression?”
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have
terrible human-rights records and
neither is a democracy. They couldn’t
care less about the United States stand
ing up for the ideals of democracy
and freedom.
If unjustified aggression is the
problem, why didn’t the United States
occupy the Gulf when Iran attacked
Iraq 10 years ago? Why not invade
southern Africa to handle the aggres
sion of South Africa? Why didn’t the
United States take action when the
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan?
W/Vki; rv/\f in\.-orU f
all comers of the world experiencing
“unjustified aggression?” Why not
send the military in to New York City?
Oil makes this latest crisis differ
ent from the examples above. The
United States gets most of its oil from
Saudi Arabia. Japan, a country not
normally supportive of our military
involvements and one of the United
States’ largest creditors, gets most of
its oil from Kuwait.
President Bush claims that we also
are keeping Saddam from invading
Saudi Arabia. It never has been suffi
ciently proven that Saddam was plan
ning to invade. Why didn’t he take
advantage of Saudi Arabia’s vulnera
bility just before the United States
moved in? He had his chance.
Consider that Saddam’s primary
motivation was his dispute with Kuwait
over oil. Secondly, Saddam claims
that Kuwait is a part of Iraq, not an
independent state. It is reasonable to
assume that he was not headed for
Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was not
involved until the United States cafhe
into the picture.
If you are still worried about Saudi
Arabia, consider this: Why not make
Saudi Arabia economically worthless
to Saddam? Impose sanctions on the
country. It’s a small sacrifice to make
for freedom.
And what about sanctions against
Iraq? Bush seemed very gung-ho about
sanctions. Unfortunately, we will never
know if sanctions imposed witnout
military presence would have worked.
Bush never gave them a chance.
It’s frightening to sec how things
have escalated. At first it seemed that
Bush was not necessarily going to
involve the U.S. military. But once
we realized our foreign oil sources
were threatened, his rhetoric became
considerably more heated. It is easy
to imagine John Wayne pounding the
table, saying, “This will not stand!”
The rhetoric has gotten worse.
Saddam ha^hp/'n rnmnamH tn N.il.^r
Yes, his actions do vaguely resemble
Hitler’s actions at the beginning of
World War II. But he is not Hitler.
Hitler is dead. This is just propaganda
used in an attempt to dehumanize
him. It seems much easier to kill a
modem incarnation of a Na/i than it
does to kill just another soldier being
used as a pawn in a game played for
money and oil.
This dangerous idea of a “last
resort” consistently has forced the
United States into using the military.
It s a self-fulfilling prophecy. From
the beginning, the United States as
sumes military force will be needed.
In the end, it has been needed.
When will our world leaders stop
underestimating themselves as lead
ers? They are not giving themselves a
chance to prove themselves by actu
ally handling a crisis without sending
in the Marines. I wonder if any of our
leadership knows or cares to learn
how to solve a problem diplomati
cally. That is a true test of leadership.
It can be a dangerous and frighten
ing decision to make. We have gotten
used to using the military. Non-vio
lence is new, partially unexplored
territory. But it has been done. Don’t
forget the Judeo-Christian ethic of
“Thou shalt not kill.** These arc not
vague terms. Ghandi led India to lib
eration from imperialist Great Britain
with non-violent action. Martin Lu
ther King Jr. helped found a move
ment on non-violent action. And in
the end our wars have been settled
with non-violent action at the treaty
table.
Remember, the important words
here are non-violent and action.
Nobody suggests we sit down and
wait for people like Saddam to lake
over. It is absurd to think that non
violence implies inaction.
Non-violence is the only humane
course of action to take. And anyone
w ho tells me that we cannot engage in
what is considered humane activity
docs not understand the meaning of
the word humane. They also underes
timate the human race.
It has never been proved that we
must solve our problems with vio
lence. It has, however, been proved
tvxri'iKlo that iup eon caK/P ihpm U/ •ih.
out it.
Tough decisions have to be made.
We have gone too long taking the
easy way out. And yes, it is the easy
way out. 1 am not saying that our
leaders don’t agonize over ordering
men and women into combat. But we
are used to it and it seems easier than
the alternative.
Men and women throughout his
tory have b^en trained to kill and die.
Others have been trained to order
these men and women to kill and die.
The use of the military has become a
way of life for most of the world.
It is scary to think that there are in
excess of a million Arab and U.S.
troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
Iraq. They are ready to use tanks,
machine guns, helicopters, bombs and
missiles to kill each other. They are
even ready to use chemical or nuclear
weapons “as a last resort.” This
behavior has been going on since the
beginning of history. It must stop
sometime. If not now, when?
Erk Aspengren is a freshman philosophy
and aesthetks major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
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