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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1993)
Opinion Neljraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chris Hopfensperger. Editor, 472-1766 Jeremy Fitzpatrick. .Opinion Page Editor Alan Phelps.. Managing Editor Brian Shellito.....Cartoonist Susie Arth.. • .Senior Reporter Kim Spurlock.Diversions Editor Sam Kepfield.Columnist - ——————— I Nuclear world Instability mounts despite Cold War end Last weekend’s summit between Bill Ginton and Boris Yeltsin was unique in that it was the first major summit between the United States and Russia that did not revolve around nuclear weapons. The two nations have come far enough that they can now take the time for pressing economic and domestic issues. But despite the progress the United States and the former Soviet Union have made, the world’s nuclear stability is worse than it was during the Cold War. Although the two superpowers are reducing their nuclear stockpiles, other nations are letting the nuclear genie out of the bottle. Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Ukraine, an independent country that was once part of the Soviet Union, is edging ever closer to joining the world’s six nuclear powers. Western and Soviet experts predicted Ukraine could gain nuclear capability in a few months to a few years. North Korea has also recently been reported as approaching the ability to produce nuclear arms. During the Gulf War there was concern that Iraq might have been close to nuclear capability. The world is a better place because the Cold War order of conflict between the former Soviet Union and the United Slates is over. But it is.also in many ways more dangerous. Now it is the responsibility of the United States, as the world’s only remaining power, to ensure that nuclear proliferation docs not endanger world security. This challenge is as difficult as any Bill Clinton must resolve. On March 11, the University Council voted unanimously to ban smoking from all campus buildings. Residence halls and privately owned buildings are the only exceptions. An action long overdue, the proposed ban’s final fate now rests in the hands of Ed Mcyen, executive vice chancellor, who will make his decision soon after considering all other options. Gose to 30,000 students attend the University of Kansas, but only a small minority of that population smokes. It is appalling how adverse an effect smokers can have on the rest. To add to the already overwhelming evidence that points to second-hand smoke as a major health risk, a report by the Environmental Protection Agency released in January revealed even stronger evidence to reinforce the argument. The report concluded that smoking contributes to 53,000 deaths a year. Clearly, when people choose to smoke in a campus building — whether it be in a hallway, lobby or stairwell — they are doing more than endangering their own health. They are also putting their fellow students and faculty members, who walk through these areas to and from classes, at risk. The issue of smoking cm campus has brought about many efforts to find some compromise. As it stands, smoking is al lowed only with specially designated areas in campus buildings. But with the rise in complaints about second-hand smoke this year, it is obvious, even to a smoker on the Council, that the only viable solution is to ban smoking completely. The smoker proposed the ban. With the increase in complaints of second-hand smoke, the overwhelming vote of the board in support of the ban and the already irrefutable evidence of the health risks involved, a clear message should be conveyed to all smokers regardless of Meycn’s decision: if you do choose to smoke, please respect others and smoke outside. — University Daily Kansan University of Kansas Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Spring 1993 Daily Nebraskan. Policy it set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regenu. Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regenu, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of iu students. The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted. Readers also are welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published, letters should included the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, if any. Requesu to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb 685884)448. NO. ytCUNViOT WORT 1WS JOBS B\U- \4WE*4 tT UCfT NCEReSS Trie. TpEFlOT. > \ t ... ; - } VWJfc**, op CCMRSt, . our «cm% yu>N L tww pots ^crr 1} fcWKtSS -t^e. m % . wvaTs f / Kj __ - -'—Hu,IZZS-■" Spring anxieties in full bloom Isce tulips! I see green grass! I sec robins! It’s spring, ladies and gentleman. Time to put away depression and bring out anxi ety! Once again, students have a buf fet of anxieties to choose from. Basic freshman anxieties include returning to the bright lights of Thcdford after continual weekendsof grunge bands, keg beer and endless parades of whichever magnetic gen der. You will have a curfew again when you get home. Your parents will treat you like some kind of child. You will be resentful and indignant. A univer sal chorus of parents wi II recite, “When you are paying your own bills . .." etc., etc. Stop for a moment before you stomp off in disgust and go wreck the car. Having someone else cover the lights, heat, rent, insurance, car