Students address draft, protesters, DN editing
Professor finds
political tolerance
in Midwest
I enjoyed David Dalton’s recent
attack on Political Correctness and
would like to add a few thoughts from
my own perspective.
First, I have to tell him that P.C. is
not just “another fad in the constantly
sifting mass of Americana.” It is a
new term to describe a range of re
lated attitudes and assumptions that
have dominated the academy for
several decades and which remain
deeply entrenched. When I came here
in 1967 from graduate study in the
East, however, I did find and still find
a markedly greater degree of intellec
tual tolerance. Although I have taken
“politically incorrect” positions on
both political and academic issues, I
have generally been tolerated if some
times condescended to (the Lincoln
Journal once described me as an
“articulate conservative”—the same
adjective that P.C. now tells us we
cannot apply to minorities).
We are indeed better off here in
this respect than are such places as
Oberlin, Duke or Stanford, though I
don’t know whether this is ‘simply
because we are behind the times, as
Dalton argues, or because the heart
land is less susceptible to ideological
fanaticism and bigotry. It may be we
are just phlegmatic — but, after all,
that is one of the reasons the British
were spared a revolution on the French
scale! There are times when apathy is
a virtue and lack of commitment an
act of courage.
In any case, people who value in
tellectual freedom and forthright
speech must remain on the alert, for
even here there are teachers who use
their authority in the classroom less
for educating than for consciousness
raising (i.e., brainwashing). Until
recently, “P.C.” was used mainly as
an abbreviation for Police Constable.
Perhaps the new meaning is not so
very different from the old after all.
R.D, Stock
professor
English
Ample reserves
make draft fears
unwarranted
Once and for all, your readers should
accept the basic reality that there will
be no restoration of the draft.
The president made this clear as
recently as Feb. 5 at a news confer
ence.
Please note that the only people
who have a stake in the draft, who
stand to benefit from a fear of the
draft, arc Nebraskans for Peace and
other anti-war elements. They arc using
this fear to gain recruits.
But the reality is this: We have two
million trained men and women in
uniform in the active forces. We have
one million trained personnel in the
Guard and Reserves. Moreover, we
have an additional 500,000 trained
men and women in the Individual
Ready Reserve.
Will) about 530,000 Americans now
in the Middle East, only 15 percent of
our trained personnel arc participat
ing in the war. This leaves 85 percent
of our armed forces in reserve! With
so many people upon whom we can
call should they be needed, it would
make no sense to activate the draft
and put in uniform thousands of un
trained draftees. Besides, by the lime
any draftees were adequately trained,
the war in the Middle East would be
over.
The all-volunteer force is working
quite well, thank you. So we neither
want nor need the draft, the propa
gandizing of the anti-war crowd not
withstanding!
Joseph W. Johnson, Jr.
deputy public affairs officer
Nebraska Air National Guard
Peace protesters
blinded to reality
of nuclear threat
It seems irorwc that the same people
who have protested nuclear weapons
-LETTERS tTh°e EDITOR
for years are protesting the U S. war
effort against Saddam Hussein. This
madman vigorously has sought nu
clear weapons for years and probably
would use them as terrorist weapons
against civilians if he ever acquired
them. With launch capability, he could
start a nuclear war. Maybe these peace
protesters cannot comprehend the
future threat to world peace Saddam
Hussein would pose without U.S.
intervention because of their passion
for “peace at any price.” Maybe they
think Saddam Hussein will just go
away if we ignore him.
It is also ironic that these same
people who have blind faith for the
“peace at any price” philosophy criti
cize supporters of the troops as hav
ing blind patriotism. Maybe these so
called peace protesters should recon
sider who is blinding themselves to
reality. Using simplistic slogans like
“no blood for oil” is a slap in the face
to our brave soldiers who have shed
their blood in Operation Desert Storm
fighting to protect all of us from the
threat of a would-be nuclear terrorist
such as Saddam Hussein.
Steven Fillman
first year
College of Law
Reader sees irony
in gender-biased
‘He Said’ headline
As I read the review of “He Said,
She Said,” I found it interesting that
the continuation heading for that ar
ticle was simply, “He Said.” Ah, the
irony. Once again, half of the human
race was taken out of the picture
because someone, somewhere deemed
her side as less important, or for that
matter, non-existent. Would this have
happened if a woman had chosen the
title? Perhaps, but probably not. Have
you anything to say for yourself, MR.
Editor?
J.M. MacMillan
senior
general studies
MR. Editor’s note: Ah, the irony.
MS. Julie Naughton, the Daily
Nebraskan arts and entertainment
editor, wrote the “He Said” jump
headline. MS. Naughton does not
believe women are non-existent, very
possibly because she is one.
People can find
ways to avoid
taking part in war
Since Richard Schmidt has dared
me, I will gladly pick up his gauntlet.
“You are stupid.” Not only are you
stupid, but you are irresponsible,
impudent and narrow-minded as well.
Mr. Schmidt pretends to “educate”
us and Lisa Donovan in particular,
who had written an article claiming
she couldn’t support the troops since
they were instruments of an unjust
policy, by saying that “It is GOV
ERNMENT that determines ... pol
icy.” The troops merely carry it out,
and therefore arc blameless.
Mr. Schmidt, I hope that one day
you may live in a totalitarian state,
because your creed of unquestioning
obedience to authority will be richly
rewarded there. This is the samecrced
asserted by Nazi officers at the Nurem ■
burg trials. They were merely “fol
lowing orders.” Unfortunately, it is
becoming alarmingly widespread in
our democratic society. We want to
blame the government, blame soci
ety, blame our environment, blame
anyone but ourselves for our mis
takes. There is now even “no-faull”
car insurance.
