Opinion
Ignorance is deadly
Education vital for AIDS prevention
Today’s youth often are criticized for ignoring good
advice — but where AIDS is concerned, ignorance is
proving more and more deadly.
A recent congressional study has revealed startling increases
in the number of teen-agers and young adults with AIDS.
In 1989, 5,524 cases of AIDS were reported among Ameri
cans age 13 to 24. By 1991, that number grew to 8,949,
according to a report by the Select Committee on Children,
Youth and Families.
Those numbers include only the cases that have been
reported. Many more teen-agers and young adults arc H1V
infectcd and don’t even know it.
. Because most college students fit into that age group, news
of AIDS’ rapid expansion should hit close to home.
In fact, separate studies have estimated that cither 40 or 80
UNL students could be HIV-infected. While one UNL official
thought those numbers were high, they arc the only plausible
estimates available.
And with HIV, which can be present in a person’s system
for years without being diagnosed, estimates arc the only way
to gauge the potential impact of AIDS, which remains an
incurable, fatal disease.
Unfortunately, news reports continue to indicate that Ameri
cans — especially young Americans —just aren’t getting the
message.
i nc congressional report indicated mat 3 percent 01 me
budget for AIDS education last year was spent on teen-agers.
The report also said more should be done to educate American
youth about the disease.
But Suzic Miller Schocn, a Lincoln caseworker for the Ne
braska AIDS Project, said the best way to teach youth about
AIDS was not what usually was done. She said youth must be
made comfortable with their sexuality so they could ask tough
questions and deal sensibly with the answers.
While abstinence from both sex and intravenous drug use is
the only sure way to avoid the AIDS virus, abstinence is not
accepted by everyone, especially youths.
That's why Miller Schoen and others who teach AIDS edu
cation emphasize the use of latex condoms and clean needles.
It’s the realistic approach to dealing with a very real problem.
The rise in number of youths with AIDS should send a
message to Congress that more funding of such down-to-earth
educational practices is needed.
Of course money must be spent on research, medical care
and the like for those who already have the disease, but a
comparable amount also should be geared toward education.
If education today is able to prevent the spread of AIDS in
the future, less of tomorrow’s money will have to be spent on
after-the-fact measures.
1 — ■ --- I
-LETTERS^ EDITOR
Boycott tax: Don’t smoke
AH right, Fran, here are some rea
sons. (For the sake of argument, I will
assume that you smoke cigarettes as
your article “Clean air act picks on
minority,” DN, April 13, implied.)
Smoker health care is a burden on
society that is perfectly preventable.
Not only is it a burden on society, it is
a burden on every individual who
buys medical insurance. Every time a
smoker with insurance from the same
company as I buy from goes in to gel
treated for lung cancer, I end up pay
ing for it also. The majority of people
who buy health insurance end up paying
for you, the minority, to have a little
habit.
What if I get cancer from second
hand smoke? (Yes, people DO get
lung cancer from secondhand smoke,
Fran!) Is it my fault that I have classes
in Ferguson Hall and Oldfather Hall
where the smoke, for some reason,
doesn’t seem to stay in the lounges?
Quite a few people litter, but if you
look on the grass beside the sidewalk
as you walk to class, what do you sec,
Fran ? Cigarette butts, lots of c igarette
butts! Then, of course, there is the
question of whether or not they were
burning when they got down there.
More than likely, yes. Is this a fire
hazard, Fran? Of course it is! Oh, but
you dropped that cigarette and stomped
it out, thus eliminating the fire hazard
right? Well, just because you may
have doesn’t mean other smokers have
or do. I have watched people smoke
cigarettes up to a building and then
nonchalantly fling them, still burn
ing, into the bushes and onto the grass
and walk into the building. Is this a
responsible action, Fran?
People also fling burning cigarettes
from cars along highways and inter
states. This can and docs cause fires,
fires that have to be put out and cause
damage. Do the smokers pay for the
costs of putting out the fires that they
caused? Not directly or exclusively.
The taxpayers pay the cost of fighting
these fires. When people fling ciga
rettes out of their vehicles and cause
forest fires, they ruin scenic areas and
ecosystems for many years. Animals
die horrible deaths, Fran, more pain
ful deaths than a hunter’s bullet causes.
Finally, YOU choose to smoke. I
do NOT choose to be in smoke-filled
environments, but I am forced to
occupy them regularly. Smoking is a
LUXURY (and not a very healthy
one at that!). Whether you choose to
pay the tax or how often you pay the
tax is up to you. You could boycott
the tax by not smoking or smoking
less, couldn’t you? It would be healthy
if you quit or cut back on your smok
ing. I know I would certainly appreci
ate it!
Chris Williams
sophomore
physics
KIRK ROSENBAUM
Politics is vengeful domain
Vengeance always has played
an important role in the poli
tics of our fine nation. The
1980s, in particular, were littered with
casualties such as John Tower, Don
Regan and anybody else w ho was in
Nancy Reagan’s biography.
The desire for revenge stems mostly
from the pain of defeat. Anybody
w ho has ever heard Hal Daub or Dave
Karnes speak on the subject of Bob
Kerrey has heard the rancor of losers.
