CHRIS HALLIGAN
Major ills snubbed for AIDS
It was a typical Wednesday morn
ing. I awoke at the chime of 7
a.m., exactly four hours from
when I went to bed, stumbled down to
the kitchen to brew my first pot of joe,
and proceeded to the front porch to
get my Lincoln Star. Everything was
right on schedule, until I opened up
my paper and re^d the headline
splashed over the front page, “Johnson
Scolds Bush.” My morning was ru
ined.
As usual, we got to hear about the
AIDS epidemic and its devastating
effects on America’s society. We heard
the cry for more federal funding for
research. We got to see our president,
again, put on the burner about yet
another subject that people think he is
neglecting.
To me, the whole country seems to
be neglecting many other tragic sick
nesses affecting millions more people
than AIDS.
Having not been under the impres
sion that Earvin “Magic” Johnson,
our HIV-infected sports god, was a
political aficionado, I read about how
he went to Washington, D.C., to tell
President Bush he was irresponsible
in the handling of the so-called un
avoidable AIDS epidemic. He told
our president that “he needs to do a
lot” and that “he hasn’t done a lot.”
This is certainly a profound state
ment from an individual who proba
bly didn’t care much himself before
he found out that he was one of the
“innocent” victims.
It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten
my Wheaties yet, because they proba
bly would have found themselves back
in my bowl after reading that article.
Although our divine Magic’s hy
pocrisy can make even the strongest
of stomachs chum, I began to realize
something even more sickening. AIDS
has become the “trendy disease.”'
Everyone’s talking about it. One
would think the Black Plague had
returned from the Dark Ages to elimi
nate the sinners of the 20th century. It
seems as though Her Majesty Eliza
beth — Elizabeth Taylor, that is —
has received more press about her
contributions to the AIDS foundation
than the fall of the Soviet Empire has.
Magic Johnson jerked more tears
out of this country when he publicly
announced that he had contracted the
AIDS virus than when our hostages
were finally released from Lebanon.
Where have our priorities gone?
Possibly, we are, again, victims of
To me. the whole
cmalrx seems to be
neglecting many.
other tragic sick
nesses affecting mil
lions more people
than AIDS.
misinformation. So instead of focus
ing solely on the AIDS problem and
filtering more and more money into
research on the disease, let’s first
look at the statistics regarding AIDS
and some of the less “popular” dis
eases that are affecting our country
today.
According to the National AIDS
Information Clearing House, 202,843
diagnosed cases of AIDS have been
reported in the last 10 years. That
averages out to about 20,000 cases a
year. Ofthose 202,843 cases, 130,687
people have died. Federal funding for
AIDS research already amounts to
S4.25 billion dollars annually. AIDS,
with the exception of several extremely
isolated cases, is 100 percent pre
ventable.
The American Cancer Society
reported 1.1 million new cases of
cancer in 1991 alone. Of that number,
514.000 people died of the disease
last year. With the exception of the
191.000 cases of lung and oral cancer
caused by smoking and chewing to
bacco, the disease has a very low
preventability rate. Cancer victims
arc almost always predisposed to
contract the disease by heredity.
What’s even more shocking than
this is that federal funding for re
search about this disease is zero.
According to the American Dia
betes Association, a whopping 6 per
cent of the American population has
diabetes. That amounts to about 14
million cases. Diabetes kills more
than 150,(XX) people a year and is
completely unpreventable, although
sometimes controllable through ex
tremely stringent environments.
Again, federal funding for research,
according to the Diabetes Associa
tion, is nil.
The American Heart Association
reports that 65.9 million Americans
have one or more forms of heart or
blood vessel disease. Of that number,
978,500 of these individuals will die
in 1991. That is 46.6 percent of all
U.S. deaths in 1991. Surprisingly
enough, heart disease is caused by
heredity and is only about 20 percent
preventable.
Federal funding? Nada.
AIDS is a disease that has devas
tated various groups in our society. It
has robbed us of gifted artists. It has
wiped out entire populations in Af
rica while continuing to spread its
black sheet over that entire continent.
However, on our homefront, AIDS is
still extremely isolated and affects a
small proportion of Americans com
pared to other diseases. The facts
speak for themselves.
Magic Johnson’s contributions to
AIDS awareness are unprecedented,
and he must be given recognition for
this contribution. However, Magic also
must be held responsible for his own
affliction, and the public must realize
that his irresponsibility is not some
thing that should be glorified. Unlike
the AIDS babies and those who con
tract AIDS through blood transfu
sions, Magic is not martyr material.
While he is going to Capitol Hill
and blaming our government for lack
of action pertaining to AIDS and asking
for even more money to be pumped
into research, millionsofsilentdeaths
are occurring throughout our country
that aren’t receiving front-page cov
erage, deaths caused by diseases that
AIDS in no way, shape or form can
compare to in terms of sheer num
bers.
To bring this closer to home, ask
yourself how many people you know
who have been affected by AIDS and
how many people you know who have
been affected and killed by any of the
other diseases 1 mentioned (fathers,
mothers, friends?). Now ask yourself
how much your priorities have been
railroaded by the “trendy” disease.
Yes, the issue of AIDS must be
addressed. Possibly, however, we arc
blowing it a bit out of proportion.
Halligan is a junior political science ma
jor and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
King’s birthday, ideals deserve observance
Once again the Daily Nebraskan
has made a major faux pas. Mr. Phelps,
you obviously do not understand what
people mean when they call for a
holiday observance (“MLK’s ideals
mean more than day off,” DN, Jan.