However, in real life, there arc
ways to avoid these mistakes, just as
there are ways, even for a soldier in
the army, to avoid becoming an in
strument of an unjust policy. No, Colin
Powell never asked George Bush if
he could go to war. But.hccould have
quietly protested and perhaps have
gotten a command in the Far East or
in Central America, perhaps with a
small demotion. Last fall, an Air Force
genera! leaked some of the Penta
gon’s war plans to the press and was
quickly relieved of his duties in the
Middle East. His hands are clean of
the bloodshed that has followed. Closer
to home, Guardsman Gary Hanna
applied for conscientious objector
status. Although subjected to wither
ing public ridicule, Hanna’s courage
has resulted in his maintaining a clear
conscience.
Of course, it is hard not to sympa
thize with the poor and middle-class
soldiers who joined the Reserves or
Guards in order to be able to go to
college and get a chance at the Ameri
can Dream. But our sympathy must
not blind us to the reality that they are
pawns of a contemptible foreign pol
icy to foist our will upon a country
and region that posed no threat to us.
Chas Baylor
junior
arts and sciences
Crank calls
to foreign students
un-American
When I read the article by Tabitha
Hiner (DN, Feb. 18) about the threat
ening phone calls being made to Zafar
Abrass and Nadeem Yousef, I was
shocked. How can one man be so
cruel to another man who is merely
practicing his given right to the free
dom of speech? Abrass and Yousef
may or may not be American citizens
(and it is not important in relation to
the phone calls), but they live and
study in America, making them sub
ject to American laws as well as
American freedoms. Foreign students
from all over the world add cultural
enhancement and diversity to Amer
ica, not criticism.
1 will admit that I do not know all
that was said by all parties involved,
but I do know that no one person has
the right to condemn another for
expressing their personal opinions and
beliefs in a public place, no matter
who they are or where they are from.
After all, this is America, and we do
not do that here; that is what is sup
posed to make this such a great coun
try to live in. Threatening phone calls
made to a total stranger are not only
idiotic, but also childish.
I o whomever made the threaten
ing phone calls: Why don’t you come
forward? Express your opinions per
sonally, don’t call these two people
and remain anonymous like a cow
ard If you are an American citizen,
then I feel ashamed for you, because
America does not spawn cowards.
Tracy Mohrbachcr
junior
cultural anthropology
Support, protest
reasons not based
in clear-cut logic
Lisa Donovan’s article delineat
ing two ways she thinks people may
feel about the war (DN, Feb. 19) is an
example of what I’ve found myself
fondly referring to in recent years as
“runaway logic.” To so strictly pre
scribe such a complexity as war is,
well, “illogical” to use a term Dono
van may appreciate.
I think that supporting the troops,
vet not the war, is an alternative,
however palatable or not that may
seem to Donovan or others. This is
not to say this option for viewing the
war is a third and final option, or that
it is as simplistic as any other alterna
tive may appear in a quick reference
to it, as in this letter to the editor.
While Donovan calls for feelings
“for or against the war without quali
fications,” I think discussing almost
anything in life cannot be considered
only in such linear ways. Can we
really think that a parent of someone
who died in the war thinks only in
such a black-or-white fashion? That
he or she feels only in such a way?
That anyone lives this way?
To speak, write, or live in only the
kind of “logical” ways Donovan looks
for, is like thinking or feeling in a
room withoutany windows. Or doors.
As long as you never leave the room,
everything makes sense.
Pamela Moravec
Nebraska legislative employee
UNL ‘83
Female students
applauded for
courage to speak
As women students at this univer
sity, we would like to applaud Carey
Nesmith and Jo Falkenburg, first-year
medical students at UNMC, on their
courageous outcry about the atroci
ties ofinstitutionalized sexism within
their academic program.
It is so wonderful to hear intelli
gent young women standing up for
themselves, instead of behaving like
lemmings, as so many young people
do. Unfortunately, there are probably
many people who feel these two young
women are “stepping out of line.” Is it
out of line to ask to be treated as the
competent person one is assumed to
be, when one is admitted to a gradu
ate medical program? Is it out of line
to ask for proper instruction lor ad
ministering breast examinauons, when
breast cancer is a leading cause of
death for over half the population of
the United States? Is it out of line to
demand the quality education you are
paying for and donating years of your
life to? We think not.
Many would like to believe that
our education system is fair. Many
would like to believe that women,
men, disabled students, students of
color, white students, gay and lesbian
students and heterosexual students all
receive the same “goods” they pay
for when they enter college. Sadly,
this is only a myth.
In closing, we quote from “On
Lies, Secrets, and Silence” by Adri
enne Rich:
“When a woman is admitted to
higher education — particularly gradu
ate school—it is often made to sound
as if she enters a sexually neutral
world of ‘disinterested’ and ‘univer
sal’ perspectives. It is assumed that
coeducation means the equal educa
tion, side by side, of women and men.
Nothing could be further from the
truth; and nothing could more effec
tively seal a woman’s sense of her
secondary value in a man-centered
world than her experience as a ‘privi
leged’ woman in the university — if
she knows how to interpret what she
lives daily.”
Bravo Carey and Jo! Don’t let the
system eat you up.
Judith Alexander
senior
English and music
Anne Routon
senior
English and math
Robyn Larsen
sophomore
English
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