All politicians in America have at
least a dozen of these detractors wail
ing for them to fall so they can jump
the carcass and get some satisfaction.
Equally important in politics arc
drugs, alcohol and had craziness. These
arc the things that doomed the prob
able presidencies of Gary Hart and
Ted Kennedy, among others.
The only man who ever turned all
of these things to his advantage was
Ulysses S. Grant. When his jealous
enemies complained to President
Lincoln that Grant was a drunkard,
Lincoln replied, “Find out what he
drinks and send two eases of it to each
of my other generals.”
For some reason, people whose
names begin with the letter “B” seem
especially susceptible to such excesses.
Examples that come to mind include
Bclushi, Behan, Burroughs, Bowie,
Bakker, Barrymore, Borgia and
Bukowski.
And Brown. Not only James but
also Jerry Brown, whose campaign
recently was sideswiped by charges
of drug parlies in his home while he
was governor of California. Most of
the leaders of the Democratic Parly
despise Brown and arc eager to see
him stumble into shame and obscu
rity.
However, these latest charges won’t
get rid of Brown, and the people who
support him will do so regardless of
such claims and revelations. Those
who aren’t voting for Brown proba
bly would still refuse to back him if
he were the last Democrat on the
planet.
Rolling Stone magazine’s recent
endorsement of Gov. Moonbeam won’t
do him any favors either. It may be a
soulless corporate tool and an insult
to its founding principles, but Rolling
Stone is still perceived as a forum for
the long-dead counterculture. Poten
tial voters hardly want to vote for the
same candidate as rock stars and
degenerates.
Maybe Jerry Brown can get a job
working for the magazine after the
campaign. He has burned so many
bridges and hammered Bill Clinton
unnecessarily for so long that there
will be no place for him within the
As the recent would
be attack in. Nevada
proves. Reagan is
mors, durable thou
the new model of
Terminator. qMhis
battery has a half-life
of 1.000 years. With
periodic service and
replacement parts.
Ronald will live
forever,
party.
In lact, the very nature of Brown’s
politics demands that all useless ele
ments of government be junked, and
this would presumably include the
Democratic Party.
In the process of giving the nomi
nation to Bill Clinton, Democratic
leadership will do something to of
fend Jerry Brown. This will give him
an excuse to run as a third candidate,
and such a campaign would probably
crack Clinton's fragile chances in
November.
No matter what he docs, Brown
obviously isn’t interested in picking
up his ball and going home. Nor is the
Democratic Party too eager to let
Brown run amok at the convention
with even his handful ol delegates.
So we arc back to vengeance in its
many forms. My neighbor, for in
stance, has a car alarm that used to go
orf every morning around dawn.
Repealed complaints from anguished
neighbors resulted in rudeness and
inaction, so we formed a neighbor
hood improvement committee.
By using the cover of night and
catlike agility, we exacted our re
venge by breaking into the vehicle
undetected and filling the heater vents
with minnows.
w ChiWish? Certainly. Stupid?
Maybe. Criminal? Possibly. Obviously
not every conflict can be resolved
with a do/cn well-placed chubs, but
the alarm has ceased its screaming
and the neighborhood sleeps in rela
tive peace.
Vengeance is not always perma
nent. Even the worst of crimes can be
forgiven— Richard Nixon is proof of
that. He came to Congress in 1946
and still is around nearly 50 years
later, fouling everything he touches
like an anti-Midas.
Nixon is nearly as indestructible
as Ronald Reagan, and he probably
could survive a nuclear winter. News
of his expected appearance at the
Republican National Convention has
some G.O.P. officials weeping tears
of joy.
“It’s time to recognize Nixon lor
his important contributions to Ameri
can life,” one of them recently re
marked.
Indeed. Cynicism and mistrust arc
among the many virtues that Nixon’s
administration helped bring to the
people. We can only hope there is a
place reserved for Tricky Dick that
makes Dante’s imagination seem lame;
but it probably is not on this earth.
There is something disturbing about
one of our major political parties trying
to deny one of its candidates a voice
in its platform while the other party
pays homage to the worst thug in
modem political history.
But maybe Tm paranoid. Like the
bumper sticker says,“He’s tan, rested
and ready. Nixon in ’92.” Why not
give the twisted ol’ boy another chance?
He hasn’t been showing up on talk
shows for nothing, after all. Maybe
he’s learned from his mistakes.
Nixon probably will have the linal
vengeance on all those who smiled
with glee at his abrupt and shameful
abdication nearly 20 years ago. He
has come out of retirement after watch
ing his beloved party and his country
make loo many wrong choices, and
he isn’t interested in crawling back
under his rock.
Neither is Ronald Reagan, for that
matter. As the recent would-be attack
in Nevada proves, Reagan is more
durable than the new model of Termi
nator, and his battery has a hal f*Iilc; of
1,000 years. With periodic service
and replacement parts, Ronald will
live forever.
Nixon will need a qualified man
like Reagan at his right hand if he is
going to recapture the White House.
And who knows, a pair of good-hearted
California boys might just gel this
country back on top.
Of course, there might be a lew
constitutional problems to address,
but they’ll gel around those. After all.
they’ve done it before.
Rosenbaum Is a senior history major and
a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