20). The point in making Martin Luther
King’s birthday an official university
holiday is so that people can take time
out to reflect on King’s dream and
what they have or haven’t done to
further it. In your case, you haven’t
done much reflecting. How can any
one with any semblance of an idea
about the political and social ramifi
cations of the Civil War possibly call
Abraham Lincoln “one of the most
radical abolitionists in history.” Wc
do not celebrate his birthday and rightly
so. Lincoln was only seeking to fur
ther politicize the war. He did not
give a damn about African-Ameri
cans or their plight.
In reference to Public Enemy’s
‘‘By the Time I Get to Arizona,” one
should understand that the members
of this prophetic and visionary group
are not seeking the approval of white
America. Their song is a reflection of
what appears to be the violent foun
dation America was built upon.
I believe that Black Americans are
slowly growing tired of the economic
deprivation, the lopsided media cov
erage and the unflinching racists be
liefs that we sooften see. We are tired
of wh ite A mericans try ing to set agen -
das for us. It is true that there will be
many students sleeping in if the Board
of Regents decided to allow an offi
cial holiday for King’s birthday.
However, there will also be many of
us who will think of ways to bring to
fruition the dreams of a great man
whether it be by the means he used or
not. Finally, you all better hope Pub
lic Enemy gets to Arizona before I do.
Tamika Simmons
senior
news-editorial
Baldwin photo draws praise from reader
“Tasteless” and “appalling” is
how this student describes the atti
tudes of those who protested the
front page photo of Andrew Scott
Baldwin that ran on Monday
(“Football player cited for assault,”
DN, Jan. 20).
I think these fine people should
apologize to Gina and her family.
All they can think of is how Bald
win will be insulted by the photo.
They don’t think of what he alleg
edly did to Gina, which is far worse
than mere “insulting and demean
• ^ at
mg.
In a hospital bed lies an inno
cent 23-year-old woman, engaged
to be married this spring. Gma is
one of those few nice people who is
a friend to everyone, not just to
people she hangs with. She might
nave permanent brain damage. But
do these people care? Not about
her. Only about Baldwin's precious
image do they care. Because that’s
what really counts, right?
I will never forget the look on
my husband’s face when I told him
that it was Gina, his high school
classmate. I haven’t seen him that
hurt in a long time.
I say “good for vou, DN.” If
these people are so offended by the
ugly truth portrayed in the photo,
maybe you should have run a full
color photo of what Baldwin alleg
edly did to Gina’s head. Would
they be offended by that? Probably
not.
Yvonne A. Sabalka
freshman
journalism
Photo not pleasant,
neither was attack
While the photo (“Football player
cited for assault," DN, Jan. 20) was
graphic, it told a story and it told the
truth. We heard the gory details of the
Jeffrey Dahmer murders and we saw
him, including when he was being led
away by police. We see graphic por
trayals or blood and guts every week
on “911.” Andrew Scott Baldwin did
an ugly thing and was seen in an
equally unbecoming photograph.
Perhaps you’d rather see a shot of him
in his football uniform catching a
pass. I think not.
Should the newspaper print only
nice stories, uplifting portrayals and
pleasing photographs?
Praise the DN photographer for
capturing the shot.
Michelle McDonald
graduate student
law
Victirii, not assailant, worthy^
of public attention, concern
It seems that something very
important is being overlooked in
Tuesday’s discussion of the Daily
Nebraskan’s coverage of the Scott
Baldwin incident (“Front-page
photo sparks objections,” DN, Jan.
21). Baldwin was not the victim
here; he was the perpetrator. The
victim was an innocent woman,
Gina Simanek, who was brutally
attacked and is now in serious
condition with a closed head in
jury. It is this woman who deserves
the concern of the campus, the
police and the media — concern
that, to d^te, has been in short
supply.
Now the Daily Nebraskan is
being criticized for running a pic
ture of Baldwin being apprehended
by the police. The picture tells the
story that needs to be told—this is
what happens to people who com
mit acts of violence against women.
I»’s not pretty — pretty isn’t the
issue. It’s not racist — race is to
tally beside the point here, and
those students who turned it into a
racial issue on the basis of the
DN’s picture are both stupid and
cruel.
Scott Baldwin, who was not the
victim, deserves to be incarcer
ated, examined and if necessary,
treated for whatever illness led him
to commit this act of violerice. Gina
Simanek, who was the victim,
deserves to be supported, honored
and to have the whole, awful story
told, in both pictures and words. If
the photo had been one of Gina
lying on the street, bleeding and
broken, would the outcry now be
so loud and passionate?
Pat Mirenda
associate professor
Department of Special Education
and Communication Disorders
Ever Get A Pdl Smashed?
Wing-Ding f
Wednesday I
Complimentary [Q
TEX MEX WINGS ^
in the Cantina ^
3-11 pm j?|
66th & 'O'
i
The Computing Resource Center is offering free1
microcomputer seminars to UNL students. The seminars will
feature an introduction to Microsoft Word for the Macin
tosh and WordPerfect for IBM machines.
Lab Location Dates Times
introduction to Microsoft Word for Macintsoh
Andrews Thursday. January 23 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Burr-Fedde Tuesday. January 28 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Schramm Thursday. January 30 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Neihardt Tuesday, February 4 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Introduction to WordPerfect 5.1 for IBM
Sandoz(IBM) Wednesday. January 22 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday. Feburary 6 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Advanced WordPerfect 5.1 for IBM
Sandoz(IBM) Wednesday. February 5 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
1992 BSN
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can earn great benefits as an Air
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