pay ment, groceries, laundry and credit cards isn’t exactly a living hell. I’d be sawing logs at 7 o’clock every night if it meant having my living expenses paid. Another freshman quandary is whether or not to have sex before you spend the summer peddling tacos. Take it from one who did. Don’t. There comes a point in life when the degree of one’s desire to be recog nized for his or her values is inversely related to one’s former inability to maintain them. Go to the gym and run until you drop. Relentless physical exertion docsn’tcurc hormone hysteria, ilsim ply makes you sweaty, smelly, ex hausted and otherwise unattractive. Timely anxieties for seniors in clude, “If I graduate; i.c. if the paper work is in order, if some remote re quirement doesn’t materialize, if I haven't somehow lost a S300 library book, if I don’t go insane during this last barrage of exams; then what will I do?” You will have a curfew again when you get home. Your parents will treat you like some kind of a child. Seniors notice a marked absence of potential employers beating a path to their doors. An endless summer of peddling tacos is a ghoulish prospect after four years of hard labor and Ramcn noodles. Seniors who arc fortunate enough to find gainful employment may still have some ropes to negotiate. College doesn’t seem lo prepare people to select insurance coverage, purchase a mortgage, devise a retirement plan or have the oil changed every 3,000 miles. No number of hours in human behavior prepares anyone for a boss thauums out to be a repressed Nazi. *omc seniors who have managed lo graduate without the debt of a smal I nation may be considering a master’s degree. One young woman I spoke to was ambivalent about her decision to go to graduate school. She wondered if she was doing the “right thing.” The “right thing,” as far as one’s personal direction, is like one of those lizards that changes colors in differ ent surroundings. It’s elusive, and it changes. When you’ve taken a wrong road in life, you figure it out, and take another road. Besides, making a wrong decision about graduate school takes fewer emotional scars to correct than, say, a wrong decision about marriage. Marriage is a typical rite of spring. A lot of people reward themselves for graduation from college by getting married. The party is fun, the clodics arc stunning, and the loot is unbeliev able. But forever is a long time. It can be an eternity if you’ve lied your fate to someone who is physically or ver bally abusive. These behaviors don’t end with marriage. They become more intense with familiarity. If you’re hooked up with someone who is mean to you, don’t get married. Gel help. Then again, there arc those mar riages that work. More power to those who take the chance. If you stay to gether long enough, you get to keep the loot. Those of us not bedeviled with freshman or senior worries have our own middle-undergraduate crises to contend with. There arc still four weeks of school left during a lime when our biological instincts—always in con tention with our social structure — tell us we should be sailing down a bike path or smiling at some dream boat. There’s yet another year of the financial aid two-step and the Drop/ Add cha-cha. Some of us will be taking intern ships in cities where Mace is consid ered a condiment. We will forget every word of the non-English language that some poor soul tried to drill into our heads. Whatever your brand of anxiety in this season of fret, remember one thing. You own it. No one can take it away. You can’t pay anyone enough. McAdams Is a sophomore news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Verdict I would like to commend Gary Young on his article “Talk of trial full of racial biases” (DN, April 5,1993). He has come out against political correctness. He has slated many facts about the Rodney King incident that many will not say because of feared backlash. Many civil rights leaders have suggested and even threatened violence if “justice is not served” (i.c. guilty verdict). They always call for fair trials when blacks arc tried, but now that the situation has changed, they now want an unfair trial or a bias, if you will. The point is that none of us arc able to judge this ease. We arc not there. We have not heard all the evidence. We should not judge without hearing the complete story. This concept is called having an open mind. I am not saying they arc innocent. Not by a long shot. I’m saying nobody outside that court room has the right to judge the outcome of this ease. This brings me to the point 1 want to make about the first trial. How many people, if any, saw the footage of Rodney King gelling off theground and lunging at one of the officers? I never did, before or during the first trial. The media never thought this was relevant to show? They did not state the case would be hard to get a conviction on. Same as the current ease. It is not an easy ease to prove, but the media will not say that. I have to blame part of the riots on the media. They do not tell the whole story. The prosecution in the first trial was not trying to prove excessive force. They could have done that eas ily. They gambled with a more seri ous charge and South Central Los Angeles lost. If the cops arc convicted I hope it is on the merits of the prosecution and not for fear of riots. Mark Bunnell computer science